To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Horace S. Buckland, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Fremont, in the county of Sandusky and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Razors; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to safety razors of the type wherein a double-edged blade is employed, and has for its object to produce an economical and effective construction of guard plate and clamp whereby the blades may be readily inserted and positioned prior to clamping the same in place; that shall positively and firmly clamp the blade in position, and at the same time permit of the easy separation of the clamp plate and guard plate to permit the removal of the blade from therebetween; furthermore, to provide a construction wherein, although the guard plate and clamp are pivotally associated, access to said parts may be had for the purpose of cleaning the same. Generally speaking, the invention may be defined as consisting of the combinations of elements embodied in the claims annexed hereto.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a razor constructed in accordance with my invention, showing the parts clamped together and a blade in place. Fig. 2 represents a front elevation of said razor, a portion of the bail being broken away to illustrate the operation of the clamp. Fig. 3 represents a top plan view of the razor. Fig. 4 represents a central transverse sectional view of the razor with the parts in the position shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 represents a similar view showing the clamping member opened up with the blade positioned therein.

The razor proper comprises the handle 1 having centrally attached thereto the guard or base plate 2, clamping member 3, and blade 4. The guard plate or base plate is adapted for a double-edged razor blade and is provided at opposite edges thereof with teeth 5. The base plate is preferably formed of sheet metal and the central portion thereof is provided with an upwardly extending longitudinal rib 6 which is preferably rounded in cross section and somewhat elevated above the edge or teeth-carrying portions thereof. From each side of one edge portion of the base or guard plate (referred to hereinafter for convenience of description as the “rear” portion) there project downwardly-extending lugs or ears 7, said ears projecting beyond the edge portion and below the same, as indicated in Figs. 1, 4 and 5. These lugs or ears provide a pivotal support for the clamp, which will now be described.

Clamp 3 comprises a central body portion 8, the width whereof is somewhat less than the width of the base or guard plate, the width of the plate 8 being substantially equal to the width of the solid portion of the base or guard plate 2. Plate 8 is provided at each side thereof with a downwardly projecting flange 9, said flange being of greater length than the width of plate 8 and projecting in front of and to the rear of the same. At the rear of plate 8, the flanges 9 are extended downwardly and rearwardly to form ears or lugs 10 which are pivotally connected to ears 7, as by means of rivets 11.

Pivoted to the front portion of flanges 9 is the bail 12, said bail having at the central portion thereof a clamp screw 13 threaded therethrough. The length of the arms 14 of said bail is sufficient to enable the same and the screw carried thereby to be swung clear of the front edge of guard plate 2. The screw 13 engages a fixed member which in this case is illustrated as a sheet metal abutment 15, said abutment having a flange 15′ whereby it may be clamped between the guard plate and the upper end of handle 1, being perforated for the reception of the screw formed on the end of said handle, said screw being threaded into the guard plate. The upper end of the screw 13 is adapted to engage the flange 15 carried by said abutment and thus clamp the razor blade firmly in place between the guard plate and the clamp plate.

The flanges 9 are each provided, adjacent, to the front and rear ends thereof, with inwardly projecting lugs 16, said lugs being spaced from the adjacent edges of the clamp plate 8. These lugs are somewhat below the adjacent edges of the plate 8 and are at substantially the same distance from the center of curvature of said plate as the plate itself and are spaced from said edges a sufficient distance to engage the corners of the razor blade, in the manner shown in Fig. 5, and to properly position the blade with reference to the teeth formed at the opposite edges of the guard plate. Furthermore, they form a means for conveniently retaining the blade in place when the clamp is swung backwardly to the position shown in Fig. 5 and permit the clamp and blade to be applied to the guard plate in such manner that the blade is properly positioned with reference to the teeth at the opposite edges of the guard plate.

It will be observed that the guard plate is in effect curved in cross section, that is to say, a curved line touching the top of the longitudinal rib and the tops of the teeth at opposite sides of the guard plate corresponds in general curvature to the curvature of the plate 8. This forms a convenient and effective construction whereby, on tightening the screw 13, the razor blade is bowed and firmly clamped between the guard plate and the clamp plate.

