GB2310819A - Plastic razor blade - Google Patents

Description

PLASTIC BASED BLADES FOR SHAVING Specification Introduction: Blades for shaving have always been made of steels (carbon and stainless) which are hardened / tempered and then sharpened to obtain the cutting edge. The sharpening process in particular is a complicated one and the cutting edge obtained is not always very uniform, and hence comfortable. Further, the edge erodes away fairly quickly leaving the blades / razors unusable after a few shaves.

Ceramic and glass based blades I razors assemblies have been publicised in the past which provide uniform and longer lasting cutting edges. However the processing costs for these materials are very high which makes these expensive and hence not attractive from marketing point of view.

This invention describes blades I razors based on plastic materials. As such the material and processing costs are very low, making it very marketabie product. The cutting edge is uniform and easily producible. Further the production rates attainable for such disposable razors are very high as the assembly stage is eliminated, making these very desirable commodity.

Description: The "BLADE" is made from a viscous, hard plastic material. The cutting edge has one or more sets of curved or straight profiles on the top and / or bottom surfaces as shown in FIG 1. The multiple profiles (1,2,3 etc.) serve to strengthen the edge to prevent it from chipping away. The diameter of the final set of curved profiles, or the included angle of the final set of straight profiles (1) determines the sharpness of the edge. The cutting edge of the blades can be either straight (as in FIG 1) or profiled (as in FIG 2) as desired.

The top surface of the blade (4) is profiled such that it acts as the top guide surface for shaving. The rear of the blade is thick and contains a 'T' shaped rib (5) at the back for easy clipping into the razor handle for shaving. A variant version of the blades contains holes instead of the 'T' shaped rib for fixing it to a razor handle using rivets.

The blade is designed in such a way that the split line of the tool coincides with the cutting edge, which serves to produce a sharp edge. The blade is produced in a viscous, hard plastic material to obtain a sharp, durable edge.

The razor handle unit (FIG 3) contains a slotted rib (6) in which the blade is clipped using the "r' rib (5). The two ribs (5 & ) are of the same length. The razor contains a flat platform (7) which is profiled at the front end in order to act as the bottom guide bar for the blade to give ease and comfort in shaving. The handle (8) forms an angle with the platform such that a comfortable shaving angle is obtained when the blade is attached to the handle. The razor handle unit is designed such that a simple tool can be used for production. It can be produced in a standard plastic material to keep costs low and production rate high. Fig 4 shows the complete assembly.

In a variant version the razor handle does not contain the platform (9) such that the blade comes in contact with the skin at the desired shaving angle without the bottom guide bar. This version is cheaper still and can be used for the lower end of the market.

Other methods of securing the blade(s) to the platform or handle such as rivets and welding can also be used.

The concept can also be extended to make twin and multiple blade disposable razors whereby the top blade is similar to the one described in FIG 1, and the bottom blade is flat with a step (9) to act as spacer between blades, FIG 5. The top blade has rivets on the bottom surface (10), and the bottom blade and the plafform contain holes (11) to receive the rivets. The razor is then assembled by stacking the blades on the platform and securing the rivets. Other means of securing the blades to the plafform can also be used to obtain twin or multiple blade razors.

Single or multiple blade cartridges for shaving systems can also be produced using the said blades.

Claims (1)

1. (1) Shaving blades made of plastic based materials which are transfonnable into blade cartridges and disposable razors.

   (2) Shaving blades according to claim 1 in which the cutting edge is composed of one or more sets of curved or straight profiles at the top and / or bottom surfaces of the blades.

   (3) Shaving blades according to any of the preceding claims having either a flat top surface or a profiled top surface to act as guide surface for shaving.

   (4) Shaving blades according to any of the preceding claims having a step on the top and / or bottom surface to act as spacer when used in stacking formation to produce multiple blade razors or other shaving devices.

   (5) Shaving blades according to any of the preceding claims having sets of holes or other means of fixing the said blades to razors andl or handles to form razors and I or other shaving devices.

   (6) Shaving blades according to any of the preceding claims having a straight and J or profiled cutting edge.

   (7) Single and 1 or multiple blade disposable razors according to claim 1 having a handle and a platform to act as bottom guide bar upon which the said blade / blades are fixed by any means.

   (8) Single and / or multiple blade disposable razors according to claim 1 or 7 in which the said blade / blades are fixed directly to the handle (without the plafform), the handle being so angled as to give a comfortable shaving angle when in use.

   (9) Single and / or multiple blade cartridges according to claim 1 in which the said blade / blades are arranged so as to form single and 1 or multiple blade throwaway cartridges for shaving appliances.

   (10) Shaving blades, razors etceteras substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.