To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Charles J. Kiefer, of Tiffin, in the county of Seneca and in the State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Safety-Razors, and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which—

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a safety razor embodying my invention; Fig. 2 a similar view with a portion of the handle omitted, shown in a position the reverse of that of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a section on the line 3—3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 a cross section on the line 4—4 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 a perspective view of the parts of the razor shown separated from each other.

The object of my invention is to provide a safety razor which may be successfully used upon all portions of the face, notwithstanding the great variety of conditions presented due to the almost infinite variation of features and facial formations, and to provide a safety razor of as few parts as possible, and one in which the assemblage and separation of the parts may be done very conveniently and most expeditiously, and to these ends my invention consists in the safety razor constructed substantially as hereinafter specified and claimed.

In constructing a safety razor in accordance with my invention, I employ a blade 10 of sheet metal, preferably sufficiently thick as to require some pressure to bend it, so as to give it a concavo-convex form lengthwise, or from end to end, while transversely, or from side to side, it is straight, and two plates designated 11 and 12, respectively, each of which is of the concavo-convex curvature from end to end, which I desire to give to the blade, and between which it is clamped or held so as to give to the blade such curvature, and to maintain it therein, so long as the parts are united together, as hereinafter described. The outermost plate 11 is narrower than the blade 10, to expose both edges of the blade, since I preferably provide it with a cutting edge on both sides, and the inner plate, which has its two edges formed into or provided with the usual guard teeth or fingers 13, is, including the fingers, slightly wider than the blade as usual. In order to prevent scratching or cutting by the corners of the blade, the outer plate 11 at each corner is provided with a tongue or projection 14 that overlies the adjacent corner of the blade. At one end, at about its transverse center, the outer plate 11 has on its inner side a stud or lug 15 which is under cut to form a laterally projecting shoulder or lip 16, and in one end of the blade and in one end of the inner plate, are formed notches 17 and 18, respectively, of a size to snugly fit over the reduced portion of the lug or stud so that the under or concave surface of the inner plate will be overlapped by the lip or shoulder, and thereby the two plates and blade secured together at one end. At its other end the outer plate has on its inner side, preferably at its transverse center, a round stud or post 19, and the blade and inner plate are provided with round holes 20 and 21, respectively, located to pass over said stud or post, and upon the latter, beyond the under surface of the inner plate, when it is pressed toward the outer plate to force the blade thereagainst, is a radial projection or lug 22, which lug is preferably located on the side of the stud toward the contiguous end of the razor. The blade and inner plate are slotted to enable them to pass over the lug 22, so that the openings in the blade and inner plate on account of the post and its lug, are of the well known key-hole shape.

