US2617520A - Blade dispensing magazine - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 11, 1952 M. D. BENEDICT, JR., ET AL BLADE DISPENSING MAGAZINE 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed July 23, 1948 Patented Nov. 11, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BLADE DISPENSING MAGAZINE Michael Douglas Benedict, Jr., Lynn, and Meyer J. Shnitzler, Brookline, Mass., assignors to The Gillette Company, a corporation of Delaware Application July 23, 1948, Serial No. 40,348

12 Claims.

order that they may arrive in unimpaired condition in the users hands.

The general objects of the present invention are to provide a magazine and blade combination that will insure safety of the blade edge in a reliable and effective manner, which may be assembled by automatic machinery and packed at low cost, which will be convenient for manipulation by the user and which will be so inexpensive in its construction that the magazine may be discarded when the supply of blades has been exhausted.

In the construction of the present novel magazine, advantage is taken of the staggered arrangement of longitudinally-slotted blades which has already been found entirely satisfactory by the shaving public. In accordance with this system, the blades are partially separated when the magazine is loaded, and this partial separation facilitates the ejection of the blades one by one by the user by permitting a limited preliminary movement of the outermost blade of the stack while the blade is still under full control in the magazine and while the next underlying blade is held positively against movement with it.

With these ends in view, an important feature of the invention consists in a magazine having a spring-metal cover with its ends inturned to act as a spring or springs for controlling the position of the blade stack. By this expedient, we eliminate the necessity of providing a spring as a. separate element of the magazine and razor combination. This object has been heretofore attempted by confining the stack of blades under an initial stress in the magazine, but it has been found that in long periods of storage such continually stressed blades will eventually deform a magazine formed of plastic material. This difficulty is avoided in the present magazine by confining the blades in substantially flat condition without appreciable tension except the internal stress developed in the inturned ends of the metal cover.

The inturned ends of the cover not only serve as retaining springs for the blades but they provide a smooth rolled-edge exit opening for the magazine through which the blades may pass smoothly and with assurance that their sharp edges will be guided in a path clearing all parts of the magazine.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a, preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a magazine, drawn on an enlarged scale and showing one blade partially ejected therefrom;

Fig. 2 is a view in longitudinal section of the magazine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in cross-section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view in perspectiveof the magazine parts and blades shown in exploded relation;

: and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary View in side elevation of the magazine cover.

The base [0 of the magazine herein shown may be constructed of any suitable material as by molding from synthetic resins or diecasting from light metal. In one very effective form the base is molded of transparent Lucite. It is rectangular in form and provided with two upwardly tapering and inwardly inclined side walls I I. At each corner of the base is provided a projecting lug I2 which extends outwardly beyond the outer face of the side walls I I and upwardly slightly above the top edge of the side walls. As herein shown, the opposite side edges of the lugs l2 taper upwardly and outwardly at each end of the base.

Each side wall ll of the base is provided in its foot with a rectangular channel or groove l3. A pair of blade-locating ribs l4 and I5 is disposed in the main axis of the base l0. These ribs are aligned and spaced apart longitudinally in the base. They have abruptly shouldered outer edges and inner edges which slope gradually outwardly and upwardly from the face of the base and merge smoothly into the top edge of the rib. In width, the ribs l4 and I5 fit with slight clearance the longitudinal slot in the blades with which they are to be used. At the foot of each rib the base I0 is provided with a small concave recess.

to insure that there shall be no obstruction that would delay outward movement of a blade by catching its solid end as the blade is being ejected.

The magazine includes in its structure a cover I 6 of spring sheet metal, and this is provided with side walls I! having hooked flanges l8 at The material of the cover extends at both endsbeyond the ends of its side walls I! as best shown in Fig. 5, and is then folded inwardly and extends downwardly in the form of a spring I9, which is normally biased to contact with the base when the magazine is empty of'blades. Eachturned-in spring portion I9 is provided with a longitudinal slot or cut-out portion 20 which provides ample clearance for the ribs [4 and I of the base, and the material at the inner end of.

each spring:portion.may, if desired, be formed as:

anupwardly convex transverse bridge 2|, thus providing two transversely spaced blade-engaging faces in each spring. In any case the spaced end portions of the. two springs 2| engage the top of: the bladestack on opposite sides of the ribs: l4; and I5 and in four separate areas, distributed'so. as to hold the stack flatly against the .bottom -.of the magazine;

The cover; l6. isalso provided'with a, finger or thumb opening 22 which is centrally andsymmetrically disposed'therein and: providedwith a downturnedrim 23 which thus provides a smooth rolled edge for the opening. In. the assembled magazine thefinger opening- 22 is located above the space between the inner ends ofthe ribs l4 and 15. The springs l9, moreover, are of such length that they clear the outer periphery of the flange 23 when they are sprung into their uppermost position andengage a full stack of blades within the magazine and provide. an extended upwardly. inclined surface above the blade stack leading to the exit-opening;

