Abstract:
The invention features, in general, a wet-shaving system including a housing, one or more blades mounted on the housing, an exfoliation member mounted on the housing, and a drive mechanism providing repeating movement to said exfoliation member.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001]     This invention relates to shaving systems with exfoliation.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     Shaving razors used in wet shaving systems typically have one or more blades on a housing. The surface contacted by the skin in front of the blades is known as the guard, and the surface contacted by the skin after the blades is known as the cap. In many wet shaving systems, the guard has elastomeric projections to engage and stretch the skin before contacting the cutting edges of the blades, and the cap provides a lubricating agent to the skin surface after contacting the blades.  
         [0003]     It is also known to enhance the tactile properties of a wet-shaving system. For example, Lyall U.S. Pat. No. 3,939,560 discloses shaving equipment with a roughened guard surface. The guard surface in Lyall can be roughened by abrading it with particles or, alternatively, by coating or impregnating it with particles.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0004]     The invention features, in general, a wet-shaving system including a housing, one or more blades mounted on the housing, an exfoliation member mounted on the housing, and a drive mechanism providing repeating movement to the exfoliation member.  
         [0005]     Preferred embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following features. In preferred embodiments the exfoliation member is located in front of the blades. An elastomeric guard member can be located between the exfoliation member and the blades. The elastomeric guard member can include projections, e.g., elongated fins. A guard bar can be located between the exfoliation member and the blades. The exfoliation member can be elongated and oriented parallel to the blades. Elastomeric projections can also be located in front of the exfoliation member. Alternatively the exfoliation member can located behind the blades. The exfoliating member can be made of abrasive containing material, fibers, a brush, a wire mesh, a roughened metal surface, natural organic materials, or chemical exfoliants. The shaving system can also include a handle connected to the housing. The drive mechanism can provides repeated movement of the housing that is transmitted to the exfoliation member and the blade member. The drive mechanism can be located on the housing or within the handle. The drive mechanism can provide vibrations to the housing (directly or indirectly) that are then transmitted to the exfoliation member. Alternatively the drive mechanism can cause the exfoliation member to move relative to the housing, e.g., back and forth laterally in a linear track, or back and forth vertically with respect to the housing or in an orbital manner. When moving laterally, two elongated exfoliation members can be employed and caused to move in opposite directions. For lateral movement, the drive mechanism can include an oscillating shaft, and a crank that has one end connected to the shaft and another end operatively engaging the exfoliation member to cause it to move back and forth within the track. The shaving system preferably includes a pivotal mounting for the housing, permitting the housing to pivot during shaving. The drive mechanism preferably provides repeating movement of the exfoliation member having an amplitude of 5 mm or less, most preferably 1-3 mm. The drive mechanism preferably provides repeating movement of the exfoliation member having a frequency of less than 500 Hz. The shaving system can include a variable speed control to control the frequency of repeating movement of the exfoliation member, e.g., between 0 and 160 Hz.  
         [0006]     Embodiments can include one or more of the following advantages. The exfoliation member removes dead skin cells, providing a smoother skin surface and more efficient hair removal by the blades. The use of exfoliation member also results in healthier looking skin and increases blood flow just under the skin. Use of a powered device provides improved comfort and better shave performance. Vibration may desensitize the skin and mask some of the discomfort associated with using an exfoliation member, permitting increased particle aggressiveness. In addition, the additional movement increases effectiveness of the exfoliation member since the exfoliating action and coverage will be greater than is obtained by a simple shaving stroke. Powered lateral motion increases effectiveness by providing multiple strokes during shaving.  
         [0007]     Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0008]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a wet shaving system with exfoliation.  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  is an exploded vertical sectional view showing the components of the cartridge of the  FIG. 1  wet shaving system.  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  is a partial sectional view of an alternative embodiment of a guard of the  FIG. 2  cartridge.  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  is a partial sectional view of a further alternative embodiment of a guard of the  FIG. 2  cartridge.  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  is a diagrammatic elevation of an alternative embodiment of a wet shaving system.  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of components of the  FIG. 5  wet shaving system.  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  is a partial plan view showing components of the  FIG. 5  wet shaving system.  
