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Magazine Razor with Blades in Head

Patent US2334833

Invention Magazine Safety Razor

Filed Thursday, 17th September 1942

Published Tuesday, 23rd November 1943

Inventors Joseph Muros, Samuel C. Stampleman

Owner Gillette Safety Razor Company

Language English

CPC Classification:   
B26B21/24
  • B26B21/24
    Safety razors with one or more blades arranged transversely to the handle of the magazine type; of the injector type
  • B
    Performing Operations; Transporting
  • B26
    Hand Cutting Tools; Cutting; Severing
  • B26B
    Hand-Held Cutting Tools Not Otherwise Provided For
  • B26B21/00
    Razors of the open or knife type; Safety razors or other shaving implements of the planing type; Hair-trimming devices involving a razor-blade; Equipment therefor
  • B26B21/08
    Razors of the open or knife type; Safety razors or other shaving implements of the planing type; Hair-trimming devices involving a razor-blade; Equipment therefor involving changeable blades
  • B26B21/14
    Safety razors with one or more blades arranged transversely to the handle

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A PDF version of the original patent can be found here.

Patented Nov. 23, 1943 2,334,833
United States Patent Office
2,334,833 Magazine Safety Razor Joseph Muros, of Cambridge, and Samuel C. Stampleman, of Cohasset, Mass., assignors to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware. Application September 17, 1942. Serial No. 458,663. 14 Claims. (Cl. 30—40)

This invention consists in an improved magazine safety razor in which by simple manipulation of a feeding device the user may at any time present in shaving position a fresh blade from a magazine located in the razor head. The razor is designed to receive a magazine or clip containing a supply of blades in which the blades, if desired, may be dispensed for sale to the public. The blade magazine is arranged to be dropped into the head of the magazine instead of having to be pushed in endwise as heretofore, this being a particularly convenient mode of replenishing the blade supply and requiring little or no mechanical skill on the part of the user.

With this end in view an improved feature of the invention consists in a safety razor having in its head a guard and an open channel adjacent to the guard, in combination with a magazine shaped to fit freely into the channel so that it may be dropped directly in place therein and be positioned or registered by fitting in the channel for supplying blades directly in shaving position above the guard.

Another feature consists in a detachable or removable magazine having a feeding device movably mounted thereon and assembled with the magazine, that is to say, the feeding device is an adjunct of the magazine and remains with it rather than with the razor frame. The magazine with or without the feeding device in some embodiments of the invention may be used as a dispensing receptacle comprising with its enclosed blades an article of commerce.

Means may be provided for locating the magazine in place when it has once been inserted in the channel of the razor head and such means serve to retain the magazine in operative position until the supply of blades contained therein has been exhausted. Preferably and as herein shown the locating means may have the further function of clamping the feeding device to prevent chance or accidental ejection of a blade or other displacement of the parts during the shaving operation.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:—

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of the complete razor showing a blade in shaving position;

Fig. 2 is a view of the razor head in central cross-section showing the feeding device in retracted position;

Fig. 3 is a view of the complete razor and magazine in longitudinal section;

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of the razor head showing the feeding device in retracted position;

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective on an enlarged scale showing the razor, magazine, feeding device and blade stack in exploded relation; and

Fig. 6 is a view in perspective of the magazine as seen from beneath.

The razor illustrated herein comprises a frame consisting of a handle having a knurled barrel 10 and enclosing a spindle 11 threaded at its upper end for engagement with the magazine and retained at all times with limited longitudinal movement in the barrel 10. Rigidly secured to the upper end of the barrel is the bottom plate 12 of the head as best shown in Fig. 5. This extends transversely with respect to the handle and is inclined downwardly and forwardly. At its lower edge it merges into a front wall 13 which extends at substantially right angles to it upwardly and forwardly. The front wall merges in turn into the guard 14 which again extends downwardly and forwardly, being longitudinally apertured to provide bar portions which determines in part the edge exposure of the blade and are knurled or corrugated for engagement with the face of the user.

