ELECTRIC SHAVER WITH IMAGING CAPABILITY

• US 20160001453A1
• Filed: 09/15/2015
• Published: 01/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: May Patents Ltd.
• Original Assignee: May Patents Ltd.
• Inventors: BINDER, Yehuda
• Granted Patent: US 9,950,435 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A45D 26/00 Hair-singeing apparatus; Apparatus for removing superfluous hair, e.g. tweezers removing hair using electrosurgical instruments A61B18/04, A61B18/18
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 19/00 Clippers or shavers operating with a plurality of cutting edges, e.g. hair clippers, dry shavers
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 19/3806 Accessories
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 19/382 Built-in accessories
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 19/3853 Housing or handle
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 19/3873 Electric features; Charging; Computing devices
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 19/388 Sensors; Control
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 19/46 providing for illuminating the area to be shaved or clipped
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 19/48 Accessory implements for carrying out a function other than cutting hair, e.g. attachable appliances for manicuring massage means per se A61H7/00 - A61H23/00
• CPC Class Codes: B26B 21/405 Electric features; Charging; Computing devices
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 37/00 Panoramic or wide-screen photography; Photographing extended surfaces, e.g. for surveying; Photographing internal surfaces, e.g. of pipe
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/548 the power on the line being DC arrangements for feeding power H04L12/10; extracting feeding power from signals H04L25/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/10 Current supply arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/14 Two-way operation using the same type of signal, i.e. duplex
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/194 Transmission of image signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/239 using two 2D image sensors having a relative position equal to or related to the interocular distance H04N13/243 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/11 for generating image signals from visible and infrared light wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/45 for generating image signals from two or more image sensors being of different type or operating in different modes, e.g. with a CMOS sensor for moving images in combination with a charge-coupled device [CCD] for still images
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/50 Constructional details
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/51 : Housings
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/55 : Optical parts specially adapted for electronic image sensors; Mounting thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/57 : Mechanical or electrical details of cameras or camera modules specially adapted for being embedded in other devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/63 : by using electronic viewfinders
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/633 : for displaying additional information relating to control or operation of the camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/65 : Control of camera operation in relation to power supply
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/661 : Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/69 : Control of means for changing angle of the field of view, e.g. optical zoom objectives or electronic zooming
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/698 : for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/41 : Extracting pixel data from a plurality of image sensors simultaneously picking up an image, e.g. for increasing the field of view by combining the outputs of a plurality of sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/709 : Circuitry for control of the power supply
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/75 : Circuitry for providing, modifying or processing image signals from the pixel array
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/262 : Studio circuits, e.g. for mixing, switching-over, change of character of image, other special effects ; Cameras specially adapted for the electronic generation of special effects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/30 : Transforming light or analogous information into electric information scanning details H04N3/00; cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors, or control thereof H04N23/00; circuitry of solid-state image sensors [SSIS] or control thereof H04N25/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/015 : High-definition television systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/185 : from a mobile camera, e.g. for remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 : WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

System and method for improving the shaving experience by providing improved visibility of the skin shaving area. A digital camera is integrated with the electric shaver for close image capturing of shaving area, and displaying it on a display unit. The display unit can be integral part of the electric shaver casing, or housed in a separated device which receives the image via a communication channel. The communication channel can be wireless (using radio, audio or light) or wired, such as dedicated cabling or using powerline communication. A light source is used to better illuminate the shaving area. Video compression and digital image processing techniques are used for providing for improved shaving results. The wired communication medium can simultaneously be used also for carrying power from the electric shaver assembly to the display unit, or from the display unit to the electric shaver.

Claims

1. A device for capturing an image as a digital image and for transmitting the digital image and a power signal over a cable, for use with a power source supplying a power signal, the device comprising:

a digital camera for capturing the image and producing the digital image;

a connector for connecting to the cable; and

a transmitter coupled between the connector and the digital camera for transmitting the digital image to the cable via the connector;

a skin treatment component for treating a human skin area; and

a single enclosure housing the digital camera, the connector, the transmitter, and the skin treatment component,

wherein the digital camera is configured and positioned for capturing the human skin area and the connector is coupled to the power source and to the transmitter for concurrently carrying the digital image and a power signal over the cable.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the skin treatment component is an electrical hair remover for removing hair from the human skin area.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the skin treatment component comprises an electric motor and a cutter driven by the motor.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the digital camera comprising:

an optical lens for focusing a received light;

a photosensitive image sensor array disposed approximately at an image focal point plane of the optical lens for capturing the image, the image sensor array is based on, or uses, Charge-Coupled Devices (CCD) or Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) elements; and

an analog to digital (A/D) converter coupled to the image sensor array for generating the digital image.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the digital camera is a digital video camera and the digital image is part of a digital video data, and the transmitter is a video data transmitter.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the connector is a standard digital video data connector.

