Patent Abstract:
A hair removal apparatus having a housing, a drive mechanism for driving at least a first hair removal unit, and an abrasive element is described. The abrasive element and the first hair removal unit are in close proximity and are equally driven. The abrasive element is arranged and carried in an attachment mountable on and demountable from the housing as an addition to the first hair removal unit.

Full Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    This invention relates to a method for removing hair by means of a hair removal apparatus which is to be held in the user&#39;s hand and includes at least one hair removal unit for cutting and/or plucking hairs. In addition, the present invention relates to a hair removal apparatus and an attachment for a hair removal apparatus. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    From EP 1 225 818 B1 there is known an epilator apparatus which is adapted to be connected to an attachment having an abrasive element. This abrasive element can be oscillated by the drive mechanism of the hair removal appliance. This hair removal appliance thus provides an additional function, enabling it to be used either as an epilator or as an abrading device for the skin. 
         [0003]    From U.S. Pat. No. 2,936,768 there is known a manicuring device having a twin work head on which each of the two work units are driven in oscillatory motion. In this device, the one unit is constructed as a shaving head and the other as a manicuring unit arranged parallel thereto. This way it is intended to create a particularly versatile appliance for day-to-day needs. These two known documents both foresee the use of only the one or other work unit, meaning the use of either the hair removal unit or the abrading/manicuring unit. 
         [0004]    This means, for example, for the user of a hair removal apparatus according to EP 1 225 818 B1, that after an epilating operation the device referred to as the abrading device must be mounted onto the hair removal apparatus in order then to treat the skin with the abrasive surface in a separate work step. In terms of comfort and expenditure of time, this represents a considerable disadvantage. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    In one aspect, the invention provides a method for removing hair, a hair removal apparatus and an attachment therefor, with which a particularly thorough removal of hair and treatment of the skin is made possible in a way particularly easy and comfortable for the user. In this case the abrading of the skin by means of the abrasive surface not only smoothes the skin itself but also mechanically processes any remaining hairs, even very short ones, in the sense that they are abraded down or off. Very short hairs remaining after shaving, for example, can be abraded down and thus rounded off on their cut plane, which greatly increases the overall smoothness of the skin surface. 
         [0006]    In one aspect of the invention, a hair removal apparatus includes a housing, a drive mechanism, and an abrasive element. The drive mechanism is arranged to drive at least a first hair removal unit and an abrasive element. The abrasive element is arranged proximate the first hair removal unit. The abrasive element is arranged and carried on an attachment mountable on and demountable from the housing. 
         [0007]    In another aspect of the invention, an attachment for a hair removal apparatus includes a drivable abrasive element and is mountable on the housing of a hair removal apparatus. 
         [0008]    Another aspect of the invention features a method of removing hair from human skin by means of a hair removal apparatus to be held in the user&#39;s hand. The hair removal apparatus includes a housing, at least a first hair removal unit for cutting and/or plucking hairs, and an abrasive element. In some implementations, the hair removal unit is brought into contact with the skin and moved along the skin in a feed direction with the abrasive element, also in contact with the skin, being made to follow the hair removal unit in the feed direction. 
         [0009]    In some implementations, it is possible to remove hair and smooth the skin in a single operation. An elaborate and time-consuming conversion of the electrical appliance is no longer necessary, nor is another processing cycle after mounting the abrading device. 
         [0010]    In this arrangement it is generally possible for the abrasive element to be assigned an additional drive mechanism of its own. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, provision is made however for the abrasive element to include coupling means which are adapted to engage with mating additional coupling means provided on the hair removal apparatus and connected to the drive mechanism. Hence with simple means the existing drive mechanism in the hair removal apparatus is also used for operating the abrasive element. 
         [0011]    The first hair removal unit is preferably a shaving head for cutting hairs. However, the integrated abrading of the skin surface in a single operation also offers an advantage in conjunction with epilating, hence another embodiment of the invention provides for the first hair removal unit to be an epilator head for plucking hairs. 
