Patent ID: 6293953
Filing Date: 2001-09-25
Classification: A45D

Abstract:
A depilation appliance for plucking hair of the human skin of a user, comprisinga housing having an opening,a rotary depilation member having an outer envelope surface and comprising a plurality of hair-grasping elements, said hair-grasping elements sequentially clamping and opening respectively into and out of hair plucking relation to one another,said depilation member disposed within the opening and rotating about its axis for grasping hairs of the skin of the user within a plucking zone defined by a region of intersection of clamped hair-grasping element portions with the outer envelope surface,an impulse generator comprising at least one reciprocating skin-impacting impulse element disposed in laterally spaced relation to the plucking zone, anda motor drive element disposed within the housing coupled with the depilation member and to drive the impulse generator, andwherein said reciprocating skin-impacting impulse element has a distal free end cyclically being accelerated into and subsequently away from a region of skin to impart localized impulse stimulus perceived by the nervous system of the user in synchronization with a rotational cycle of the depilation member, and wherein the impulse element during displacement maintains a spatial orientation relative the depilation member rotational axis,whereby said impulse element free end imparts a masking stimulus to the region of the skin in sequence with the skin being subjected to the hair-grasping elements plucking the hair of the user as the user movers the depilation appliance over the skin, to thereby lessen a perceived discomfort of depilation.