Earwax removal apparatus
Disclosed is an earwax removal apparatus comprising a head portion moving from the inside to the outside of a wax pocket and moving from the outside to the inside of the wax pocket; and a remover removably mounted inside the wax pocket and dislodging earwax from the tip of a scrubbing head of the head portion and allowing it to fall into the interior of the wax pocket. The earwax removal apparatus may further comprise a dry-only head mountable on the earwax removal apparatus and capable of entering an ear canal and blowing air directly onto the walls of the ear canal. The earwax removal apparatus may further comprise an oily earwax removal portion configured to remove oily earwax by injecting hydrogen peroxide into the ear canal through a spray hole of the scrubbing head of the head portion.
1 . An earwax removal apparatus comprising:
a wax pocket defining an interior;
a head portion including a scrubbing head having a tip, the head portion being configured to move from the interior of the wax pocket to outside of the wax pocket and move from the outside to inside of the wax pocket; and
a remover removably mounted inside the wax pocket, the remover comprising a hollow body defining a passage hole and a plurality of curved elastic ribs arranged on one side of the hollow body,
wherein, for each elastic rib, a first end of the elastic rib is integrally formed with the hollow body and a second end of the elastic rib is curved away from the hollow body with a constant curvature, and second ends of opposing elastic ribs are spaced apart to define the passage hole,
wherein, during a linear motion of the scrubbing head into the remover, the plurality of curved elastic ribs bend to accumulate elastic force and the accumulated elastic force dislodges earwax from the tip of the scrubbing head of the head portion such that the earwax falls into the interior of the wax pocket,
wherein the plurality of elastic ribs are mutually equidistantly spaced apart from each other on one side of the hollow body of the remover,
wherein the stiffness of each elastic rib of the remover is equal to or less than the stiffness of the tip of the scrubbing head.
2 . The earwax removal apparatus of claim 1 ,
wherein a material of the remover is a soft material.
3 . The earwax removal apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a dry-only head mountable on the earwax removal apparatus and capable of entering an ear canal and blowing air directly onto a wall of the ear canal.
4 . The earwax removal apparatus of claim 3 ,
wherein the dry-only head is formed in the form of a conduit and a plurality of holes are formed in a wall of the conduit.
5 . The earwax removal apparatus of claim 4 ,
wherein the dry-only head directs the pressure of air toward the wall of the ear canal and an entrance of the ear canal, thereby removing water droplets inside the ear canal to the outside of the ear and allowing moisture to escape to the outside.
6 . The earwax removal apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
an oily earwax removal portion configured to remove hardened oily earwax by injecting a wax-dissolving liquid into an ear canal through a spray hole of the scrubbing head of the head portion.
7 . The earwax removal apparatus of claim 6 ,
wherein the oily earwax removal portion injects the wax-dissolving liquid into a space connected to an inner passage of the head portion through a fill hole openable on an outside of the earwax removal apparatus.
8 . An earwax removal apparatus comprising:
the earwax removal apparatus of claim 1 ; and
a head driving portion configured to automatically drive a head portion.
9 . The earwax removal apparatus of claim 8 ,
wherein the head driving portion is configured to rotate the head portion by a predetermined angle as the scrubbing head of the head portion approaches an ear canal entrance, thereby preventing the head portion from being caught on a protrusion of the ear canal entrance.
10 . The earwax removal apparatus of claim 9 ,
wherein an automatically occurring earwax removal operation comprises the head portion entering a predetermined unit depth through any one of multiple tracks of a wall surface of the ear canal comprising a plurality of tracks, moving to an adjacent track by a predetermined angle of rotation, and then retracting through the adjacent track to outside of the ear canal,
wherein the head portion performs the earwax removal operation repeatedly on all tracks at a current depth entered and on all tracks at subsequent depths following subsequent entry by a unit depth.
11 . The earwax removal apparatus of claim 8 ,
wherein the head driving portion slidingly moves the head portion into an ear canal to remove earwax adhering to a wall surface of the ear canal in response to a user's manipulation of a manipulation knob, and reverses the head portion to return to an original position as a force applied to the manipulation knob is released.
12 . The earwax removal apparatus of claim 11 ,
wherein the head driving portion automatically rotates the head portion a predetermined angle when the scrubbing head is proximate to an ear canal entrance.
13 . An earwax removal apparatus comprising:
the earwax removal apparatus of claim 1 ; and
a user recognition portion disposed within reach of a user's fingers when the user grasps the earwax removal apparatus and configured to allow usage information of the earwax removal apparatus to be stored in the earwax removal apparatus or a server outside.
14 . The earwax removal apparatus of claim 13 ,
wherein the user recognition portion includes a jog switch.
15 . The earwax removal apparatus of claim 14 ,
wherein the user recognition portion resets an automatic motion speed of the head portion to a user-selected speed via the jog switch, and stores the user-selected speed on the earwax removal apparatus or an external server such that the user-selected speed is applied when the earwax removal apparatus is reused.