         [0015]      FIG. 8  is a partial plan view showing components of an alternative embodiment of a wet shaving system. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0016]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , shaving razor  10  includes handle  12  and replaceable shaving cartridge  14 . Cartridge  14  includes housing  16 , which carries three blades  18 , guard  20  and cap  22 . Cartridge  14  also includes interconnect member  24  on which housing  16  is pivotally mounted. Interconnect member  24  includes base  27 , which removably and fixedly attaches to cartridge connecting structure (not shown) at the end  26  of handle  12 , and two arms  28  that pivotally support housing  16  at its two sides for rotation about axis  30 . The structure of handle  12  and cartridge  14  are generally described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,787,586 and 5,956,851, which are hereby incorporated by reference.  
         [0017]     Handle  10  includes internal motor  32  and eccentric member  34  to provide vibrations to the handle which are in turn transmitted to the housing  16  of cartridge  14  and the components mounted on the housing. Such a motor and eccentric member are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,354, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Handle  10  also includes control knob  34  that controls the revolutions per minute of motor  32 .  
         [0018]     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , housing  16  of cartridge  14  has inwardly facing slots  58  in sidewalls  60  for receiving the edges of the base portions  59  of blades  18  and respective resilient arms  62  on which each blade  18  is resiliently supported. Clips  68  are secured at the respective sides of housing  16  inside of raised edges  70  of sidewalls  60  in order to retain blades  18  within housing  16  and to locate the cutting edges of the spring-biased blades at a desired exposure. Cap  22  can provide a lubricous shaving aid (alternatively cap  22  can be an exfoliation member, as described in more detail below) and is received in slot  66  at the rear of housing  16 . Cap  22  may be made of a material comprising a mixture of a hydrophobic material and a water leachable hydrophilic polymer material, as is known in the art and is described, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,113,585 and 5,454,164, which are hereby incorporated by reference.  
         [0019]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , guard  20 , at the front of housing  16 , includes exfoliation member  36  and elastomeric fins  38 , both of which extend along the length of the housing  16 , in front of guard bar  40 . Elastomeric fins  38  engage and stretch the user&#39;s skin; other skin engaging protrusions, e.g., as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,712, which is hereby incorporated by reference, can be used.  
         [0020]     Exfoliation is generally described as the peeling off of flakes or scales of dead skin. Exfoliation member  36  can be made of, for example, a mounted abrasive (e.g., sandpaper), a composite containing engineered fibers, a brush (with or without abrasive elements on the brush fibers), a molded surface (e.g., a roughened molded surface), wire mesh, a roughened (e.g., etched) metal surface, stone or stone-like material (e.g., pumice), individual fingers (e.g., plastic fingers), individual knobs, a spray- or dip-coated surface, flocked foam, a woven surface (e.g., terrycloth), or the hook and/or loop component of a hook-and-loop fastener (e.g., a Velcro™ fastener). The exfoliation member  36  can have any texture that is suitable for exfoliation. The exfoliation member can have a relatively smooth exfoliating texture, such as the texture of a fine non-woven fiber, or it can have a relatively rough exfoliating texture, such as the texture of a pumice stone. The exfoliating elements in the exfoliation member can be any of a number of different types of exfoliating elements. For example, the exfoliating elements can include abrasive particles, such as ground fruit seeds and stones (e.g., apricot, peach, avocado, or olive seeds or stones), ground nut shells (e.g., walnut, almond, coconut, or pecan shell), ground or fibrous plant material (e.g., loofah, corn cob, oatmeal), polymer beads or granular polymers (e.g., polystyrene beads, polyethylene beads), Jojoba wax beads, rice bran, silica, minerals, granular mineral composites (e.g., sand, pumice sand), clay, or combinations thereof. The exfoliating elements can be dissolvable. The exfoliating elements can be materials (e.g., sea salt) that are abrasive upon first contact with the user&#39;s skin, but that later dissolve upon contact with water or shave creams and gels. In some cases, the exfoliating elements may include chemical exfoliants such as alpha- or beta-hydroxy acids (e.g., citric acid, lactic acid, glycolic acid, tartaric acid). In such cases, the chemical exfoliants can be contained in a microcapsule that breaks during shaving, thereby releasing the exfoliant. In this case, it is generally desirable to use a matrix material that erodes or dissolves during shaving, so that new microcapsules will be exposed to replace those that have ruptured. Suitable microcapsules can range in size from less than about 50 microns to about 1000 microns. Microencapsulation can help to protect the exfoliant, e.g., by protecting heat-sensitive acids from decomposition during extruding or molding operations. Generally, suitable exfoliating elements have a hardness, roughness, and/or tackiness that is sufficient to allow the exfoliating element to remove loose flakes of skin during shaving. The exfoliating elements can be sufficiently hard so that they do not break down during shaving, or may be softer if desired.  
