US2364251A - Safety razor - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 5, 1944. N. TEST! 2,364,251

SAFETY RAZOR Filed May 5, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet l N. TEST! SAFETY RAZOR Dec. 5, 1944.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 5, 1944 Patented Dec. 5, 1944 Nicholas Testi, Boston, Mass;,. assi'gn'or to Gillette. Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass, a; corporation of Delaware Application May 5, 1944,. Serial No..534',243

. 12 Claims.

This invention relates to. safety razors of the type'inwhich a thin flexiblev blade is flexed. transversely and supported. on. both. sides in. shaving position by cooperating blade-clamping members. The, invention consists in a new and improved razor so constructed and arranged that'an openend blade. may be conveniently employed therein with entire safety to the user.

Safety razor blades of the: dpen-endtype, that is to. say, blades: having. a medial slot opening through one unsharpened end edge have the advantage that While they may be employed. like a closed-slot blade in safety razors. having detachable cap and. guard members, theymay also be employed in safety razors in whichthe cooperatil'lg blade-clamping members are. permanently connected at all times and have provision for limited separation only, permitting the insertion of a blade endwise and in flat conditionbetween them. In dealing with an open-end blade having a protective envelope or wrapper, it has'been. the practice to insert the protected or covered. blade in the razor, engage or anchor the blade therein, and then, while the blade is 50 held,. forcibly to strip th wrapper or envelope. from the blade. The present invention facilitates this. procedure by providing mechanical means for disengaging the blade from an anchoring device in the. razor and for discharging or ejectin the. blade. to. a

position in which the user may readily graspit i and withdraw it from the razor.

In a broader aspect my invention consists in the provision, in a safety razor having cooperating blade-clamping members connected for limited separation only, of movable means constructed and arranged to be operated from. outside the razor, or at a :point remote from the blade, for ejecting or partially ejecting the. blade. Thus the fingers of the user are safeguarded from cutting and he is relieved of. the necessity of. touching the blade directly until after it. has beenprojected into a convenient position. for grasping with an unsharpened portion. exposed.

As herein shown, one convenient mean of achieving the desired. result consists inproviding a movable blade-feeding device constructed and arranged by a single movement. to. release. the blade from its anchoring device and to advance it endwise in a direction away from its. open end. Preferably and as hereinshowma carrier member is providedintermediate the cap and guard members of the razor having mounted in one. end thereof. a. rollby which the. carrier itself may be lifted simultaneously with. rotation. ofv the. feed roll by which thefused blade is ejectedv or partially elected' from the razor.

These andother features of the invention. will bebest understood and" appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof,, selected for. purposes of illustration: and shownin the. accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig- 1 is a view in perspective on an enlarged scale of the complete safety razor;

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of the safety razor head asseenf'rom the and opposite to that; shown in. Fig. I;

Fig. 3 is-a view in perspective offthe safety razor partsand a blade in exploded relation;

Fig. 4 is a View in longitudinal". section of the razor. cl'ampedT for shaving; and

Fig. 5 is asi'mil'ar view ofthe razor showing the. used blade in process of' being discharged The. razor herein illust'ratedis designed for use with an open-end blade of the well-known Gillette type, as best shown in. Fig. 31 This blade. IU'. is generally rectangular in shape and provided in each of its four" corners with a. re-- entrant notch, these notches fo'nminga solid elongated and' unsharpened end' portion H at one end and a similar divided end. portion f2 at the other end of. the blade. 'I'hefbla'de has a. medial longitudinal slot I 3 terminating; in a rounded enl'argement at its inner. end and. opening out through the unsharpenedendedge l2 at the" other end. of the blade. The. slot .defines'two similar side portions in the" blade which are" connected at the end l'l byla solid hinge. Th'e'slbt has also a central circular enlargement or aperture I 4 for receiving" the cap" stem" and a pair of intermediate diamond-shaped enlargements H's-shaped to fit, upon blad'e locjating' projections of various safety razors in which the blade is designed," for use. I

It will, be understood that the improved safety razor of my invention isv not by anymean'slimlted in its. useto the blade above described but with various modifications, alllwithih the scope of the present. invention, may be. modified to. handle open-end. blades ofany' desired type The. razor shown in. detail inFigs. 1-5 includes. inits structure a tubular handle. Hi? to. the upper end. of which is secured. a guard member. 'Ihismemher is generally rectangular in outlineand isprovided along. its: opposite longitudinal edges with downwardly curved: guard. teeth. H. The upper surfaces of. the. guard teeth on eaclri side: merge into a concave: surface: sloping; upwardly toalongitudinal rib l8; The ribs: l8 at. both:- sides: of

the: guard are: parallelto eachl other and. define between them a longitudinal channel l9 extending from end to end of the guard member. At one end the bottom of the channel is cut away in the form of a rectangular recess and in this recess a blade-feeding device is located as will presently appear.

