Personal care device
Personal care devices such as hair removal devices or electric shavers include a working head, a handle, an adjustment device, and a hazard determination device. The working head is configured for applying a personal care treatment to a body surface. The handle is attached to the working head to enable a user to manually move the working head along the body surface. The adjustment device is configured to adjust various settings of the working head. The hazard determination device sends a hazard signal to the adjustment device when a hazard condition to the personal care device is recognized, such as a freefall condition, high temperature, or low battery charge. Example hazard determination devices may include acceleration sensors, gyrosensors, temperature sensors, or voltage detectors. The adjustment device responds to the hazard signal by adjusting a setting of the working head into a safe harbor setting to protect the personal care device.
1 . A personal care device comprising:
a working head configured for applying a personal care treatment to a body surface with the working head;
a handle attached to the working head and configured for a user to manually move the working head along the body surface;
an adjustment device coupled with the handle, the adjustment device being configured to adjust at least one of a mechanical setting of the working head or a mechanical function of the working head; and
a hazard determination device coupled to the handle and communicatively coupled to the adjustment device, the hazard determination device being configured to issue a hazard signal to the adjustment device when a hazard condition of the personal care device is recognized by the hazard determination device,
wherein:
the adjustment device is configured to respond to the hazard signal from the hazard determination device by adjusting the mechanical setting and/or the mechanical function into a safe harbor setting or function to protect the personal care device.
2 . The personal care device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the hazard condition is a freefall of the personal care device; and
the hazard determination device comprises a freefall determination module configured to recognize the freefall and to issue the hazard signal upon determination of the freefall.
3 . The personal care device according to claim 2 , wherein the freefall determination module comprises:
at least one acceleration sensor; and
an evaluation unit coupled to the at least one acceleration sensor and configured to analyze an acceleration signal of the acceleration sensor for a characteristic indicative of free fall.
4 . The personal care device according to claim 3 , wherein the evaluation unit is configured to issue the hazard signal for freefall when the acceleration signal of the at least one acceleration sensor indicates an acceleration of the personal care device of zero or close to zero in directions of three axes perpendicular to each other.
5 . The personal care device according to claim 3 , wherein the evaluation unit is configured to issue the hazard signal for freefall when the acceleration signal of the at least one acceleration sensor indicates an acceleration of the personal care device significantly greater than gravitational acceleration.
6 . The personal care device according to claim 3 , wherein the evaluation unit is configured to issue the hazard signal for freefall when the acceleration signal of the at least one acceleration sensor indicates an acceleration of the personal care device exceeding 125% of gravitational acceleration.
7 . The personal care device according to claim 2 , wherein the freefall determination module comprises:
at least one gyrosensor; and
an evaluation unit coupled to the at least one gyrosensor and configured to evalulate a gyrosignal of said at least one gyrosensor for a characteristic indicative of freefall.
8 . The personal care device according to claim 7 , wherein the evaluation unit is configured to issue the hazard signal when the gyrosignal of the at least one gyrosensor exceeds a predefined gyro threshold value.
9 . The personal care device according to claim 1 , wherein the adjustment device comprises:
a moveably supported restrictor supported at the handle and movable toward or away from the working head; and
an actuator comprising a driving motor and configured to drive the moveably supported restrictor into one or more positions including a minimum restrictive position and a maximum restrictive position that respectively define a maximum movement range of the working head and a minimum movement range of the working head.
10 . The personal care device according to claim 9 , wherein adjusting the mechanical setting to the safe harbor setting comprises activating the actuator to drive the restrictor to the minimum restrictive position.
11 . The personal care device according to claim 1 , wherein the personal care device is a hair removal device.
12 . The personal care device according to claim 1 , wherein the personal care device is an electric shaver.
13 . The personal care device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the hazard condition is high temperature or low temperature;
the hazard determination device comprises at least one temperature sensor configured to determine a temperature load onto a temperature sensitive component of the personal care device; and
an evaluation unit configured to issue the hazard signal when the temperature load less than a minimum threshold or greater than a maximum threshold.
14 . The personal care device according to claim 13 , wherein the temperature sensitive component is a battery of the personal care device.
15 . The personal care device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the hazard condition is low battery charge;
the hazard determination device comprises a charging level detector configured to detect a charging level of a battery of the personal care device; and
an evaluation unit configured to issue the hazard signal when the charging level is below a predefined minimum threshold.
16 . The personal care device according to claim 1 , wherein the safe harbor mechanical setting or the safe harbor mechanical function is selected from a configuration of the adjustment device that maximizes movability of the working head, a configuration of the adjustment device that minimizes moving stiffness of the working head, a maximum a configuration of the adjustment device that maximizes pivoting/swiveling range of the working head, a configuration of the adjustment device that maximizes diving range of the working head, or a configuration that minimizes pivoting/swiveling/diving stiffness of the working head.
17 . The personal care device according to claim 1 , wherein the safe harbor mechanical setting and/or safe harbor mechanical function is a configuration of the adjustment device that minimizes energy consumption during use of the personal care device while applying the personal care treatment.
18 . The personal care device according to claim 1 , wherein the hazard condition is chosen from a freefall of the personal care device, a high temperature, a low temperature, or a low battery charge.