US3054179A - Hair trimmer - Google Patents

Description

sept. 1962 A. A. REISER ETAL 3,054,179

HAIR TRIMMER Filed Aug. 4, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTO s ALFRED A. 25/55::

F EDERICK E .ScHucA/M N 7275/24 rrakusv Sept. 18, 1962 3,054,179

A. A. REISER ETAL HAIR TRIMMER Filed Aug. 4, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 VENTO s ALFRED/4.221552 77/5214 1' 102MB v 3,054,179 HAIR TRIMMER Alfred A. Reiser, RED. 1, Old Lake Shore Road, Lake View, N.Y., and Frederick E. Schuchman, 5457 Dunmoyle Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa.

Filed Aug. 4, 1960, Ser. No. 47,514 20 Claims. (Cl. 330-295) This invention relates generally to electric razors and more particularly to an electric razor for cutting hair in the nostrils and ears.

The principal object of this invention is the provision of a tubular barrel. having an annular series of slots at the end thereof with a rotary blade therein for cutting hair that projects into the slots of the barrel. The bore of the barrel adjacent the slots provides the stationary portion of the cutting means and the blade which rotates within the barrel has a sharp edge that passes over the slots and provides the counterpart of the cutter for severing hair extending through the slots in the barrel. Thus the inner surface and edges of the slots of the barrel must be shaped to cooperate with the sharp cutting edge that travels over the interior of the slots. The principal problem is the manner of providing the proper amount of pressure between these cooperating cutting portions from a rotary member within the barrel. This problem may be accomplished by.having one or more arms that swing outwardly against the inner surface of the barrel adjacent the slots due to centrifugal force. This centrifugal force of the rotary cutting arm may be increased by adding weights to the rotary cutting member. .If there are two or three arms in the rotor the cutting heads of which are resiliently attached to the rotating member, then a weight may be added to each arm adjacent the position of the cutting slots.

The simplest form of centrifugal action for the rotary member to solve this problem is a Single blade which may be pivotally attached to the rotary member on the rotary axis thereof and the rotary member being slotted to allow the blade to move laterally against the cutting surface of the barrel as it rotates. If the blade is of sufiicient weight it may supply the proper pressure on the interior cutting surface of the barrel to provide a good cutting action of hair such as extending from the nostril which hair is rather coarse. If the blades does not have suflicient centrifugal force, then a weight may be added thereto to increase the pressure of the blade on the cutting surface inside of the barrel to the proper degree and the weight may be placed at different positions between the cutting surface of the blade and its pivot to effect the proper operation of the device.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a tubular hair cutting device that has a series of slots adjacent one end thereof to provide an inner annular cutting surface to be engaged by a rotary cutting blade mounted within the tube and having suflicient inertia to apply a cutting pressure and coact with the inner cutting surface of the tube when the blade is rotated therein. The tube is also provided with a series of openings spaced inwardly from the slots to provide a discharge for the hair or liquid for the purpose of washing the hair trimmer as a transverse ,rotary blade cooperating with the inner cutting surface of the tube will function as a pump rotor for the purpose of drawing liquid upwardly intothe tube and discharge it laterally through the discharge orifice and thus wash out the tube.

Another object vis the provision of a transverse rotary blade having a spiral twist for enhancing the pump rotor action in drawing fluid into the end of the tube and discharging the same through lateral openings.

Another object of this invention is the provision of shaping the inner cutting surface of the barrel by under- United States Patent )fifice A 3,054,179 Patented Sept. .18, 1962 cutting the bore and arranging the pivot of the rotary cutter at such a distance that the straight edge of the rotary cutter mates with the cutting surface in the bore of the barrel when the rotary cutter is forced against this surface by centrifugal action.

7 Another object is the provision of a rotary cutter for use in a tubular barrel wherein the cutter is flat and of uniform thickness and its end is arcuate from adjacent the cutting edge so as to provide a receded portion inwardly of the cutting edge. Such a rotary cutter must have only one cutting edge on each side of the surface which engages the cutting surface of the barrel and from this cutting position the blade must recede. If there are to be two rotary cutting blades then they are mounted on the same pivot and the rotary axis is preferably between the engaging surfaces of the blades. These blades are so honed to fit the cutting surface of the barrel and are weighted so that the centrifugal force functions to have them spread diametrically on opposite sides of the barrel at the same time.

