US3675325A

US3675325A - Razor edge safety guard apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3675325A
Application number: US52503A
Authority: US
Inventors: Gunnar P Michelson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1970-07-06
Filing date: 1970-07-06
Publication date: 1972-07-11
Anticipated expiration: 1989-07-11
Also published as: US3774294A

Abstract

A safety guard for the cutting edge of a razor has a multiplicity of closely spaced apart relatively thin metal filament guard members fitted over the cutting edge of the razor or razor blade. The ends of the guard members on each side of the razor cutting edge are interconnected in close proximity to the cutting edge either by securing the ends to each other or by securing them to a respective elongated mounting strip. The safety guard is either permanently or removably secured to the razor.

Description

United States Patent Michelson 1151 3,675,325 51 July 11,1972

[$4] RAZOR EDGE SAFETY GUARD APPARATUS [72] Inventor: Gunner P. Michehon, 505 Sea Ranch Drive, Santa Barbara, Calif. 93105 [22] Filed: July 6, 1970 [21] Appl.No.: 52,503

[52] US. Cl ..30/90, 30/78, 30/154658 [5i] Int. Cl. ..B26b 21/54, 1326b 2 H40 [58] Fieltlofsearch ..30/32,S3,55,77,78,82, 30/83, 90, 346.58

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,263,330 8/l966 Ferrara ..30/73 X 3,505,734 4I|970 lten 30/78 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS l,223.7l7 8/l966 Germany .3017! Primary Examiner-Andrew R. Juhasz Assismn! Examiner-(my L. Smith Attorney-Christie. Parker 8: Hale [57] ABSTRACT A safety guard for the cutting edge of a razor has a multiplicity of closely spaced apart relatively thin metal filament guard members fitted over the cutting edge of the razor or razor blade. The ends of the guard members on each side of the razor cutting edge are interconnected in close proximity to the cutting edge either by securing the ends to each other or by securing them to a respective elongated mounting strip. The safety guard is either permanently or removably secured to the razor.

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58 FIG. 6

1 i 53 1 4-1 58 FIG. 7 8

INVENTOR. GUNNAR P MICHELSON PATENTEUJUL H m2 3. 675 325 SHEEI 2 or 2 INVENTOR.

F IG. l3 GUNNAR F? MICHELSON RAZOR EDGE SAFETY GUARD APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to razors and razor blades, and more particularly to a safety guard for the cutting edge of a razor or a razor blade. The safety guard contemplated by this invention is particularly useful in reducing the chances of injury to the skin during shaving.

2. Description of the Prior Art In the past, razor blades have been equipped with safety guards for reducing the chances of cutting the skin during shaving. Generally speaking, the prior art safety guards include a series of longitudinally spaced apart metal segments extending forward of the cutting edge of the blade for shielding the skin from the blade cutting edge during shaving. Some of the prior art safety guards have been unsatisfactory because they are costly to manufacture on a large scale, or because they include guard segments with rough edge surfaces which make shaving uncomfortable. However, the chief disadvantage of the prior art safety guards is their inability to significantly reduce the chances of cutting. For example, many of the previous safety guard structures function merely as spacers, for maintaining a vertical space between the longitudinal blade cutting edge and the skid. These safety guards keep the blade a slight distance away from the skin during use, but cutting can still result rather easily when holding the blade at certain angles relative to the skin, or when the blade is drawn across the face in a direction parallel to the blade cutting edge. Furthermore, some prior art safety guard segments are relatively fragile. Consequently, these guard segments move relative to the blade cutting edge during shaving. Thus, the chances of cutting are not materially reduced, because the skin is not uniformly shielded along the length of the blade. Previously, safety guards have been stamped from sheet metal, which results in sharper edges and a larger width of the guard members when compared to the guard members of this invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a razor safety guard which significantly reduces the chance of injury to the skin during shaving, without significantly increasing the number of passes required to obtain a smooth shave.

Briefly, the razor safety guard contemplated by this invention includes a multiplicity of relatively thin metal filament guard members fitted over the cutting edge of a razor. The ends of the guard members on each side of the razor cutting edge are arranged to lie in close proximity to the cutting edge, and are interconnected so that the guard members are disposed relatively close to each other and spaced substantially equidistantly apart along the length of the razor cutting edge. The interconnected ends of the guard members on each side of the razor cutting edge are secured to the razor to maintain the guard members in fixed relation relative to the cutting edge.

