JP4419851B2 - Optical hair removal device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a hair removal apparatus using light.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an apparatus for removing body hair, an apparatus that removes hair by irradiating the skin with laser light is known. When laser light is applied to the skin, the temperature rise differs depending on the skin condition. Therefore, to prevent burns, the cooling member is brought into contact with the affected part to prevent the temperature from rising. When the cooling member is not in contact with the affected part, laser light is irradiated. There has been proposed a depilation device that prevents hair removal.
In addition, there is also a device that includes a position detection unit that detects the position of the hair root, and performs hair removal by irradiating the laser light when the deviation between the detected hair root position and the irradiation point of the laser light is within a predetermined range.

Special table 2001-314419 gazette JP 2001-46141 A

  However, since the conventional technique selects whether or not to irradiate the entire affected area with laser light, irradiation is performed when the site where light is to be irradiated and the site where irradiation is not desired are adjacent. There is a case where light is not irradiated to a desired site.

  For example, if the skin color is dark like a mole, energy is absorbed on the skin surface and the temperature rises, and it tends to cause burns, but if the root location and mole are near or close to the hair removal treatment, The only way to keep the mole from shining was to stop the irradiation.

  The present invention was devised to solve the above-described problem, and without irradiating light to unnecessary or dangerous sites during hair removal treatment, the hair root position is irradiated with light, and the hair removal treatment is performed. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical hair removal device capable of improving the safety of the hair.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 is directed to a detector for detecting information on the skin surface, a light emitter for irradiating light for hair removal, and body hair from the information on the skin surface detected by the detector. A control unit for determining a position and a dangerous part for light; a storage unit for storing information on a hair position determined by the control unit, information on a dangerous part and position information of a detector; Each mask comprising a plurality of mask parts having a light shielding filter that shields part of light in a light irradiation region irradiated on the skin surface, and a driving mechanism for individually introducing each mask part into the light irradiation region. Each light shielding filter of the unit is arranged so as to block light of a different part when introduced into the light irradiation region, and the control unit stores the hair of the light emitter in the storage unit according to the information of the storage unit Move to a position and irradiate light In, when it is determined to include hazardous sites to the light irradiation region, and characterized in that dangerous sites were the respective mask portion so as to be covered by the light shielding filter is moved by the driving mechanism It is an optical hair removal device.

The invention according to claim 2 is the optical hair removal device according to claim 1, wherein each of the mask portions can move in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the light emitter. .

  The invention according to claim 3 is the optical hair removal device according to claim 1, wherein the mask portion is composed of a plurality of filters having different transmittances.

  According to the present invention, even if a region that requires hair removal treatment and a dangerous region are adjacent to each other without irradiating excessive light to a region that does not require light irradiation or a dangerous region, It is possible to improve the safety of the hair removal treatment by irradiating the hair position and the hair root position with light.

  Further, since the irradiation light may be broad light, various kinds of light sources can be used, and the cost can be reduced by using an inexpensive light source.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an optical hair removal apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the structure of FIG. 1 viewed from below, and FIG. 4 is an external view of the optical hair removal apparatus.

  The apparatus main body is covered with a case 19, and an irradiation window 1 formed of transparent glass or the like is provided on the skin surface side in order to irradiate the skin surface with light or to take reflected light from the skin surface into the apparatus. It has been.

  Inside the case 19 are a resonance spring 16, a scanning unit 4, a detection illumination 3, a detector 2, a condenser lens 11, a light emitter 12, a driving magnet 13, a linear motor 15 having a stator 14, a power supply 17, A control board 18, an electric motor 5, a ball screw 6, a stopper 7, a moving mechanism portion 8, a mask portion 9, a stopper 10, and the like are attached. The scanning unit 4 moves in the direction of the moving direction 1 due to the interaction between the driving magnet 13 and the linear motor 15 having the stator 14, and smoothly and uniformly moves due to the action of the resonance spring 16.

