RU2388591C1 - Blade unit and safety razor that comprises such unit - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: personal use articles.

SUBSTANCE: blade unit of razor, comprising frame and blades installed on blade, at the same time each blade may move and preserves initial position due to elastic forces. In initial position upper surface of each blade rests against upper support section of frame, besides upper surface of each blade is parallel to according upper support sections. Razor also comprises handle.

EFFECT: improved cleanness of shaving and safety of razor.

20 cl, 19 dwg

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to blade units and safety razors comprising such blade units.

State of the art

The present invention relates to a blade unit comprising a frame and at least one blade mounted on said frame, the blade comprising a top surface, a bottom surface and a cutting edge and can be moved, the frame contains at least one upper stop the section and the blade resiliently abut against the upper thrust section, where it is in the initial position.

US-A-2002144404 gives an example of such a blade unit in which the cutting edges of the blades abut against the upper stops of the frame when the blades are bare as much as possible.

Thus, the cutting edges of the blades can penetrate into the upper thrust portions (made in this case of plastic) and / or be damaged when the blades are in their original position, due to which the edge will protrude unevenly and the shaving will be unclean.

Disclosure of invention

One of the objectives of the present invention is to eliminate the above drawback.

In accordance with the present invention, in the razor blade unit in question, the upper surface of the blade abuts against the upper abutment portion when the blade is in its original position, the upper surface being substantially parallel to the upper abutment portion.

Due to this arrangement, the edge of the blade does not penetrate the upper thrust portion and is not damaged by the upper thrust portion under the action of elastic forces, therefore, it protrudes uniformly in the starting position and the shave is clean.

In various embodiments of the present invention, these disadvantages can be eliminated with the help of one or more of the following innovations:

- the blade can move under the action of forces arising from shaving, and the initial position corresponds to the maximum protrusion of the blade;

- the frame contains at least one resilient finger pushing the blade to its original position;

- the frame is made of synthetic material;

- the frame does not contain metal;

- the upper and lower sides of the blade respectively contain two parallel main surfaces and two chamfers, beveled to the cutting edge, while the beveled edge of the upper side abuts in the initial position in the upper stop section and is essentially parallel to the upper stop section;

- the frame contains a stopper, a cap and two side sections connecting the stopper and the cap, while the blade is parallel to the stopper and the cap between two side ends, which are located respectively near these side sections, the side sections contain two upper thrust sections, in which two respectively abut the lateral ends of the blade in the initial position, the upper side of the blade being substantially parallel to the two upper thrust portions;

- the blade unit contains several parallel blades, and the side sections contain two upper thrust sections, which abut respectively the two side ends of each blade in the initial position, and the upper side of each blade is essentially parallel to the corresponding upper thrust sections;

- the blade is inserted into two slots, which are provided respectively on two side sections of the frame;

- the blade rests on a curved support, which contains a lower section located in a plane parallel to the slots, and an upper section located in a plane parallel to the blade, while the lower section is parallel to the cutting edge between two side sections inserted into the slots;

- each frame slot is bounded by a front guide surface and a rear guide surface belonging to a corresponding side portion of the frame, wherein the front guide surface is closer to the limiter, and the rear guide surface is closer to the cap and both guide surfaces are offset parallel to the cutting edge of the blade;

- each lateral portion of the lower portion of the blade support has a lateral edge, and the slot into which this lateral portion is inserted has a front guide surface located closer to this lateral edge, and a distant guide surface located further from the lateral edge;

- each side section of the frame contains a lower stop portion, which is located next to the front guide surface under the upper portion of the curved support to limit the deviation of the blade and the curved support from its original position;

- the lower thrust portion is substantially parallel to the upper portion of the curved support;

- each lateral portion of the lower portion of the blade support has a lateral edge, and these lateral portions are projected away from the upper portion and the blade, with each lower thrust portion shifted away from the front guide surface and the corresponding lateral edge of the lower portion of the blade support;

- the upper portion of the curved support is parallel to the cutting edge between the two side edges, and each of the side sections of the frame contains two side guide surfaces, respectively facing the side edges of the upper portion of the curved support;

- the blade is parallel to the limiter and the cap between two side edges, while the lateral edge of the upper portion of the curved support contains a rounded protrusion that extends to the side of the corresponding lateral edge of the blade and is in contact with the corresponding lateral guide surface (it should be noted that this feature can be used regardless of the above signs);