         [0021]     The exfoliation member can have a width of between about 2 mm and about 10 mm, and a length the extends along the majority of the length of housing  16 . The height of the exfoliation pad relative to a plane through the cutting edges could be fixed or could be adjustable, as described in U.S. application Ser. No. 10/732,555, filed Dec. 10, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference.  
         [0022]      FIGS. 3 and 4  show alternative embodiments for guard  20 . In  FIG. 3 , guard  42  has three fins  44  in front of exfoliation member  46 . In  FIG. 4 , guard  48  has two fins  50  in front of exfoliation member  52  and two fins  50  behind exfoliation member  52 .  
         [0023]     In another embodiment, cap  22  is made of an exfoliation material as described above.  
         [0024]     When using razor  10 , the user turns on the vibrating motor and selects the desired operating frequency by rotating knob  34 . The user then shaves using normal shaving strokes. Fins  38 ,  44  or  50  engage and stretch the skin in front of the blades, and cap  22  provides lubrication. Exfoliating member  36 ,  46  or  52  tends to remove dead skin cells with each stroke and provide a smoother skin surface prior to contact by blades  18 , providing more efficient hair removal by blades  18 . Within handle  12 , the rotation of eccentric member  34  causes the end  26  of handle  12  to vibrate. These vibrations are in turn transmitted to housing  16  and to guard  20  (including the exfoliation member  36 ,  46  or  52  thereon), blades  18 , and cap  22  carried thereon. Vibration may desensitize the skin and mask some of the discomfort associated with using exfoliation member  36 , permitting increased particle aggressiveness. The vibrations provide improved comfort and better shave performance. The pivotal connection about axis  30  permits the housing  16  to pivot and follow the contours of the face during shaving, avoiding concern that a user might push a vibrating cartridge too hard against the skin without appreciating it, as might happen with a vibrating razor having a non-pivoting connection of a cartridge to a handle.  
         [0025]      FIGS. 5-7  show an alternative razor  100  in which exfoliation member  102  is mounted for movement with respect to housing  16 , which is pivotally mounted via arms  28  to a modified handle  104 . Exfoliation member  102  is mounted on reciprocating shuttle  106  (see  FIG. 6 ), which has an elongated platform  108  that slides within a track provided by walls  110  mounted at the rear of housing  16 . Shuttle  106  passes through an opening in the base member  112  between walls  110  and has a slotted base portion  114  thereunder. Base member  112  is secured to housing  16 . Handle  104  has an internal motor and drive system  116  that reciprocally rotates shaft  118  and extension  120  thereon through a small angle. Extension  120  sits within slot  122  of base portion  114 , and reciprocating motion of extension  120  causes platform  108  and exfoliation member  102  thereon to reciprocate laterally, as indicated in  FIG. 7 . As housing  16  pivots about axis  30  during shaving (as indicated in phantom in  FIG. 5 ), extension  120  remains within slot  122  and continues to provide reciprocation to exfoliation member  102 . The lateral motion of exfoliation member  102  increases its effectiveness by providing multiple strokes during shaving and providing increased coverage as compared with that obtained by a simple shaving stroke.  
         [0026]     Alternatively, exfoliation member  102  could be driven for vertical oscillations, i.e., into and out of a plane passing through the cutting edges of blades  18 . Alternatively, the exfoliation member could be moved forward and backward with respect to the blades or in an orbital path.  
         [0027]      FIG. 8  shows an alternative embodiment in which two adjacent, parallel exfoliation members  130 ,  132  are reciprocally driven in opposite directions (by a suitable drive system, not shown) in order to cancel out the action of a single laterally moving member tending to pull the skin to the side with respect to the housing  16 .  
         [0028]     Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. For example, the vibration generator can be mounted within or be directly attached to housing  16 .