This invention relates to an improved safety razor and also to an improved blade construction.

In prior safety razor constructions of the type wherein the blade holder is formed of one piece and the blade is secured on the holder by flexing of tongues provided on the ends of the blade I have found that there is a tendency for the blade to be bowed along its length away from the blade seat. Therefore uniform shaving will not be obtained along the full length of the cutting edge of the blade, because the central portion of the cutting edge will be closer to the guard on the blade holder than the remainder of the cutting edge. One of the main objects of the invention, therefore is to keep the cutting edge of the blade parallel to the guard.

For this purpose the blade seat of the blade holder may be provided with a lug or loop engaging a central finger or prong on the blade to prevent bowing thereof. In this manner the cutting edge of the blade can be maintained parallel to the guard and uniformly effective shaving will be obtained along the full length thereof.

Another object of the invention is to eliminate chattering of the cutting edge during shaving. Upon inspection of the type of safety razor referred to it will be seen that the cutting edge of the blade will flex readily if stressed during shaving. When the central portion of the blade in my improved safety razor is held against the blade seat the cutting edge will be more rigid. Accordingly the cutting edge will vibrate less during shaving resulting in better shaving; and the useful life of the edge will be increased, because it will not break down or be bent so readily.

Still another object of the invention is to hold the blade more firmly in place so that there will be less chance of the blade slipping over the step or ridge on the blade seat which engages the rear edge of the blade. In the prior safety razor construction referred to the blade may be flexed so readily that it can easily slip over the step on the blade seat, whereas with my construction it will be held much more tightly against said blade seat and hence there is less tendency for slipping over said ridge.

Another object of the invention is to improve the registration or alignment of the cutting edge of the blade with the guard. Since my blade will be held more firmly in the blade holder there is less likelihood of displacement of the blade from the proper shaving position.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification and in which like characters of reference indicate the same or like parts:

Fig. 1 is a plan view taken from the line 1—1 of Fig. 2 of a safety razor embodying my invention and equipped with my improved blade;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;:

Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the improved safety razor taken on the line 3—3 of Fig. 1, showing how the central prong or finger of the razor blade is deflected upwardly by the lug on the blade seat;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the improved safety razor, the blade being omitted from this view and the handle being broken away;

Fig. 5 is a bottom view of my safety razor, the blade being omitted in this view;

Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of my safety razor, the handle being broken away and the blade being omitted in this view;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of my improved safety razor blade; and

Fig. 8 is an end view of the blade.

The embodiment of my blade which I have found suitable for my improved razor construction is illustrated in Fig. 7. The blade is formed of metal of a suitable thickness, which may be approximately .012 inch, and has a main body portion 10 provided with a cutting edge 12 along its forward longitudinal edge 12 and a pair of ears 14 extending forwardly from the rear longitudinal edge of the blade. Tongues 14 are narrow enough to permit flexure thereof independently of the main body portion 10, when inserted in the blade holder, to retain the blade in shaving position. An elongated slot 16 formed in the central portion of the body portion 10 of the blade extends transversely thereof towards the cutting edge. A finger or prong 18 extending forwardly from the rear edge of slot 16 engages a lug or loop on the blade holder hereinafter described to prevent bowing of the blade along its length which results when the lugs 14 are flexed in the blade holder. Except for the slot 16 and prong 18, the construction of my blade is similar to that disclosed in Bigoney Patent 1,791,552.

The blade holder has a handle 20 upon which a head 22 may be suitably secured. The head 22 has a guard portion 24 provided with teeth 26. End walls 28, which are formed integrally with guard portion 24, are integrally connected to a blade seat 30.

The front edge of the blade seat 30 is sufficiently spaced from the guard teeth 26 to permit the cutting edge of the blade to be inserted between these two parts. The end walls 32 of the blade seat extend upwardly from shoulders or slide-ways 34 formed on the upper face of the guard portion 22. These shoulders 34 are suitably inclined upwardly to cam or displace the ears 14 upwardly when the blade is slid along the inner face of the blade seat 30 to insert its cutting edge into the space between the front edge of the blade seat and the guard teeth 26.

The space between the inner faces of the end walls 32 of the blade seat is sufficient to admit the main body portion 10 of the blade with a slight clearance, and the space between the lateral edges of the body portion of the blade and the ears 14 is sufficient to admit these end walls. On the bottom of the rear edge of the blade seat are formed a pair of steps or ridges 36 which serve to flex the rear edge of the blade until it snaps in front of steps 36. The rear edges of the end walls 32 are disposed to engage the bases of the ears 32 when the blade is fully inserted after its rear edge has been snapped in front of the ridges 36. Thus the inserted blade will be retained in shaving position.

However, when the blade is inserted as described, the blade would tend to be bowed along its length, if no provision to prevent bowing of the blade were made to permit uniform shaving along the entire length of the cutting edge. The central portion of the cutting edge of the blade will be closer to the guard teeth than the remainder thereof because the blade is bowed during insertion into the blade holder.

To prevent bowing of the blade there may be provided on the blade seat 30 a U-shaped lug or loop 40 suitably secured thereon or formed integrally therewith. When the blade is inserted the prong 18 of the blade engages an upwardly inclined cam surface 42 on the inner face of the loop 40. When the prong 18 slides over cam surface 42 during insertion of the blade, it is flexed upwardly to an extent sufficient to prevent bowing of the cutting edge of the blade.

Thus the cutting edge of the blade will be maintained in a position parallel to the guard teeth along its entire length and uniformly effective shaving will be obtained along the full length thereof. Moreover the cutting edge of the blade will be held more rigidly and will chatter less during shaving. Since the blade is held more firmly, there will be less possibility of the rear edge of the blade slipping back over the ridges 36 on the blade seat 30. Furthermore there will be less likelihood of the blade being displaced from its proper shaving position wherein its cutting edge is aligned with the guard teeth 26.