7. The device according to claim 6, wherein the digital video data connector and the digital video data carried over the cable are according to, are based on, or use, USB (Universal Serial Bus), SDI (Serial Digital Interface), FireWire™

, HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface), DVI (Digital Visual Interface), UDI (Unified Display Interface), DisplayPort™

, or Digital Component Video standard.

8. The device according to claim 6, wherein the digital video data is carried over the cable in a format that is according to, is based on, or use, TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), RAW format, AVI, DV, MOV, WMV, MP4, DCF (Design Rule for Camera Format), ITU-T H.261, ITU-T H.263, ITU-T H.264, ITU-T CCIR 601, ASF, Exif (Exchangeable Image File Format), or DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) standard.

9. The device according to claim 1, further operative to compress the digital image, the device further comprising a compressor coupled between digital camera and the transmitter for compressing the digital image before being transmitted to the cable.

10. The device according to claim 9, wherein the digital camera is a digital video camera and the digital image is part of a digital video data, the transmitter is a video data transmitter, and the compressor is a digital video compressor.

11. The device according to claim 9, wherein the compression is based on or using intraframe or interframe compression, and wherein the compression is lossy or non-lossy compression.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein the compression is based on, or uses, a standard compression algorithm that is JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group), ITU-T H.261, ITU-T H.263, ITU-T H.264, or ITU-T CCIR 601.

13. The device according to claim 1, wherein the power source is a rechargeable or a primary battery.

14. The device according to claim 1, wherein the power source is an AC power source;

and the device further comprises an AC power plug for connecting to an AC power outlet for AC power feeding therefrom, and a power supply coupled to the AC power plug for being powered from the AC power.

15. The device according to claim 14, wherein the power supply comprises a step-down transformer and an AC/DC converter for supplying a DC power, and wherein the power signal is a DC power signal.

16. The device according to claim 1, wherein the cable is carrying a serial or a parallel communication that is according to, based on, or uses, a wired PAN (Personal Area Network) or a wired LAN (Local Area Network) standard, and wherein the communication is based on.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein the cable is a LAN cable substantially according to EIT/TIA-568 or EIA/TIA-570 standards and comprises UTP or STP twisted-pairs;

the connector is an RJ-45 type;

the communication over the cable substantially conforms to IEEE802.3 Ethernet 10BaseT or 100BaseTX or 1000BaseT; and

the transmitter is a LAN transmitter that is a part of a LAN transceiver.

18. The device according to claim 16, wherein the communication over the cable, the transmitter and the connector are according to, based on, or use, IEEE1394, USB (Universal Serial Bus), EIA/TIA-232, or IEEE1284.

19. The device according to claim 1, wherein the power signal is a DC (Direct Current) power signal.

20. The device according to claim 1, wherein the power signal is an AC (Alternating Current) power signal.

21. The device according to claim 1, wherein the cable comprises multiple insulated wires and the power signal is carried over dedicated wires distinct from wires carrying the digital image.

22. The device according to claim 1, wherein the cable comprises multiple insulated wires and at least two wires are used to simultaneously carry both the power signal and the digital image.

23. The device according to claim 22, wherein the power signal is DC power that is carried over a phantom channel over the wires in the cable.

24. The device according to claim 22, wherein the cable is a LAN cable substantially according to EIT/TIA-568 or EIA/TIA-570 and comprises UTP or STP twisted-pairs;

the connector is an RJ-45 type;

the communication over the cable substantially conforms to IEEE802.3 Ethernet 10BaseT or 100BaseTX or 1000BaseT;

the transmitter is a LAN transceiver or a part thereof; and

the power signal is carried over the cable substantially according to IEEE802.3af or IEEE802.3at standards.

25. The device according to claim 22, wherein the power signal and the digital image are carried over the at least two wires using Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM);

the power signal is carried in a power frequency; and

the image is carried in a communication frequency band that is distinct from, and higher than, the power frequency.

26. The device according to claim 22, further comprising a low pass filter configured for substantially passing only a power frequency coupled for passing the power signal between the connector and the power source.

27. The device according to claim 22, further comprising a high pass filter configured for substantially passing only a communication frequency band coupled for passing the digital image between the connector and the transmitter.

28. The device according to claim 1 further operative for 3-D operation, the device further comprising, in the single enclosure an additional digital camera configured and positioned for capturing the human skin area.

29. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a digital image processor coupled between the digital camera and the transmitter for processing the digital image using an image-processing algorithm.

30. The device according to claim 29, wherein the digital image processor is operative to detect or identify elements in the digital image, and the image-processing algorithm comprises object detection.

31. The device according to claim 30, wherein the digital image processor is operative to identify individual hairs or a hairy area in the digital image.

32. The device according to claim 31, wherein the device is further operative to display the image where the detected or identified individual hairs are marked or where the detected or identified hairy area is marked.

33. The device according to claim 1, wherein the single enclosure is a hand-held enclosure.