To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lucius C. Allin, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Razor-Guards, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the construction of guards for razors, and the manner of securing said guards upon razor-blades and adjusting them to the diminishing width of said blades by wear, the object being to provide a suitable guard for a razor which will largely diminish, if not quite prevent, the liability of persons to cut themselves when using said instrument, and also enable an aged or infirm person to use it with a greater degree of safety than when no guard is applied thereto.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 illustrates a razor having a guard applied thereto according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a view of the razor-guard removed from the blade. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the back of the razor-blade.

In the drawings, a is the razor-blade, b is the guard, and c c are adjusting-screws in the back of the blade a.

I construct the razor-guard b preferably of thin elastic metal; but it may be made of hard rubber or other suitable material. Said guard I form so that it very much resembles the shape of the razor-blade in cross-section, and it is made to extend from just above the cutting-edge of the razor, on one side of the blade, up over the back thereof, and down upon the opposite side thereof, opposite to the edge of the guard on that side, so that whichever side of the blade is applied to the face in using, only the same width of cutting-edge projects below the edge of the guard b. The length of said guard is nearly that of the blade from point to heel thereof, it being intended that its edges shall “ border ” the entire usable edge of the razor. Said guard, when formed up, possesses sufficient elasticity to cause its edges to spring against each other, so that when it is slipped on the razor-blade, as in Fig. 1, it is somewhat forced open by said blade, and thus caused to retain its place thereon without any liability to slip out of place, and requiring no additional devices to secure it. The edges of the guard adjacent to the cutting-edge of the blade a are beveled back, so that said beveled portion may lie flat against the face while the razor is being used, and obviates the necessity of inclining the back of the blade too much from the face to cause the razor to properly cut.

In the back of the razor are placed two screws, c c, to serve the purpose of forming a higher bearing above the razor-back, upon which the guard can rest when the cutting-edge of the blade becomes so much worn as to bring it inconveniently close to the edges of the guard. Under these circumstances the screws c c may be screwed out of the back far enough to cause said guard, when it shall be slipped onto the blade, to rest against them, and its lower edges to be lifted a proper distance above the cutting-edge of the razor.

It is obvious that the lower edges of the guard b may be ground off to correspond with the wear of the blade; but said screws c c will obviate this necessity for a long time.

By the use of the guard b on a razor the cutting-edge thereof can be much more carefully applied to its work, as the guard acts as a sort of fulcrum upon which the blade can be tipped to bring its edge to bear upon the face with just force enough to cut safely and no more.

What I claim as my invention is—

1. The within-described improved razor-guard, consisting of the hollow guard b, formed from thin elastic material, extending over the back of the razor-blade and down upon each side thereof to a line just above its cutting-edge, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The razor-guard b, formed from thin elastic material, extending over the back of the razor-blade and down upon each side thereof to a line just above its cutting-edge, in combination with the screws c c in the back of the razor-blade, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

Lucius C. Allin.

Witnesses:

J. F. O'Neil,

H. A. Chapin.