  The scanning unit 4 includes a detection illumination 3, a detector 2, a condenser lens 11, a light emitter 12, a driving magnet 13, an electric motor 5, a ball screw 6, a stopper 7, a moving mechanism unit 8, a mask unit 9, and a stopper 10. Is arranged. The illumination for detection 3 is for illuminating the skin surface, and is composed of an LED or the like. The detector 2 detects reflected light from the skin surface illuminated by the detection illumination 3 or detects the state of the skin surface illuminated by the detection illumination 3. The detector 2 is an optical sensor, a small TV camera, or the like. Is used. In addition, an infrared sensor, an ultraviolet sensor, or a contact sensor (pressure sensor) can be used as the detector 2. In this case, the detection illumination 3 is not particularly necessary.

  On the other hand, a light emitter 12 is provided to perform hair removal, and the light beam is focused by the condenser lens 11 to irradiate the hair root with light. The light emitter 12 may use a laser light source or a simple light source. As shown in FIG. 5, the hair roots exist on average at a depth of 4 to 5 mm from the pores, but stimulation of the hair cells can be achieved by irradiating the hair cells with light of a certain energy.

  In addition, the electric motor 5 can rotate the ball screw 6 to move the moving mechanism portion 8 and the mask portion 9 in the X direction. The stoppers 7 and 10 are attached to both sides of the ball screw 6 in order to restrict the mask unit 9 and the moving mechanism 8 to movement to a certain position in the X direction. The mask unit 9 has a filter 91 attached to or incorporated in a transparent glass plate or acrylic plate. The filter 91 is configured to have a light transmittance of 0%, and a filter such as a metal plate that blocks light can be used instead. Since this filter has an average body hair size of 100 μm, for example, one side can have a size of 200 to 300 μm.

  FIG. 3 shows the internal structure of the moving mechanism 8 viewed from the direction A in FIG. An electric motor 81, a ball screw 82, a stopper 83, and a stopper 84 are attached inside the moving mechanism unit 8. The ball screw 6 and the ball screw 82 are orthogonal to each other and intersect at different levels. When the electric motor 81 is rotationally driven, the mask portion 9 can move in the Y direction orthogonal to the X direction, and the movement in the Y direction is restricted by the stoppers 83 and 84. In this way, the mask portion 9 can be moved in the X direction and the Y direction, and a part of the irradiation light from the light emitter 12 can be shielded by the filter 91.

  As can be seen from FIG. 2, the detector 2 and the light emitter 12 attached to the scanning unit 4 are paired at a certain interval, and move together in the moving direction 1 while maintaining this interval. To do. In the direction orthogonal to the moving direction 1, the operator manually moves the moving direction.

  A power source 17 made of a battery or the like supplies electricity to the control board 18, the electric motor 5, the linear motor 15, the detection illumination 3, the detector 2, the light emitter 12, and the like. Has been made. The control board 18 is equipped with a CPU, memory, etc., and controls the entire apparatus such as motor control, detection illumination, light emitter, detector control, etc. and stores collected data in the memory. Then, an operation such as performing an appropriate calculation is performed.

  An example of the overall appearance design of the optical hair removal device of the present invention is shown in FIG. 4 so that the center of the cover 20 is held in the hand so as to contact the skin surface like a shaving machine. It has a shape to put. Since the portions of the irradiation window 1 are slightly recessed from the cover portions formed on both sides of the irradiation window 1, the cover portions on both sides come into contact with the skin surface to fix the photo epilation device. In FIG. 4, the optical hair removal device is pressed from the lower side of the skin surface, but it is also possible to fix the optical hair removal device with the irradiation window 10 facing downward from the upper side of the skin surface.

  The push button portion of the switch 21 protrudes outside the cover 20 and can be pushed by the operator. The switch 21 is pushed at the start-up, and the switch 21 is pushed again at the time of hair removal treatment. Further, the processing lamp 22 is constituted by an LED or the like, and a part of the case corresponding to the installation position of the processing lamp 22 is made transparent or hollow so that the lighting portion can be recognized from the outside. The processing lamp 22 is turned on when the hair removal process is completed.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the irradiation light from the light emitter 12 is focused by the condenser lens 11 in the vicinity of the hair-growing cells existing on the hair root, so that the light irradiation range on the skin surface is widened. For example, when a pore is detected in order to irradiate light on the hair root and an attempt is made to irradiate light on the pore position, if a mole exists near the pore position as shown in FIG. End up.