- the curved support is a cut and bent sheet of metal that contains rounded side protrusions having rounded corners;

- each frame slot is bounded by a front guide surface and a rear guide surface belonging to a corresponding side portion of the frame, wherein the front guide surface is closer to the limiter, and the rear guide surface is closer to the cap and both guide surfaces are offset parallel to the cutting edge of the blade; in addition, each side section of the frame contains a lower stop portion, which is located closer to the front guide surface under the upper portion of the curved support to limit the deviation of the blade and the curved support from its original position, the blade unit contains several parallel blades and each side section of the frame contains at least at least two slots separated by a wall that contains:

front guide surface, lower stop portion and side guide surface of one slot,

and the rear guide surface of the other slot.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a safety razor that comprises a handle and a blade unit as described above and mounted on the handle.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Other features and advantages of the present invention are apparent from the following detailed description of one of the possible options for its implementation, given with reference to the following accompanying drawings:

1 is a perspective view of a safety razor in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,

figure 2 is a perspective view of the blade unit safety razor of figure 1, in an exploded state,

figure 3 is a section along the line III-III of the blade unit shown in figure 2,

figure 4 is a detailed section of one of the elements of the blade unit of figure 2 and 3,

5 and 6 are side and rear views, respectively, of the blade member of FIG. 4,

Fig.7 is a perspective view of one side of the blade element of Fig.4-6,

Fig.8 is a perspective view of the support of the blade element of Fig.4-7,

Fig.9 is a detailed top view of one side of the blade support of Fig.8, before bending,

figure 10 and 11 are perspective views of the bottom and top, respectively, of the platform element of the blade unit of figure 2 and 3,

Fig - a detailed section of the limiter of the platform element of Fig.10 and 11,

Fig.13 is a detailed top view of the platform element of Fig.10 and 11 with one blade element mounted on it,

Fig and 15 - sections of the platform element (without blade element) along the lines XIV-XIV and XV-XV, shown in Fig.13,

Fig.16 is a perspective view of the entire blade unit with a cut along the line XVI-XVI shown in Fig.11,

Fig.17 is an enlarged view of a fragment of XVII of Fig.16, without a cover,

Fig. 18 is a sectional view of the entire blade unit along line XVIII-XVIII of Fig. 11,

Fig.19 is an enlarged view of a fragment of XIX Fig.18.

The implementation of the invention

The same positions in the drawings correspond to similar elements.

1 shows a safety razor 1 (also called wet), that is, a razor whose blades cannot be moved by the motor relative to the blade unit.

The razor 1 comprises a handle 2 located in the longitudinal direction L between the proximal portion 3 and the distal portion 4, on which the blade unit 5 or the shaving head is held. The longitudinal direction L may be curved or contain one or more straight sections.

The blade unit 5 has an upper side 6 provided with one or more blades, and a lower side 7 connected to the distal portion 4 of the handle 2 using the connecting mechanism 8. The connecting mechanism 8 may, for example, provide rotation of the blade unit relative to the axis of rotation X, which essentially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction L. In addition, this mechanism can provide separation of the blade unit to replace it. One particular example of a coupling mechanism useful in the present invention is given in WO-A-2006/027018.

In addition, in the particular example illustrated in FIG. 1, the handle 2 may comprise an internal vibration mechanism (not shown), which is described, for example, in the aforementioned document WO-A-2006/027018; the user controls this mechanism using switch 9.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to such a vibrating handle, or any special connecting mechanism connecting the blade unit 5 to the handle 2.

As can be seen from figure 2 and 3, the blade unit 5 contains a frame 10 made only of synthetic materials, that is, plastics and elastomers.

More specifically, the frame 10 contains a plastic platform element 11, which is connected to the handle 2 using the connecting mechanism 8 and contains:

- a limiter 12 located parallel to the axis X of rotation,

- section 13 for receiving blades located behind the limiter 12 in the direction of shaving,

- cap section 14 located parallel to the X axis behind section 13 for holding the blades in the direction of shaving,

- and two side sections 15 connecting the longitudinal ends of the limiter 12 and the cap section 14.

The upper surface of the rear portion 37 of the stopper 12 and the upper surface of the front portion 38 of the cap portion 14 in contact with the skin during shaving define a main plane P that touches these upper surfaces of the rear portion 37 and the front portion 38.