The guard members of this invention are held in position relatively rigidly because their ends are interconnected at points relatively close to the razor cutting edge. As a result, movement of the guard members relative to each other, or to the cutting edge, during shaving is substantially avoided. When a razor using the safety guard of this invention is pressed against the skin, the skin bulges between the protruding guard members toward the cutting edge of the razor. Because of the relative close spacing of the guard members, the bulging skin between two adjacent guard members touches the cutting edge barely, or not at all, when moderate pressure is applied by the razor against the skin. Thus, the chances of cutting the skin are substantially prevented regardless of the cutting angle of the razor, and even when the razor is drawn across the skin in a direction parallel to the cutting edge. The spacing between the guard members, and the thickness of the guard members can be varied, depending on the users skin characteristics, to produce the desired amount of bulging of the skin between the guard members.

In the preferred form of the invention the guard members are made of individual short pieces of conventional round wire. The ends of the guard members are interconnected by an elongated mounting strip secured to each side of the blade cutting edge. Preferably, the safety guard is constructed in flat form, with the ends of the guard members welded to the mounting strips. The flat piece is then bent into a substantially V-shaped structure and fitted over the cutting edge of the razor. In one form of the invention, the razor edge safety guard is permanently secured to the razor blade. In an alternative form of the invention, a razor blade holding device releasably clamps the razor edge safety guard to a razor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The features of specific embodiments of the best mode contemplated of carrying out the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a fragmentary plan elevation of a removable razor edge safety guard in flat form;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the razor edge safety guard of FIG. 1 bent into a relatively V-shaped form and adapted to be fitted over the edge of a razor;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary end elevation taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of an alternative embodiment of the razor edge safety guard of FIG. 2;

FIG. Sis a fragmentary plan elevation of an alternative embodiment of the razor edge safety guard of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary plan elevation of a non-removable razor blade safety guard in flat form;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side elevation of the razor safety guard of FIG. 6 bent into a relatively V-shaped form and secured to the edge of a razor blade;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged end elevation taken on line 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a sectional plan elevation taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are fragmentary end elevations of a razor blade and a razor blade edge safety guard at various stages of the method contemplated by this invention;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary end elevation of a razor blade and a razor blade safety guard illustrating an alternative form of the method;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary sectional end elevation of a conventional razor blade holder in use with a conventional razor blade equipped with the razor safety guards of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS This invention contemplates that the guard members hereinafter described are relatively thin in cross-section and are spaced relatively close to each other. This is not readily apparent from the drawings because, for clarity reasons, the drawings are not shown to scale. In particular, the guard members are shown greatly exaggerated in size and reduced in number. The invention contemplates that the actual width of the guard members and the actual spacing between these members both vary depending on the thickness of the user's whiskers and the users skin characteristics. The small dimensions of the invention can be appreciated by realizing that an average whisker is only approximately 0.004 inch thick. It has been found that the guard members must be relatively fine to achieve a smooth shave. A practical, but not exclusive, range for the width of the guard members is about 0.0015 to 0.005 inch. It has also been found that a substantial number of these guard members can be fitted over the razor cutting edge without significantly impairing the shaving efficiency, and that such an arrangement of guard members substantially reduces the chances of cutting during the shaving operation. A practical, but not exclusive, range for the spacing of the guard members is about 0.02 to 0.06 inch.

During shaving the guard members of a razor edge safety guard are ordinarily subjected to forces in a direction parallel to the blade cutting edge. The guard members contemplated by this invention have a relatively small cross-sectional area and are consequently rather sensitive to forces directed perpendicular to their length, i.e., in a direction parallel to the blade cutting edge. However, this invention contemplates that the ends of the guard members are rigidly interconnected at points in close vicinity to the cutting edge and that, in some of the embodiments of the invention, the front portions of the guard members are supported at the cutting edge. Therefore, this configuration and arrangement provides sufiicient strength and rigidity to withstand normal laterally directed forces occurring in a shaving operation, unless their cross-section is chosen excessively small.

Referring to FIG. 1, a removable razor safety guard is shown in a flat form. A multiplicity of spaced apart guard members 22 are disposed parallel to each other and welded at their respective ends to a pair of relatively thin elongated mounting strips 24 disposed in parallel relation to each other.