A laterally extending arm 23 on the end of a handle 24 is provided near its outer end with a key-hole slot or opening 25, to enable it to be passed over the stud or post and its radial lug, and at its outer end it has sufficient thickness to tightly or snugly fit the space between the radial lug 22 and the inner plate 12, when the latter is in the position to press the blade close against the outer plate, so that by slipping or passing the handle arm 23 over the stud or post to place it in the position just described, and then revolving said arm to place the radial portion of its key-hole slot out of alinement with the radial lug on the post or stud, the two blade-holding plates, the blade and the handle are firmly secured together with the blade in the curved condition I have hereinbefore described. To lock the handle immovably in position against accidental displacement, which position is one located centrally of the blade, I provide a latch which consists of a boss or projection 26 on the outer or concave side of the inner plate, which has across its face a groove or channel that extends longitudinally of the plate, to form latching shoulders or lips on opposite sides between which a portion of the handle carrying arm may be seated, and the handle and its arm thereby held from being accidentally turned or swung on its pivotal connection with the stud or post 19. The handle-carrying arm 23 is thinned or reduced in thickness for a portion of its length, beyond the stud or post, in order to make it elastic or springy, with a normal tendency toward the inner plate, so that when seated between the lips of the boss or lug, it will tend to remain there, and will require some effort by a pull on the handle to disengage it from the boss to permit it to be revolved on the stud or post when it is desired to remove the locking arm from the stud or post to enable the parts of the razor to be disconnected. The outer sides of the latch-forming boss or projection are rounded or inclined so that the arm when it is turned to locking position will readily pass over the latch-forming lips and spring into the recess or channel between them. When the locking arm is in locking position, the radial portion of its key-hole slot is diametrically opposite the radial lug on the stud or post, as I prefer to have the lug and radial slot of the respective parts as far apart as possible, when the locking bar is in its locking position, but of course I do not restrict myself to this relative location of the lug and radial portion of the slot. The security of the locking bar or arm in its locking position is due both to the spring action of the arm or bar, and that of the blade, for, it will be remembered, that the blade when clamped between the two plates is bowed or placed under tension. It will be evident that the locking and unlocking of the parts may be done instantaneously, and by reason of the leverage which the handle affords, the spring action or force may be considerable, so as to eliminate any danger during the use of the razor of the accidental separation of the parts, and as by reason of my form of securing and locking device, the razor blade is always and invariably placed and held in the proper position for use, there is no danger whatever, such as exists where a screw device is employed to secure the parts together, of the blade, being in a loose or other condition, which is apt to result in cutting the user.

To add to the convenience of manipulation of the parts in assembling and separating them, the lug or stud is slightly elongated or projected outward, and its surface roughened, so that when it is desired, for example, to unlatch the parts, the assembled plates and blade may be grasped by the thumb of one hand engaging said lug and the forefinger engaging the outer plate, and the handle being taken by the other hand, the latch arm or bar may be disengaged from the boss or projection 26 and revolved to permit its separation from the stud or post 19. The instant the latch bar or arm is disengaged from the stud or post, the blade being freed from restraint, will spring away from the concave side of the outer plate, assuming its straight form, and will force the stud-engaging end of the inner plate outward and away therefrom, so that the parts will be sufficiently spread apart or separated at one end, while still held by the thumb and forefinger at the other end, as to enable their most convenient separation or removal. To facilitate the removal of the blade from the stud or post, the blade at its end contiguous to the latter, is provided with a sort of handle or extension 27, which protrudes beyond the end of the outer plate so that it may be readily grasped. It will be seen that by the curvature which I give the cutting edge of the blade, which is in a longitudinal direction, or from end to end thereof, configurations of the face which render portions thereof inaccessible to a straight edge, may be gotten at and perfectly shaved, and to still further increase the availability of the razor for perfectly successful operation, regardless of the facial configuration, the direction of the cutting edge of the blade is oblique or inclined, and preferably at an angle of about 45° to the longitudinal axis of the handle, and to secure this position, the handle-carrying latch-forming bar is set at the desired angle to the handle axis. As a result of the combination of the longitudinally curved cutting edge and the angular or oblique arrangement of such edge, my razor is adaptable for perfectly successful use on faces of all description, and in the use of my razor the outer blade-holding plate is applied directly to the face and moved over the skin while in extended contact therewith, so that there is no rasping or scraping action of the edge of the blade over the face, and I am able to shave with the desirable shear cut. The contact of the extended metal surface of the outer plate with the skin produces a pleasant or agreeable sensation, which is not the case when the edge of the blade is drawn over the face in a scraping-like operation. In order to adapt the same blade for shaving with varying degrees of closeness, the cutting edge may be ground at different angles or bevels on opposite sides, a narrow bevel giving a closer shave than a wider bevel.

While I prefer to construct my razor with all the features I show and describe, it will be understood that razors may be constructed which will embody my invention even though in one razor there may not be contained all the features herein shown and described, and the scope of my patent is to be determined in the light of this statement.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is—

1. In a safety razor, the combination of a blade, a blade-supporting plate, a handle pivotally connected to said plate, a blade clamping plate, and a holding arm attached to and moving with the handle and engaging said clamping plate on the side opposite that engaging the blade.