Other objects and advantages appear hereinafter in the following description and claims.

The accompanying drawings show for the purpose of exemplification without limiting the claims thereto, certain practical embodiments illustrating the principles of this invention wherein:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view with parts broken away showing the adaptation of the device to a commercial razor.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged exploded view of the rotary blade disclosed in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the cutter mechanism shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a battery operated hair trimmer showing a modified structural form.

7 FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of a rotary cutting blade.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged end view of the structure shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 1.

FIG. '8 is an enlarged sectional view showing a modified form of this invention.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view showing a modified form of the cutting blade and barrel.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 the motor body 1 is that of a well-known razor on the market today and to which this hair trimmer has been adapted to operate. The hair trimmer shown at 2 is provided with a cap member 3 which is shaped to close the opening 4 of the razor and is provided with an annular flange 5 that engages the edge 6 of the razor for enclosing the opening 4. The motor 1 is provided with two protruding shafts 7 that are geared together within the motor and which provide an axial resilience exerted by a spring 9 in forcing the shaft out.- wardly to a fixed stop. These shafts extend through formed projections 8 which with the case 10 of the motor 1 are formed by an integral plastic being separable along the medial line 11.

The under side of the hair trimmer adapter 2 is provided with a' pair of connected cylindrical abutments 12 and 13 that are provided with cylindrical bores 14 and 15 respectively. These bores fit down over the extensions 8 to firmly hold the adapter 2 in position. A spring lock is provided on the electric razor 1 to engage the lug 16 and hold the adapter in place. a

The adapter is provided with an inner casing 17 which is formed integral with the cap member 3 and extends through a bore 18 therein so as to properly center the clutch member 20 with the end of the shaft 7. The clutch member 20 is formed with a tubular sleeve 21 having a socket 22 in one end to receive the stepped screwdriver end of the shaft 7 for the purpose of driving the coupling 20. The opposite end of the coupling is provided with a socket 22 for resiliently receiving the pivot support 23. The pivot support 23 moves into the socket 22 with sufficient force that it may be inserted or retracted by hand but it is tight enough to forcibly clamp on the end of the pivot support 23 to rotate the same.

The end of the pivot support 23 remote of the motor is provided with a slot 24 centered in a transverse axial plane of the pivot support 23. A transverse opening 25 is made to receive the pivot pin 26. The pivot pin 26 is sufliciently long to also pass through the collar bearing 27 which is a plastic type bearing which is rotatable in the bore 28 of the barrel 30. The casing 17 has an adapter 31 secured thereto by the Allen screw 32. The adapter 31 may be removed from the bore of the casing 17 for the purpose of withdrawing the barrel from the casing. The barrel is then stretched over the blade member 33 and the pivot support 23 may then be withdrawn from the socket 22. The bore of the adapter 31 is threaded as indicated at 34 to receive the threaded section 35 of the barrel 30. A lock nut 36 is likewise threaded on the barrel to lock the barrel in position against the end of the adapter 31.

The blade 33 has a pivotal opening 37 to receive the pivot pin 36. The thickness of the blade 33 is less than that of the slot 24 and it is free to pivot on the pin 26 so that the cutting edge 40 may bear against the internal cutting surface 38 of the barrel 38. The blade 33 is also weighted as indicated at 41 for increasing the centrifugal action and thus the pressure of the cutting surface 40 against the interior cutting surface 38 of the barrel 30. This weight may be lead or another heavy body secured to the blade 33. The blade 33 is cut backwardly on the are as indicated at 42 so as to provide a generous opening to receive the hair through the end of the barrel 30 and allow the hair to be caught in the longitudinally disposed slots 43 in the cutting surface 38 of the barrel. These slots are considerable in number and are preferably uniformly spaced around the barrel and the outer rim of the cutting head is turned inwardly as indicated at 44 to cover the blunt end 45 of the blade so as to protect the person of the user. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 the slots 43 are V-shaped. However, as shown in FIG. 8 these slots are straight as indicated at 46.

