■THE BEGINNINGS OF THE SHAVER
Do you know when and by whom the electric shaver (electric razor) you use every morning was made?

■GRUNDIG SHAVER　


Grundig was under the umbrella of Philips from around 1984 to 1998. During that time, they developed several unique shavers, primarily marketed around Germany. Electric shavers can be classified by combining the movement of the inner blades (reciprocating or rotating) and the shape of the outer blades (foil or groove). The prototypes of the shaver systems we see today mostly existed in the 1930s, with the only exception being the Roltronic Pro system developed by Grundig in the 1990s.

The reciprocating foil system is excellent, but since the inner blades reciprocate, they must stop at both ends. This system inevitably faces the problem of reduced cutting ability near the ends where the speed drops to zero. The Roltronic Pro system was conceived to solve this issue.

As you can see, the outer blades are foil, and the movement of the inner blades is unique, with "non-stop reciprocating motion." The inner blades are arranged in hexagonal holes on an arc surface, with blades on all six sides of the holes. Their movement is a pendulum motion along the arc surface while reciprocating in the axial direction. From above, it looks like a circular motion.



★ Video


It's difficult to explain in words, so I'll show you a video.
As you can see from the top view, the inner blades move in a circular pattern along the arc surface of the outer blades, appearing as reciprocating motion from the side, but they do not stop.
This unique inner blade movement is made possible by the oscillator mechanism. Additionally, Hattori Seiko in Japan once sold this model domestically under the name "ES-2000."
It's been about 90 years since the electric shaver was invented, and it's a pity that such a unique system has disappeared.