In the example illustrated by the drawings, the stopper 12 is covered with an elastic layer 16 forming a series of ribs 17 that are parallel to the rotation axis X. As can be seen from Fig. 12, the elastic layer 16 may contain, for example, four ribs 17. The top of the second rib 17 (in the direction of shaving) can be located, for example, at a height h1 of about 0.34 mm from the top of the first rib 17 ( the height h1 is measured perpendicular to the conventional plane P), the top of the third rib 17 - at a height h2 of about 0.20 mm from the top of the second rib 17, the top of the fourth rib 17 - at a height of h3 about 0.12 mm from the top of the third rib, and the rear section 37 the limiter, made of plastic in one piece with the platform 11, at a height h4 of about 0.6 mm from the top of the four grated ribs. In addition, in the particular example illustrated by the drawings, the distance e1 between the vertices of the first and second ribs 17 is about 0.52 mm, the distance e2 between the vertices of the second and third ribs is about 0.48 mm, the distance e3 between the vertices of the third and fourth ribs is about 0.45 mm, the distance e4 between the top of the fourth rib and the rear section 37 of the limiter is about 0.43 mm, and the width e5 of the rear section 37 of the limiter is about 0.5 mm (these distances e1-e5 are measured parallel to the main plane P and perpendicular rotation axis X).

In addition, in this particular example, the lower surface of the platform element 11 comprises two plain bearings 18, which belong to the connecting mechanism 8; this may be, for example, the bearings described in the aforementioned document WO-A-2006/027018 (see FIGS. 2, 3 and 10).

In addition, the frame 10 comprises a plastic cover 19, typically of a U-shape, wherein the cover comprises a cap portion 20 partially covering the cap portion 14 of the platform, and two side elements 21 covering the two side elements 15 of the platform.

The cap portion 20 of the cap and the cap portion 14 of the platform form a cap 22 in contact with the skin when shaving. The cap portion 20 of the lid 19 may include a moisturizing strip 23 directed upward and in contact with the skin when shaving. This moisturizing strip may, for example, be glued to the rest of the lid.

In addition, the side cover members 21 and the platform side members 15 form two side frame sections connecting the stopper 12 to the cap 22.

The cover 19 can be fixed on the platform 11 by any known methods, for example, ultrasonic welding or laser welding, as described, for example, in document WO-A-2005/108024.

In addition, at least one blade member 24 that can be moved is mounted on a portion 13 of the platform containing the blades. The blade holding portion 13 can accommodate several blade members 24, for example, four blade members, as in the example illustrated by the drawings.

As can be seen from FIGS. 3-7, each blade member 24 comprises a blade 25 made of a flat strip of steel with a cutting edge 26 in the direction of shaving. Each blade 25 has an upper side 27 facing the skin and a lower side 28 facing the handle 2. The upper and lower sides 27, 28 of the blade respectively contain two parallel main surfaces 29, 30 and two chamfers 31, 32, beveled to the cutting edge 26.

As can be seen from FIGS. 5-7, each blade 25 is located between two side edges 33 along the block parallel to the rotation axis X.

Each blade 25 is supported by a curved support 34 shown in detail in FIGS. 7-9. Curved support 34 is made of steel sheet in the form of a bent profile, which contains:

a substantially flat bottom portion 35 (i.e., substantially perpendicular to the main plane P),

and a substantially flat upper portion 39 parallel to the blade 25.

The blade 25 is fixed on the upper portion 39 of the curved support by any known methods, for example, by laser spot welding.

The angle α between the upper portion 39 or blade 25 and the main plane P can be about 22 °.

As can be seen from FIGS. 5-9, the lower portion 35 of the curved support 34 is located between the two side portions 40 along the block parallel to the rotation axis X. Each side portion 40 includes a side edge 41.

In addition, the upper portion 39 of the curved support is located along the block between two lateral edges, each of which contains a rounded protrusion 42 with rounded corners; this protrusion extends away from the upper portion 39 and the corresponding lateral end 33 of the blade.

In addition, in the sheet metal forming the support for the blade, a rounded cutout 43 is made that separates the rounded protrusion 42 from the side edge 41 of the lower portion.

The lateral edges 41 of the lower portion of the curved support protrude away from the lateral ends 33 of the blade and the rounded protrusions 42.

As can be seen from Fig.9, the curved support can be made of a flat sheet of metal, which is then bent before welding the blade 25 to the upper section 39 of the sheet.

As can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, each blade element 34 is supported by two elastic fingers 44, which are molded integrally with the platform 11 and face each other, protruding upward from both side elements 15 of the platform.