The finished razor edge safety guard is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. It is obtained by bending the flat structure, shown in FIG. 1, relatively centrally along its length into a substantially V- shaped form as best seen in FIG. 3. The resultant V-shaped safety guard 20 is fitted over a longitudinal cutting edge 28 of a conventional razor blade, or razor, 30 (shown in phantom lines in FIG. 3).

Razor safety guard 20 is particularly suited for mass production, because each wire guard member 22 can be taken from a separate coil of wire, with all guard members being cut from their respective coils and welded to the mounting strips 24 simultaneously. Alternatively, guard elements 22 can be secured to mounting strips 24 by bonding, soldering, or brazing. The guard members 22 of the safety guard 20 are made of conventional round wire. The advantage of using such a wire is that it is inexpensive, readily available, and has no sharp edges which might potentially injure the skin. Other wire profiles can be used alternatively.

FIG. 4 shows an alternative embodiment of a razor edge safety guard 31 which is essentially the same as shown in FIG. 2, except that the guard members 32 are made of wire relatively triangular in cross-section with rounded corners 34. This configuration, although more expensive, not only avoids injury to the skin, but also results in a smaller number of whiskers being bent instead of being cut. This reduces the number of passes required to achieve a smooth shave. So far it has been contemplated that the guard members 32 are constructed from pre-manufactured triangular wire, with the mounting strips 24 being made from pre-manufactured flat strips. An alternative method of making the same safety guard is to form conventional round wire into the triangular shape contemplated for the guard members, and into the flap shape contemplated for the mounting strips, respectively. This is done by deforming the initially round wires in a corresponding set of rollers disposed in close proximity to the location where the guard members and the mounting strips are permanently secured to each other. This method eliminates the otherwise difficult problem of orienting the mounting strips and the guard members about their respective longitudinal axes in relation to each other before permanently securing them to each other. A further advantage is that conventional round wires are less expensive and easier to procure than profile wires.

FIG. 4 also shows the ends of guard members 32 extending only over a part of the width of the mounting strips 24. This is advantageous when mounting the safety guard 31 in a conventional razor blade holder 50, similar to that shown on the right side of FIG. 13, in which a portion of the mounting strips 24 would be clamped between upper blade clamping member 90 and lower blade clamping member 88. The guard members 32 would not be clamped at all.

During use, the ends of a cutting edge occasionally may be exposed to greater mechanical forces than the central portion of the cutting edge. To reduce the chance of injury to the skin potentially inflicted by these ends, in razor edge guards 20 and 31, the

guard members

35 and 37, respectively, adjacent to the ends of the respective safety guards. are spaced closer to each other than are the remaining guard members.

FIG. 5 shows an alternative razor edge safety guard 36 in its flat form. It is similar to the one shown in FIG. 1. except that the guard members 38 are formed from a continuous wire filament 40 bent into a square-wave configuration. The squarewave configuration of wire filament 40 defines at its upper and lower extremities horizontally aligned connecting members 42 integral with the ends of guard members 38. Guard members 38 are disposed between a pair of opposing elongated mounting strips 44. The square-wave wire 40 is permanently secured to the mounting strips 44 by welding, brazing, soldering, or bonding connecting members 42, or the ends of guard members 38, to the mounting strips 44.

The included angle C at the apex 45 of the internal profile (see FIG. 3) of the

guard members

22, 32, or 38, respectively, is smaller than the included angle A between the converging flanks 46 of the razor. Therefore, the difference in angles prevents contact, or interference, between the guard members 22 and the cutting edge proper 48. This avoids potential damage to the cutting edge of the razor when the removable safety guard is slipped onto it.

FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, show that one edge 49 of the mounting strips 24 extends slightly beyond the edge of the opposing mounting strip. This configuration facilitates fitting the safety guard onto the razor. To further facilitate fitting the guard onto the razor, the opening B (see FIG. 3) at the base ofthe V- shaped safety guard 20 is somewhat wider than the thickness of the razor blade. The guard members of the safety guard are sufficiently flexible so that the mounting strips 24 of the safety guard may be clamped against the respective faces of the razor blade by the razor blade holding device 50 (see FIG. 13), hereinafter described, or while being permanently secured to the blade.

In a removable razor safety guard constructed for use with a straight-edge razor, the opening B is smaller than the respective thickness of the razor (not shown). Therefore, when the safety guard is slipped on the razor, the spring force of the guard members will clamp the safety guard to the flanks of the razor.