         [0012]    To be able to make a particularly effective impact per pull of the hair removal apparatus across the skin, both in terms of removing hair and smoothing the skin, provision is made in another embodiment of the invention for the hair removal apparatus to have at least two hair removal units. In this arrangement it is particularly advantageous for the first hair removal unit to be constructed as a short-hair cutter unit and the second hair removal unit as a long-hair cutter unit, with the short-hair cutter unit being arranged between the abrasive element and the long-hair cutter unit. As a result, when the hair removal apparatus is moved across the skin with the long-hair cutter unit to the fore, longer hairs are first pre-shortened before the remaining hairs are shaved off with the short-hair cutter unit. Then the shaved area is acted upon by the moving abrasive element and the skin is finally smoothed. For the corresponding application it also makes sense for the first hair removal unit to be constructed as an epilator unit and the second hair removal unit as a long-hair cutter unit, in which case the epilator unit is then arranged between the abrasive element and the long-hair cutter unit. Given the appropriate direction of movement of the hair removal unit relative to the skin surface, the hairs are initially pre-shortened to a certain length so that they can be grasped by the epilator unit easily and close to their roots, thus resulting in a reduction of the pain which may otherwise arise during the plucking. During a single processing pull, the plucking operation is then followed by the smoothing of the skin by means of the abrasive element. 
         [0013]    The abrasive element is advantageously driven in oscillatory motion. This is conducive to the easy movement of the hair removal apparatus along the skin. Unwanted, interfering influences on the handling of the hair removal apparatus caused by torques and the interaction of a rotating abrasive disk with the skin can be ruled out from the outset. 
         [0014]    If guide or engagement surfaces for contact with the skin are provided on the attachment, then the exact steering of the hair removal apparatus along a desired path on the skin can be made even easier. 
         [0015]    It is also possible for both the abrasive element and the second hair removal unit to be arranged in the attachment. Hence it is also possible for a so-called single-head shaver or epilator, meaning a hair removal unit with only one active hair removal unit, to be upgraded by mounting the attachment such that it then has a total of three active units. In particular the second hair removal unit is then constructed as a long-hair cutter unit. Ideally, the active elements are then arranged in the attachment such that, after the attachment is mounted, the first hair removal unit assigned to the hair removal apparatus is arranged between the two units arranged in the attachment, namely the abrasive element and the second hair removal unit. 
         [0016]    Further embodiments recited hereinabove with reference to the example of the hair removal apparatus and the attendant advantages also apply accordingly to various implementations of the attachment. 
         [0017]    In another aspect of the invention, a method for removing hair from the human skin by means of a hair removal apparatus to be held in the user&#39;s hand is characterized in that the hair removal apparatus includes a housing and at least a first hair removal unit for cutting and/or plucking hairs, and in that the hair removal unit is brought into contact with the skin and moved along it in a feed direction, with an abrasive element being made to follow the hair removal unit in the feed direction and being brought likewise into contact with the skin. In this method, it is particularly advantageous for the abrasive element to perform a movement relative to the housing in order to improve the efficiency of the abrading device through said abrading movement being superimposed on the feed movement. 
         [0018]    A preferred embodiment of this method provides for a shaving unit to be used as a first hair removal unit. Another embodiment of the invention provides for the use of an epilator unit as a first hair removal unit. For increased efficiency another embodiment of the method of the invention provides for the first hair removal unit to be preceded in the feed direction of the hair removal apparatus by a second hair removal unit, which is constructed preferably as a long-hair cutter unit. 
         [0019]    Further objects, features, advantages and application possibilities will become apparent from the subsequent description of embodiments. It will be appreciated that any single feature and any combination of single features described or represented by illustration form the subject-matter of the description. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0020]    In the drawings, 
           [0021]      FIG. 1  is a view of the hair removal apparatus with the attachment lifted off; 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a view of the hair removal apparatus with the attachment mounted and ready for use; 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the hair removal apparatus; 
           [0024]      FIG. 4  is an enlarged plan view of the attachment; and 
           [0025]      FIG. 5  is a sectional view of the attachment and the upper part of the hair removal apparatus with the attachment mounted. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0026]    The hair removal apparatus  1  as such is known in the art and is marketed as the Braun LS 5500, Type 5328. It includes a short-hair cutter unit  2  and a long-hair cutter unit  3 , which together with the ON/OFF switch  4  are arranged on a housing  5 . Also provided in the housing  5  are the power supply and an electric motor, which serve to drive the cutting parts in oscillatory motion. This is not illustrated in the drawings for the sake of clarity. The short-hair cutter unit includes a shaving foil  6  forming the outer cutter, and an under cutter  7 , in a manner known in the art. Under cutter  7  includes a plurality of blades moved in oscillating fashion underneath the foil. The long-hair cutter unit  3  in turn has a stationary cutting comb  8 , which forms the outer cutter, and an under cutter which is formed by a cutting blade  9  driven in oscillatory motion. These parts of the shaving units are shown in more detail in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0027]    The long-hair cutter unit  3  is elastically biased in upward direction on the whole and is carried in a floating bearing enabling it to follow the skin contour with ease. It can however be locked in place by the lock switch  10  so that it can be better used for the trimming function. 