Projecting from the bottom of the channel is, adjacent to the end recess 20 is a diamond-shaped projection 2|, having its upper face inclined upwardly toward the right-hand end of the guard as seen in Fig. 3 and projecting above the level of the ribs IS. The ribs l8 provide a guideway for the blade as it is inserted and fulcrum shoulders over which the blade is flexed in shaving position by the cap member of the razor. In the right-hand end of the guard member are also provided a pair of square notches 22 for the reception of lugs on the cap. A circular aperture 23 is also provided in the bottom of the channel l9 near the left end of the cap to receive with clearance a pin which projects from the cap member.

The cooperating cap member 24 is also rectangular in outline and somewhat narrower than the guard member. It has a transversely concave blade-shaping face and a longitudinal centrally disposed blade-locating rib 25. From the rib 25 projects a stem 26 which is arranged to pass with clearance through the guard member and enter the tubular barrel I6 of the handle where it is engaged by a tubular nut 21, freely rotatable in the barrel I6 of the handle. The rib 25 is provided on one side of the stem 26 with an elongated notch 28. Beyond the ends of the rib there is provided a recess 29 arranged in the face of the cap to receive with clearance the diamondshaped projection 2| of the guard member. At its right-hand end the cap is provided with a pair of downwardly-extending corner lugs 30 which, in the assembled razor, pass into the end notches 22 of the guard, These lugs 30 serve as end stops, engaging the notches in the advancing end of a blade as the open-end of the latter is pushed into the razor between the cap and guard members from its left-hand end and arresting the blade in shaving position. A retaining pin 3| projects downwardly from the inner surface of the cap at the other end of the rib 25 in position to register with and enter the aperture 23 of the guard member.

An intermediate carrier member comprising a bar 32 is designed to fit into the channel l9 of the guard member of the razor. The carrier bar 32 is rectangular in outline having stifiening side flanges and a clearance aperture 33 permitting free passage of the threaded stem 26. At its right-hand end it is cut away to provide the arms of a fork having down-turned ears 34 perforated to receive a journal pin 35 upon which is rotatably mounted blade-feeding means consisting of a roll 36. The latter, as best shown in Fig. 3, comprises two serrated disks connected by an integral hub 31. In its normal or initial position the bar 32 lies in the channel IQ of the guard member with the feed roll 36 projecting downwardly into the space provided in the bottom of the channel by the notch 2|). In that sense, accordingly, the rotatable blade-feeding roll I3 is mounted in the guard member. In its left end the carrier is provided with a circular aperture 38 through which passes with clearance the downwardly-extending pin 3| of the cap 24, thus anchoring the carrier 32 against longitudinal displacement in the channel IQ of the guard member. The forked opening at the right-hand end of the carrier provides ample clearance for the diamond-shaped projection 2|. When the razor parts are assembled the right-hand end of the rib 25 of the cap member also fits into the open space forming the forks of the carrier and the notch 28 in the rib 25 provides clearance for the solid body of the carrier adjacent to its central aperture 33.

The threaded stem 26 of the cap extends into the interior of the hollow nut 21 which is shouldered at its upper end and a headed screw 39 is threaded into the end of the stem 26 and is effective to limit the separation of the cap and guard members as will be apparent by comparing Figs, 4 and 5, which show the razor respectively in two conditions, i. e., in closed blade-clamping position and in open blade-receiving position.

It will be understood that when the tubular nut 21 is turned in one direction to separate the cap and guard members as shown in Fig. 5, a space is provided between them into which a protected blade may be pushed endwise upon the ribs l8 with its open end in advance. When the blade is thus inserted its two side portions pass on opposite sides of the center rib 25 and the blade may be advanced until the shoulders provided by its corner notches at its open end I2 bring up against the down-turned lugs 30 of the cap. The blade is thus correctly located transversely by the rib 25 and longitudinally by the lugs 30.

In this position the diamond-shaped recess |5 of the blade registers with and receives the diamond-shaped projection 2| of the guard member. In arriving at this position, the advancing end of the blade rides upwardly on the inclined surface of the projection 2| and when a position of registration is reached the blade settles itself upon the ribs H! with the projection 2| passing completely through theaperture l5 of the protected blade,

' thus anchoring it against outward movement.

The user may now strip the cover from the blade by merely pulling it endwise toward the left. The stripped blade may now be clamped in shaving position by turning the tubular nut 21 to the limit of its movement, thus drawing the cap downwardly, flexing the blade over the fulcrum shoulders provided by the ribs 8 and clamping it solidly in shaving position as shown in Fig. 4. The blade cover is not herein shown but may be of the character disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,342,161 Muros and Testi, dated February 22, 1944.