Razor

edge safety guards

20, 31, and 36 are preferably removable from the razor, although they can be permanently secured to the razor by bonding, soldering, or welding, if desired. Generally, the removable safety guard is preferred for applications with razors that are re-sharpened customarily, whereas the permanently secured safety guards are preferred for the throw-away types.

FIGS. 6 through 8 show an alternative razor safety guard 52 which is primarily suitable for being permanently secured to a razor blade 53. In its flat form, shown in FIG. 6, it is formed from a continuous filament of wire 55 bent into a sq uare-wave configuration to define a multiplicity of spaced apart parallel guard members 56 interconnected at their ends by integral connecting members 58. The flat structure is then bent into a Vshaped form and fitted over cutting edge 60 of blade 53. Razor safety guard 52 is then permanently secured to blade 53 by welding connecting members 58 to the flanks 62 of blade cutting edge 60, or to the faces 63 of blade 53, in close proximity to the flanks 62. The advantage of securing connecting members 58 to blade 53 by welding is that the safety guard can be very narrow. This saves material and furthermore the narrow safety guard does not interfere with the clamping members of some razor blade holders. Alternatively, razor edge safety guard 52 can be secured to blade 53 by bonding, soldering, or brazing. In an embodiment wherein the safety guard is constructed to be bonded to the razor blade 53, the guard members 56 are lengthened (not shown), and also bonded to the faces 63 of the razor blade, to obtain sufficient structural strength. Therefore, when mounting a razor blade equipped with such a safety guard in a razor blade holder, both the blade and the safety guard are clamped between the upper and lower clamping members of the razor blade holder, in a manner similar to that shown on the right side of FIG. 13.

Additional strength and rigidity is obtained be securing the front ends of the guard members to the blade cutting edge. FIGS. 8 and 9 show the front portion 66 of each guard element 56 placed in a respective shallow notch 68 in the cutting edge 60 of blade 53. This notch effectively prevents lateral displacement of the front portion 66 of guard member 56.

A preferred method for providing lateral support for the front ends 66 of the guard members 56 contemplates using the blade edge 60 as a male bending die. This method is illustrated in FIGS. 10 and II. It includes the steps of placing the flat structure 52, shown in FIG. 6, substantially perpendicular to blade edge 60 (see FIG. 10), and then bending it around blade cutting edge 60. The hardness of guard members 56 is lower than the hardness of the blade edge 60. If the guard member is relatively hard, and if the included angle between the flanks 62 of the blade cutting edge 60 is small, portions of the blade edge 60 will break away during bending, and a notch forms in the cutting edge 60 in which the inside of the front portion 66 of the guard member 56 rests. The depth of the notch can be controlled by appropriate choice of the hardness of the guard member 56 and the direction, symmetry, and lever arm of the applied bending forces.

If the included angle between the flanks 62 of the razor blade cutting edge 60 is small, which is usually the case with conventional razor blades, and if a large bending force at a short lever arm is applied, the notches formed by this method can become so deep as to prevent guard members 56 from protruding a sufficient distance forward of blade edge 60. To obtain a shallow notch in blade cutting edge 60, the bending is performed in two steps. The first step of the method is illustrated in FIG. 10 in which small bending forces F are applied to the ends of safety guard 52 in the directions illustrated by the arrows. Because of the relatively long lever arm, the forces F, required to bend the guard member are small. Consequently, the resultant force (not shown) acting on the cutting edge 60 is small. FIG. 11 shows the second step of the method wherein relatively large bending forces F are applied in close proximity to the cutting edge, and directed substantially perpendicular to the flanks 62 of cutting edge 60. This second step is necessary to obtain a snug fit between guard members 56 and the flanks 62 of razor blade cutting edge 60. Since the forces F nearly completely oppose each other, the resultant force acting on the cutting edge 60 again is small. Therefore, the notch formed in cutting edge 60 is rather shallow. The formation of the notch is aided by a slightly asymmetrical application of forces F (not shown). FIG. 8 shows the final step of the method in which the safety guard 52 is secured to the razor blade 53 as described above.