The bottom plate 12 is provided centrally with a deep recess or socket 15 which is pressed into the plate concentrically with the upper end of the barrel 10. A pair of shallow spacing ribs 16 are disposed transversely on the inner surface of the bottom plate, one on either side of the socket 15. At each end of the bottom plate is provided an upturned ear 17 and in the rear edge of the bottom plate is provided an upstanding back flange 18, this being located immediately behind the socket 15 and spaced between the ribs 16. The parts above described constitute the stationary portions of the safety razor maintaining their illustrated relationship permanently in the razor. The bottom plate 12, the front wall 13, the back flange 18 and the ears 17 provide an open transverse channel or receptacle in which the magazine may be freely placed by the user.

The magazine comprises a rectangular enclosure 20 having a threaded boss 21 projecting below its bottom face where it may fit with clearance into the socket 15 in the bottom plate 12. In the bottom of the magazine are also provided a pair of projecting stops 22, these being located near the rear edge of the magazine and spaced apart by a somewhat greater distance than the ribs 16 of the bottom plate. The top plate 23 of the magazine overhangs its front wall and is cut off at both ends so as to expose the ends of a blade beneath it. A pair of shallow recesses 24 are formed in the top plate of the magazine adjacent to its ends. At its forward edge this plate is spaced sufficiently above the front wall of the magazine to permit the passage of a single blade in the outlet slit thus provided, the slit being located behind and slightly above the guard 14 when the magazine is properly located in the channel of the razor. The end walls 25 of the magazine are formed to present ribs with inwardly converging vertical walls designed to engage bevelled corners of the blades contained in the magazine and so guide successive blades upwardly to the exit slit while maintaining their cutting edges out of contact with the walls of the magazine. The magazine is of such depth as to contain a stack of ten or twelve blades and an underlying leaf spring 26 which tends at all times to lift the stack and hold the uppermost blade thereof in contact with the inner face of the top plate 23.

The blades 30 herein shown are narrow single-edged blades having a central perforation, centrally disposed end notches and bevelled corners adjacent to their cutting edge as already intimated. The illustrated magazine and blade are designed for co-operative use and it will be understood that for blades of different design the shape and construction of the magazine may be correspondingly modified, all within the scope of the present invention.

Associated with the magazine is a feed member comprising a rectangular shell of thin sheet metal having a back wall 31 recessed to receive substantially flush the back flange 18 of the razor, and end walls 32 knurled to provide grips for the user and spaced so as to enclose the magazine with longitudinal clearance, that is, to pass freely outside the end walls 25 of the magazine. The feeding shell has an open front so that it may be slipped freely upon the magazine from the rear. It includes a top wall 33 having transverse slots which set off a feed dog 34 at each end and these dogs are forked to provide a blade-engaging detent in each. The body of the top plate corresponds substantially in length to the short top plate 23 of the magazine and is arranged to slide on the surface of that plate. The feed dogs, however, embrace the magazine top plate 23 between them and are deflected downwardly into or below the plane of that plate so as to engage the ends of the underlying blade which are exposed beneath it and to advance that blade in a two-step operation by engaging first its end notches and then its rear corners. The top wall is also provided with a pair of rounded internal projections 35 which come to rest in the recesses 24 of the magazine when the feeding shell is in its fully advanced position and act as yielding catches to retain it in that position.

The bottom plate 36 of the feeding device is provided with a pair of transverse internal slots 37 shaped to receive with clearance the spaced stops 22 on the bottom plate of the magazine. The feeding shell is naturally resilient so that in assembling the parts the bottom plate 36 may be sprung over the stops 22, thereafter relative transverse movement of the feeding shell and the magazine 20 being limited by movement of the stops 22 in the slots 37. This interlocking engagement of the stops 22 and the slots 37 also prevents accidental disengagement of the feeding device from the magazine. Adjacent to the closed-end slots 37 are provided a pair of open-end transverse slots 38 for receiving the spacing ribs 16 of the bottom plate. It will be understood that the ribs 16 engage the bottom plate of the magazine through the slots 38 and in this way provide clearance for movement of the bottom plate 36 of the feeding shell between the magazine and the bottom plate 12 of the razor frame. Finally the bottom plate of the feeding shell is cut-out centrally at 39 to provide clearance for a threaded boss 21 of the magazine.

