ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN DEVICE

Abstract

The invention relates to an electrically driven device, for example an electric hair removal device, such as a wet or dry shaver, an electric toothbrush or an electric skin treatment device. The electrically driven device comprises a housing having a chassis, wherein the chassis comprises an electric motor having a first drive shaft, a battery unit, and an oscillating body having a second drive shaft. A first longitudinal axis is defined arranged along the second drive shaft, a second longitudinal axis is defined arranged along the first drive shaft, and a third longitudinal axis is defined arranged through the center of the body of the battery unit, wherein the second longitudinal axis and/or the third longitudinal axis are parallel offset to the first longitudinal axis.

Claims

1. An electrically driven device with a housing comprising a chassis, wherein the chassis comprises a plastic skeleton for receiving an electric motor having a first drive shaft, a battery unit, a PCB and an oscillating body having a second drive shaft, wherein a first longitudinal axis is defined arranged along the second drive shaft, wherein a second longitudinal axis is defined arranged along the first drive shaft, and a third longitudinal axis is defined arranged through the center of the body of the battery unit, the second longitudinal axis and the third longitudinal axis are parallel offset to the first longitudinal axis.

2. The electrically driven device of claim 1, wherein the second longitudinal axis and the first longitudinal axis and the third longitudinal axis and the first longitudinal axis are offset by a different offset distance.

3. The electrically driven device according to claim 1, wherein the second longitudinal axis and the third longitudinal axis are offset from the first longitudinal axis in opposite transverse directions.

4. The electrically driven device according to claim 1, wherein the housing and the chassis comprise at least two components.

5. The electrically driven device according to claim 4, wherein the at least two components comprise a soft and a hard component.

6. An electrically driven device according to the preamble portion of claim 1, wherein the chassis is provided with openings or cavities for receiving the motor and the battery unit side by side and is provided with the PCB at a lateral side, also side by side to one of the motor and the battery unit.

7. The electrically driven device according to claim 1, wherein the chassis with its skeleton comprises at least an upper wall, a lower wall, a rear wall and a front wall, wherein the front or the rear wall comprise openings or cavities for receiving the battery unit and the motor and wherein the PCB is fixed at a lateral side of the chassis.

8. The electrically driven device according to claim 1, wherein the second drive shaft is adapted to be mechanically coupled to at least one cutter unit.

9. The electrically driven device according to claim 1, wherein the electric motor comprises a drive pin rotatable eccentrically about the second longitudinal axis, wherein the drive pin is adapted to be mechanically coupled to the oscillating body.

10. The electrically driven device according to claim 1, wherein the housing and the chassis comprises attachment means, preferably press ribs, to secure the motion of the oscillating body in at least one direction.

11. The electrically driven device according to claim 1, wherein the housing or at least one of the housing components or the chassis or at least one of the chassis components comprise means to secure the electric motor.

12. The electrically driven device according to claim 1, wherein the housing or the housing components and the chassis or the chassis components are formed by injection molding.

13. The electrically driven device according to claim 1, wherein the electrically driven device further comprises a cap, wherein the cap is removably attached to the housing or one of the housing components, and wherein the cap is at least covering a button to actuate the electrically driven device.

14. The electrically driven device according to claim 1, wherein the electric motor and the battery unit are sealed against moisture penetration, by seals of at least one of the housing or the housing components or the chassis or the chassis components or the cap.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] FIG. 1a shows a perspective view of a swing bridge;

[0026] FIG. 1b shows a sectional view of the swing bridge of FIG. 1a along line A-A in FIG. 1c;

[0027] FIG. 1c shows a top view of the swing bridge of FIG. 1a;

[0028] FIG. 1d shows a side view of the swing bridge of FIG. 1a;

[0029] FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of the components of the swing bridge of FIG. 1a together with an electric motor;

[0030] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the swing bridge and the electric motor of FIG. 2 arranged within a chassis;

[0031] FIG. 4a shows a perspective view of an assembled electrically driven device according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0032] FIG. 4b shows a sectional view of the electrically driven device of FIG. 4a; and

[0033] FIG. 5 shows an exploded view of the electrically driven device of FIG. 4a together with a cap.

