PATENT SPECIFICATION

Application Date: Nov. 15, 1927. No, 30,672/27. Complete Specification Left: April 12, 1928. Complete Specification Accepted: Sept. 6, 1928. PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION. Improvements in or relating to Safety Razors.

296,597

We, John Henry Morgan, Junior, a British subject, of 8, Breams Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, E.C. 4, and Alfred Stewart Mumme, a British subject, of 554, Abbey House, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W. 1, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:—

This invention relates to safety razors and particularly safety razors of the type wherein a safety guard, bar or edge precedes the edge of the blade in its passage over the skin.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a safety guard for the blade which will so press upon, displace or dispose the skin and/or hair immediately preceding the cutting edge of the blade that a closer shave may be obtained by a shaving action free from all pulling of the hair and accompanying unpleasant sensations, and generally contributing to a more pleasant and efficient shave than is possible with existing razors.

It is a further object to provide a guard which will remove the soap from the face in advance of the blade and prevent clogging of the space between the razor blade and the guard.

According to the preferred form of the present invention the safety guard which precedes the cutting edge of the blade presents a straight bevelled edge, and in some cases the said edge of the safety guard in cross section may be formed with opposite bevels, the bevel remote from the blade edge being plain and straight while the bevel adjacent to and immediately preceding the edge of the blade may be provided with oblique and preferably shallow grooves in its surface.

The oblique grooves may extend to the edges of the bevelled surface or may terminate before reaching the said edges and the said grooves may be of equal depth throughout or not as required, and they may be of curved or other suitable shape in section.

The guard inwardly beyond the bevelled parts may be of such section or form as to provide a cavity or channel beneath, and adjacent to the cutting edge of the blade.

It is preferred to make the guard of non-metallic material, for example, ebonite, hard rubber, vulcanized fibre or other suitable substance which will avoid any deleterious effects such as may occur from the contact of brass or other metal with sensitive skins and present to the skin a non-metallic surface of an innocuous nature or possessing hygienic or even healing properties in the case of sensitive or eruptive skins.

We will now describe one construction carried out in accordance with the present invention as applied to a safety razor of the type wherein a flexible two edge razor blade is clamped between a curved blade abutment and a clamping guard plate forced against the blade and abutment plate by the end of a handle arranged at right angles and screwing into the abutment plate.

In such safety razors the guard plate is made with deeply serrated or comb-like edges which exercise no function other than that of a safety guard to the edge of the razor blade, and in use these serrated or comb-like edges of the guard become clogged with soap removed from the skin, mixed with the hairs removed by the edge of the blade.

In the improved construction the curved abutment plate and the handle screwing thereinto are of the usual form, but the guard plate is flat on its outer side and on its inner side is provided with a central ridge or ridges covering a width sufficient to engage the blade and cause the same to acquire the required curve when clamped between the ridge and the abutment plate.

The said ridge is of such dimensions that when the parts are clamped together a cavity or channel is provided between the guard plate and the razor blade at and adjacent to the edges thereof.

The flat guard plate is of suitable thickness and each guard edge which runs parallel to the adjacent edge of the blade is formed with oppositely bevelled surfaces meeting along the centre of the thickness of the edge or thereabouts.

The bevelled surface adjacent to the edge of the blade forms a continuation of the curve of the blade more or less to provide an efficient safety guard therefor and is provided with oblique grooves in its surface arranged at a suitable angle, say 30° to the edge of the blade or thereabouts and say ⅛″ apart or thereabouts.

The outer and oppositely bevelled surface is flat and of suitable width and preferably such as will operate to remove the soap in advance of the cutting edge as the razor is pressed against and drawn over the skin during the operation of shaving.

The razor blades and the holding plates may be formed with registering holes and pins of the standard dimensions and position, or these may be varied as required.

In use, the guard plate not only performs the usual function of a guard plate and safety device but exercises a distinct action in displacing the skin preceding the cutting edge of the razor blade and also in laying down or inclining the hairs on the skin in such a manner as to expose or present the same to the cutting edge in a manner calculated to afford a more efficient shaving action than is obtainable with guard plates of the usual pattern or type and to operate on the hair much closer to the skin, and moreover this efficient action is obtained without any unpleasant pulling action on the hair.