Assuming that the razor contains a blade in shaving position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, and that the user desires to replace that blade with a fresh blade from the magazine. The active blade 30 will be positioned for shaving by the feed dogs 34 with its edge above the guard 14 and the dogs occupying the two end notches of the blade with the feeding shell in its forward position, as shown in Fig. 1. It may be assumed also that the spindle 11 has been turned to clamp all the parts against displacement in this operative relationship. The operator now may slightly loosen the spindle 11 and slip the feed device rearwardly into the position shown in Fig. 2. In this movement the feed dogs 34 leave the end notches of the blade and move back to engage its rear corners, the blade being held frictionally in this position during their reverse movement by the pressure of the spring and the blades beneath it against the top plate 23 of the magazine. The feed shell is then moved forwardly whereupon the used blade is advanced by its rear corners forwardly and completely ejected from the razor. The next blade in the stack is immediately moved upwardly into contact with the top plate of the magazine. The feeding shell is again moved rearwardly and in this movement the feed dogs drop into the end slots of the blade now uppermost in the stack, as shown in Fig. 4. A final forward movement of the feeding shell advances this blade by its end notches into shaving position, as shown in Fig. 1, where it may be clamped by turning the spindle 11 and is then ready for use.

It will be seen that the entire operation of replacing one blade for another involves two complete reciprocations of the feeding device and that the old blade is completely ejected from the razor before a new blade is advanced from its completely guarded position in the magazine.

A fresh blade may be advanced into operative position at any time before or during the shaving operation, that is, if the user finds a blade to be unsatisfactory while shaving he has only to loosen the spindle, reciprocate the feeding device twice and then turn the spindle to clamp the new blade in shaving position. Blades may be successively replaced as long as the supply holds out and then the empty magazine may be discarded and replaced by a full one.

The feeding device is movably retained on the magazine by the free travel of the projections 22 in the closed-end slots 37 but as already explained the bottom plate of the feeding device may be sprung sufficiently to disengage these projections, if desired. The internal projections 35 of the feeding device snap into the recesses 24 of the magazine when the feeding device is advanced into its forward position and serve as spring catches to retain it in that position but are readily disengageable by the user when it is desired to operate the feeding device. When assembled in the channel of the razor head the solid portions of the bottom plate 36 of the feeding device move transversely in the bottom of the channel in the space provided by the ribs 16 which engage the bottom of the magazine. When the spindle 11, however, is screwed up tightly the bottom of the magazine is bowed into frictional clamping engagement with the portions of the plate 36 on either side of the aperture 39 thus preventing accidental movement of the feeding device.

If desired, the recesses 24 in the top plate 23 of the magazine may be projected through into the interior of the plate so as to form stops which will act positively to prevent rearward movement of any blade that has been moved forwardly into shaving position. This is a feature which is covered in the co-pending patent application of the applicant, Joseph Muros, Serial Number 408,945, filed August 30, 1941.

Having thus disclosed our invention and described a preferred embodiment thereof, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A magazine safety razor including in its structure a frame having a handle, a guard and a threaded spindle in the handle, in combination with a detachable magazine having a blade outlet adjacent to the guard and a threaded socket co-operating with the spindle to retain the magazine in place in the razor, a stack of blades within the magazine, and a feeding device co-operating with the magazine to deliver a blade therefrom and hold it in shaving relation upon the said guard.

2. A magazine safety razor including a frame having a handle, a guard and a retaining spindle in the handle, in combination with a detachable magazine having a blade outlet and a retaining device co-operating with the spindle to hold the magazine in place adjacent to the guard in the razor, a stack of blades within the magazine, and a feeding device removable with the magazine and mounted movably upon it to advance a blade from the stack to shaving position above the said guard.

