To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Leonidas H. Cress, of West Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, and Anthony Novitsky and Harry W. Greenbrier, both of Everett, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, all citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Razors, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to safety razors of the class in which thin metal blades are mounted in holders from which they may be readily taken and replaced, and the object of our invention is to simplify the construction of such razors and at the same time render them more efficient.

According to our invention, we use a thin metal blade which need not be flexible as this quality is not necessary, and we employ a blade-holder of improved construction, comprising two members consisting of two pieces of sheet metal, connected at their rear edges by what we call a tension joint so constructed as to normally hold the front edge of the upper or outer member close to the adjacent surface of the lower member and to hold apart the two members in rear of said front edge. The joint is made so firm that when the front edge of the upper member is raised a tension is produced whereby when the blade is inserted between the two members it will be firmly gripped. In order to lift the upper member and produce the desired tension, we provide it with a lever extending downwardly from its rear edge in rear of the razor handle which latter is secured to the lower member so that by grasping the handle in one hand and applying pressure to the lever by the thumb the two members may be sufficiently separated to receive a blade between them. In this way, we provide a safety razor consisting of two parts only, namely, the blade and its holder which latter is provided with a handle that need not be separated from it.

In the accompanying drawings:—Figure 1 is a perspective view of a safety razor embodying our improvements viewed from the rear. Fig. 2 shows a section on the line 2—2 of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 shows a front elevation of the blade-holder and the upper part of the razor handle. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the two parts of the blade-holder separated with the operating lever unbent. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the upper or outer member of the. blade-holder viewed from the underside and with the lever which it carries unbent. Fig. 6 shows a section on the line 6—6 of Fig. 3. Fig. 7 shows a section on the line 7—7 of Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the preferred form of blade.

The blade-holder comprising two members B, B′ may be made of sheet metal, the lower or inner member being made with an extension to form a guard C and the upper or outer member being provided with a rearwardly extending lever D. The razor handle E is secured to the lower or inner member B′ and is arranged at an angle thereto as shown. The lower member has a boss b to receive the upper or outer end of the handle which may be detachably secured to the boss or may be permanently connected therewith. The two members are connected at their rear edges by what we call a tension joint which is so formed as to hold the two plates firmly connected but which allows them, when the joint is put under tension, to separate to a sufficient extent to receive a blade and hold it firmly in place. Such a joint may be formed in various ways but preferably it is produced in the manner shown. It will be understood that when the two members are made of sheet metal, as shown and as preferred, they may be given the proper shape when in a flat condition by being stamped out by proper tools and then bent into the proper shape to complete them. When thus made, the lower member B′ has projections A on its rear edge which are bent upwardly, as shown, to form tenons, and recesses or mortises h′, h² are formed between and on opposite sides of the tenons. As before described the lower member is properly shaped to form a guard C and the boss b to receive the handle. The upper member is formed at its rear edge with projections or tenons i which are adapted to enter the mortise h² and with a long projection or lever D which extends into and through the mortise h′ of the lower member B′. The member B is so bent or bent on the proper line to form flanges k on opposite sides of the lever and the tenons i with the flange are arranged at approximately right angles to the plane of the member B, as shown in Fig. 5. When the two members are assembled, the tenons i enter the mortises h², the tenons h enter the mortises between the lever D and the tenons i, the lever D extends through the mortise h′, and the flange k rests on the upper surface of the member B′ close to the tenons. In this way a mortise joint is formed and then by bending the lever to the extent indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 the joint is locked and made secure. The inner faces of the tenons are slightly inclined, as shown, and the arrangement is such that the tenons interlock and are brought into alinement with each other in such manner as to hold the front edge m of the upper member close to the adjacent surface of the lower member. The lever D preferably extends downward substantially parallel with the handle, as shown in Fig. 2. When thus arranged the members can easily be separated to a very slight extent sufficient only to receive the blade. If, however, the lever is bent upward sufficiently, the joint may be broken and the members taken apart. This latter operation, however, is not contemplated.

Various kinds of blades may be employed, but preferably that shown in Fig. 8 is used. The blade is made of sheet metal, thick enough to be rigid but sufficiently thin to economize material and provide a good edge. The blade has rounded ends to facilitate handling and is provided with rearwardly extending positioning lugs a. When the blade is in position the rounded ends project from the side edges of the holder as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

As before explained, the joint is so made as to normally hold the front edge of the upper member of the blade holder close to the adjacent surface of the lower member and the joint is at this time substantially rigid but by applying pressure to the lever, in the manner indicated in Fig. 2, the upper member may be raised thus providing a space to receive the blade which may be readily inserted. As soon as pressure on the lever is released the edge m moves toward the lower member and, the tension not being entirely relaxed, the blade will be firmly gripped. Obviously, the blade may be withdrawn by again applying pressure to the lever to relax the tension.

We claim as our invention:

1. A safety razor comprising a handle and a blade-holder, consisting of two members spaced apart and each of which is provided with tenons entering mortises in its companion member and having inwardly inclined inner surfaces bearing firmly against the rear edge thereof, and an operating lever extending from one of said members.

2. A safety razor comprising a handle and a blade-holder, consisting of inner and outer members spaced apart and each of which is provided with tenons interlocking with corresponding mortises on its companion member and bearing firmly against the rear edge thereof and a lever projecting from the outer member and bearing firmly against the rear edge of the inner member.

3. A safety razor comprising a handle and a blade-holder, consisting of two members each of which is provided with tenons entering mortises in its companion member and bears firmly against the rear edge thereof, one of which members is provided near its rear edge with a spacing flange bearing against the inner face of its companion member.

4. A safety razor comprising a handle and a blade-holder, consisting of inner and outer members spaced apart and each of which is formed with tenons extending across the rear edge of the other member and with mortises in which the tenons of its companion member are seated, and a lever carried by the outer member which extends therefrom across and close to the rear edge of the inner member.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto, subscribed our names.

Leonidas H. Cress.

Anthony Novitsky.

Harry W. Greenbrier.

Witnesses:

Walter H. Gleason,

Charles T. Hawes.