What is claimed is:

1. A safety razor including a flexible razor blade having a pair of integral resilient ears projecting forwardly from the rear edge thereof, said blade having a slot in its central portion extending transversely across the blade and a flexible prong extending forwardly from the rear edge of the slot, and a head provided with a guard, a blade seat connected to said guard and sufficiently spaced therefrom to permit the blade to be inserted between the guard and blade seat, a pair of shoulders on said blade seat arranged to engage and flex said ears upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat and thereby retain the blade upon the blade seat in a predetermined position relative to the guard for shaving, and a member on said blade seat adapted to engage and flex said prong upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat and thereby prevent bowing of the blade along the cutting edge when said ears are flexed upwardly by said shoulders.

2. A safety razor including a flexible razor blade having a pair of integral resilient ears projecting forwardly from the rear edge thereof, said blade having a slot in its central portion extending transversely across the blade and a flexible prong extending forwardly from the rear edge of the slot, and a head provided with a guard, a blade seat connected to said guard and sufficiently spaced therefrom to permit the blade to be inserted between the guard and blade seat, a pair of shoulders on said blade seat arranged to engage and flex said ears upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat and thereby retain the blade upon the blade seat in a predetermined position relative to the guard for shaving, a member on said blade seat adapted to engage and flex said prong upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat and thereby prevent bowing of the blade along the cutting edge when said ears are flexed upwardly by said shoulders, and a ridge on the bottom of the blade seat extending downwardly toward said guard along the rear edge thereof to engage the rear edge of the inserted blade and thereby retain said ears in their upwardly flexed position on said shoulders and prevent displacement thereof.

3. A safety razor blade holder for flexible blades of the type having integral flexible ears and a centrally located flexible prong, said safety razor blade holder including a head provided with a guard, a blade seat connected to said guard and sufficiently spaced therefrom to permit said razor blade to be inserted between the guard and blade seat, a pair of shoulders on said blade seat arranged to engage and upwardly flex the ears on the blade, said blade seat having portions adapted to engage the rear edge of the inserted blade after said ears have been flexed upwardly by the shoulders whereby the blade will be retained on the blade seat in shaving position, and a member on said blade seat adapted to engage and flex upwardly the central prong on the inserted blade to prevent bowing of the cutting edge of the inserted blade.

4. A safety razor including a flexible razor blade having a main body portion and a pair of integral flexible ears projecting outside said body portion forwardly from the rear edge thereof, said blade having a slot in its central portion extending transversely across the blade and a flexible prong extending forwardly from the rear edge of the slot, and a head provided with a guard, a blade seat connected to said guard and sufficiently spaced therefrom to permit the blade to be inserted between the guard and blade seat, a pair of shoulders on said blade seat arranged to engage and flex said ears upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat and thereby retain the blade upon the blade seat in a predetermined position relative to the guard for shaving, and a generally U-shaped member on said blade seat having its closed portion extending downwardly beyond the under side of the blade seat to embrace and flex said prong upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat, and thereby prevent bowing of the blade along the cutting edge when said ears are flexed upwardly by said shoulders, the inner surface of said closed portion being inclined upwardly toward the cutting edge of the blade to cam said central prong into flexed position.

5. A safety razor including a flexible razor blade having a main body portion and a pair of integral flexible ears projecting outside of said body portion forwardly from the rear edge thereof, said blade having a slot within said main body portion and a flexible prong extending forwardly from the rear edge of the slot, and a head provided with a guard, a blade seat connected to said guard and sufficiently spaced therefrom to permit the blade to be inserted between the guard and blade seat, a pair of shoulders on said blade seat arranged to engage and flex said ears upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat and thereby retain the blade upon the blade seat in a predetermined position relative to the guard for shaving, and a member on said blade seat extending downwardly therefrom and transversely to engage the under side of said prong to flex it upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat, and thereby prevent bowing of the blade along the cutting edge when said ears are flexed upwardly by said shoulders, the inner surface of the transversely extending portion of said member being inclined upwardly toward the cutting edge of the blade to earn said prong into flexed position.

6. A flexible safety razor blade having a main body portion provided with a cutting edge on its forward longitudinal edge and integral flexible ears disposed in the plane of the blade and extending outside said main body portion and forwardly from the rear edge of said main body portion toward its cutting edge, the central portion of the main body portion of the blade being provided with an opening from the rear edge of which projects a flexible prong normally disposed in the plane of the blade and adapted to be flexed outside of the plane of the blade and thereby hold the portion of the blade intermediate its ends against a blade holder and thus prevent bowing of the cutting edge created by flexing said ears out of the plane of the blade.

7. A safety razor including a flexible razor blade having a main body portion and a pair of integral flexible ears projecting outside said body portion forwardly from the rear edge thereof, said blade having a slot in its central portion extending transversely across the blade and a flexible prong extending forwardly from the rear edge of the slot, and a head provided with a guard, a blade seat connected to said guard and sufficiently spaced therefrom to permit the blade to be inserted between the guard and blade seat, a pair of shoulders on said blade seat arranged to engage and flex said ears upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat and thereby retain the blade upon the blade seat in a predetermined position relative to the guard for shaving, and a member connected to said blade seat and having a portion extending along the under side of the blade seat to engage and flex said prong upwardly when the blade is inserted between the guard and blade seat, and thereby prevent bowing of the blade along the cutting edge when said ears are flexed upwardly by said shoulders.

Oscar Willhelm.

REFERENCES CITED

The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

NumberNameDate

1,791,552Bigoney _______________ Feb. 10, 1931

2,041,680Pilliod et al. _________ May 19, 1936

2,169,383Drew __________________ Aug. 15, 1939