To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Julius Bueno de Mesquita, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Razors, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in safety-razors, and pertains more particularly to the type of safety razor shown and described in Letters Patent No. 1,488,907 granted to me on April 1, 1924;

The safety razor frame of the present invention comprises a guard plate affording a seat for the blade, a cover or cap hinged to close rearwardly over the guard plate and blade, an underbridge secured to the lower side of the guard plate, a spring latch cooperating with said underbridge for securing the cover or cap in closed position and a handle detachably connected with said underbridge. The novel elements of the safety razor frame reside in the aforesaid underbridge and spring latch and associated features.

One purpose of the invention is to provide a novel underbridge in one integral piece of sheet metal affording forward spring arms to which the cover or cap is hinged and which aid in throwing the cover, when unlatched, to open position, a special projection or protuberance for cooperation with the spring latch in securing the cover or cap in closed position and in aiding the aforesaid spring arms to open the cover or cap when the same is released or unlatched and an interiorly threaded sleeve to receive the upper threaded stem-end of the handle for the safety razor frame. A further purpose of the invention is to provide a novel spring latch mechanism for latching the cover or cap in closed position and aiding in the opening of the cover or cap when the spring latch is moved to releasing position, this new latch mechanism being capable of very convenient operation and assuring the secure locking of the cover or cap in closed position and, when released, the throwing of the cover or cap forwardly to full open position.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a central vertical section through a safety razor constructed in accordance with and embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the same, with the cover shown in open position and the razor-blade as partly broken away;

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the same, with the cover shown in open position and the handle being omitted, and

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the underbridge shown detached from the guard plate and which underbridge is shown in bottom view in Fig. 3 and vertical section in Fig. 1.

In the drawings 10 designates the main base or guard plate of the safety-razor frame, 11 the cover or cap hinged at or adjacent to the forward edge thereof and adapted to be turned backwardly thereover to its closed position, 12 a customary handle, 13 a blade which may be, as shown, of usual “Ever-Ready” type, 14 a special underbridge riveted to the lower side of the guard plate and performing several duties and 15 a special latch-spring riveted within the rear portion of the cover or cap and adapted, in connection with a projection 16 on said underbridge, to secure the cover in closed position and also to assist in throwing the cover to full open position when by an upward pressure of the thumb against the lower end of the spring, said spring is caused to ride upwardly over the apex of said projection.

The plate 10 is of rectangular outline conforming to the general shape of the blade 13 and is of reasonably thin sheet metal, and said plate 10 is formed along its forward edge with guard tines 17, at the end portions of its forward edge with hooks or stops 18 to arrest the cutting edge of the blade in proper operative position with relation to said guard tines and at its opposite side edges with customary lips or hooks 19 below which the side edges of the blade are passed. Upon the underside of the guard plate 10 and secured thereto by rivets 20, is the underbridge 14, which is in one integral piece of sheet metal stamped and shaped to provide a flat body portion 21 adapted to engage the lower flat surface of the plate 10, forwardly projecting side arms 22 paving lateral oppositely projecting pintles 23 at their forward ends, a hollow base having an upwardly projecting concealed sleeve 24, which I interiorly screwthread, a rearwardly projecting protuberance or shoulder 16 to be engaged by the latch spring and an upwardly and forwardly inclined tongue 25 which closes the rear end of said hollow base and at its upper end is within a recess 26 formed in the rear edge of the guard plate 10. The recess 26 not only receives the upper end of the tongue 25 but provides a passage for the projecting lower inner angular end 27 of the spring 15 during the closing and opening of the cover or cap 11. The side arms 22 project forwardly and downwardly below the guard-tines 17 and are free thereof, and said arms constitute spring members and suitably position the pintles 23 to engage apertures 28 formed in the forward ends of the sides 29 of the cover or cap 11 and therewith hinge the cover or cap at its forward portion to the forward portion of the safety razor frame.