3. A magazine safety razor including a frame having a handle, walls connected to the handle and forming an open transverse channel, a guard disposed adjacent to said channel, and a retaining element in the handle, in combination with a detachable magazine fitting into said channel and having an exit slot and a co-operating retaining element therein, a stack of blades within the magazine, and feeding means removable with the magazine and movably mounted thereon to feed a blade from the stack to a position above said guard.

4. A magazine safety razor including a handle, transverse walls carried by the handle and forming an open channel, one of the walls being extended to form a guard at the upper edge of the channel, and one element of a magazine retaining connection movable in the handle toward the channel, in combination with a magazine fitting in said channel and having an exit slot in its front wall above the level of the guard, a co-operating element of the magazine retaining connection and a feeding device movably mounted on the magazine to feed a blade from the magazine through the exit slot and above said guard.

5. A magazine safety razor including a frame having a guard and an open channel adjacent thereto with one element of a magazine retaining connection therein, in combination with a blade magazine shaped to fit widthwise within the channel and having a delivery slot opening above the guard, and a co-operating element of the magazine-retaining connection.

6. A magazine safety razor including a frame having a guard and an open channel with a rotatable retaining screw in its bottom, in combination with a blade magazine shaped to fit freely into said channel and, when placed in the channel, having a blade exit slot located adjacent to the guard and a threaded socket registering with said screw.

7. A magazine safety razor including a frame having a guard and an open channel, in combination with a removable blade magazine fitting said channel and having a feeding device movably mounted thereon and removable therewith, and clamping means for holding said feeding device stationary in the razor.

8. A magazine safety razor including a head having a guard and an open channel therein, in combination with a removable magazine for blades fitting in said channel, a feeding device movably mounted on the magazine and removable therewith and means for limiting the path of the feeding device in its movement on the magazine.

9. In a magazine safety razor having a head with a guard and an open channel therein, a magazine for blades fitting in said channel, and a feeding device embracing the magazine and having blade-engaging members movable above the magazine and into engagement with a blade therein, and a retaining member movable transversely beneath the magazine in the bottom of the channel.

10. A magazine safety razor having a head with a guard and an open channel therein, in combination with an elongated magazine for blades fitting in said channel, and a feeding device having a rear wall, a slotted bottom plate movable between the magazine and the bottom of the channel, and blade-engaging dogs, together with means for holding the magazine spaced above the bottom of the channel to permit free movement of the feeding device.

11. A magazine safety razor including in its structure a head having a front wall, a guard and a rear flange of less height than the front wall defining a transverse channel therein, an elongated magazine fitting in said channel, and a feeding device embracing the upper and lower faces of the magazine and having a rear wall cut out to receive the said flange of the razor head.

12. A magazine razor including in its structure a head containing a removable magazine containing a stack of end-notched blades, a guard connected externally to the head, and means for feeding a blade from the magazine to position above the guard including a dog shaped to enter an end notch of the blade, and finger grips spaced beyond the ends of the magazine and adapted to be grasped by the user for operating said feeding means.

13. A magazine razor including in its structure a razor head having an external guard and an open channel located behind the guard, a magazine for blades fitting in said channel and having a blade-exit slot adjacent to the said guard, and a feeding device mounted on the magazine and having blade-engaging dogs for feeding a blade from the magazine into shaving position above the guard, and sliding interlocking connections with the magazine limiting its feeding stroke thereon and preventing accidental disengagement of the feeding device from the magazine.

14. A magazine razor including in its structure a razor head having an outwardly projecting guard and an open channel adjacent to the guard, a magazine for blades fitting in said channel and having an exit slot in a position for delivering blades transversely into registration with said guard, and a blade-feeding device movably mounted on the magazine and having sliding interlocking connections therewith limiting its feeding stroke and preventing accidental disengagement of the feeding device from the magazine.

Samuel C. Stampleman.
Joseph Muros.