  Here, the part enclosed with the broken line shows the light irradiation range on the skin surface. A dark skin like a mole has a lot of melanin, so it absorbs the energy of the irradiated light and generates heat, so there is a high possibility of causing burns. Therefore, if the filter 91 is driven in the X direction and the Y direction by driving the electric motors 5 and 81 and is adjusted to the mole position as shown in FIG. 7, the irradiation light is blocked by the filter 91. Light irradiation can be performed and light irradiation to the mole can be prevented. Moreover, even if an inexpensive light source is used as the light source of the light emitter and the irradiation light beam becomes broad, it is possible to avoid light irradiation on a dangerous part by the action of the filter.

  Next, the operation will be described. The detector 2 uses a camera module so that the skin surface can be imaged over a wide range. First, an image of the skin surface is taken by the detector 2 and body hair recognition processing is performed. When body hair is detected by image processing, light for hair removal is emitted from the light emitter 12. Since this irradiation light has a wide irradiation range on the skin surface, when a dark skin portion such as a mole or a spot is detected near the body hair (pores) from the photographed image of the detector 2, the skin color The mask portion 9 is moved using the electric motors 5 and 81 so that the dark portion is not irradiated with light, and the dark portion of the skin color is covered with the filter 91.

  Next, the linear motor 15 is driven, and the scanning unit 4 is moved by one pitch in the moving direction 1 to perform the same processing as described above. This operation is driven by the linear motor 15 so that the scanning unit 4 moves to the final position in the moving direction 1. Repeat until you reach.

Regarding the above operation, for example, the moving pitch is 200 μm, the detection area (imaging range) by the detector is 200 μm × 200 μm, the moving speed in the moving direction 1 is 400 mm / s, the length of one stroke in the moving direction 1 is 10 mm, and the light emission Assuming that the light output wavelength of the vessel is 650 nm to 680 nm, the irradiation spot diameter is 100 μm, the irradiation intensity is 150 to 200 mW / (100 μm) ² , the irradiation interval is 10 to 40 ms, and the light irradiation range on the skin surface is about 0.3 to 2 mm. Yes.

  The above-described processing from body hair or pore recognition to mask operation will be described with reference to FIG. For example, if the detection voltage from the detector 2 is 0 V to 3.3 V and A / D conversion is performed and 0 V to 3.3 V is 0 to 255, the through hole position where the digital signal threshold level is 120 or less is the hair position. Detect as. In a captured image, pixels having a brightness level of 120 or less for detecting the brightness level for each pixel are similarly bundled as adjacent areas in which pixels in four directions adjacent to each other are also 120 or less. For example, a region is formed as shown in FIG. Pixels having a luminance level of 120 or less are indicated by diagonal lines and broken lines.

  Since these pixels have an interval of one line, when there is no pixel that divides a region that can be detected as separate elements, it is considered that the shape is separated in a region where the amount of change in luminance is large. If there is a pore or a spot in a part of the pixel, the luminance level becomes larger and the change becomes larger than in other areas, so that a pixel with a large change in the luminance level is recognized as a separation point. FIG. 8B shows a pixel at the separation point surrounded by a thick frame.

  Next, wrinkles are detected by edge detection processing, and the area from the wrinkle intersection side to the previously detected area is detected as one area, and the other cluster is divided into two areas as one area (FIG. 8 ( c)). Based on the detected area size, an area having an actual measurement value of 100 to 110 μm or more is determined not as a pore but as another area (stain / mole). In the case of FIG. 8C, the broken line areas are detected as spots and moles. The barycentric position of the area detected as the spot or mole position is calculated. A portion surrounded by a thick frame in FIG. 8C indicates the position of the center of gravity. In FIG. 8D, the mask portion 9 is moved so that the center of the filter 91 comes to the center of gravity.

In FIG. 9, the structural example of the optical hair removal apparatus using a some mask part is shown. 1 is different from the configuration of FIG. 1 in that a plurality of mask unit drive mechanism units 30 are attached instead of the electric motor 5, the ball screw 6, the stopper 7, the moving mechanism unit 8, the mask unit 9, and the stopper 10. The configuration is the same as in FIG.