The magazine is herein shown as constructed and arranged to handle double-edgedblades of awelleknown commercial. type; that is to say blades25thaving a median slot 26.and solid elongated. unsharpened end portions 211 defined in part by corner notches in the blade. The median slot 26? is herein shown as provided with local enlargements shaped to fit the blade-locating projections of razors in which these blades are to. be used. Each blade, moreover, is provided with a pair of arrows 28' indicating the direction in which it should be moved to be ejected from the magazine. As herein shown, the blades are arranged in fiat condition in a stack upon the base H), with alternate blades impaled on the ribM- and on the rib l5, respectively. The blade 25; which is shown as partially ejectedin Fig. 1 has been impaled'upon the rib M with theabrupt end shoulder of the rib incontact with the solid end portion 21 of the blade at the end of the slot 26; Accordingly, this blade has been positively held against movement toward the left in the magazine but maybe moved freely toward the right, and as indicated by its arrows 28. The user may efiect this movement by engaging the blade through the finger opening 22 and frictionally urging the blade voutwardly against the yielding resistance of one of the springs l.9.. In this preliminary movement the blade is positively guided by the directing action of the rib, M in the slot- 26 of the" blade... "This continues until the solid rear end of the blade encounters the im clined inner edge of the rib 14. When this occurs, the end portion of the blade rides up the incline of the rib against the pressure downward of the sprin 19. Finally, in the continued movement of the blade the solid end portion 21 passes beyond the inner end of the spring and 01f the end shoulder of the rib so that the blade is suddenly released and is snapped out of the magazine without any tendency to transverse displacement that would otherwise bring the edge of the blade into contact with the wall of the magazine. During this movement of the uppermost blade toward the right. the 'nextiinderlying blade is held positively against movement toward the right, but as indicated by the arrows thereon, is free for movement toward the left.

The magazine is provided with an exit opening at either end formed by the upper end face of the base In and the folded-over end of the cover 15 above. it.

Having thus disclosed our invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment.

therefore, we claim: as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1: A blade-dispensing magazine including in itsstructurie: an elongated base of: plastic material having a pair-of aligned blade-locating ribs therein, a. stack of longitudinally. slotted bladesarranged in staggered relation on alternate ribs; and. a.cover of" spring sheet metal having side flanges engaged with the longitudinal. edges of the base and end portions folded inwardly, defining exit openings at bothends of the magazine and: extending inwardly and downwardly thereby. providing springs engaging the top of the blade stack in separate areas distributedto hold the stackflatly. againstthe base.

2; A blade-dispensing magazine comprising a rectangular plastic base having inwardly tapering side walls with projecting corner lugs together with a detachablercover of spring metal having flanged sides filling the spacebetweenthe corner lugs, interlocking with-lower -edgesof the wallsof the base and held in place at both ends by said corner lugs, the cover and'the base being spaced apart at'both ends ofthe magazine to provide exit openings and the coverhaving a finger opening therein.

3. A blade-dispensing magazine comprising a rectangular base; having spaced. blade-locating ribs therein, and a cover of sheet metal engaged at its sides with the base in fixed position thereon and folded inwardly at both ends in spaced relation above the ends of the base to form a smooth rolled-edge exit opening at each end of the magazine and to provide an extended upwardly inclined surface leading within the magazine'to said opening.

4. A blade-dispensing magazine of the char.- acterdescribed iniclaim 3, in which the folded-in ends of the cover are of spring material and are extended inwardly and downwardly from both endsof the magazine and thus constitute springs.

5. A blade-dispensing magazine of thecharacter described ingciaim 4, in which the cover is provided with a. finger opening substantially coextensive .withthe space between the inner ends.

the form of a hold-down spring, said spring being slotted to bridge one of said ribs and terminating adjacent to the inner end thereof.

7'. A blade-dispensing magazine comprising a plastic base of rectangular outline having side walls and corner lugs with opposed oblique edges projecting outwardly from the side walls and blade-locating projections located in the bottom of the base, in combination with a sheet metal cover having a finger opening with an inturned peripheral flange, and resilient side walls shaped to fit upon the side walls of the base and havin oblique end edges contacting those of the corner lugs.

8. A blade-dispensing magazine comprising a plastic base having a flat blade-supporting face and projecting blade-locating ribs, a stack of longitudinally slotted blades arranged in fiat unstressed condition in staggered relation upon the base and said ribs, and a cover of spring sheet metal clipped to the base and having a finger opening and having its ends folded inwardly and extending downwardly in position to press the blades yieldingly against the flat face of the base.

9. A blade-dispensing magazine comprising a plastic base having side walls and blade-locating projections, in combination with a sheet metal cover having a flat top and side walls terminating short of the ends of its top and an inturned spring integral with each end of the top and turned in along a line beyond the ends of the side walls of the cover, each spring extending inwardly beside one of the blade-locating projections of the base.

10. A blade dispensing magazine comprising a base portion having a pair of longitudinally spaced blade-locating ribs with outwardly and upwardly inclined inner edges, a cover having afinger opening, longitudinally slotted blades arranged in stacked and oppositely staggered relation on said ribs within the magazine, and spring means pressing downwardly upon the uppermost blade of the stack, whereby whilst under spring pressure, the uppermost blade may be engaged by the users finger or thumb and moved endwise until the rear solid end of the blade reaches the inclined inner edge of its associated rib whereupon that blade while still under spring pressure may be pulled out of the magazine by drawing its solid end up the said inclined edge.

11. A blade dispensing magazine comprising a base portion having a pair of longitudinally spaced blade-locating ribs rising at their inner ends in smooth continuous slopes from the base and terminating at their outer ends in abrupt shoulders, a cover of spring metal, and longitudinally slotted blades arranged in stacked and oppositely staggered relation on said ribs within th magazine, the cover being folded inwardly at both ends and having inwardly and downwardly extending spring portions passing on opposite sides of sa d ribs into engagement with the blade stack.

12. A blade dispensing magazine as described in claim 11 further characterized in that the base portion has a depression at the foot of the inner end of each blade-locating rib.

MICHAEL DOUGLAS BENEDICT, JR., MEYER J'. SHNITZLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

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