To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, John H. Woods, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of New York, in the borough of Queens and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Razors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to safety razors.

The principal object is to provide a simple and quick clamping means for engaging the guard on the razor blade, whereby the latter is held against its support with its cutting edges properly exposed adjacent to the sides of the guard.

In a safety razor, the most important requisites are first, proper positioning and clamping of the razor blade in use, and second, easy removal and replacement of the blade. The latter requisite must, however, not be had at the expense of the former. In other words; the features which make the blade easily removable should not be of such a character as to sacrifice security in the clamping of the blade while shaving.

It is the purpose of my invention to provide a structure satisfying the foregoing needs or requisites, attaining a particularly accurate and easy positioning of the blade, and security in the clamping action, with a minimum amount of difficulty and manipulation on the part of the operator.

With the foregoing objects in view, the invention consisist in the features of construction and combination as hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a front view ‘of a safety razor embodying the principles of my invention; Fig. 2 is a section on the line II—II of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side view; Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the guard drawn away from the support to release the razor blade; Fig. 6 is a section on the line VI—VI of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the razor blade; Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing a slightly modified construction, and Fig. 9 is a section on the line IX—IX of Fig. 8.

Referring to the drawings in which like parts are designated by the same reference sign, 1 denotes a frame having a bail shaped portion 2 constituting a support for the razor blade. The back or main portion 1′ of the frame 1 is stiffly made to constitute a yoke having an enlargement 3 at its center with a transversely drilled hole or perforation 4 to constitute a pivotal joint for the handle.

5 designates a handle formed with a knurled portion to be easily grasped by the hand, and having a forked upper extremity 6, the two sides or prongs of which embrace the enlarged middle portion 3 of the yoke 1. In this location the handle 5 is pivoted to swing laterally by a pin 7 passed through the prongs 6 and through the hole 4.

9 denotes a guard with the usual toothed or rake shaped sides. At the ends this guard has a pair of oppositely located notches or recesses 10 which serve to guide the guard upon the side portions 2′ of the bail 2. The handle 5 is made to slide diagonally against and crowd the underside of the guard 9 so as to impel said guard to approach and recede from the support 2 when the handle is swung respectively into and out of its central position shown in Fig. 1. The foregoing functions are best attained by making the prongs 6 V-shaped in side elevation, thereby forming the centrally located points or edges 6′ which directly impinge against the guard in use. The side faces 6″ of the V-shaped prongs 6 make such an angle with one another as to move into substantial coincidence with the plane 14 of the upper side of the yoke 1′ when the handle is swung laterally in either direction. In this way a maximum movement of the guard is obtained by a minimum swinging movement of the handle.

The razor blade 15 may be of any desired construction adapted to be clamped between the guard 9 and the support 2. I prefer to have a blade of such a length as to fit nicely between the side portions 2′ of the bail support 2. At a central point of the ends of the razor blade, notches 16 are provided which coöperate with certain parts having an important function in properly centering and locating the blade during the clamping action. As best shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 6, I provide the guard 9 with protuberances at points corresponding to the locations of notches 16 of the razor blade. These protuberances are not only designed to fix the position of the blade properly when clamped, but are also designed to facilitate the insertion of the blade, automatically locating the latter in the proper position to be clamped without any particular care on the part of the operator. This result is best attained by making the protuberances 17 V-shaped in both horizontal and vertical section. In other words, each protuberance 17, has somewhat the form of a pyramid with one vertical side face and two equal inclined faces, which may be slightly convex or rounded as shown. A protuberance of this shape has the effect of automatically centering the notches 16 of the razor blade, so that the latter drops centrally into its place without the exercise of any particular care or attention on the part of the operator. 18 denotes recesses in the support 2 which receive the protuberances 17 during the clamping action. In Figs. 8 and 9, small pointed pins or teats 20 are fixed on the underside of the support 2 and enter corresponding recesses 21 in the guard. In this case the razor blade is perforated on the lines of the pins 20.