The soap is removed from the skin by the outer bevelled edge before the blade actually operates so that only the removed hair accumulates under the blade and is received in the cavity beneath the same and thus no clogging can take place between the blade and the guard plate.

As before mentioned the guard plate is preferably made of ebonite or some similar non-metallic material to avoid any deleterious effect of brass or other metal and provides a hygienic and even healing action on skins which are sensitive or eruptive.

We, John Henry Morgan, Junior, a British subject, of 8, Breams Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, E.C. 4, and Alfred Stewart Mumme, a British subject, of 554, Abbey House, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W. 1, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :—

This invention relates to safety-razors of the type having a flexed blade and a guard which extends beyond or precedes the cutting edge of the blade in its passage over the surface to be shaved.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved safety-razor of this kind, and, particularly, to provide a guard therefor which will so press upon, displace or dispose the skin and/or hair immediately preceding the cutting edge of the blade that a closer shave may be obtained, by a shaving action free from all pulling of the hair and accompanying unpleasant sensations, and generally contributing to a more pleasant and efficient shave, than is possible with existing safety-razors.

According to the present invention the safety guard, where it precedes the cutting edge of the blade, has two substantially-flat surfaces inclined to one another and meeting along a line, the one surface being adapted to lie substantially flat upon the part being shaved, and the other to push away the lather therefrom. We are aware of a plane, for removing excrescences, etc., from ladies hair, which is described in Patent Specification No. 4649 of 1878, according to which the plane is provided with a bevelled edge in advance of and substantially aligned with the cutting edge of a rigid blade. But this plane embodies, in a rather unusual way, the general feature which is present in most planes, that of a cutting edge just extending through a slot in the main surface of the plane. We are also aware of Patent Specification No. 156,452, which shows in its drawings several forms of a guard which can be associated with an ordinary or non-safety-razor, having a hollow-ground or other form of rigid blade, to form a protective bar in front of the cutting edge thereof. One of these forms shows a bar having a bevelled edge; but the positional co-relation of the bar of this form of guard with the cutting edge is not illustrated or specifically described.

A further feature, according to the invention, involves the provision of very shallow oblique grooves on the bevelled surface of the guard which is adapted to lie against the surface being shaved. We are aware that oblique grooves on the surface of a safety-razor guard have already been proposed: see, for example, Patent Specification No. 3879 of 1889.

Preferably the grooves are relatively wide grooves. They terminate before reaching the edge of the other bevelled surface, so that the surfaces may meet along a straight line. They may be of equal depth throughout or not as required, or tapered in depth, or they may be of curved or other suitable shape in section.

A further feature, according to the invention, involves a guard arranged as set forth above and also provided with a flat inward surface, joining the bevelled surface which is adapted to lie against the surface being shaved, which forms a cavity beneath the blade. We are aware that a cavity beneath the blade is not novel per se. For example, in Patent Specification No. 1011 of 1910, a safety-razor is described and illustrated of which the guard is grooved longitudinally beneath the blade. A longitudinal channel in the guard beneath the cutting edge of the blade is also described in Patent Specification No. 133,963.

We prefer that the guard should be made of non-metallic material (for example, ebonite, hard rubber, vulcanized fibre or other suitable substance) which will not rust and which will avoid any deleterious effects such as may occur from the contact of brass or other metal with sensitive skins. We are also aware that the use of a guard made of a non-metallic material has already been proposed. The use of a non-metallic substance as the constituent of the guard is of great advantage with our guard, however, in view of the relatively large bevelled surface which contacts with the skin of a person being shaved.

We will now describe one construction carried out in accordance with the present invention as applied to a safety-razor of the type wherein a flexible two-edge razor blade is clamped between an abutment on the guard and a clamping plate forced against the blade by the end of a handle arranged at right-angles to the guard and adapted threadingly to engage with the clamping plate.