  FIG. 10 shows an enlarged view of the multiple mask drive mechanism 30. A plurality of solenoids 39 are provided, and mask portions 31 to 38 are attached to the shaft ends of the solenoids. By selecting and operating a solenoid to be driven by a control signal from the control board 18, the shaft is driven forward, and the mask portion is inserted into the irradiation light from the light emitter 12. In the example of FIG. 10, the solenoid corresponding to the mask part 32 is driven, and the mask part 32 is inserted into the path of the irradiation light.

  FIG. 11 shows a specific operation of this mask portion, and FIG. 10 is a view as seen from above. FIG. 11A shows a state in which the shaft of the solenoid 39 is returned, and is not inserted into the light beam path from the light source 122 of the light emitter 12. When the solenoid 39 is driven and the shaft extends forward, a mask portion is inserted into the light beam path from the light source 122 as shown in FIG. 11B to cover the light irradiation range.

  FIG. 12 shows the configuration of each mask unit. As shown in FIG. 12, each mask portion is divided into nine regions, and is composed of filters having different light transmittances. One central area is always composed of a filter with a light transmittance of 90% or more, and only one of the surrounding 8 areas is composed of a filter with a light transmittance of 0%, and the other 7 areas are composed of a filter with a light transmittance of 90% or more. Has been.

  The mask portion can be a square shape with a side of 300 to 600 μm, and one divided region within the mask portion can be a square shape with a side of 100 to 200 μm. FIG. 12A shows the configuration of the mask portion 31, FIG. 12B shows the configuration of the mask portion 32, and FIG. 12C shows the configuration of the mask portion 38. As described above, among the nine divided areas, the central area is configured by a filter having a light transmittance of 90% or more up to the mask portions 31 to 38, but the light transmittance is 0% for the eight areas around the center. The mask portions 31 to 38 are assigned to the respective regions in order so that the filter positions do not overlap.

  FIG. 13 shows another configuration example of the multiple mask unit drive mechanism unit 30. Each of the mask portions 31 to 38 has a motor 40, a ball screw 41, and a worm gear 42 attached thereto. Which motor is driven is determined by a control signal from the control board 18, and when a specific motor 40 is driven to rotate, the ball screw 41 connected to this motor rotates and the worm gear 42 rotates. By this rotation, the mask portion rotates in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface and moves in the direction of light irradiation from the light source. Further, by simultaneously driving a plurality of motors, the plurality of mask portions can be simultaneously moved forward in the light irradiation direction. The configuration of the mask portions 31 to 38 is the same as that shown in FIG.

  FIG. 14 shows how the irradiation light is blocked when a plurality of mask portions are used as described above. The part enclosed with the broken line of a figure shows the light irradiation range in a skin surface. As shown in FIG. 14A, when the mole and the pore are adjacent to each other and a part of the mole is within the light irradiation range, the mask portion 36 and the mask portion 37 are moved and introduced into the light irradiation range. Let FIG. 14B shows a case where only the mask portion 36 is introduced into the light irradiation range, and light is not irradiated to a part of the mole covered with the filter having a transmittance of 0%.

  However, since a part of the mole is still irradiated with light, the mask portion 36 and the mask portion 37 are introduced into the light irradiation range as shown in FIG. Of the nine divided areas, the irradiation light is blocked in two areas, and the irradiation light to the mole is substantially blocked. On the other hand, since the hair can be reliably irradiated with light for hair removal, the hair removal treatment can be performed safely.

  The body hair recognition process is the same as described above, but a mask portion necessary for driving is determined by determining which of the nine divided regions corresponds to the pixel position recognized as a spot / mole. At this time, an area having the lowest luminance level of the pixel is extracted, and the mask portion in the area including the pixel is driven. This is because the area where the amount of melanin is the largest and most easily absorbs light is covered, thereby eliminating the influence of burns and preventing the area from being irradiated with the necessary amount of energy.

