MOUNTING SYSTEM FOR AN OSCILLATING MOTOR IN A PERSONAL CARE APPLIANCE
Oscillating motor mounting systems for personal care appliances are disclosed that reduce vibration transmitted to the appliance handle. In order to reduce vibration in the handle, the oscillating motor is suspended within the personal care appliance via a suspension system.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a personal care appliance is provided. The appliance includes a handle having a longitudinal axis, a set of upper flexible mounts disposed within the handle, a set of lower flexible mounts disposed within the handle, and an oscillating motor suspended in a balanced manner between the set of upper flexible mounts and the set of lower flexible mounts, wherein the oscillating motor defines an oscillating axis.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a personal care appliance is provided. The appliance includes a handle having a handle base and a handle top, wherein the handle having a longitudinal axis, and an oscillating motor positioned between the handle base and the handle top. The oscillating motor is configured to impart oscillating motion to an object about an oscillating axis parallel with the longitudinal axis. The appliance also includes a first vibration isolator, a second vibration isolator and a third vibration isolator mounted between the oscillating motor and the handle top, and a fourth vibration isolator and a fifth vibration isolator mounted between the oscillating motor and the handle base. In one embodiment, the first vibration isolator, the second vibration isolator, the third vibration isolator, the fourth vibration isolator and the fifth vibration isolator are configured to suspend the oscillating motor within the handle. In this or other embodiments, the first vibration isolator, the second vibration isolator, the third vibration isolator, the fourth vibration isolator and the fifth vibration isolator are configured within the handle such that a preload force is applied to the oscillating motor from each vibration isolator. In these or other embodiments, the first vibration isolator, the second vibration isolator, the third vibration isolator, the fourth vibration isolator and the fifth vibration isolator are positioned within the handle and configured such that the sum of the preload forces parallel to the oscillating axis is zero and the sum of the moments generated by the preload forces about the axes orthogonal to the oscillating axis are zero.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a personal care appliance is provided. The appliance includes a handle having a longitudinal axis, a number of upper flexible mounts disposed within the handle, each upper flexible mount including an elastomeric vibration isolator, a number of lower flexible mounts disposed within the handle, each lower flexible mount including an elastomeric vibration isolator; and an oscillating motor suspended between the number of upper flexible mounts and the number of lower flexible mounts. In one embodiment, the upper flexible mounts and the lower flexible mounts are configured to apply a preload force on the oscillating motor.
The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of the claimed subject matter will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings where like numerals reference like elements is intended as a description of various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter and is not intended to represent the only embodiments. Each embodiment described in this disclosure is provided merely as an example or illustration and should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. The illustrative examples provided herein are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the claimed subject matter to the precise forms disclosed.
The present disclosure relates generally to vibration reduction in a personal care appliance. Generally described, personal care appliances typically use a motor to produce a particular workpiece movement/action, which in turn, produces desired functional results. Examples of such appliances include power skin brushes, power toothbrushes and shavers, among others. In some currently available personal care appliances, the motor produces an oscillating (back and forth) action rather than a purely rotational movement, with the motion generated by a resonating electromagnetic motor. Examples of such oscillating motors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,786,626, or commercially available in Clarisonic® branded products, such as the Aria or the Mia personal skincare product. The disclosures of U.S. Pat. No. 7,786,626, and the Clarisonic® branded products are expressly incorporated by reference herein.
In such appliances described above, the oscillating motor is mounted directly to the appliance handle. Vibration generated by the oscillating motor results in vibration transmitted to the handle through its mounts. These vibrations can at the least be bothersome, and in some cases, quite uncomfortable to the user, particularly in an appliance with a small form factor. Additionally, such vibration may result in variations in performance depending on how rigidly the handle is held by the user.
The following discussion provides examples of oscillating motor mounting systems for personal care appliances that reduce vibration transmitted to the appliance handle. In these examples, the oscillating motor generates suitable oscillating motion to an associated workpiece. The workpiece of the personal care appliance can include but is not limited to cleansing brushes, composition applicators, exfoliating brushes, exfoliating discs, toothbrushes, shaving heads, etc. In order to reduce vibration in the handle, the oscillating motor in one embodiment is suspended within the personal care appliance via a suspension system. One embodiment of the suspension system utilizes compressed elastomeric vibration isolators to suspend the oscillating motor within the handle. In one embodiment, the vibration isolators locate and align the oscillating motor within the housing. In this embodiment, the suspension system is configured to provide equal compression against the top and bottom of the oscillating motor and is configured to provide zero moments about the axes orthogonal to the oscillating axis of the workpiece. As such, the oscillating motor in one embodiment is suspended in the handle in a balanced manner. In one embodiment, the suspension system is preloaded when the components of the personal care appliance are assembled. In many of the examples set forth herein, the oscillating action generated by the oscillating motor may be rotational, translational, or a combination thereof.
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that many embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without some or all of the specific details. In some instances, well-known process steps have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure various aspects of the present disclosure. Further, it will be appreciated that embodiments of the present disclosure may employ any combination of features described herein.