The cover or cap 11 is pressed up from sheet metal and comprises the aforesaid side portions 29, a rear end portion 30 and a top or hood portion, as usual. The cover or cap 11 is of suitable dimensions to snugly enclose between its rear end and side portions, the guard plate 10 and parts mounted thereon. The forward portion of the cover or cap 11 is open, as shown in Fig. 1, and the top of said cover or cap inclines downwardly and forwardly to an edge 31 which, when the blade 13 is in position and the cover or cap closed, will engage said blade and press the same firmly against the seat formed on the guard tines 17.

The relation of the forward edge 31 of the cover or cap to the pintles 23 on the forward ends of the spring arms 22, is such that when the cover or cap is turned to closed position, the said edge 31 pressing against the entire length of the blade 13, acts as an efficient fulcrum for the long lever represented by the cover or cap and that the cover or cap flexes the forward portions of the arms 22 upwardly, with the result that said arms react against said edge 31 to firmly bind the same against the blade 13 and assure the rigid seating of the blade in correct operative position, regardless of slight variations in thicknesses of blades and regardless of unintentional irregularities that may arise in the manufacture or assembly of the parts of the frame of the device.

The cover or cap 11 must be locked in closed position, and therefore I provide the spring latch 15 having the aforesaid angular lower inner end 27 to engage the projection or protuberance 16 on the underbridge 14. The latch spring 15 is in one integral piece and is a portion of a piece of sheet metal which comprises a transverse unyielding portion or member 32 (Figs. 1 and 2) riveted to the inner side of the back portion 30 of the cover or cap 11 and having spring extensions 33 within said cover or cap to engage the back edge of the razor blade when said cover or cap is moved to closed position, said spring extensions 33 then serving to firmly bind the forward corner portions of the blade against the hooks or stops 18 formed on the guard plate 10.

From the central transverse portion 32 of the spring member, extends the latch spring 15 constituting a strip from which is formed a rearwardly convexed arm 34 which extends downwardly and forwardly, a flat thumb-piece 35 which extends upwardly and rearwardly from the lower end of the arm 34 and a tongue 36 which inclines upwardly and forwardly from the rear end of the thumb-piece 35 to the lower edge of the back portion 30 of the cover or cap 11, the upper end of said tongue 36 being of about the same thickness as the lower edge of the back of the cover or cap and therefore providing a smooth back finish for the razor frame. At the juncture of the parts 34, 35 of the latch 15 is formed the angular member 27, hereinbefore referred to, which curves under, to a slight extent, the projection 16 on the underbridge 14, as shown in Fig. 1. The spring latch 15 serves to firmly lock the cover or cap 11 in closed position in opposition to the force exerted by the spring arms or fingers 22 to open said cover or cap. The spring latch 15 has been designed, also, to assist the spring arms or fingers 22 to throw the cover or cap 11 to its full open position, shown in Fig. 2, and to this end the latch spring 15 has been given the form hereinbefore described and shown in Fig. 1, and the tongue 25 of the bridge member 14 has been inclined upwardly and forwardly. On opening the cover or cap 11, the user will grasp the handle 10 with his hand and press with his thumb upwardly against the flat thumb-piece 35 of the spring latch 15, and this pressure will continue until the angular edge 27 of the spring latch has moved over the apex of the projection 16 of the bridge member 14, and thereupon, said spring latch 15 having been flexed by its engagement with and on passing over the said projection 16, will react against the upwardly and forwardly inclined tongue 25 and act to throw the cover or cap 11 to its open position, said spring latch 15 then cooperating with and assisting the spring arms 22 to instantly throw the cover or cap 11 to full open position.

The handle 12 is of usual type and has at its upper end a threaded stem to be screwed into the threaded sleeve 24 formed on the bridge member 14.

The bridge member 14 constitutes an important feature of the present invention, in that it is in one integral piece and serves to afford the concealed threaded sleeve 24, the spring arms 22 having the pintles 23, and the upwardly and forwardly inclined tongue 25 at whose lower end is formed the projection or shoulder 16 and whose upper end is confined within the recess 26 of the guard plate. The bridge member 14, constructed as described, simplifies and lessens the cost of the manufacture of the razor blade frame and improves the general construction of that frame.