[0034] The swing bridge 1 shown in FIG. 1a comprises an oscillating body 2 and a second drive shaft 3. The oscillating body 2 of FIG. 1a has an upper first component 4 and a lower second component 5, wherein the first component 4 comprises a different shape than the second component 5. The oscillating body 2 and the respective first and second component 4 and 5 are ultrasonic welded together and define plane X.

[0035] The swing bridge 1 further comprises two webs 6 being an integral part of the second component 5 of the oscillating body 2. The two webs 6 each have a free end 7 facing away from the oscillating body 2. To be bendable in a transverse direction of an electrically driven device (not shown), the webs 6 comprise in general a smaller material strength or thickness V compared to their width W.

[0036] The width W of the webs 6 shown in FIG. 1a is a bit smaller than the width of the components 4 and 5 of the oscillating body 2. Additionally, the width W of the webs 6 between the oscillating body 2 and the free end 7 can differ. Further, the free ends 7 of FIG. 1a have protrusions facing away from the oscillating body 2 for securing the swing bridge 1.

[0037] Furthermore, the second component 5 of the swing bridge 1 has a slot 8 (shown in FIG. 2). The second drive shaft 3 is overmolded within a corner section of the first component 4 and runs along a first longitudinal axis I.

[0038] The section A-A of FIG. 1b is shown in FIG. 1c. Welding dots 9 in FIG. 1b are used for ultrasonic welding of the two components 4 and 5 of the oscillating body 2. The first component 4 comprising the second drive shaft 3 protrudes beyond the second component 5 on the side where the second drive shaft 3 is located. Moreover, the overmolding of the second drive shaft 3 comprises ribs 10 for support on the first component 4.

[0039] FIG. 1c shows a top view of the swing bridge 1. It can be noticed that the first component 4 and the second component 5 are ultrasonic welded by four welding dots 9. Even though, it seems that the swing bridge 1 only comprises one web 1 on the left side, the web on the right side is simply covered by the protruding first component 4 as mentioned before. Further, the second drive shaft 3, which is located in a corner section of the oscillating body 2, is offset in two directions of the plane X, wherein the offset in one transverse direction is bigger than the offset in the other transverse direction of plane X.

[0040] In FIG. 1d a side view of the swing bridge 1 is shown, wherein the above-mentioned differing width W of the webs 6 can be noticed. The width W of web 6 is bigger at the free end 7 comprising the protrusion for securing the swing bridge 1.

[0041] FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of the swing bridge 1 of FIGS. 1a to 1d together with an electric motor 100. The second component 5 shows the above-mentioned slot 8. The slot 8 depicted in FIG. 2 is an elongated hole with a smaller widening in the oscillating direction of the swing bridge 1. The electric motor 100 comprises an eccentrically rotatable drive pin 101. Once the swing bridge 1 and the electric motor 100 are assembled, the drive pin 101 extends into the slot 8 of the swing bridge 1. Thus, a rotatable motion of the drive pin 101 can be converted into an oscillating motion of the swing bridge 1. Especially when the swing bridge 1 is secured by the free ends 7 of the webs 6, this oscillating motion is a linear oscillating motion in a transverse direction of an electrically driven device (not shown) (neglecting the deflection in the direction perpendicular to plane X). The drive pin 101 may be coupled to a first drive shaft 103 (shown in FIG. 4b) of the electric motor 100 or may be an integral part of the first drive shaft 103. Further, a second longitudinal axis II running along this first drive shaft 103 of the electric motor 100 is depicted. Furthermore, FIG. 2 shows a parallel offset between the first longitudinal axis I and the second longitudinal axis II and, thus, an asymmetric assembly. The two longitudinal axes I and II are parallel offset in two transverse direction of the plane X. In addition, it can be noted that the second longitudinal axis II is running through the center of slot 8.

[0042] A chassis 200 comprising the assembled swing bridge 1 and an electric motor 100 together with a battery unit 102 is shown in FIG. 3. The chassis 200 is half-open, which means that a front wall 205 of the chassis 200 comprising an upper wall 202, a lower wall 203, a rear wall 204 is cut out. Therefore, the chassis 200 is opened on the front wall 205, which gives easy access to the electric motor 101 and the battery unit 102. In addition, the at least mostly closed rear wall 204 provides additional stiffness to the chassis 200. Additionally or as an alternative, the chassis 200 may be coupled to a housing or may be an integral part of a housing. The battery unit 102 is preferably rechargeable and a third longitudinal axis III runs through its center of the body. Further, the free ends 7 of the swing bridge 1 are secured to the chassis 200. One way to secure the swing bridge 1 to the chassis 200 is to press the free ends 7 of the webs 6 into press ribs of the chassis 200 and to melt those ribs by hot-staking. Once the swing bridge 1 is secured, only a movement of the oscillating body 2 is permitted. Further, due to the big width W of the webs 6 compared to their material strength V, the webs 6 are stiff in the transverse direction showing a smaller extension of the chassis 200, while being flexible in the transverse direction which is equal to the direction of oscillation of the oscillating body 2. Thus, a linear oscillating motion of the swing bridge 1 is caused by a rotatable motion of the drive pin 101 extending into the slot 8 of the oscillating body 2.

[0043] FIG. 4a illustrates an electrically driven device 300 comprising the assembled chassis 200 (not shown) of FIG. 3. The electrically driven device 300, here an electric shaver, comprises an upper housing 301, an outer housing 302, a button 303 and a cutter unit 201. The upper housing 301 includes the button 303. The button 303 is used to actuate the electrically driven device 300.

[0044] A cross-sectional view of the electrically driven device 300 is shown in FIG. 4b. The electrically driven device 300 comprises the chassis 200 and the cutter unit 201. The chassis 200 is fixed within the housing and comprises the swing bridge 1, the electric motor 100 and the battery unit 102. The electric motor 1 is arranged on the left side of the electrically driven device 300 and the battery unit 102 is arranged on the right side of the chassis 200 as seen in FIG. 4b. Hence, the assembly of the electric motor 100 and the battery unit 102 is asymmetric according to the second drive shaft 3 of the oscillating body 2.

[0045] The electric motor 100 comprises the first drive shaft 103 running along the second longitudinal axis II and an attachable eccentrically rotatable drive pin 101. The drive pin 101 extends into the slot 8 and mechanically couples the electric motor 100 to the swing bridge 1, wherein the swing bridge 1 is secured within an outer and an interior wall of the chassis 200. As can be seen from FIG. 4b, the drive pin 101 extends through slot 8 of the second component 5 and protrudes into a recess of the first component 4. Further, the second drive shaft 3 of the oscillating body 2 of the swing bridge 1 running along the first longitudinal axis I is mechanically coupled to the cutter unit 201. Furthermore, the battery unit 102 comprises the third longitudinal axis III running through the center of its body. As can be clearly seen, all three longitudinal axes I, II and III are parallel offset in at least one transverse direction of the electrically driven device 300.

[0046] FIG. 4b also shows, that the offset distance between the first and the second longitudinal axes I and II is smaller than the offset distance between the first and the third longitudinal axes I and III along with a parallel offset in an opposite transverse direction of the electrically driven device 300 between the first and second longitudinal axes I and II compared to the parallel offset between the first and the third longitudinal axes I and III.

[0047] Additionally, the electrically driven device 300 comprises multiple housing parts, i.e. the upper housing 301, the outer housing 302, a lower housing 304 and an inner housing 305. All housing parts 301, 302, 304 and 305 and the chassis 200 are coupled by attachment means such as hooks, screws or the like or some of them may be molded together. Here, upper housing 301 is made from soft plastic/component which is over injection molded onto inner housing 305 which is made from a hard plastic component. Thus this and optionally other housing/chassis parts is/are made in a 2K injection molding process. The upper housing 301 comprises a softer material than the inner housing 305. In order to prevent the inner component parts of the electrically driven device 300 to be wetted, especially the electric motor 100 and the battery unit 102, the PCB, electrical contacts and the chassis are sealed by lower seals 306 and and upper seals/o-rings 308. Lower housing 304 is comprised of the housing plastic part, a LED component, charging pins which is all co injection molded as one piece.

[0048] Additional seals 306 can be seen in an exploded view of the electrically driven device 300 in FIG. 5. Furthermore, FIG. 5 shows a cap 307 that can be attached to the electrically driven device 300 during storage and/or transport. The dotted lines in FIG. 5, except for the line demonstrating the longitudinal axis III, demonstrate the way of assembly of some housing components and seals 306 to the chassis 200.

