USAGE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to hygiene products, in particular, to a structure of shavers for short-term usage having a handle made of a biodegradable material for its environmentally friendly usage and disposal.

PRIOR ART

At present, disposable shavers for short-term usage with a service life that terminates after depletion of their elements gained a wide popularity. However, when manufacturing such shaving sticks, advantageously, plastic elements are used, and their disposal is associated with significant problems, since they may remain in the environment in almost unchanged form during several generations.

One of potential solutions to shorten the amount of solid plastic waste is recycling thereof. In case of a correct recycling, the plastic product may live several “lives” in various forms. Although the recycling is a useful and desirable method for reducing the amount of solid waste, it does not resolve a problem of a final disposal of the plastic. At the same time, burning the plastic products at high temperatures leads to contamination of the environmental air with harmful emissions, as well as it is a rather cost-intensive process.

Thus, nowadays, attention is being increasingly focused on environmentally friendly products which are safe both for the humanity and for the environment and which can make a worthy alternative to the plastic products.

The prior art teaches disposable shavers and shavers for short-term usage which are made of environmentally friendly, biodegradable materials, among which the Applicant has chosen several technical solutions which are the closest ones to the proposed invention in terms of a set of essential features.

The application GB2260927A dated 05.05.1993 discloses a disposable shaver comprising a rectangular paper or plastic card that is equipped with a Y- shaped folding line in its central part to fold a lower part of the rectangular card to a handle, a gluing substance for fixing both faces of the folded handle, a shaver head comprising an upper half of the rectangular card with a slit, a sharp blade, and parallel folding lines. A tab is formed on an upper edge of the card between two cut parts, the tab is inserted into the slit for fixation of the shaver head. The blade may be covered by a removable plastic film in order to avoid an unintentional cutting a finger when folding the shaver. A drawback of the proposed technical solution lies in an insufficient ergonomics of the handle that has a flat shape in the folded state, that is rather thin, is characterized by an insufficient rigidity, thereby, there is a high probability of its deformation during the usage process, and manufacturing of the handle from a paper that is not treated with a water- impermeable material may lead to its swelling and destruction when exposed to water. Furthermore, a mandatory folding of the shaver by a user prior to its usage may lead to a mistake during folding of the shaver and, as a consequence, to impossibility of its consequent usage.

The patent AT400419B dated 27.12.2005 discloses a shaver for a wet shaving that consists of a paper handle and a metal blade glued to a bearing surface of the handle. In order to avoid a user’s injure during usage of such shaver, the blade is partially equipped with a paper lid and surrounded, from three sides, with a protection device made of a U-shaped paper in plane. In one of embodiments of the invention, four ellipsoidal-shaped openings may be provided in the handle near a place for securing the blade for a passage of water and shaving foam. A drawback of the proposed technical solution, as in the previous case, lies in making the handle from a non-treated water-impermeable paper material that may lead to its swelling, deformation, and destruction when exposed to water. A disposable shaver according to the application KR20200145567 A dated 30.12.2020 is taken as the closest analogue, the shaver comprises a handle made of a paper water-impermeable material, and a small-sized blade head that is secured on the handle, the blade head consists of thin shaver blades, as well as a soap layer applied onto the handle surface that is sufficient for a single use. Therewith, the shaver is configured such that prior to the usage it is folded by the user by forming a groove along the entire length of the handle. A drawback of the proposed technical solution lies in an insufficient thickness of the handle and, thus, the rigidity, which may lead to its deformation during usage, as well as a mandatory folding of the shaver by the user prior to usage, thereby requiring a presence of an additional instruction, since a mistake during folding the shaver will significantly complicate or even make its consequent use impossible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is aimed at a task to create a reliable, structurally simple, effective, and safe in use shaver that is preferably made of environmentally friendly materials that could enable to achieve a technical effect that lies in provision of a limited useful life of a regular use of the shaver and a possibility to divide and to sort out inherently different materials comprised therein at the end of the usage term and their complete processing, thereby facilitating a protection of the environment in general.

The posed task is resolved by creation of a shaver for short-term usage that consists of a handle having an elongated shape of a U-shaped cross and longitudinal sections to form a semi-capsule convex structure with a uniform recess along the entire length and rounded ends, made of at least two layers of a paper material which are joint by inner surfaces by means of a composite formation and have outer surfaces which are imparted with water-impermeability by means of a hot embossing, and which are cut to form a flat flange along a perimeter and a blade head that is secured to one of ends of the handle from a side of the flat flange by a non-toxic glue joint, the blade head having a front face with a block of blades secured thereto with cutting edges are arranged perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of the handle, and an opposite side is provided with a protrusion having a shape that corresponds to the shape of the recess of the handle in a place of securing the blade head and bears firmly thereto, thereby providing an adhesion and mechanical joint between the blade head and the flat flange and the inner part of the handle.