Furthermore, as can be seen from FIGS. 2, 11 and 13, the extreme portions 40 of the curved supports are inserted into the vertical slots 45 (that is, the slots that are essentially perpendicular to the main plane P) provided on the inner side of each side member 15 of the platform.

Each vertical slot 45 of the platform is delimited by a front guide surface 47 and a rear guide surface 48 belonging to a corresponding side member 15 of the platform. The front and rear guide surfaces are offset to the side from each other parallel to the X axis. The front guide surface 47 can be offset away from the blade 25, while the front guide surface 47 is closer to the side member 15 than the rear guide surface 48.

In addition to each front guide surface 47, the platform side member 15 includes a lower stop portion 50, which forms a directional flat surface located below the upper portion 39 of the blade support 34 parallel to this upper portion 39. Each of the lower stop sections 50 is designed to limit the downward movement of the corresponding blade element 34 due to stresses arising from shaving.

In addition, each side member 15 of the platform contains two side guide surfaces 49 facing the rounded protrusions 42 of the corresponding blade member 24, while these protrusions 42 are in contact with the respective side guide surfaces 49. The side guide surfaces 49 can be inclined to each other, for example, at a small angle from 2 to 5 degrees relative to the axis perpendicular to the main plane R.

In the example illustrated by the drawings, the vertical slots 45 are separated from each other by the walls 50a, which are molded integrally with the platform 11 and contain:

- a front guide surface 47, a side guide surface 49, and a lower stop portion 50 of the slot located behind the wall 50a,

- and a rear guide surface 48 of the slot located in front of the wall 50a.

As can be seen from Figs. 16-19, the blade elements 24 maintain their initial position by pushing them with elastic fingers 44. In this initial position, the upper surfaces 27 of each of the side ends of the blades abut against the corresponding upper abutment portions 52 provided on the lower surface 51 of each side element 21 of the cover, while this side element 21 closes the slots 45.

More specifically, in the example illustrated by the drawings, the upper chamfers 31 of each blade abut against the upper thrust portions 52, and the upper thrust portions 52 are parallel to these chamfers 31.

Due to this arrangement, the cutting edges 26 of the blades 25 do not cut into the plastic material of the side members 21, and the blades 25 are not damaged by the side portions 21 of the cover.

Thus, the edges of the blade elements 24 maintain integrity in the initial position, which ensures high precision shaving.

In particular, the maximum protrusion of the EXP of each blade 25 is guaranteed, that is, the distance between the cutting edge 26 of the blade and the main plane P (see FIG. 4), measured perpendicular to the main plane P. In the example illustrated by the drawings, this maximum protrusion of the EXP can be about 0.02 mm.

In addition, as can be seen from FIG. 3, when the blades 24 are in the starting position, the distance SP1 between the rear portion 37 of the limiter and the cutting edge 26 of the first blade in the shaving direction may be about 0.66 mm, and the distances SP2, SP3, SP4 between the cutting edges of the four blades are about 1.48 mm (distance data SP1-SP4 are measured parallel to the main plane and perpendicular to the rotation axis X).

Claims (20)