The special form and construction of the latch spring 15 is also important in carrying out my invention, in that the only pressure applied to said spring on opening the cover or cap 11 is that exerted by the end of the thumb in an upward direction against the thumb-piece 35, this pressure serving to accelerate the action of the spring in effecting the quick opening movement of the cover or cap. In my aforesaid Letters Patent the latch spring was formed with an upstanding curved thumb-piece (16) against which pressure was applied by the ball of the thumb in two directions, to-wit: upwardly and inwardly, on releasing the latch, and in accordance with my present invention the latch spring is such that the pressure is applied thereto only in an upwardly direction and by the end of the thumb, the spring action thus not being retarded by the spring being compelled to pull away or release itself from the grip of the thumb, the thumb in the present instance having no gripping or lateral pressure on the spring but simply an upward pushing action which has no deadening effect on the spring.

I have described in detail the construction and operation of a preferred embodiment of my invention, but I do not confine the invention to all the details of form and construction described, since I am aware that the same may be modified without departure from the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:—

1. A safety-razor comprising a guard plate to receive a blade, a cover hinged at the forward portion of said plate and to close rearwardly over said plate and blade, and means for releasablv securing said cover in closed position comprising a rigid part connected with the lower side of said plate and having a rearwardly projecting protuberance and an upwardly and forwardly inclined surface leading from the apex of said protuberance, and a leaf latch spring secured to the rear portion of said cover and having a rearwardly convexed downwardly extending arm to engage and become flexed against said apex when the cover is closed, a rearwardly extending thumb piece at the lower end of said arm and a tongue extending upwardly from the rear end of said thumb-piece to the lower back edge of said cover, said spring being operable to release the cover and aid in throwing the same to open position by the upward pressure of the end of the thumb against said thumb-piece, said spring then being flexed rearwardly on passing said apex and reacting against said upwardly inclined surface to drive the cover to open position.

2. A safety razor as claimed in claim 1, in which said thumb-piece is flat and inclined upwardly and rearwardly and said tongue is flat and at its upper end lies beneath the back edge of said cover.

3. In a safety razor having a guard plate to receive a blade, a cover and a handle, an underbridge in one integral piece of sheet metal secured to said guard-plate and having forwardly extending side arms equipped with laterally extending pintles hinging the said cover and a hollow base containing an upwardly extending concealed sleeve to receive the upper end of said handle.

4. A safety razor as claimed in claim 3, in which said underbridge has a part closing said hollow base at the back and extending at its upper edge to the upper surface of the guard plate, said guard plate being recessed to receive said upper edge of said part.

5. In a safety razor having a guard plate to receive a blade, a cover and a handle, an underbridge in one integral piece of sheet metal secured to said guard plate and having forwardly extending side arms equipped with laterally extending pintles hinging said cover, a hollow base containing a sleeve to receive the upper end of the handle and a part closing the hollow base at the back and forming at its lower end a protuberance whence said part inclines upwardly and forwardly to said guard plate, and a leaf latch spring secured to the rear portion of said cover and having a rearwardly convexed downwardly extending arm to engage and become flexed against the apex of said protuberance and a rearwardly extending thumb-piece at the lower end of said arm, said arms carrying the pintles being spring-arms, and said latch spring being operable to release the cover and aid said spring arms in throwing said cover to open position by the upward pressure of the thumb against said thumb-piece.

6. A safety razor as claimed in claim 5, in which the upper edge of the back part of said base extends to the upper surface of the guard plate and in which said guard plate at its rear edge is recessed to receive said upper edge and also afford a passage for the lower end of said arm of the latch spring.

7. A safety razor as claimed in claim 5, in which said latch spring has an upwardly and forwardly inclined arm extending from the rear end of the thumb piece and terminating beneath the back edge of the cover, and in which the guard plate is recessed at its rear edge to provide a passage for the lower end of the convex arm of said latch spring.

Signed at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, this 28th day of August, A. D. 1924.

Julius Bueno de Mesquita.