GB2375068A

GB2375068A - Improvements in or relating to a razor

Info

Publication number: GB2375068A
Application number: GB0110677A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Enda Keaveney
Original assignee: INTELLECT HIGHWAY Ltd
Current assignee: INTELLECT HIGHWAY Ltd
Priority date: 2001-05-01
Filing date: 2001-05-01
Publication date: 2002-11-06
Also published as: GB0110677D0

Abstract

A razor is provided which includes a blade (18). The blade is resiliently mounted in position and part of the blade is adapted to be engaged with an irregular, for example hexagonal, head (15) of a roller (13). On rotation of the roller, the head repeatedly strikes part of the blade (18) to cause the blade to vibrate.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A RAZOR" THE PRESENT INVENTION seeks to provide an improved razor, especially an improved razor for use when"wet shaving".

According to this invention there is provided a razor, the razor having a head, the head being provided with at least one roller, the roller being provided with or being adapted to drive at least one element of irregular cross-section such that rotation of the roller causes rotation of the said element, there being a blade-holder supporting a cutting edge, the blade-holder being mounted to the head of the razor by resilient means so that said cutting edge may execute at least one degree of freedom of movement, the holder being provided with at least one shock plate located adjacent said element of irregular cross-section, the arrangement being such that on rotation of the roller, the element of irregular cross-section engages the shock plate to cause the cutting edge to vibrate.

Preferably the razor is provided with a second roller spaced-apart from the first roller, the cutting edge being located between the two rollers.

Conveniently the holder is received within a slot formed in the head of the razor, the holder being associated with at least one resilient means adapted to engage the walls of the slot.

Preferably said at least one resilient means comprises a resilient element having deflected resilient fingers adapted to engage one wall of the slot, and to bias the holder away from that wall into engagement with the element of irregular cross-section.

In one embodiment the element of irregular cross-section is of hexagonal cross-section.

In an alternative embodiment the element of irregular cross-section is of square cross-section.

Conveniently the member of irregular cross-section is formed integrally with the roller.

Preferably the cutting edge is on a blade carried by the blade-holder.

In one embodiment the blade is permanently secured to the blade-holder.

Alternatively the blade is releasably connected to the blade-holder.

In an alternative embodiment the cutting edge is formed on part of the blade-holder.

Conveniently there are two shock plates which are spaced-apart on the holder, and two co-operating elements of irregular cross-section.

Preferably the blade-holder comprises a part adapted to be inserted into the slot defining the resilient means and the shock plate or plates, and a bladeholding part which, when the blade-holder is in the slot, is inclined to the axis of the slot.

Advantageously the blade-holder comprises a support arm, one edge of the support arm carrying an inclined blade supporting part, the opposed ends of the blade supporting part themselves supporting shock plates, the support arm carrying first resilient means, in the form of a plate having deflected fingers.

Conveniently the first resilient means carries second resilient means in the form of a resilient element lying in a plane orthogonal to the plane of the first resilient means, that resilient element having terminal deflected resilient fingers.

Preferably each shock plate carries an extending arm terminating with a finger, each finger being receivable within a recess provided at the rear of the slot to retain the holder unit in the razor.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, and so that further features thereof may be appreciated, the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE I is a partially exploded view of the head of a razor in accordance with the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a blade support forming part of the razor of Figure 1, FIGURE 3 is a top view of the blade support, FIGURE 4 is a side view of the blade support, FIGURE 5 is a side view of the razor of Figure 1, FIGURE 6 is a perspective view, partially exploded, corresponding to Figure 1, illustrating an alternate embodiment of the invention, FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a blade-holder forming part of the razor of Figure 6, FIGURE 8 is an exploded view, corresponding to Figure 1, illustrating a further alternate embodiment of the invention, FIGURE 9 is a view of a blade-holder forming part of the razor of Figure 8, FIGURE 10 is a top view of the blade-holder, FIGURE 11 is a further top view of the blade-holder showing the bladeholder in a slightly distorted form, FIGURE 12 is a side view of the razor of Figure 8, and

FIGURE 13 is a view of a modified form of blade-holder which may be substituted for the blade-holder of the embodiments of Figures 8 to 12.

