Trimmer Comb Segmented Teeth for Skin Safety and Cutting Efficiency

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing trimmer combs face a trade-off between avoiding skin injuries and maintaining cutting efficiency, as wide tips that prevent hooking require larger tooth spacing, which reduces cutting efficiency.

Innovation Solution

A trimmer comb design featuring guard teeth with widened tips in the longitudinal direction and narrower teeth, arranged alternately, allowing for reduced average spacing without compromising cutting efficiency, with the widened tips of the guard teeth extending into gaps not covered by narrow teeth to prevent hooking.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Object-affected harmful factors

If trimmer tooth tips are widened to avoid hooking injuries, then skin safety is improved, but tooth spacing must increase which reduces cutting efficiency

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvehooking injuriesVSAvoidcutting efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The trimmer comb teeth are segmented into two distinct types: guard teeth with widened tips for skin protection and narrow teeth for efficient cutting. This segmentation allows each tooth type to specialize in its function, resolving the contradiction between safety and efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Different regions of the trimmer comb have different tooth characteristics. The guard teeth have locally widened tips at their distal ends while maintaining narrower bases, creating local quality variation that provides both skin protection and maintains overall cutting efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Productivity

If tooth spacing is reduced to improve cutting efficiency, then productivity is improved, but skin penetration through gaps increases causing injuries

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecutting efficiencyVSAvoidskin penetration and cutting
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The comb teeth are divided into guard teeth and narrow teeth with different spacing characteristics. The alternating arrangement creates a segmented pattern where some gaps are protected by widened tips while others maintain narrow spacing for efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The trimmer comb employs asymmetric tooth design where guard teeth have widened distal ends and different base spacing compared to narrow teeth. This asymmetry allows the system to simultaneously achieve skin protection and cutting efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #4Asymmetry

Data Source

PatentEP2247416B1Trimmer comb, hair trimmer comprising a trimmer comb and method of manufacturing a trimmer comb
Publication Date: 2013.03.20 BRAUN GMBH
  • EP2247416B1 patent drawingFigure 1~3
  • EP2247416B1 patent drawingFigure 4
  • EP2247416B1 patent drawingFigure 5~6

AI summary

The invention is concerned with a trimmer comb (1) that comprises a base sheet (10) that has a toothed front side, the toothed front side comprising a side-by-side arrangement of guard teeth (11) and narrow teeth (12). The length (E2) of the narrow teeth (12) measured in axial direction of the trimmer comb teeth (x) is smaller than the length (E1 ) of the guard teeth (11) and further the guard teeth (11) have widened tips (15, 11d, 11d'). These two different trimmer comb teeth geometries serve to press down skin and to avoid injuries by hooking of trimmer comb teeth into skin pores or hair channels, while a high cutting efficiency is ensured because the smaller narrow teeth allow for a reduced average spacing distance between the trimmer teeth. The invention is also concerned with a hair trimmer comprising such a trimmer comb and a hair removal device comprising such a hair trimmer.