2. In a safety razor, the combination of a blade, a blade supporting plate, a post projecting from said plate having a shoulder, a holding arm rotatably mounted on the post, a handle carrying said arm and a blade-clamping plate engageable by said arm.

3. In a safety razor, the combination of a blade, plates on opposite sides thereof, a post projecting from one of said plates, and having a shoulder, and an arm to hold said parts together, rotatably mounted on said post on the inner side of the shoulder and movable into and out of contact with the plate not provided with the post.

4. In a safety razor, the combination of a blade, plates on opposite sides thereof, and means to hold said plates together comprising a connected handle and arm rotatably connected with one of said plates, the arm engaging the other plate at a point eccentric to its center of rotation.

5. The combination of a blade holder, comprising blade-clamping members, a pivoted arm and holding means for said arm comprising interlocking surfaces eccentric to the center of motion of the arm, the swinging movement of the arm being relative to the blade-clamping members.

6. The combination of a blade holder, comprising blade-clamping members, a pivoted arm and holding means for said arm comprising an arm-engaging recess in a part stationary relative to the arm, and located eccentrically to the center of motion thereof, the swinging movement of the arm being relative to the blade-clamping members.

7. The combination of a blade holder comprising blade-clamping members, a pivoted arm and holding means for said arm comprising an arm-engaging recess in a part stationary relative to the arm, and located eccentrically to the center of motion thereof, and means holding the arm in engagement with the recess, the swinging movement of the arm being relative to the blade-clamping members.

8. The combination of a blade holder comprising blade-clamping members, a pivoted arm and holding means for said arm, comprising interlocking surfaces eccentric to the center of motion of the arm, the arm being movable in a direction at right angles to its swinging movement to cause the engagement and disengagement of said interlocking surfaces, the swinging movement of the arm being relative to the blade-clamping members.

9. A safety razor comprising a blade, and clamping plates that engage opposite sides of the blade, whose surfaces in contact therewith are respectively concave and convex in a direction lengthwise of the blade, forming a cutting edge that is curved lengthwise of the blade the convex portion of the curve being applied to the surface to be shaved, and means to hold said parts together.

10. A safety razor comprising a blade, and clamping plates that engage opposite sides of the blade, whose surfaces in contact therewith are respectively concave and convex in a direction lengthwise of the blade, forming a cutting edge that is curved lengthwise of the blade, and means to hold said parts together, comprising a spring latch bar and a bar-engaging shoulder.

11. In a safety razor, the combination of a blade, a supporting plate, a post having a shoulder, locking arm rotatably mounted on the post between the post shoulder and the supporting plate, and a blade engaging clamping member between said locking arm and the blade.

12. In a safety razor, the combination of a blade, plates on opposite sides thereof, a post projecting from one of said plates through openings in the blade and the other plate, and having a lug or shoulder, a bar to hold said parts together, rotatably mounted on said post and coacting with said shoulder, and a handle from which said bar projects.

13. In a safety razor, the combination of a blade, plates on opposite sides thereof, the surfaces of said plates engaging the blade being respectively concave and convex, and the blade being thereby kept under tension to cause it to have a spring action, a post projecting from one of said plates through openings in the blade and the other plate, and having a lug or shoulder, and a bar to hold said parts together, rotatably mounted on said post and coacting with said shoulder.

14. In a safety razor, the combination of a blade, plates on opposite sides thereof, the surfaces of said plates engaging the blade being respectively concave and convex, and the blade being thereby kept under tension to cause it to have a spring action, a lug on one of said plates, notches in the blade and the other plate to engage said lug, a post projecting from one of said plates through openings in the blade and the other plate, and having a lug or shoulder, and a bar to hold said parts together, rotatably mounted on said post and co-acting with said shoulder.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

Chas. J. Kiefer.

Witnesses:

Clyde B. Weikert.

Chas. J. Williamson.