Referring initially to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings, the head 1 of a razor is illustrated. The head 1 incorporates a monolithic block 2 which defines a central slot 3 having a planar horizontal lower wall 4, and a planar horizontal upper wall 5, the upper wall 5 having a lesser extent than the lower wall 4.

Extending forwardly of the lower wall 4 of the slot 3, are two spacedapart lugs 6,7, each defining a respective key-hole shaped recess. Extending forwardly from the upper wall 5 are two further lugs 8,9, again each defining a key-hole shaped recess. The lower surface of each lug 8,9 forms an extension of the wall 5.

A first roller 10 is provided having, at the opposed ends thereof, trunions 11,12, which are adapted to be received, as a snap-fit, within the recesses of the lugs 6 and 7. A second roller 13 is provided. The roller 13 is provided, at each end, with a hexagonal termination 14,15, each termination having a diameter greater than that of the central part of the roller. Each termination is of irregular or non-round section, presenting successive "comers". Between each termination 14 and 15 and the central part of the roller, is a relatively narrow neck. Only the neck 16 between the termination 15 and the central part of the roller 13 is visible in Figure 1. The two necks are adapted to be received as a snap-fit within the recesses defined by the lugs 7 and 8. The rollers are thus located on opposite sides of the slot 3.

A blade-holder unit 17 is provided, which carries a blade 18 having a cutting edge. The blade-holder 17 is illustrated in Figure 2. The blade-holder

17 comprises a substantially horizontal planar support arm 19, of rectangular form. One longitudinal edge of the horizontal support arm 19 supports a downwardly inclined blade-support plate 20. The blade-support plate 20 has a greater length than the support arm 19, and thus extends beyond the ends of the support arm 19, and the portions of the blade-support plate 20, which extend laterally beyond the ends of the support arm 19 extend upwardly, above the level of the support arm 19, to form two upwardly directed lugs 21,22. The upwardly directed lug 21 carries a rearwardly directed horizontal shock plate 23, which is located above the support arm 19. Similarly, the lug 22 carries a rearwardly directed horizontal shock plate 24.

The opposed longitudinal edge of the horizontal support arm 19 carries a first rectangular biasing spring 25. The rectangular biasing spring is separated from the support arm 19 by two slits 26,27, which terminate a distance away from each other leaving a connecting neck 28 centrally located of the support arm 19, connecting the support arm 19 to the rectangular biasing spring 25. The biasing spring 25 thus has two free end portions in the form of resilient fingers which, as can be seen, are biased downwardly beneath the plane of the support arm 19. The rearward edge of the biasing spring 25, that is the edge remote from the blade support plate 20, carries a second substantially vertical biasing spring, which is again of rectangular form. This biasing spring has a central portion 29 which is connected to the biasing spring 25, and two terminal resilient fingers 30,31 which are deflected out of the plane of the central part 29 of the second biasing spring.

The blade support plate 20, as shown in Figures 1 and 5 may carry the blade 18.

The blade-holder unit is inserted into the slot 3 formed in the monolithic body 2 forming the head 1 of the razor so that the resilient arms 30,31 of the second biasing spring 29 engage the rear wall of the slot. The downwardly deflected arms of the first biasing spring 25 engage the lower horizontal wall of the slot. The shock plates 23 and 24 are biased upwardly and engage, or at least lie adjacent, the hexagonal terminations 14, 15 provided on the roller 13.

The blade 18 is located between the rollers 10 and 13. The blade support plate is inclined at an angle of 450 to the axis of the slot. Because of the engagement of the biasing springs with the slot, the cutting edge has a plurality of degrees of freedom of movement, and is able to move up and down, and in and out relative to the head 1 of the razor, and may be twisted or skewed about horizontal or vertical axes.

When the described razor is used, the roller 13 will rotate as the razor is drawn across the skin of a person shaving. As the roller rotates, so the hexagonal terminations 14,15 will apply successive shocks to the shock plates 23 and 24. These shocks will cause the blade support plate 20 to vibrate, relative to the head 1 of the razor, since the blade support plate 20 is effectively resiliently mounted, relative to the head of the razor, by the first biasing spring 25 and the second biasing spring 26.

