Patent attributes
There is disclosed a cutting unit (14, 60, 80, 100) for a hair cutting device (10), comprising: a blade carrier (16) carrying a cutting blade; a guard (18) comprising: a blade-facing surface engaging the cutting blade at a cut location; a planar guard contact surface (30) for contacting skin of a user, wherein the guard contact surface (30) is angled with respect to the blade-facing surface; and a guard extender (40, 70, 90) separate from the guard (18), wherein the guard extender (40, 70, 90) comprises a planar extension contact surface (46, 76, 96) configured to cooperate with the guard contact surface (30) to provide an extended contact zone (50) across the guard (18) and the guard extender (40, 70, 90) for contacting skin of a user. The blade-facing surface and the guard contact surface (30) converge towards a tip of the guard, wherein a cutting direction extends along the guard contact surface (30) towards the tip. The guard extender (40, 70, 90) is configured so that the extension contact surface (46, 76, 96) is rearward of the guard contact surface (30) with respect to the cutting direction X. The extension contact surface (96) has a transverse extent along an axis perpendicular to the cutting direction, and wherein there is a gap along the cutting direction X between the guard contact surface and at least a transverse portion of the extension contact surface. The extended contact zone may provide for improved stability and reliable orientation of the cutting unit for cutting while limiting material use.