At the conclusion of the shaving operation, the user first releases the nut 21, causing the cap and guard to separate to the limited extent permitted them as shown in Fig. 5. He then presses upwardly upon the serrated roll 36 with his thumb or finger, thus simultaneously swinging the carrier 32 upwardly at its right-hand end and rotating the roll 36 in a counter-clockwise direction. This accomplishes two functions. In the first place, it lifts the blade sufficiently to disengage its diamond-shaped aperture I5 from the correspondingly-shaped projection 2| of the guard and it feeds the blade rearwardly or toward the left, ad vancing its solid end outwardly from between the cap and guard to a protruding position Where it may be conveniently and safely grasped by the user.

This action is suggested in Fig. 5, from which it will be noted that the carrier 32 is shown as tilted upwardly about its left-hand end sufficiently to disengage the blade I0 from the projection 2|. Simultaneously the counter-clockwise rotation of the roll 36 has displaced the blade so that its solid end H projects freely beyond the end of the razor.

As an additional feature of my invention, it will be noted that when the cap and guard members are held in clamping relation the carrier 32 is positively engaged and held stationary with the feed roll 36 spaced substantially from the blade Ill. Rotation of the roll can, therefore, in no way affect the blade while the razor is clamped for shaving. However, when the clamping pressure on the blade is released by the cap and guard members, the carrier 32 is also released and may then be tilted to permit the roll 36 to be engaged with the blade. This feature of construction will be best appreciated from consideration of Figs. 4 and 5.

Having thus disclosed by invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

, 1. A safety razor having cooperating bladeclamping members connected for limited separation only, and movable means mounted in one of said members for engaging and ejecting a blade located between said members.

2. A safety razor having cooperating bladeclamping members connected in opposed relation for limited separation only and a blade-feeding device mounted in one of said members and having an operating portion projecting outside said member and within convenient reach of the user.

3. A safety razor having cooperating members with inner opposed faces shaped to flex a thin steel blade between them, means for connecting said members for limited separation and rotatable blade-feeding means mounted in one member and having an operating face exposed outside the outer face of said member.

4. A safety razor having cooperating bladeclamping members connected for limited separation only, a blade-retaining projection on one of said members, and means movably disposed between said members for disengaging an apertured blade from said projection.

5. A safety razor having cooperating bladeclamping members connected for limited separation only, a blade-retaining projection on the lower of said members, and a carrier movably mounted between said members and having an aperture clearing said projection.

6. A safety razor having cooperating bladetion only, one of said members having a guideway for directing an apertured blade into position between the said members, a blade-retaining projection arising in said guideway and having an inclined upper face for deflecting a blade advanced upon said guideway until the aperture of the blade registers with the projection, a device movable in said guideway for disengaging a blade from said projection, and rotary means constructed and arranged to eject a blade after it has been so disengaged.

8. A safety razor having cooperating blade- I clamping members, one of which has a longituclamping members connected for limited separation only, one of said members having spaced fulcrum shoulders and a blade-retaining projection extending above the level of said shoulders, and a carrier mounted between said shoulders and movable to disengage an apertured blade from said projection, and means on the carrier for longitudinally moving a blade after it has been so disengaged.

7. A safety razor having cooperating bladeclamplngmembers connected for limited separadinal channel therein, a blade-retaining projection rising from the bed of said channel, a forked bar normally resting in said chanel below the level of said projection and being cut out to clear the same, and a roll journalled between the forks of said bar.

9. A safety razor having cooperating bladeclamping members, means for holding said members either in a blade-clamping position of pressure or in separated relation with a blade-passage between them, and a blade ejecting roll bodily movable from an inoperative initial position out of contact with a blade interposed between said members into an operative position wherein it contacts the blade.

10. A safety razor comprising a guard member having parallel ribs forming fulcrum shoulders and defining a channel, a blade-retaining projection rising from the channel, an apertured blade engaged with said projection, a cap member cooperating with the guard to flex said blade, a bar normally lying in said channel, having forks at one end and a clearance recess for said projection, a blade-feeding roll journalled in the forks of said bar, and means for limiting the movement .of said bar in the channel of the guard member.

11. A safety razor having cooperating bladeclamping members, means for relatively moving and clamping said members on an interposed blade, and a roll having a mounting positively locating the roll out of contact with the blade while the latter is clamped between said members and constructed and arranged to permit movement of the roll into contact with the blade when the latter is released from clamping pressure.

12. A safety razor having cooperating bladeclamping members, means for relatively moving said members to. clamp or release an interposed blade, and a carrier also interposed between said members and having ears extending in a direc-

Images