  FIG. 15 shows a configuration example using a liquid crystal shutter as a mask portion. 1 differs from the configuration of FIG. 1 in that a liquid crystal shutter 30 is attached instead of the electric motor 5, the ball screw 6, the stopper 7, the moving mechanism portion 8, the mask portion 9, and the stopper 10. It is the same. When a mole is detected in the vicinity of the pore as shown in FIG. 16, the light transmittance of the liquid crystal shutter 50 is changed so as not to irradiate the mole with light for hair removal. The grids divided by the grid in the figure represent the minimum liquid crystal regions, and the transmittance can be changed for each liquid crystal region by individually applying a voltage to each region.

  Similar to a general liquid crystal, the transmittance varies from 10% to 90%, the region that is not desired to be irradiated is set to 30%, the pore portion is set to 90%, and the other regions are set to 50%. As for the output, the output decreases by 10% when the transmittance is 90%, and decreases by 70% when the transmittance is 30%. In the 30% transmittance setting region, the output is not necessary for hair removal.

  FIG. 17 shows an example in which the transmittance of the liquid crystal shutter is changed in this way. When a region such as a mole or a spot is detected, the transmittance of the liquid crystal region corresponding to the region is reduced when light is irradiated from the light source, and light is not irradiated to the skin in the region such as the mole or the stain. The body hair recognition process is the same as described above, but for the region (pixel portion) other than the detected pore position, the transmittance is made half of the pore position. On the other hand, for the pore position, the transmittance of the liquid crystal shutter is maximized.

  FIG. 18 shows an example of an optical hair removal device in which light emitters are arranged two-dimensionally. Although the configuration in the scanning unit 4 is different from that in FIG. 1, the other configuration is the same. In addition to the driving magnet 13, a detection unit 61, a lens 62, and a light emitting unit 63 are attached in the scanning unit 4. The detection unit 61 is composed of a CCD sensor or the like, and the imaging region of the CCD can image the entire light emitting unit. An image is picked up by a CCD from above the light emitting unit (on the optical axis). A through hole is opened in the light emitting portion, and the skin surface can be detected by a CCD. The lens 62 has a structure that can move up and down.

The detection unit 61 and the lens 62 can be replaced with a camera module. FIG. 19 shows a configuration example in which the detection unit 61 and the lens 62 are replaced with a camera module 64. A portion surrounded by a broken line in the figure is an imaging range and includes the entire light emitting unit. In addition, LED modules 71 are provided in the light emitting portion 63 in an array, and through holes are formed between the mounting positions of the LED modules 71. This through-hole is for taking reflected light from the skin surface into the camera module 64 and performing image processing.

20 shows a configuration in which the detection unit 61 and the light emitting unit 63 are brought into close contact with each other, and FIG. 21 shows a detailed configuration example of the detection unit 61 and the light emitting unit 63 in close contact with each other. The detection unit 61 is composed of a CCD sensor 76, matches the almost entire area of the light emitting unit 63, and can image the skin surface from the through hole 75. Hair recognition processing is performed based on the captured image. In order to adjust (enlarge or reduce) the size of the image formed by the CCD sensor 76, a microlens may be attached to the through hole.

An LED module 71 is provided in a two-dimensional array to irradiate the pore position with light for hair removal. The LED module 71 is composed of an LED chip 73, a phosphor 74, a reflector 72, and a lens 77. Also serves as a light source for illumination. When the detection unit 61 and the light emitting unit 63 are brought into close contact with each other, the state is as shown in FIG. The size M of the LED module 71 may be 200 to 250 μm, and the arrangement interval L of the LED modules 71 may be 200 to 250 μm.

FIG. 22 shows a state of the light emission processing at the time of body hair recognition in the case of the configuration shown in FIGS. FIG. 22A shows a view of the light emitting portion 63 viewed from directly above, where “light” indicates the position of the LED module 71, and circles indicate the through holes 75. Yes. Also, if the LED module at the upper left of the figure is A11, the right side is A12, and the identification numbers are given in order, the LED modules arranged in the first row are A11 to A15, respectively, and the second row Are A21 to A25, the third row is A31 to A35, the fourth row is A41 to A45, and the fifth row is A51 to A55.