Making the handle of the shaver in the longitudinal U-shaped cross and longitudinal sections to form the semi-capsule convex structure having the uniform recess along the entire length and the rounded ends increases the ergonomics of the product, thereby facilitating a maximum convenient arrangement of the handle in the user’s hand, improving its appearance, as well as it provides the product with an additional reinforcement rib, thereby increasing its reliability and minimizing a probability of appearance of cracks in the handle and, thus, breaking during usage of the shaver. Furthermore, a presence of the uniform recess along the entire length of the handle avoids contamination of the user’s hands due to a uniform flowing of the liquid on its inner surface during usage of the shaver, as well as it reduces a risk of a microbiological contamination of the handle due to a simplified washing out the liquid from the recess after usage of the shaver.

Making the handle of at least two paper material layers provides it with the required hardness that is sufficient both to preserve its integrity and lack of deformational changes when holding the shaver in the hand in static and to withstand loads which occur in the process of using the shaver during movement of the blade head during the shaving process. Therewith, according to one of embodiments of the invention, a thickness of each paper layer is between 0.8 and 1.0 mm and it has a density of between 0.55 and 0.65 g/cm ³ . An optimal number of layers and, thus, the thickness of the handle have been selected experimentally in order to provide a sufficient rigidity and, at the same time, an easy selection. According to one of embodiments of the invention, the handle has a length of between 120 and 170 mm, a width of 12 mm, and a radius of the semi-capsule of 6 mm, thereby making its shape convenient and ergonomic. Therewith, an intermediate reinforcing paper layer having the same thickness and density may be arranged between the two paper layers of the handle in order to provide sufficient characteristics of rigidity when manufacturing the shaver having larger geometrical parameters.

Therewith, according to the preferable embodiment of the invention, the paper material layers may be made of a cellulose and paper pulp that is based on a cane pulp or a bamboo pulp or a mixture thereof. Making the paper material of the cellulose and paper pulp without second raw material impurities provides an ecological safety of the shaver handle made thereof and a compliance with sanitary and hygiene standards. At the same time, use of such alternative sources of natural materials as cane pulp or bamboo pulp, which are environmentally friendly and quickly renewable plants, as the cellulose and paper pulp does not cause damage to nature and solves a problem of elimination of a large number of trees which constitute a main raw material for manufacturing the paper nowadays.

Joining the paper layers by inner surfaces by means of the composite formation increases their adhesion and makes it impossible for the layers to be displaced one relative to another one both during manufacturing and in the process of use of the finished product.

The hot embossing method, except for increasing the surface softness and improving the visual appearance of the product, provides water-impermeability to outer surfaces of the paper layers due to a deceleration of the paper swelling during its interaction with water in the process of usage of the shaver, thereby enabling to use the shaver more often within an average period of between 10 and 30 days, whereafter, due to a gradual penetration of water into pores of the paper handle, it becomes swelled that is accompanied by deformation and loss of softness of the handle surface which indicates that the shelf life of the product has expired. Cutting a blank to form a flat flange along the cut edge, i.e., the entire handle perimeter, increases its rigidity, as well as excludes a necessity of an additional treatment of a place for securing the blade head.

Securing of the blade head at one of the handle ends from the side of the flat flange by means of the non-toxic gluing substance of a natural, e.g., casein or gluten, origin provides its reliable joint with the handle prior to expiration of the shelf life of the shaver followed by its easy disjoint after the shelf life of the product has been expired, thereby enabling to discretely sort out naturally different structural elements comprised in the shaver (the handle and the blade head) and their consequent recycling or complete safe disposal, thereby facilitating the protection of the environment in general. An important advantage of the invention also lies in that the non-toxic gluing substance does not make any harmful impact onto the environment, as well as it is safe for the user’s health.

The arrangement of the block of blades on the front face of the blade head with the cutting edges of the blades being arranged perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the handle provides the user with a maximum convenient and effective shaving. Therewith, securing of the block of blades to the head may be such as to provide a constant inclination angle of the blades relative to the handle that is simpler to make and, thus, more economical or such as to provide a smooth oscillation of the blades in the process of shaving, thereby reducing a risk of making microslits of a skin, simplifying sliding, and improving shaving of hardly accessible areas of the skin. In separate embodiments of the invention, in order to simplify the shaving process and to improve the sliding, as well as to reduce skin irritation, the blades or the shaving head around the blades may be coated with a layer of an additional component such as, e.g., polyethylene glycol, carboxypolymethylene etc.

Making the protrusion on the opposite side of the blade head, wherein the shape of the protrusion corresponds to the shape of the handle recess in the place of securing the blade head and bears firmly thereto, provides an adhesion and mechanical joint between the blade head and the flat flange and the inner part of the handle. The correspondence of the shapes of the blade head and the recess of the inner part of the handle provides their precise alignment and reliable securing, as well as reduces an amount of the glue required for joining.