It will be noted in FIGS. 1 and 2 that the cutting surface 40 is at an angle to the edge of the blade 33 so that it mates in honed relation with the cutting surface 38 of the head 44.

The barrel 30 is provided with a series of openings as indicated at 47 which are shown to be holes in FIGS. 1 and 2 which holes will permit short hairs to pass therethrough during the normal operation of the device. The blade 33 functions as a fan which will suck air into the open end at the head 44 and thus draw the cut air inwardly discharging it laterally through the openings 47 which openings may be made long so as to accommodate longer particles of hair. This pumping action is quite evident when the end of the barrel 30 is inserted into a liquid to clean the hair trimmer. When the end of the barrel 30 is immersed leaving the lateral openings 47 ex posed to the air and the device is operated the blade 33 will pump the liquid up into the barrel and discharge the same through the lateral openings 47.

In the structure shown in FIG. 4 the barrel 30 is threadably engaged in the threaded bore of the adapter 48 and locked in place by the lock nut 36. The adapter 48 has the adapted conical section 50 and is secured to the conical section 51 of the casing 52. This casing houses the electric motor 53 and is driven by a single battery cell 54 with its terminal 55 held in engagement with one of the motor leads 56' by means of the helical spring 57. The current is completed through the switch 58 which is similar to a flashlight switch which when engaging the casing of the motor 53 completes the circuit through the motor and the battery causing the motor to rotate and its shaft 59 rotating the sleeve 60 which snugly receives the end of the pivot support 23 unlike the electric razor shown in FIG. 1 which requires a cord attachment for connecting the same to a power circuit. The hair trimmer shown in FIG. 4 is independent in that it carries its own power and motor.

In the structure shown in FIG. 5 the blade 60 is arranged to be pivotally supported in the same manner as the previous blades. However, it is provided with a complete twist as indicated at 61 to position the cutting portion 40 at 180 from the stem portion 62. This arcuate disposition of the blade induces an increased impelling force enhancing the pumping action of the blade in drawing the hair inwardly and discharging it through the lateral ports.

Referring now to the structure shown in FIG. 8 a barrel 63 is provided with the slots 46 having straight sides and the interior cutting surface 64 of the cutting head at the end of the barrel is undercut from the bore 65 of the barrel so that the blade 66 which is supported on the pivot pin 26 has a straight edge 67 that matches the slope in the annular interior cutting surface 64. Thus the end of the blade as indicated at 68 becomes a cutting surface that matches the cutting surface 64.

The blade 66 is also provided with a weight member 41 to provide the proper pressure of the cutting surface 68 against the annular cutting surface 64 of the barrel for the purpose of severing the hair extending through the slots 46.

The barrel 63 is provided with extended slots 70 for discharging the hair laterally from the barrel. These openings are materially larger than the openings 47 which increases the discharge of the hair from the barrel.

Referring to FIG. 9 the barrel 71 has a uniform bore 72 with slots 73 at its outer end that extend through the inturned annular flange 74. The blade 75 is pivoted on the pin 26 and has a cut-ting edge 76 which mates with the interior cylindrical cutting surface 77 of the barrel. The outer end 77 of the blade 75 is also a cutting edge which mates with the inner radial cutting surface 79 of the inturned flange 74. The blade 75 is biased to move outwardly by the spring pressure forcing the shaft 7 outwardly thereby cutting hair on the inturned annular flange of the barrel as well as on the side of the barrel. As shown in FIG. 6 it is preferable to have the blade thicker than the openings or slots.

We claim:

1. A hair trimmer comprising a barrel, means defining a series of openings in the annular perimetral surface and the end of said barrel, a rotary member mounted in said barrel and carrying a pivot, a blade pivotally supported on said pivot in said rotary member, the outer edge of said blade engaging the bore of said barrel at least to the extent of the length of said openings, said blade being constructed so that its mass outwardly from said pivot is such that its inertial pressure against the annular surface of the bore adjacent said openings is sufiicient to sever hair extending through said openings as the blade is rotated.

2. The hair trimmer of claim 1 characterized by a weight attached to said blade outwardly of said pivot which increases the centrifugal force and pressure of said blade against the interior bore surface of said barrel adjacent said openings.