The handle base 30 is generally cylindrical in one embodiment, and houses the operating structure of the appliance. As shown in block diagrammatic form in
Referring now to
Referring to
The armature assembly 66 also includes an armature mount 90, which is secured to the handle base 30 (See
The armature assembly 66 further includes a mounting arm 116 extending from the side of armature 80. As can be seen in
When assembled, the oscillating motor 32 is mounted within the handle 24. In one embodiment, the oscillating motor 32 is mounted between the handle top 36 and the handle bottom 30. In that regard, the armature mount 90 in one embodiment is formed with a first set of motor mounts, shown as three mounting posts 120A-120C in
Similarly, one or more motor mounts are associated with the motor base 60. In one embodiment shown in
As was briefly stated above, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide techniques or methodologies for reducing vibration transmitting to the handle. In that regard, to reduce vibration transfer to the handle 24, the oscillating motor 32 in one embodiment is mounted in a suspended manner by a suspension system, sometimes referred to herein as a vibration isolation system. As shown in
In the embodiment shown, the cups 154 are integrally formed by a discrete component. Alternatively, the cups 154 are integrally formed or otherwise fixedly secured to the handle top. While the embodiment of
As shown in
In the embodiment shown in
In one embodiment, the handle mounting structure 140 is integrally formed with the handle base 30. Alternatively, the handle mounting structure 140 in the embodiment shown is a discrete component, which is detachably mounted to the handle base 30 via press fittings or other suitable fastening techniques, such as a central King screw. The handle mounting structure in one embodiment includes alignment posts 170, which can serve as part of the press fittings, or in another embodiment, can serve as an anti-rotation feature for resisting torque of the King screw. While the embodiment of
One assembly method will now be described with regard to
As assembled, the first and second sets of flexible mounts are preloaded in one embodiment. In one embodiment, the preload placed on the flexible mounts is selected so as to provide a suitable resistance when the user attaches the workpiece 28 to the workpiece mount 40 in a downward motion. Preloading the flexible mounts can be accomplished by various configurations and/or techniques. For example, the vibration isolators 150 and 160 in one embodiment are configured such that when the handle top 36 is drawn together with the handle mounting structure 140, a preload force at each flexible joint, generally designated F1-F5 (see
In one embodiment, the oscillating motor 32 is suspended between the upper motor mounting assembly and the lower motor mounting assembly in a balanced manner. To balance the oscillating motor 32, the upper flexible mounts and the lower flexible mounts are configured such that together the preload forces applied against the oscillating motor 32 cancel out. In other words, the upper flexible mounts and the lower flexible mounts are configured such that the sum of the forces F1-F5 (see
F1+F2+F3=F4+F5 (1)
It will be appreciated that in one embodiment, the materials and/or dimensions can be selected for each vibration isolator for varying the magnitude of the forces F1-F5 in order to satisfy equation (1) above. In one embodiment, the compression distance for each isolator is the same. In another embodiment, the isolators are constructed from the same material but the size of the isolators are different. In still another embodiment, the size of the isolators are the same but the isolators are constructed from different materials. In one embodiment, the vibration isolators 150B and 150C are configured such that F2 and F3 are equal in magnitude.
In addition to satisfying equation (1) above, to balance the oscillating motor 32 the location of the upper flexible mounts and the lower flexible mounts are also selected such that the moments generated by forces F1-F5 about the X axis cancel out and the moments generated by forces F1-F5 about Y axis cancels out. In other words, the location of the upper flexible mounts and the lower flexible mounts are selected such that sum of the moments orthogonal to the Z axis of the motor 32 (oscillating axis of the work piece) when the handle is assembled are zero (ΣMX=0; and ΣMY=0).
In the embodiment shown in
In another embodiment when F2.and F3are not equal, the distances from the X axis are modified in order to satisfy the following equation (2).
(F2)(Y2)=(F3)(Y3) (2)
Further, in the embodiment shown in
(F2)(X2)+(F3)(X3)−(F1)(X1)=(F4)(X4)−(F5)(X5); (3)
X2=X3 (4)
It will be appreciated that in another embodiment, the vibration isolators are configured such that forces F2.and F3 are not equal. In this embodiment, the suspension system is configured such that that only equation (1) and equation (3) above are satisfied.
It should be noted that for purposes of this disclosure, terminology such as “top,” “bottom,” “upper,” “lower,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” “inwardly,” “outwardly,” “inner,” “outer,” “front,” “rear,” etc., should be construed as descriptive and not limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter. Further, the use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless limited otherwise, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” and “mounted” and variations thereof herein are used broadly and encompass direct and indirect connections, couplings, and mountings.
The principles, representative embodiments, and modes of operation of the present disclosure have been described in the foregoing description. However, aspects of the present disclosure which are intended to be protected are not to be construed as limited to the particular embodiments disclosed. Further, the embodiments described herein are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. It will be appreciated that variations and changes may be made by others, and equivalents employed, without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it is expressly intended that all such variations, changes, and equivalents fall within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, as claimed.