In the accompanying drawings :—

Fig. 1 is an end view of a safety-razor having the invention applied thereto and assembled ready for use ;

Fig. 2 is an edge view of the improved safety guard; and Fig. 3 is a plan of Fig. 2.

In the improved construction illustrated the curved clamping plate a and the handle b screwing thereinto are of the usual form, but the guard plate c is flat on its outer or lower side and on its inner or upper side it is provided with an abutment, here shown in the form of a central ridge d, covering a width sufficient to engage the blade e and cause the same to acquire the required curve when the blade is clamped between the ridge d and the clamping plate a. The said ridge d is of such dimensions that when the parts are clamped together a cavity or channel f is provided between the flat inward surface of the guard and the razor blade beneath the latter. The flat guard plate c is of suitable thickness and each guard edge which runs parallel to the adjacent edge of the blade is formed with oppositely-bevelled surfaces g, h inclined at an angle of roughly 100° or more and meeting along the centre of the thickness of the edge or thereabouts at the line m.

The bevelled surface g adjacent to the edge of the blade e joins the flat inward surface aforesaid and forms a continuation of the curve of the blade more or less ; and it is adapted to lie substantially flat upon the skin of the person being shaved. Very shallow oblique grooves i (which are slightly exaggerated in Fig. 3) are provided on this surface, arranged at a suitable angle of, say, 30° to the edge of the blade or thereabouts, and, say, one-eighth of an inch apart or thereabouts. The grooves do not extend right up to the lower edge of the surface g, so that the continuity of line m is not broken. In the arrangement illustrated the depth of the grooves varies across a groove, being greater at one side of a groove than at the other. Moreover, the grooves are shown as being relatively wide but shallow.

The outer and oppositely-bevelled surface h is flat and of suitable width such as will operate to remove the soap in advance of the cutting edge as the razor is pressed against and drawn over the skin during the operation of shaving.

The razor blade, the guard and the holding plate may be formed with registering holes j and pins k of the standard dimensions and position; or these may be varied as required.

In use, the guard c not only performs the usual function of a guard but it also exercises a distinct action in displacing the skin preceding the cutting edge of the razor blade and also in laying down and inclining the hairs on the skin in such a manner as to expose or present the same to the cutting edge in a scythe-like manner which is calculated to afford a more efficient shaving action than is obtainable with a guard of the usual pattern or type. The hair can thus be operated upon much closer to the skin, and, moreover, this efficient action is obtained without any unpleasant pulling action on the hair. The soap is mainly removed from the skin by the outer bevelled edge h before the blade actually operates so that little but the removed hair accumulates under the blade and is received in the cavity f beneath the same, whereby no clogging can take place between the blade and the guard plate.

As before mentioned the guard plate c is preferably made of ebonite or some similar non-metallic material.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is:—

1. A safety-razor, of the kind having a flexed blade, in which the guard, where it precedes the cutting edge of the blade, is provided with two substantially-flat surfaces inclined to one another and meeting along a line, one of such surfaces being adapted to lie flat upon the part to be shaved whilst the other pushes the lather therefrom.

2. A safety-razor, according to Claim 1, in which the surface adapted to lie upon the part to be shaved is interrupted, more or less, by shallow oblique grooves thereon.

3. For a safety-razor of the kind having a flexed blade, a guard having a series of oblique and shallow grooves on a bevelled surface, which is adapted to precede the cutting edge of the blade and to lie substantially flat against the part being shaved, a flat inward surface joining the bevelled surface at one edge and adapted to form a cavity beneath the blade and the cutting edge thereof, and another surface inclined at about 100° to the bevelled surface and joining the other edge thereof along a straight line.

4. An arrangement, according to Claim 2 or 3, in which the grooves are relatively wide grooves.

5. An arrangement, according to Claim 2, 3 or 4, in which the grooves taper in depth from one side of a groove to the other.

6. A safety-razor, according to any preceding claim, in which the guard is formed of non-metallic material, for example, ebonite.

7. A safety-razor having the feature or features set forth in any preceding claim and adapted, with respect to said feature or features, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the drawing hereof.