Thus the blade vibrates as the razor is drawn across the face of a person shaving. It is known that a vibrating blade will cut more effectively than a stationary blade, and thus it is believed that the described razor will provide a superior shave to a razor in which the blade is stationary.

Turning now to Figure 6 and 7, an alternative embodiment of the invention will be described. In this embodiment the head 1 of the razor is of substantially the same design as the head I of Figure 1, and thus will not re-

described in detail at this time. The lower roller 10 is also of the same design as that described above, and will not be re-described. In this embodiment of the invention, an upper roller 40 is provided. The roller 40 is provided with

trunions 41, 42 adapted to be received in a snap-fastening manner in the apertures defined by the projections 8 and 9 provided at the top part of the , head. The roller is provided with a central section 43 which, in this embodiment, is of square cross-section, and thus of an irregular or non-circular section, presenting successive comers.

A blade-holder unit 45, shown most clearly in Figure 7, is provided adapted to be inserted into the slot defined by the head. The blade-holder unit

includes a relatively short horizontal support arm 46 equivalent to the support arm 19 described above, which supports an inclined blade support plate 47, which is generally equivalent to the blade support plate 20 described above.

The horizontal support arm 46 carries a first biasing spring 25 of the type described above, and a second biasing spring 29 of the type described above, but the second biasing spring 29 carries, at its upper edge, a centrally located forwardly extending shock plate 48. The shock plate 48, when the blade support unit 45 is in position, as shown in Figure 6, is located in alignment with the square sectioned portion 43 of the roller 40, and is biased into contact with that square sectioned section of the roller. It will be appreciated that, in this embodiment of the invention, as the roller rotates, so the square sectioned portion 43 of the roller 40 will apply successive shocks to the blade-holder 45, which will vibrate the cutting edge of the blade, as the blade is resiliently mounted with a plurality of degrees of freedom of movement.

Figure 8 illustrates an embodiment in which the head 1 is very similar to that of the embodiment of Figure 1 save that, at the rear part of the slot 3 defined in the head 1, there is a downwardly extending recess or pocket 50

which extends below the level of the lower wall 4 of the slot. The roller 10 and the roller 13 are of the same design as described with reference to Figure 1. The blade holder unit 60 of this embodiment has an inclined blade support plate 61, the upper edge of which is connected by a narrow neck 62 of material

to a first biasing spring 63 of the type described above. The first resilient / spring does not, in the embodiment, have a second resilient spring mounted thereon.

The blade support plate 61 is provided with, at each end, upwardly directed lugs 64,65, which correspond with the lugs 21 and 22 of Figure 2.

These lugs carry rearwardly directed shock plates 66,67, which correspond with the shock plates 23 and 24, the rearwardly extending shock plates carrying downwardly extending rearwardly inclined arms 68,69, which terminate with forwardly directed fingers 70, 71, the arms 68,69 and the fingers 70,71 being so configured that the fingers 70,71 may be received within the pocket 50 defined at the rear part of the slot.

It is to be appreciated that when the blade support 60, as shown in Figure 9 is mounted in the slot, as shown in Figure 12, the blade support is held in position within the razor with the shock plates 66,67 being located adjacent the hexagonal terminations 14,15 of the roller 13.

The blade support plate 61, because it is merely connected to the first resilient spring by a relatively narrow neck 62, may flex to adopt an arcuate configuration, as shown in Figure 11, with a consequent outward and diverging flexing of the shock plates 66,67, and the associated arms 68 and 69. This possibility of deformation of the blade support plate may facilitate the shaving operation and provide a superior shave. Again, in this embodiment, as the roller 13 rotates, so the hexagonal terminations 14 and 15 of the roller will

strike the shock plates 66,67 imparting vibrations to the blade, as the blade is again mounted in position with a plurality of degrees of freedom of movement.