  If the body hair can be recognized as shown in FIG. 22B by the reflected light that has passed through the through-hole 75, FIG. 22C shows the body hair position superimposed on the configuration diagram of FIG. Here, assuming that the body hair in the figure can be recognized from the through-hole 75 when the skin surface is confirmed, the body hair can be recognized from the through-hole corresponding to the circled position as shown in FIG. 22 (d).

  For example, if the detection voltage from the CCD sensor is 0 V to 3.3 V, and A / D conversion is performed and 0 V to 3.3 V is 0 to 255, the through hole position where the digital signal threshold level is 120 or less is the body hair position. To detect. A square LED on the diagonal line of the circled position with a diagonal line is made to emit light.

For example, A11, A12, A31, and A32 correspond to the four-sided LEDs at the circle position with the diagonal lines on the upper left. In addition, A21, A22, A41, and A42 correspond to the four-sided LEDs at the circle positions with hatched lines below. Furthermore, A41 and A42 correspond to the four square LEDs with a diagonal line below them, and the corresponding LEDs are not arranged in the lower part, so there are two LEDs. FIG. 22E shows the LED position to be emitted as described above surrounded by a thick frame. In this way, the light emission process is performed, and the hair removal process is performed.

It is a figure which shows the cross section of the optical hair removal apparatus of this invention. It is the figure which looked at the structure of FIG. 1 from the downward direction. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of a moving mechanism part. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the optical hair removal apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the irradiation state of the light in the skin surface and hair-growth cell vicinity. It is a figure which shows the light irradiation range in a skin surface. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement which blocks a part of light by moving a mask part. It is a figure which shows the process from body hair recognition to mask part operation | movement. It is a figure which shows the example of an optical hair removal apparatus provided with the multiple mask part drive mechanism part. It is an enlarged view of a multiple mask part drive mechanism part. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of the mask part of a multiple mask part drive mechanism part. It is a figure which shows the structure of each mask part. It is a figure which shows the other structural example of a several mask part drive mechanism part. It is a figure which shows the interruption | blocking operation | movement of the irradiation light using a several mask part. It is a figure which shows the structure which used the liquid-crystal shutter for the mask part. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of the detection image of a skin surface, and a liquid-crystal shutter. It is a figure which shows a liquid-crystal shutter operation | movement. It is a figure which shows the example of the optical hair removal apparatus in which the light-emitting device was arranged in two dimensions. It is a figure which shows the example which used the camera module by the structure of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of an optical hair removal apparatus which has the structure which closely_contact | adhered the detection part and the light emission part. It is a figure which shows the specific structural example of the detection part and light emission part which closely_contact | adhered. It is a figure which shows the mode of the light emission process at the time of body hair recognition.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Irradiation window 2 Detector 3 Detection illumination 4 Scanning unit 5 Electric motor 6 Ball screw 7 Stopper 8 Movement mechanism part 9 Mask part 10 Stopper 11 Condensing lens 12 Light emitter 13 Driving magnet 14 Stator 15 Linear motor 16 Resonant spring 17 Power supply 18 Control board 19 Case

Claims (3)

A detector for detecting skin surface information ;
A light emitter that emits light for hair removal;
A control unit that determines a position that is dangerous to the hair position and light from information on the skin surface detected by the detector;
Storage means for storing information on the hair position determined by the control unit, information on the dangerous part, and position information of the detector;
A plurality of mask portions having a light-shielding filter that shields part of light in a light irradiation region irradiated on the skin surface from the light emitter;
A drive mechanism for individually introducing each of the mask portions into the light irradiation region,
Each light shielding filter of each mask portion is arranged so as to block different portions of light when introduced into the light irradiation region,
When the control unit moves the light emitter to the body hair position stored in the storage unit according to the information in the storage unit and irradiates the light, when it is determined that the light irradiation region includes a dangerous part, An optical hair removal apparatus , wherein each mask portion is moved by the drive mechanism so that a dangerous part is covered with the light shielding filter . 2. The optical hair removal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the mask portions is movable in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the light emitter.  The optical hair removal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mask unit includes a plurality of filters having different transmittances.

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