Claims
1. A personal care appliance, comprising:
- a handle having a longitudinal axis;
- a set of upper flexible mounts disposed within the handle;
- a set of lower flexible mounts disposed within the handle; and
- an oscillating motor suspended in a balanced manner between the set of upper flexible mounts and the set of lower flexible mounts, wherein the oscillating motor defines an oscillating axis.
2. The personal care appliance of claim 1, wherein the set of lower flexible mounts includes a quantity of lower flexible mounts and wherein the set of upper flexible mounts includes a quantity of upper flexible mounts, wherein the quantity of lower flexible mounts is different than the quantity of upper flexible mounts.
3. The personal care appliance of claim 2, wherein the quantity of lower flexible mounts is less than the quantity of upper flexible mounts.
4. The personal care appliance of claim 3, wherein each of the upper flexible mounts and each of the lower flexible mounts are configured with a preload force.
5. The personal care appliance of claim 4, wherein the lower flexible mounts and the upper flexible mounts are cooperatively positioned within the handle and configured such that the sum of the moments caused by the preload forces orthogonal to the oscillating axis is approximately zero and the sum of the preload forces along the oscillating axis is zero.
6. The personal care appliance of claim 1, wherein each of the upper flexible mounts and each of the lower flexible mounts include compressible elastomeric vibration isolators.
7. The personal care appliance of claim 1, wherein the lower flexible mounts lie on the X axis of the oscillating motor, the X axis being orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the handle.
8. The personal care appliance of claim 1, wherein the upper flexible mounts include a three vibration isolators, one vibration isolator lies on the X axis of the oscillating motor while the other two vibration isolators are positioned an equivalent distance on opposite sides of the X axis from one another, the X axis being orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the handle.
9. The personal care appliance of claim 1, wherein the set of upper flexible mounts includes three upper flexible mounts and wherein the set of the lower flexible mounts includes two flexible mounts.
10. A personal care appliance, comprising:
- a handle having a handle base and a handle top, the handle having a longitudinal axis;
- an oscillating motor positioned between the handle base and the handle top, the oscillating motor configured to impart oscillating motion to an object about an oscillating axis parallel with the longitudinal axis;
- a first vibration isolator, a second vibration isolator and a third vibration isolator mounted between the oscillating motor and the handle top;
- a fourth vibration isolator and a fifth vibration isolator mounted between the oscillating motor and the handle base;
- wherein the first vibration isolator, the second vibration isolator, the third vibration isolator, the fourth vibration isolator and the fifth vibration isolator are configured to suspend the oscillating motor within the handle, and wherein the first vibration isolator, the second vibration isolator, the third vibration isolator, the fourth vibration isolator and the fifth vibration isolator are configured within the handle such that a preload force is applied to the oscillating motor from each vibration isolator, and wherein the first vibration isolator, the second vibration isolator, the third vibration isolator, the fourth vibration isolator and the fifth vibration isolator are positioned within the handle and configured such that the sum of the preload forces parallel to the oscillating axis is zero and the sum of the moments generated by the preload forces about the axes orthogonal to the oscillating axis are zero.
11. The personal care appliance of claim 10, wherein each vibration isolator is configured to be compressed an equivalent amount when the handle is assembled.
12. The personal care appliance of claim 10, wherein the first vibration isolator and the second vibration isolator are different sizes.
13. The personal care appliance of claim 10, wherein the fourth vibration isolator and the fifth vibration isolator are different sizes.
14. A personal care appliance, comprising:
- a handle having a longitudinal axis;
- a number of upper flexible mounts disposed within the handle, each upper flexible mount including an elastomeric vibration isolator;
- a number of lower flexible mounts disposed within the handle, each lower flexible mount including an elastomeric vibration isolator; and
- an oscillating motor suspended between the number of upper flexible mounts and the number of lower flexible mounts;
- wherein the upper flexible mounts and the lower flexible mounts are configured to apply a preload force on the oscillating motor.
15. The personal care appliance of claim 14, wherein the oscillating motor is suspended in a balanced manner.
16. The personal care appliance of claim 14, wherein the number of upper flexible mounts is different than the number of lower flexible mounts.
17. The personal care appliance of claim 16, wherein the number of upper flexible mounts is greater than the number of lower flexible mounts.
18. The personal care appliance of claim 14, wherein each of the upper flexible mounts and each of the lower flexible mounts are configured to be compressed an equivalent amount when the handle is assembled.
19. The personal care appliance of claim 18, wherein each upper flexible mount of the number of upper flexible mounts includes an elastomeric bushing, at least two of the elastomeric bushings being of different size.
20. The personal care appliance of claim 18, wherein each lower flexible mount of the number of lower flexible mounts includes an elastomeric bushing, at least two of the elastomeric bushings being of different size.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 31, 2014
Publication Date: Jun 30, 2016
Inventor: Joseph Eric Skidmore (Issaquah, WA)
Application Number: 14/588,092