         [0028]    The attachment  11  has an annular supporting body  12  in which the abrasive element  13  is carried such that it can be driven in oscillatory motion along its longitudinal axis. The abrasive element  13  can be constructed as pumice stone, as abrasive paper, as an open-cell sintered part or the like. For mounting, the attachment  11  is seated upon the shaving head of the hair removal apparatus  1  such that it is securely connected to the housing  5  of the hair removal apparatus  1  and such that the cutting elements, i.e., the short-hair cutter unit  2  and the long-hair cutter unit  3 , continue to be freely accessible and can be used accordingly. With the attachment  11  seated in place, both the short-hair cutter unit  2  and the long-hair cutter unit  3  project up beyond the essentially annularly circumferential engagement surface  14  constructed on the supporting body  12 . This is clearly evident from  FIGS. 2 and 5 . The supporting body  12  has on its front end a cutout for the lock switch  10  so that said switch can still be accessed and operated even after the attachment  11  is mounted. 
         [0029]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the hair removal apparatus  1  showing the flap  15 , which is arranged in the region of the shaving head at the rear of the hair removal apparatus, in open position. Said flap  15 , which is adapted to swivel about an axis extending parallel to the longitudinal dimension of the cutting elements and the abrasive element  13  respectively, enables the fork-shaped coupling  16  provided in the interior of the housing  5  and connected to the oscillating bridge  17  of the drive mechanism of the cutting elements  7  and  9  to be covered or exposed. The flap  15  must be opened prior to mounting the attachment  11  so as to enable the coupling finger  18  connected to the abrasive element  13  to be made to engage with the coupling  16  during the mounting operation. Once this engagement is effected, the oscillating movement of the oscillating bridge  17  can be transmitted via the coupling  16  and the coupling finger  18  onto the abrasive element  13 , which is mounted in the supporting body  12  for sliding motion along its longitudinal axis. Through suitable construction of the flap and coordination of the geometrical relationships with the coupling finger  18  and the supporting body  12  respectively, it is also possible to ensure that the flap  15  opens automatically upon mounting the attachment  11  on the hair removal apparatus  1 . 
         [0030]    If the hair removal apparatus  1  with mounted attachment  11  is now brought into contact with the surface of the skin to be treated and moved across the skin in the feed direction  19 , i.e., in the direction of the long-hair cutter unit  3 , then longer hairs on the skin are first shortened by the long-hair cutter unit  3  and then shaved off by the following short-hair cutter unit  2 . Then the shaved skin is finally smoothed by the abrasive element  13  with its oscillating to and fro movement, whereby for example dried or dead skin particles or calluses are also removed. All of the operations described are performed during a single pull of the hair removal apparatus across the skin. If, by contrast, only a shave or hair trim is intended, then the attachment  11  detaches easily in order for the hair removal apparatus  1  to be used in the usual way. 
         [0031]    In an example not shown in the drawings, the hair removal unit of the hair removal apparatus  1  is constructed as an epilating head, which uses suitable clamping elements to grip hairs on the skin and remove them. With such a hair removal apparatus it is likewise effective, through corresponding use of an attachment carrying an abrasive element therein, to treat the skin with said abrading device subsequent to an epilating operation. In this case the comfort level is increased if, in addition to the epilating device, use is made of a long-hair cutter unit which precedes the epilating unit, whereby the abrasive element  13  follows the epilating unit. In particularly advantageous manner it is then possible, with a single operation or pull, first for hairs on the skin to be pre-shortened by means of a long-hair cutter unit to a certain length that enables the following epilating device to grip and pluck said hairs effectively and with as little pain as possible, and then for the epilated skin to be treated in the final integrated work step with the abrading device.

Technology Classification (CPC): 0