3. The hair trimmer of claim 1 characterized in that said blade is less in transverse dimension than the bore of said barrel.

4. The hair trimmer of claim 1 characterized in that the outer end of said blade recedes laterally from the cutting edge toward the opposite side of said blade.

5. The hair trimmer of claim 1 characterized in that said pivot is mounted in a bearing rotatable in the bore of said barrel.

6. The hair trimmer of claim 1 characterized by a motor for operating said hair trimmer having a rotary shaft biased to move outwardly, a clutch engaging the outer end of said motor shaft carrying said rotary member, said motor shaft moving said blade axially outwardly.

7. The hair trimmer of claim 1 characterized in that said blade is provided with a longitudinally extending cutting edge disposed at an angle relative to the edge of said blade adjacent said pivot and having a mating engagement with the bore of said barrel adjacent said openings.

8. The hair trimmer of claim 1 characterized in that said barrel is undercut adjacent said openings to provide an annular conical surface that mates with the cutting edge of said blade, the cutting portion of said blade being a straight extension of the edge of said blade and mating with said annular conical cutting surface in said barrel.

9. The hair trimmer of claim 1 characterized in that said blade is twisted intermediate of its pivot point and its outer cutting edge through 180.

10. The hair trimmer of claim 9 characterized in that said twisted portion of said blade extends along its cutting edge.

11. A hair trimmer comprising a barrel, an inturned annular flange on the outer end of said barrel, means defining a series of openings in the annular perimetral surface and said inturned flange, a rotary member mounted in said barrel and carrying a pivot, a blade pivotally supported on said pivot in said rotary member, the outer edge of said blade engaging the bore of said barrel at least to the extent of the length of said openings, said blade being constructed so that its mass outwardly from said pivot is such that its inertial pressure against the annular surface of the bore adjacent said openings is suflicient to sever hair extending through said openings as the blade is rotated.

12. The hair trimmer of claim 11 characterized by a motor for operating said hair trimmer having a rotary shaft biased to move outwardly, a clutch engaging the outer end of said motor shaft carrying said rotary memher, said motor shaft moving said blade axially outwardly to engage said inturned annular flange.

13. The hair trimmer of claim 11 characterized in that said openings are also in said inturned annular flange, said blade is biased to move outwardly, the outer end of said blade engaging said inturned annular flange to sever hair in the openings of said flange.

14. The hair trimmer of claim 11 characterized in that said openings are slots and said slots extend through said inturned annular flange.

15. A hair trimmer comprising a barrel, means defining a series of openings in the annular perimetral surface, a rotary member mounted in said barrel and carrying a pivot, a blade pivotally supported on said pivot in said rotary member, the outer edge of said blade engaging the bore of said barrel at least to the extent of the length of said openings, said blade being constructed so that its mass outwardly from said pivot is such that its inertial pressure against the annular surface of the bore adjacent said openings is suflicient to sever hair extending through said openings as the blade is rotated.

16. The hair trimmer of claim 15 characterized in that said blade is twisted intermediate of its pivot point and its outer edge, the planes of said pivot portion and that portion carrying the outer cutting edge being parallel to each other.

17. The hair trimmer of claim 16 characterized in that said twisted portion of said blade extends along its cutting edge.

18. The hair trimmer of claim 17 characterized in that said openings are slots.

19. The hair trimmer of claim 18 characterized in that said slots are V-shaped.

20. The hair trimmer of claim 15 characterized by means defining a second set of openings in said barrel spaced inwardly of said first set of openings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,026,630 Harris Jan. 7, 1936 2,312,933 Seiders Mar. 2, 1943 2,387,756 Henningsen Oct. 20, 1945 2,618,055 Robertson Nov. 18, 1952 2,801,465 Cason Aug. 6, 1957 2,946,121 Marach July 26, 1960 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,054, 179 September 18, 1962 Alfred A. Reiser et al. I

It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered petent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 6, line 27, for the claim reference numeral "17" read l5 Signed and sealed this 12th day of February 1963.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST w. SWIDER DAVID LADD Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer

Images