1. The razor blade block comprising a frame (10) and at least one movable blade (25) mounted on the frame, the blade having an upper surface (27), a lower surface (28) and a cutting edge (26) , the frame (10) contains at least one upper thrust portion (52), in which the blade (25) elastically abuts, when this blade is in the initial position, in which the upper surface (27) of the blade abuts against the upper thrust portion ( 52), wherein the upper surface (27) is substantially parallel to the upper thrust portion (52). 2. The razor blade unit according to claim 1, in which the blade (25) can move under the action of forces arising from shaving, and the initial position corresponds to the maximum exposure of the blade. 3. The razor blade unit according to claim 1, wherein the frame (10) of which comprises at least one resilient finger (44) pushing the blade (25) to its original position. 4. The razor blade unit according to claim 1, wherein the frame (10) of which is made of synthetic material. 5. The razor blade unit according to claim 1, wherein the frame (10) is metal free. 6. The razor blade unit according to claim 1, wherein the upper and lower surfaces (27, 28) of the blade comprise two parallel main surfaces (29, 30) and two edges (31, 32), respectively, beveled to the cutting edge of the blade (25) wherein the chamfered edge (31) of the upper surface abuts at the initial position against the upper stop portion (52) and is substantially parallel to the upper stop portion (52). 7. The razor blade unit according to claim 1, wherein the frame (10) comprises a stop (12), a cap (22) and two side sections (15, 21) connecting the stop (12) and the cap (22), the blade (25 ) is parallel to the limiter (12) and the cap between the two lateral ends (33) located respectively next to the two lateral sections (15, 21), while these sections contain two upper thrust sections (52), in which two lateral ends abut respectively (33) the blades in the initial position, and the upper surface (27) of the blade is essentially parallel to the two upper thrust parts (52). 8. The razor blade unit according to claim 7, which contains several parallel blades (25), while the side sections (15, 21) of the block contain two upper thrust sections (52), in which two side ends (33) of each blade abut respectively (25) in the initial position, the upper surface (27) of each blade being substantially parallel to the corresponding upper thrust portions (52). 9. The razor blade unit according to claim 1, in which the blade (25) is inserted into two slots (45) provided respectively on two side sections (15.21) of the frame. 10. The razor blade unit according to claim 9, wherein the blade (25) rests on a curved support (34) comprising a lower portion (35) and an upper portion (39), wherein the lower portion is located in a plane parallel to the slots (45) and the upper section is located in a plane parallel to the blade (25), and the lower section (35) is located parallel to the cutting edge (25) between two side sections (40) inserted into the slots. 11. The razor blade unit of claim 10, wherein each slot (45) of the frame is bounded by a front guide surface (47) and a rear guide surface (48) belonging to a corresponding side portion (15, 21) of the frame, wherein the front guide surface ( 47) closer to the limiter (12), and the rear guide surface (48) closer to the cap (22), and these surfaces (47, 48) are offset to the side from each other parallel to the cutting edge (25) of the blade. 12. The razor blade unit according to claim 11, in which each side portion (40) of the lower portion of the blade support has a side edge (41), and the slot (45) into which the side portion (40) is inserted contains a front guide surface (47 ) located closer to the side edge (41) and the rear guide surface (48) located further from the side edge (41). 13. The razor blade unit of claim 10, wherein each side portion (15, 21) of the frame comprises a lower abutment portion (50) located adjacent to the front guide surface (47) below the upper portion (39) of the blade support to limit blade deflection (25) and blade support (34) from the starting position. 14. The razor blade unit according to claim 13, wherein the lower abutment portion (50) is substantially parallel to the upper portion (39) of the bent support. 15. The razor blade unit according to claim 13, wherein each side portion (40) of the lower portion of the blade support has a side edge (41), wherein the side portions (40) protrude away from the upper portion (39) and the blade (25) and each lower thrust portion (50) is biased away from the front guide surface (47) and the corresponding lateral edge (41) of the lower portion of the blade support. 16. The razor blade block according to claim 10, in which the upper portion (39) of the curved support is parallel to the cutting edge (25) between the two side ends (42), and each side section (15, 21) of the frame contains two side guide surfaces ( 49), respectively facing the lateral ends (42) of the upper portion of the curved support. 17. The razor blade unit according to claim 16, in which the blade (25) is located between the two lateral ends (33) parallel to the stop (12) and the cap (22), while the lateral end of the upper portion (39) of the curved support contains a rounded protrusion ( 42), protruding away from the corresponding lateral end (33) of the blade and in contact with the corresponding lateral guide surface (49). 18. The razor blade unit according to claim 17, wherein the curved support (34) is a cut and bent sheet of metal containing rounded side protrusions (42), wherein these side protrusions have rounded corners. 19. The razor blade unit according to claim 16, wherein each slot (45) of the frame is bounded by a front guide surface (47) and a rear guide surface (48) belonging to a corresponding side portion (15, 21) of the frame, wherein the front guide surface ( 47) closer to the limiter (12), and the rear guide surface (48) closer to the cap (22), and both surfaces (47, 48) are shifted away from each other parallel to the cutting edge (25) of the blade, in which each side section (15, 21) of the frame contains a lower stop portion (50), which is located next to the a guiding surface (47) under the upper portion (39) of the curved support to limit the deviation of the blade (25) and curved support (34) from the original position, while the blade unit contains several parallel blades (25), and each side section (15, 21) the frame contains at least two slots (45) separated by a wall (50a), which contains a front guide surface (47), a lower stop portion (50) and a side guide surface (49) of one slot (45) and a rear the guide surface (48) of the other slot (45). 20. A safety razor that comprises a handle (2) and a blade unit (5) mounted on it according to claim 1.

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