Therewith, according to one of embodiments of the invention, the blade head may be made of ABS plastic or biocomposite. Upon disjoint from the handle, the blade head must be recycled in case of use of the ABS plastic or disposed in a full harmless fashion in case of use of such biocomposite plastics as, e.g., PLA.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An exemplary embodiment of the claimed invention is illustrated by the drawings, which show the following:

Fig. 1 - a general axonometric side view of the shaver in accordance with the preferable embodiment;

Fig. 2 - a general axonometric bottom view of the shaver in accordance with the preferable embodiment;

Fig. 3 - a longitudinal section of the general bottom view of the shaver in accordance with the preferable embodiment;

Fig. 4 - a general axonometric top view of the shaver in accordance with the preferable embodiment;

Fig. 5 - a longitudinal section of the shaver;

Fig. 6 - a front face view of the blade head with the secured block of blades;

Fig. 7 - a longitudinal section of the shaver with the blade head.

The drawings that illustrate the claimed invention, as well as the stated particular embodiment are merely exemplary in nature and are in no way intended to limit the claims appended hereto, but to explain the essence of the invention.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INVENTION A shaver 1 consists of a handle 2 having an elongated shape of a U-shaped cross and longitudinal sections to form a semi-capsule convex structure 3 having a uniform recess 4 along the entire length and rounded ends 5, made of at least two layers 6 of a paper material. A flat flange 7 is provided along the perimeter of the handle 2, the flat edge has a glue joint 8 with a blade head 9 having a front face which a block of blades 10 is secured on, with cutting edges of the blades are arranged perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the handle 2, while a protrusion 11 is provided on an opposite side, the protrusion has a shape that corresponds to the shape of the recess 4 of the handle 2 in a place of securing of the blade head 9 and firmly abuts thereto, thereby providing an adhesion and mechanical joint between the blade head 9 and the flat flange 7 and the inner part of the handle 2.

The paper materia, which the layers 6 of the handle 2 are made of, may be made of a pulp, preferably cane and/or bamboo, or a mixture thereof, by means of their re-pulpation, aqueous formation, followed by pressing with an additional hot embossing of the paper from one side. The handle 2 is formed with the recess 4 when joining the layers 6 by rough surfaces between each other. Therewith, the flat flange 7 may be formed by cutting a blank of the handle 2, e.g., using cutting tools.

Therewith, according to one of embodiments of the invention, the handle 2 has a length of between 120 and 170 mm, a width of 12 mm, and a radius of the semi-capsule of 6 mm, thereby making its shape convenient and ergonomic. An intermediate reinforcing paper layer having the same thickness and density (not depicted in the drawings) may be arranged between the two paper layers of the handle 2 in order to provide sufficient characteristics of rigidity when manufacturing the shaver having larger geometrical parameters.

In the course of conduction of experimental researches it has been revealed that upon joining the at least two paper layers 6 by means of the composite formation, the overall thickness of the obtained handle 2 is as good as the known shavers in terms of rigidity and flexibility which are manufactured from plastic or wood, wherein the overall structure of the shaver is characterized by lightness and compactness, and smoothing an opposite side of each paper sheet by means of a hot embossing method has enabled to make smooth the entire surface of the handle and to provide it with water impermeability properties for a time period between 10 and 30 days of regular use.

Making the blade head 9, with the block of blades 10 secured on the front face thereof, of ABS plastic or biocomposite may be performed by methods which are known to a skilled person.

Joining the blade head 9 with the flat flange 7 of the handle 2 by the layer 8 of a non-toxic glue enables their rigid joint and easy abruption upon soaking of the paper handle 2 and allows to divide materials which differ in terms of a formulation for their separate disposal or processing. Therewith, manufacturing of the handle from a biodegradable material paper allows to achieve reduction of environmental contamination and costs for the disposal.

Due to compact dimensions and shape thereof, the shaver described according to the invention may be arranged in an inexpensive packaging of small dimensions that is advantageously made of paper and it may be sold, e.g., in vending machines or distributed in large quantities for available use at any location (hotels, healthcare facilities, aircrafts, trains etc.). Furthermore, such shaver may be used in correctional facilities and prisons, since making the shaver handle from such material as paper makes in impossible to use it for unauthorized making of dangerous articles in order to injure personnel or prisoners of the above-mentioned facilities.

Therefore, the proposed technical solution enables to create the environmentally friendly shaver for short-term usage having the ergonomic and reliable structure, which could provide its proper intended use in various fields and may be disposed with a minimum environmental damage.

It should be noted that the above-described embodiment of the invention is used as an illustration only and shall not limit the scope of the invention. Obvious modifications of embodiments of the invention may be easily made by persons skilled in this field of art without going beyond the essence thereof.