In this embodiment, as shown in Figures 8 and 12, the blade support plate 61 is provided with a blade 72 which is secured thereto, and which presents a cutting edge.

t In the embodiments described above, the blade-holder may be formed of a plastics material, or may be formed of metal stamping. In each of the embodiments, a blade is secured to the blade support plate. In a modification of these embodiments of the invention, the blade support plate may itself, if made of metal, be sharpened to constitute a blade.

In a further modified embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in Figure 13, the blade-holder 80 may be fabricated from a plastics material, and may have a design extremely similar to that of the blade-holder shown in Figure 9. However, it is to be noted that in the embodiment of Figure 13, at either end of the blade support plate 61, a slot 81,82 is provided adapted releasably to receive an end part of a blade 83 so that the blade may be slotted in position with the main part of the blade resting against the blade support plate of the illustrated unit, and with the cutting edge of the blade exposed.

Whilst the invention has been described with reference to various embodiments, it is to be appreciated that many modifications may be effected without departing from the scope of the invention.

In the present Specification"comprise"means"includes or consists of and "comprising" means "including or consisting of'.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following Claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any

combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse j forms thereof.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A razor, the razor having a head, the head being provided with at least one roller, the roller being provided with or being adapted to drive at least one element of irregular cross-section such that rotation of the roller causes rotation of the said element, there being a blade-holder supporting a cutting edge, the blade-holder being mounted to the head of the razor by resilient means so that said cutting edge may execute at least one degree of freedom of movement, the holder being provided with at least one shock plate located adjacent said element of irregular cross-section, the arrangement being such that on rotation of the roller, the element of irregular cross-section engages the shock plate to cause the cutting edge to vibrate.

2. A razor according to Claim 1 wherein the razor is provided with a second roller spaced-apart from the first roller, the cutting edge being located between the two rollers.

3. A razor according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the holder is received within a slot formed in the head of the razor, the holder being associated with at least one resilient means adapted to engage the walls of the slot.

4. A razor according to Claim 3 wherein said at least one resilient means comprises a resilient element having deflected resilient fingers adapted to engage one wall of the slot, and to bias the holder away from that wall into engagement with the element of irregular cross-section.

5. A razor according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein the element of irregular cross-section is of hexagonal cross-section.

6. A razor according to any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein the element of irregular cross-section is of square cross-section.

,

7. A razor according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein the member of irregular cross-section is formed integrally with the roller.

8. A razor according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein the cutting edge is on a blade carried by the blade-holder.

9. A razor according to Claim 8 wherein the blade is permanently secured to the blade-holder.

10. A razor according to Claim 8 wherein the blade is releasably connected to the blade-holder.

11. A razor according to any one of Claims 1 to 7 wherein the cutting edge is formed on part of the blade-holder.

12. A razor according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein there are two shock plates which are spaced-apart on the holder, and two co-operating elements of irregular cross-section.

13. A razor according to Claim 3 or any Claim dependent thereon wherein the blade-holder comprises a part adapted to be inserted into the slot defining the resilient means and the shock plate or plates, and a blade-holding part which, when the blade-holder is in the slot, is inclined to the axis of the slot.

14. A razor according to Claim 13 wherein the blade-holder comprises a support arm, one edge of the support arm carrying an inclined blade supporting part, the opposed ends of the blade supporting part themselves supporting shock plates, the support arm carrying first resilient means, in the form of a plate having deflected fingers.

15. A razor according to Claim 14 wherein the first resilient means carries second resilient means in the form of a resilient element lying in a plane orthogonal to the plane of the first resilient means, that resilient element having terminal deflected resilient fingers.

16. A razor according to Claim 14 or 15 wherein each shock plate carries an extending arm terminating with a finger, each finger being receivable within a recess provided at the rear of the slot to retain the holder unit in the razor.

17. A razor substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in Figures 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.

18. A razor substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in Figures 6 and 7 of the accompanying drawings.

19. A razor substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in Figures 8 to 12 of the accompanying drawings.

20. A razor substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in Figures 8 to 12 of the accompanying drawings, as modified by Figure 13 of the accompanying drawings.

21. Any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein.