The invention relates to a depilating apparatus of the type with which the fluid wax is provided on the skin, the wax after solidification being removed together with the hairs, the apparatus comprising a housing having a reservoir for the wax, the reservoir communicating with an outflow aperture in the wall of the housing. The housing also comprises structure to heat the wax and to transport the wax from the reservoir to the outflow aperture.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to a depilating apparatus of the type with which 
fluid wax is provided on the skin, the wax, after solidification, being 
removed together with the hairs, the apparatus comprising a housing having 
a reservoir for the wax, said reservoir communicating with an outflow 
aperture in the wall of the housing. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Such a depilating apparatus is known from Netherlands Patent Application 
No. 8204443. In this apparatus it is necessary to place the apparatus, 
before use, in a separate holder having a heating element so as to bring 
the wax to the required temperature. During use of the apparatus the wax 
will gradually lose its fluid properties as a result of cooling. 
A roller for distributing the wax is placed in the outflow apparatus of 
said known apparatus. This requires a great extent of fluidity of the wax, 
which means a comparatively high temperature and hence a comparatively 
long warming up time. Moreover it may be painful when the wax is provided 
on the skin. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is the object of the invention to avoid these disadvantages and the 
invention is characterized in that the housing also comprises means for 
heating the wax and for transporting the wax from the reservoir to the 
outflow aperture. 
The means for heating the wax may now be placed in the immediate proximity 
of the reservoir as a result of which optimum heat transfer can be 
obtained. When the means for heating are switched off during use, the 
cooling of the wax is nevertheless delayed by the heat contents of the 
said means. As a result of the presence of the transporting means the wax 
may have a greater viscosity and hence a lower temperature than when the 
wax must flow out of the reservoir under the influence of gravity. 
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the housing of the apparatus 
contains a heating element such as a conventional PTC heating element. 
Moreover, the reservoir for the wax may have a movable wall part which has 
an operating member projecting partly beyond the housing. 
In an especially preferred embodiment, the movable wall part is journalled 
in the housing so as to be rotatable by means of bearing means and is 
situated opposite to a bottom of the reservoir and the movable wall part 
comprises a first operating member which is situated near the outflow 
aperture and with which the wall part can be moved towards the bottom 
against the resilient force, the bearing means being situated on the side 
of the reservoir remote from the outflow aperture and comprising a second 
operating member by means of which the bearing means and the movable wall 
part can also be moved with respect to the bottom of the reservoir. 
The outflow aperture may also form a filling aperture for the reservoir, a 
wall part of the housing adjoining the aperture being pivotably connected 
to the housing. 
The wax may be contained as a foil of packaged wax. Preferably the 
apparatus housing, at the area of the outflow aperture, comprises a mount 
that has an aperture which corresponds to the outflow aperture and the 
mount engages, preferably in clamping fashion, ends of foil containing the 
wax and projecting beyond the outflow aperture. In order to simplify the 
maintenance of the apparatus, it is of importance to prevent the wax from 
contaminating the apparatus. Moreover, it is desirable for the operation 
of the transporting means of the wax that said structural components 
cannot directly contact the wax. 
For this purpose it is of particular advantage to use in the apparatus 
according to the invention a quantity of wax which is packaged in a 
plastic foil. 
Preferably, the wax is packaged substantially in a flat shape between two 
foil parts having a detachable seam, which seam most preferably comprises 
an end that may be seized by the hand. 
Besides avoiding contamination of the interior of the apparatus it is 
achieved that the correct quantity of wax is always stored in the 
apparatus. The packaged quantity of wax may have a flat shape and as a 
result of the flexible foil it can readily adapt itself to the shape of 
the reservoir, which helps to facilitate favorable heat transfer. Several 
quantities of wax, for example, in strip form, can be taken along in a 
simple manner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The depilating apparatus shown in the Figures comprises a housing 1 having 
an outflow aperture 2 and a reservoir 3 for the wax, which reservoir 
communicates with the outflow aperture 2. The housing also comprises an 
electric heating element 4 which is in heat transferring contact with the 
reservoir 3. The heating element 4 is preferably equipped with an element 
having a positive temperature coefficient of electrical resistance, 
commonly referred to in the art as PTC-elements so that separate members 
for controlling the temperature of the apparatus are superfluous. Via the 
contact pins 6 and a cable not shown the apparatus may be connected to a 
known electric supply source, for example, the mains. 
The reservoir 3 for the wax comprises a movable wall part 7 and an 
operating member 9 bearing on the wall part via the plate 8. The plate 8 
is connected to the housing 1 so as to be rotatable by means of the pivot 
10. As will be explained hereinafter, the movable wall part 7 is connected 
to the shaft 11 in the reservoir so as to be rotatable. 
The housing 1 comprises an insert 12 having a restriction 13. As a result 
of this the wall part 14 can pivot around the restriction 13 and the 
outflow aperture 2 can be enlarged to the filling aperture 15. The wall 
part 14 is then raised as is shown in broken lines in FIG. 5. In this 
position a quantity of wax can be provided in the reservoir via the 
filling aperture 15. FIG. 5 shows the situation in which a quantity of wax 
16 is present in the reservoir 3. The wax is packaged in plastic foil 17 
the ends 18 of which project beyond the outflow aperture 2 and are folded 
back along the wall of the housing. At the area of the outflow aperture 2 
the housing comprises a mount 19 having an aperture 20 corresponding to 
the outflow aperture. By means of the mount 19 which in the assembled 
condition engages the housing 1 (see, for example, FIG. 3) the ends 18 of 
the foil can be clamped between the housing 1 and the mount 19. 
When the wax in the reservoir 3 has become fluid by means of heating 
element 4, the movable wall part 7 can be pressed inwards via the plate 8 
by operating the button 9 (FIG. 6) as a result of which the wax is 
compressed and can be provided on the skin via the outflow apertures (2 
and 20). Because in this manner pressure can be exerted only on the wax in 
the part of reservoir 3 which adjoins the outflow aperture 2, measures 
have been taken to be able to force the wax out of the apparatus at the 
end of the reservoir remote from the outflow aperture. The components 
required for this purpose are shown in the exploded view of FIG. 4. The 
movable wall part 7 comprises a shaft 11 which is retained by members 21 
forced out of the plane of the wall part 7. The ends 22 of the shaft 11 
are situated in the slots 23 of the wax reservoir 3 and also project 
through the inclined slots 24 of the adjusting member 25 when this has 
been placed over the wax reservoir 3 in the mounted position (see also 
FIG. 3). The adjusting member 25 comprises on each side a second operating 
member 26 of which only one is shown in FIG. 4 to avoid complexity of the 
drawing. These operating members 26 are rigidly connected to the walls 27 
of the adjusting member 25. Each operating member is journalled in an 
aperture 28 in a side wall 29 of the housing 1 and can be moved in the 
direction of the arrow P (FIG. 1). By moving in the direction of the arrow 
P the operating members 26 can be moved into two different positions so 
that the position of adjusting member 25 is also varied with respect to 
the wax reservoir 3. For example, by a first movement the situation as 
shown in FIG. 7 is achieved in which the shaft 11 and hence the movable 
wall part 7 is situated nearer to the bottom 3' of the wax reservoir 3 as 
a result of the inclination of the slots 24. As a result of this the wax 
which is present in the end of the wax reservoir remote from the outflow 
aperture 2 is moved towards the outflow aperture. For further transport 
via the outflow aperture 2 to the exterior the operating member 9 may be 
actuated again. 
This process can be repeated by moving the operating members to a third 
position in which the situation shown in FIG. 8 is achieved and the shaft 
11 is moved even more closely to the bottom 3' of the wax reservoir 3. 
In this manner substantially the whole quantity of wax present in the 
reservoir 3 can be used. For placing a new quantity of wax in the 
reservoir the operating members 26 are, of course, returned to their 
initial position in the direction opposite to the arrow P (see FIG. 1). 
FIG. 9 shows a stock of wax with which several quantities of wax 30 are 
combined to form a packaged unit in the form of a strip 31. 
A single quantity of wax 30 having a portion of wax 16 as shown in FIG. 10 
can be detached from the strip 31, for example, by breaking manually the 
perforated severing seam 32. In this manner the ends 18 are automatically 
formed at the foil parts 17' and 17" (FIG. 10) which can be seized 
manually so that the welding seam 33 can be detached and the quantity of 
wax placed in the apparatus. 
The quantities of wax 30, one of which is shown in FIG. 10, may, of course, 
also be manufactured as separate units.