[0049] The assembled exemplary electrically driven device 300 with the electric motor 100, the battery unit 102, the swing bridge 1 with the oscillating body 2 and the cutter unit 201 is therefore adapted to convert the rotatable motion of the first drive shaft 103 of the electric motor 100 into a linear oscillation of the second drive shaft 3 and thus to operate the cutter unit 201. Therefore, the swing bridge 1 converts the rotatable motion of the first drive shaft 103 of the electric motor 100 and the respective eccentrically drive pin 101 into a linear oscillating motion of the second drive shaft 3 and thus the cutter unit 103.

[0050] When the electrically driven device 300, i.e. the electric motor 100, is actuated by button 303 and the battery unit 102 powers the electric motor 100, the first drive shaft 103 starts rotating. The drive pin 101, which is attached to the first drive shaft 103 converts the rotatable motion into an eccentrically rotatable motion. As the drive pin 101 extends into slot 8, i.e. an elongated hole with its smaller widening in the direction of oscillation of the swing bridge 1, a full rotation of the drive pin 101 may first push the swing bridge 1 to its right side, wherein the webs 6 bent and only the oscillating body 2 of the swing bridge 1 is shifted. Since, the drive pin 101 continues to rotate, the drive pin 101 reaches the bigger widening of the elongated hole, followed by a push of the swing bridge 1 in the opposite direction, i.e. to the left side. Between the transition of the movement of the swing bridge 1 from the right to the left, the webs 6 relax before they are bent again. As the rotatable motion of the drive pin 101 continues, the swing bridge 1 and therefore the second drive shaft 3 continues to oscillate in its longitudinal direction, which operates the cutter unit 201.

[0051] As the swing bridge 1 enables an offset between the drive shafts 3 and 103, the electric motor 100 can be assembled within the electrically driven device 300 in an edge portion, close to the side walls of the chassis and/or the housing. Hence, space for a battery unit 102 on the side opposite to the electric motor 100 is created and the use of the available installation space can be optimized.

[0052] In addition, the chassis 200 allows an asymmetric assembly, wherein the electric motor 100 and the battery unit 102 are parallel offset to the second drive shaft 3, i.e. a parallel offset between the longitudinal axes I, II and III, which provides for a more balanced overall weight distribution within the electrically driven device 300 and in relation to the second drive shaft 3 of the oscillating body 2.

[0053] Consequently, the described assembly of the inventive electrically driven device 300 is particularly suitable for small electrically driven devices, especially for those devices which are used for travelling.

[0054] The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood as being strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead, unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean both the recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding that value. For example, a dimension disclosed as 40 mm is intended to mean about 40 mm.

[0055] Every document cited herein, including any cross referenced or related patent or application and any patent application or patent to which this application claims priority or benefit thereof, is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety unless expressly excluded or otherwise limited. The citation of any document is not an admission that it is prior art with respect to any invention disclosed or claimed herein or that it alone, or in any combination with any other reference or references, teaches, suggests or discloses any such invention. Further, to the extent that any meaning or definition of a term in this document conflicts with any meaning or definition of the same term in a document incorporated by reference, the meaning or definition assigned to that term in this document shall govern.

[0056] While particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of this invention.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0057] 1 swing bridge [0058] 2 oscillating body [0059] 3 second drive shaft (oscillating body) [0060] 4 first component [0061] 5 second component [0062] 6 web [0063] 7 free end [0064] 8 slot [0065] 9 welding dots [0066] 10 ribs [0067] 100 electric motor [0068] 101 drive pin [0069] 102 battery unit [0070] 103 first drive shaft (electric motor) [0071] 104 Printed Circuit Board PCB [0072] 200 chassis [0073] 201 cutter unit [0074] 202 upper wall [0075] 203 lower wall [0076] 204 rear wall [0077] 205 front wall [0078] 206 lateral side wall [0079] 300 electrically driven device [0080] 301 upper housing [0081] 302 outer housing [0082] 303 button [0083] 304 lower housing [0084] 305 inner housing [0085] 306 seal [0086] 307 cap [0087] 308 seal/o-ring [0088] I first longitudinal axis [0089] II second longitudinal axis [0090] III third longitudinal axis [0091] V material strength (web) [0092] W width (web) [0093] X plane