The construction hereinbefore described, while extremely simple and economical of production, is very efficient in clamping a double-edged razor blade in place and in permitting the ready insertion and removal of such blade from its place between the guard plate and clamp plate.

The parts may be of sheet metal stamped to form, and the employment of such metal and the simplicity of construction make the device extremely cheap of production and free from liability to derangement. The manner of constructing and assembling the parts enables the clamp to be opened to permit access thereto either for inserting or removing the razor blade as well as for cleaning the parts.

I claim:

1. In a safety razor, the combination of a transversely curved guard plate having teeth on the opposite edges thereof, and a correspondingly curved clamping member pivotally associated therewith, and means for securing said clamp and plate in operative relation to a razor blade, substantially as specified.

2. In a safety razor, the combination of a guard plate having at the central portion thereof a longitudinally extending elevated rib, and a clamping member pivotally associated therewith, said member being curved in transverse section, substantially as specified.

3. In a safety razor, the combination of a guard plate having opposite edges thereof provided with teeth and having at the central portion thereof an elevated rib extending longitudinally thereof between said edges, and a clamping member pivotally associated with said plate, said member being curved in transverse section, substantially as specified.

4. In a safety razor, the combination of a guard plate and a clamping member pivoted thereto, said clamping member being provided with means for engaging a razor blade and positioning the same with respect to the said guard plate, substantially as specified.

5. In a safety razor, the combination of a guard plate having an edge thereof provided with teeth, and a clamp pivoted thereto, said clamp being provided with a plurality of lugs adapted to engage the corner portions of a razor blade and to position the same with reference to the teeth of the guard plate, substantially as specified.

6. In a safety razor, the combination of a guard plate having opposite edges thereof provided with teeth, a clamping member pivotally associated with said guard plate and adapted to be opened up to expose the upper surface of said guard plate, said member having a central body portion and lugs on each side of said body portion so located as to engage the corners of a razor blade and position the same with reference to the teeth on the guard plate, substantially as specified.

7. In a safety razor, the combination of a guard plate which is generally curved in transverse section, and a clamping member pivotally associated therewith, said member comprising a central body portion which is curved in cross section, lugs on each side of said body portion, said lugs being at substantially the same distance from the center of curvature of said body as the surface of said portion, and means for securing the clamping member in operative relation to the guard plate, substantially as specified.

8. In a safety razor, the combination of a guard plate having rearwardly and downwardly projecting lugs or ears and a clamping member comprising a central body portion and end flanges, said flanges being extended downwardly to form lugs or ears, pivots connecting the latter lugs or ears with the lugs or ears on the guard plate, a bail pivoted to said flanges, and a screw extending through said bail, substantially as specified.

9. In a safety razor, the combination of a, guard plate having rearwardly and downwardly projecting lugs or ears, and a clamping member comprising a central body portion and end flanges, said flanges being extended downwardly to form lugs or ears, pivots connecting the latter lugs or ears with the lugs or ears on the guard plate, a bail pivoted to said flanges, a screw extending through said bail, and an abutment beneath said guard plate for said screw, substantially as specified.

10. In a safety razor, the combination of a guard plate, a clamping member pivoted thereto, and a bail pivoted to said clamping member, said bail having a screw, and an abutment for said screw, substantially as specified.

11. In a safety razor, the combination of a guard plate, a clamping member pivoted at its rear portion to said guard plate and having at its front portion a bail pivotally connected thereto, and clamping means carried by said bail, substantially as specified.

12. In a safety razor, the combination of a guard plate, a clamp comprising a body portion having flanges at each end thereof, said flanges being extended rearwardly beyond the body portion and there provided with pivots connecting the same with the guard plate, a bail pivotally connected with the front portions of said flanges, and clamping means, as a screw, carried by said bail, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof, I sign the foregoing specification, in the presence of two witnesses:

Horace S. Buckland.

Witnesses:

S. C. Garver,

Chas. H. Graves.