This invention relates to safety razors and includes a novel blade construction which functions in a unique and very effective manner to secure the blade in shaving relation with appropriate blade holding and guarding means which is itself also novel.

The objects of the invention are, first, to provide a shaving edge which may, very rapidly and with extreme convenience, be rendered ready for safe shaving use, and, second, to make the design and construction of blade and auxiliary means conducive to economic and precise manufacture.

In carrying out my invention I have obviated the necessity of employing in the holder any separable or movable parts, by providing a blade which has such shape that when it is slid into the holder an integral portion of it, preferably flexible tongues at either side, will be automatically flexed so as to hold the blade upon its seat by spring tension without materially bending the blade proper in such manner as to flex the cutting edge out of a straight line when on the seat.

Common practice has heretofore involved the use of tension means external to the blade to cause one or more parts, such as opposed plates, hinged covers, spring clips, etc., to bear upon the blade and thus secure it in shaving position.

Such constructions are quite objectionable from the standpoint of the user because they are likely to be bent, broken or lost, and from a manufacturing standpoint they are objectionable because they are more expensive to manufacture. By reason of the unique form and construction of the blade, I have been able to construct a holder which may be made without any such movable or removable parts, i. e., a one-piece holder, which may be readily stamped or die-cast.

The simple propulsion of the blade within provided guides automatically creates tension in portions of the blade itself thus securing the blade in shaving relation with the holder and against accidental disengagement therefrom.

In realization of the second object of my invention, the new and additional properties of my improved blade may be secured without any manufacturing operations additional to or basicly different from those commonly employed in safety razor blade construction. The novel construction of my blade holder, besides serving my primary object, very effectively serves my secondary object by providing for very efficient and economic manufacture.

The handle is formed of the usual tubular and die-cast members and is secured to the blade receiving head preferably by riveting. This head may be produced, complete, by blanking and forming dies from one piece of sheet metal. Hence, the fitting together and assembly of separate pieces is obviated. Also, the necessarily precise relation of the several members of the head is established by the action of forming dies and is not subject to the fallibility of human operatives.

I am aware that my invention may be embodied in various forms other than that illustrated in the drawings which show merely as an illustrative embodiment, the construction which I now prefer.

In this drawing all views are taken either perpendicular or parallel to the blade plane.

Figs.1, 2 and 3 are, respectively, top, bottom and side views of the blade and holder with normally hidden portions of the blade indicated in dotted lines,

Fig. 4 is a rear view showing a partial section oh line 4—4 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is a front view of the combination shown in the preceding views,

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the blade,

Fig. 7 is an end view of the blade.

Fig. 8 represents diagrammatically the tension action of the blade in the holder, the essential parts merely being indicated, and in broken section.

The embodiment of my blade which so far I have found to be the most satisfactory and efficient is illustrated for example in Fig. 6. This has a body portion or blade proper 11 provided with a forward cutting edge 12 and one or more tension members integral therewith, which in the illustrated embodiment are spring tongues 13, 13 at either side of the body portion or blade proper and which may be spaced therefrom as indicated at 14, and extend from the back toward the cutting edge as shown.

The slenderness of the tongues 13—13 and the resulting relatively small resistance of their mass compared to that of the body portion 11 makes possible the independent flexure of the tongues transversely of the blade without material flexure of the body portion of the blade. This quality of the tongues 13—13 allows them forcibly to be flexed out of their normal plane which is that of the body portion of the blade and the tension thus produced is utilized to secure the blade in shaving relation with the holder.

The blade holder has a head and a handle preferably riveted together as shown. The integrally formed head is provided with an upper wall 15, the end walls 20—20 and the end walls 23—23, a front wall 18 constituting a comb guard, and the lower handle receiving flange 21. The front edge of the top wall 15 is spaced from the top of the comb guard 18 by the slot 22 and shoulders 17—17 are formed at each end of the top wall 15 joining the respective end walls 20—20 with the respective end walls 22—22. These shoulders 17—17 form inclined slideways or cam surfaces upon which ride the tongues 13—13 of the blade when it is inserted.

The length of the body portion 11 of the blade is accommodated, with a slight clearance, between the inner faces of the end walls 20—20 and these end walls serve both as guides for the insertion of the blade and as stops to limit its endwise movement when inserted.

The blade is inserted by first placing the forward part of the body portion 11 against the inner face of the top wall 15 and then sliding the blade forward until the rearward limits of the recesses 14—14 engage the rear edges of the end walls 20—20. This action forces the tongues 13—13 up on the inclined slideways 17—17 to the position shown clearly in Fig. 3 and Fig. 8. The flexure and resulting tension thus produced in the tongues 13—13 has two important mechanical results: It removably secures the blade in shaving position and against accident disengagement and it forces up the front of the body portion 11 of the blade tight against the front part of the inner face of the top wall 15 of the holder. The depressed portions 16—16 of the top wall 15 act as fulcrums for the essentially lever action.

The blade is withdrawn from the holder by grasping the blade at the rear where the top wall 15 has been indented to provide a thumb-hold. The action either of inserting or withdrawing the blade is, obviously, instantaneous.

I am aware that various modifications of my invention both in the form of the blade and the construction of the holder may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention as claimed. I therefore do not by the wording of the claims limit myself to the particular embodiments of holder or blade shown in the drawings, which as above stated, are merely illustrative of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A safety razor blade having a front cutting edge and a rear blunt edge, and tongues relatively narrow in proportion to their length, extending from said rear edge toward said front edge outside the body portion of the blade.

2. A safety razor blade having a body portion with a front cutting edge, a rear blunt edge and opposed end edges, and portions spaced from said body portion extending from said rear edge toward said front edge parallel to said end edges.

3. A safety razor blade having a body portion with a front cutting edge, a rear blunt edge and opposed end edges, and having narrow projections joined to said body portion adjacent said rear edge and extending perpendicularly toward said cutting edge, the mass and hence the resistance to flexure of said projections being much less than that of said body portion.

4. A safety razor blade having a body portion presenting a cutting edge, and resilient tongues at the ends of said body portion and extending toward said cutting edge with their front ends relatively movable in respect to the body portion of the blade in a direction substantially at right angles to the plane of the blade.

5. A safety razor blade comprising a body portion with a cutting edge and at each side of the body portion a flexible tongue integral with the body portion and extending toward the cutting edge.

6. In combination a safety razor blade comprising a body portion having a cutting edge and at each side of and outside of the body portion a flexible tongue extending toward the cutting edge, and a holder therefor provided with a seat for the blade and means adapted to engage and flex said tongues and thereby cause said blade to be held upon the seat.

7. A safety razor blade holder having a blade seat onto which may be slide sidewise a razor blade which has a body portion provided with a cutting edge and at each side of and outside of the body portion a flexible tongue extending toward the cutting edge, said holder also comprising at each side a slideway adapted to engage the tongues of the blade and flex them automatically when the blade is slid sidewise onto the seat and thereby cause them to hold the blade upon the seat.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 22nd day of January, A. D. 1930.

Thomas W. Bigoney.