The use and operation will be obvious from the foregoing description. The handle 5 is first swung to one side or the other so that the centrally projecting edges 6′ of the prongs 6, are moved to one side as shown in Fig. 5 or Fig. 8. This permits the guard 9 to fall away from the support 2 by gravity, and the guard recedes through its maximum distance until it rests upon the yoke 1′. A comparatively wide gap is now presented in which the razor blade may be placed. The notches 16 of the razor blade are, of course, very readily received on the upper pointed parts of the protuberances 17 under these circumstances, and when the blade is allowed to drop onto the guard by gravity, it automatically centers itself both in longitudinal and lateral directions on account of the double V-shaped character of these protuberances. The handle 5 is next pushed back into place, to slide diagonally against and crowd the guard forcibly toward the support 2 and clamping the razor blade properly and centrally located therebetween. The movement of the guard toward the support is impelled with all the efficiency of a toggle joint action, the nature of the crowding or pressing movement of the edge 6′ against the guard being such as to act with a constantly increasing mechanical efficiency. In its central position the handle, of course, remains in equilibrium, but in order to make this equilibrium stable and secure, I prefer to notch the underside of the guard 9 at 24 so as to receive the edge 6′ of the prongs 6 in this position. This notch gives a sort of locking action to restrain the handle against lateral displacement, but is not deep enough to restrain such lateral movement when any intentional clamping or unclamping manipulation is required. With the form of the invention shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the centering of the blade on the guard is done by the clamping action. The movement of the guard toward the support impels the razor blade into a position where the teats 20 enter the notches 16, and as this movement is continued the conical form of the teats 20 causes them to position the blade more and more in its proper or central location, so that when the clamping finally takes place, the blade is exactly centered.

What I claim, is:—

1. A safety razor comprising a frame having a support, a guard mounted in said frame and adapted to approach and recede from said support, a razor blade receivable between said guard and said support, and a handle pivoted in said frame on an axis perpendicular to the cutting edges of the razor blade for sliding angularly against and crowding said guard against said support.

2. A safety razor comprising a frame having a rigid transversely extending yoke and a portion forming a support parallel to said yoke, a guard having notches and guided thereby to approach and recede from said support, a razor blade, and a handle pivoted to said yoke on an axis perpendicular to the cutting edges of said razor blade for sliding diagonally against and crowding said guard toward said support and locking said blade when the handle is centrally located.

3. A safety razor comprising a frame having a yoke and a portion constituting a support, a guard mounted in said frame to approach said support, guiding means therefor and a handle pivoted to said yoke and having a V-shaped portion engaging said guard to slide diagonally against and crowd and lock the same against said support when the handle is centrally positioned.

4. A safety razor comprising a frame having a yoke and a portion constituting a support, a guard mounted in said frame to approach said support, guiding means therefor, a handle pivoted to said yoke and having a V-shaped portion engaging said guard to slide diagonally against and crowd and lock the same against said support when the handle is centrally positioned, said guard having a notch to receive the pointed portion of said handle in said locking relation.

5. A safety razor comprising a frame having a yoke with a portion constituting a support, a guard guided by the sides of said frame to approach said support, and a handle having a forked portion to embrace said yoke and pivoted thereto, the forked extremities of said handle being formed to engage said guard to impel the same toward said support when the handle is centrally positioned.

6. A safety razor comprising a frame having a yoke with a portion constituting a support, a guard guided by the sides of said frame to approach said support, and a handle having a forked portion to embrace said yoke and pivoted thereto, the forked extremities of said handle being formed to engage said guard and impel the same toward said support when the handle is centrally positioned, said guard having a notch to receive said forked extremities of the handle when the latter is centrally positioned.

7. A safety razor comprising a frame having a portion constituting a razor blade support, a guard mounted to move to and from said support, a razor blade adapted to be clamped between said guard and said support, means for guiding said blade into a centrally located position on said guard, and a handle pivoted to said frame and adapted to slide diagonally against and crowd said guard to clamp said blade against said support.

8. A safety razor comprising a frame having a portion constituting a razor blade support, a guard mounted to approach and recede from said support, a razor blade having recesses, a handle pivoted to said frame and adapted to slide diagonally against and crowd said guard against said support, and means coöperating with said recesses to center the blade.

9. A safety razor comprising a frame having a portion constituting a razor blade support, a guard mounted to approach and recede from said support, said support having tapering protuberances thereon, a razor blade having recesses adapted to fit said protuberances, and a handle pivoted to said frame and adapted to slide diagonally against and crowd said guard against said support.

10. A safety razor comprising a frame member in the form of an elongated loop, a handle pivoted between the ends of the loop, a guard member, a razor blade positioned on said guard member, and means whereby the pivoted handle will clamp the guard member, and with it the blade, against the frame member within the loop.

11. A safety razor comprising a frame member having downwardly and inwardly extending side arms, a handle pivoted between the ends of the side arms, a guard member, a razor blade positioned on said guard member, and coöperating means on the end of the handle and lower face of the guard member whereby the blade is clamped between the frame member and guard member.

12. A safety razor comprising a frame member having downwardly extended side arms and members extending inwardly therefrom, a handle pivoted between said inwardly extending members, a guard member, a razor blade positioned on said guard member, and means whereby the guard member approaches the frame member as the handle assumes a position normal to the frame member, and recedes from the frame member as the handle is brought from its normal position.

In witness whereof, I subscribe my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

Jno. H. Woods.

Witnesses:

Walpo M. Chapin,

William Lary.