FIG. 12 shows a safety guard and razor blade made by an alternative method for providing lateral support for guard members 70. The method is essentially the same as described above, except that it contemplates using a guard member having a hardness substantially lower than that of blade edge 72. During the bending process, symmetrical bending forces are used, as described above and shown in FIGS. 10 and II. The result of this method is that no notch is formed in the cutting edge 72 of blade 74. Instead, a notch 76 is formed at the inner contour of rounded section 78 of guard member 70 by the penetration of blade edge 72. Guard member 70 is thereby clamped tightly to the flanks 80 of cutting edge 72. The methods described for bending the safety guard 52 (see FIG. 6) also can be applied to bend the

safety guards

20, 31, and 36 shown respectively in FIGS. 1,4, and 5.

FIG. 13 shows the razor safety guard of this invention mounted in a conventional safety razor holder 50 comprising a bottom blade clamping member 88, a top blade clamping member 90, and an elongated upwardly extending handle 92. The right side of FIG. 13 shows a conventional razor blade 94 with a removable razor safety guard 96 fitted over the blade cutting edge. Safety guard 96 includes guard members 98 secured at their ends to mounting strips I00. Guard members 9B are held firmly in fixed relation relative to the blade cutting edge by clamping both the guard members and the mounting strips between bottom clamping member 88 and top clamping member 90. The left side of FIG. 13 shows a conventional razor blade 102 with a non-removable razor edge safety guard I04 fitted over the cutting edge of the blade. Edge guard 104 includes guard members 106 integral at their ends with connecting members 108. Razor edge safety guard 104 is permanently secured to blade 102 by weldments 109 which hold connecting members 108 permanently to blade 102. Razor edge safety guard I04 is narrower in width than razor edge safety guard 96. This configuration avoids interference between the razor edge safety guard 104 and the blade clamping members I10 and III.

In use, when the shaving apparatus shown in FIG. 13 is pressed against the skin surface 112, the skin bulges between guard members I06 toward the cutting edge 103, as shown by the upwardly bulging skin surface 114 at the left side of FIG. 13. The amount of bulging depends on the applied pressure, and the users skin characteristics. Suitable choice of the size of the guard members 106 and the spacing between them can cause the skin, at moderate pressure of razor 50 against the skin, to bulge such an amount between guard members 106 that it barely, or not at all, touches the blade cutting edge 103. Thus the razor 50 can be drawn across the skin with sufficient pressure applied so that whisker 116 will be shaved off approximately at skin surface 114. The chance of cutting the skin during shaving is substantially prevented by the razor edge safety guard 106. The razor can be drawn across the face at various angles relative to the skin surface with substantial pressure applied to the face, yet the guard members prevent the blade cutting edge from protruding into the skin far enough to cause cutting. In the event the blade is drawn across the skin in a direction parallel to the blade cutting edge, the small guard member spacing effectively prevents the blade cutting edge from penetrating the skin.

To reduce the friction forces created when moving the razor over the skin, the guard members of the razor edge safety guard of this invention are coated with Teflon or other suitable antifriction material. A coating of this type also may be applied to the flanks of the blade cutting edges in a manner well known in the art.

Iclairn:

l. A safety guard for cutting the edge of a razor comprising a multiplicity of separate elongated metal thread-like guard members fitted over the cutting edge of the razor, each guard member having a rounded front portion projecting beyond the razor cutting edge; a separate elongated flat sheet on each side of the razor cutting edge firmly secured to the ends of the guard members along the length of the razor cutting edge and in close proximity to the cutting edge so that the guard members are disposed relatively close to each other and spaced substantially equidistantly apart along the length of the razor cutting edge; and means for firmly securing each sheet to its corresponding side of the razor to maintain the guard members in fixed relation relative to the cutting edge.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each sheet is a longitudinally extending mounting strip on each side of the razor cutting edge, and including means rigidly securing the respective ends of the guard members to each mounting strip, and means for releasably securing each mounting strip to the razor.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the guard members are welded to the mounting strips.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the guard members when fitted over the razor cutting edge are configured such that the included angle at the apex of the internal profile of each guard member is smaller than the included angle between the flanks of the razor cutting edge.

5. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the guard members adjacent to the end portions of the cutting edge safety guard are spaced closer together than the remaining guard rnembers.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the cross-sectional profile of the guard members is approximately triangular in shape with rounded corner sections.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the width of the guard members is between about 0.00 l S to 0.005 inch.

8. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the spacing between substantially all guard members is between about 0.02 to 0.06 inch.

9. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the guard members are provided with a coating of plastic material to reduce the friction developed during the shaving operation.

10. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the securing means includes means rigidly attaching each sheet to the blade, and means for providing lateral support of the rounded front portions of the guard members.

ll. Apparatus according to claim wherein the lateral support means comprises a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced apart notches formed in the cutting edge, each notch cooperating with the inner contour of the front portion of a respective guard member.

12. Apparatus according to claim ll wherein the lateral support means comprises a tight press fit formed between the inner contour of the front portion of the guard members and the flanks of the cutting edge.

B. In a razor blade holding device comprising a pair of razor blade clamping members, a removable safety guard for the cutting edge of a razor blade adapted to be mounted in the razor blade holding device, the safety guard comprising a multiplicity of elongated metal thread-like guard members fitted over the cutting edge of the blade, each guard member having a rounded front portion projecting beyond the blade cutting edge, a separate elongated flat sheet on each side of the razor cutting edge firmly secured to the ends of the guard members along the length of the blade cutting edge and in close proximity of the blade cutting edge so that the guard members are disposed relatively close to each other and spaced substantially equidistantly apart along the length of the blade cutting edge, each sheet portion of the safety guard cooperating with the blade clamping members for maintaining the guard members in a fixed relation relative to the blade cutting edge.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13 wherein the width of the guard members is between about 0.0015 to 0.005 inch.

15. Apparatus according to claim 14 wherein the spacing between substantially all guard members is between about 0.02 to 0.06 inch,

16. A safety guard for the cutting edge of a razor comprising a multiplicity of elongated, relatively thin, metal filament guard members fitted over the cutting edge of the razor; an elongated mounting strip on each side of the razor cutting edge; means rigidly securing the respective ends of the guard members to each mounting strip for interconnecting the guard members in close proximity to the cutting edge so that the guard members are disposed relatively close to each other and spaced substantially equidistantly apart along the length of the razor cutting edge; and means for securing the mounting strips to their corresponding sides of the razor to maintain the guard members in fixed relation relative to the cutting edge, the guard members, when fitted over the razor cutting edge, being configured such that the included angle at the apex of the internal profile of each guard member is smaller than the included angle between the flanks of the razor cutting edge.

ag? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,675,325 Dated y 1972 Inventor(s) GUNNAR P- MICHELSON It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Col. 1, line 26, "the skid'-should read the skin--.

Col. 8, line 4, "of the blade" should read to the blade--.

(Claim 13) Signed and sealed this 2nd day of January 1973.

SEAL) ttest 3 DWARD M..FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK ttesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

Claims

1. A safety guard for cutting the edge of a razor comprising a multiplicity of separate elongated metal thread-like guard members fitted over the cutting edge of the razor, each guard member having a rounded front portion projecting beyond the razor cutting edge; a separate elongated flat sheet on each side of the razor cutting edge firmly secured to the ends of the guard members along the length of the razor cutting edge and in close proximity to the cutting edge so that the guard members are disposed relatively close to each other and spaced substantially equidistantly apart along the length of the razor cutting edge; and means for firmly securing each sheet to its corresponding side of the razor to maintain the guard members in fixed relation relative to the cutting edge.

5. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the guard members adjacent to the end portions of the cutting edge safety guard are spaced closer together than the remaining guard members.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the width of the guard members is between about 0.0015 to 0.005 inch.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10 wherein the lateral support means comprises a multiplicity of longitudinally spaced apart notches formed in the cutting edge, each notch cooperating with the inner contour of the front portion of a respective guard member.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein the lateral support means comprises a tight press fit formed between the inner contour of the front portion of the guard members and the flanks of the cutting edge.

13. In a razor blade holding device comprising a pair of razor blade clamping members, a removable safety guard for the cutting edge of a razor blade adapted to be mounted in the razor blade holding device, the safety guard comprising a multiplicity of elongated metal thread-like guard members fitted over the cutting edge of the blade, each guard member having a rounded front portion projecting beyond the blade cutting edge, a separate elongated flat sheet on each side of the razor cutting edge firmly secured to the ends of the guard members along the length of the blade cutting edge and in close proximity of the blade cutting edge so that the guard members are disposed relatively close to each other and spaced substantially equidistantly apart along the length of the blade cutting edge, each sheet portion of the safety guard cooperating with the blade clamping members for maintaining the guard members in a fixed relation relative to the blade cutting edge.

15. Apparatus according to claim 14 wherein the spacing between substantially all guard members is between about 0.02 to 0.06 inch.