Classifications

• • 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
  • B26B21/22—Safety razors with one or more blades arranged transversely to the handle involving several blades to be used simultaneously
  • B26B21/222—Safety razors with one or more blades arranged transversely to the handle involving several blades to be used simultaneously with the blades moulded into, or attached to, a changeable unit
  • B26B21/227—Safety razors with one or more blades arranged transversely to the handle involving several blades to be used simultaneously with the blades moulded into, or attached to, a changeable unit with blades being resiliently mounted in the changeable unit
• • 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
  • B26B21/02—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 unchangeable blades

Definitions

• a blade unit for a safety razor comprises a blade having a sharpened cutting edge and a blade support comprising a platform to which the blade is attached with its edge projecting forwardly of the platform, characterized in that the support further comprises an integral guard portion spaced forwardly of the blade edge, and mounting means on the support by which the integral guard and blade are mounted in use in a razor head, for rotation together about an axis parallel with and close to the blade edge.
• the invention also includes a safety razor including a head frame in which at least one such blade unit is mounted for rotation about the said axis.
• the (or each) unit is also mounted for movement relative to the frame under forces encountered during shaving, against the action of a resilient restoring force, in directions transverse (i.e. substantially perpendicular) to a notional plane containing the blade edge and a skin engaging surface of the guard portion.
• Figs. 1 and 2 are perspective views of an end portion of the head frame and of a blade unit, respectively;
• Fig. 3 is a cross-section taken at the sectioning line in Figure 1, showing the blade units and a cap member in the normal positions of rest;
• Fig. 4 corresponds with Fig. 3, and shows the parts in different relative positions
• Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic cross-section illustrating different positions of the cap and blade units in use
• Fig. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a modified razor head frame and blade units.
• Fig. 7 is a cross-section of the head frame of Fig. 6, corresponding with Fig. 5.
• the razor head shown in Figs. 1 to 4 comprises a metal or moulded plastics head frame 1 having an elongate base 2 and upstanding end walls 3 at opposite ends thereof. Only one end of the frame is shown in these Figs, the opposite end being a mirror image.
• the head frame supports a cap member 4, two blade units 5 and three pairs of cantilever wire springs 6, whose inner ends (not shown) are secured to the medial portion of the elongate base.
• Each blade unit 5 consists of a narrow blade 7, having a sharpened cutting edge 7A, and a blade support 8 formed as an L-shaped metal stamping to provide a platform 9 and a guard portion providing a curved skin engaging guard surface 11 and a depending leg 12.
• the support has a slot 13 over most of its length to form a space between the platform 9 and the guard portion and the blade 7 is securely attached to the platform with its edge 7A projecting forwardly into that space, forwardly of the platform.
• the support 8 is formed with upwardly offset, projecting ears 14 which are abuttingly engaged from below by upstanding end portions 6A of the wire springs 6.
• the cap member 4 consists of a channel shaped support 16 in which a cap moulding 17 is secured.
• the cap member and blade units are captured at their ends in recesses formed in the end walls 3 of the head frame. More specifically, the ears 14 of the blade supports engage in narrow vertical slots 18 which also receive the vertical end portions 6A of the respective wire springs. Alongside each slot 18 is a shallower, wider recess 19 whose forward face 21 acts as a stop for the adjacent end of the respective leg 12.
• each blade unit is guided for vertical movement in the head frame by engagement of its ears 14 in the slots 18.
• the springs 6 are pre-stressed so that in the normal, rest position, the blade units are held by the springs in their outermost positions, as shown in Fig. 3.
• the spring ends 6A are guided and constrained for vertical movement in their respective slots 18 and are pointed at their upper ends, where they engage the ears 14 so as to provide fulcrums, permitting rotational movement of the units about axes parallel with and close to the cutting-edges of the respective blades. As best illustrated in Fig. 4, this rotational movement is limited by engagement of the ends of the legs 12 with the rear faces of slots 18 and the forward faces 21 of recesses 19, respectively.
• the cap member 4, which is set behind the blade units in the shaving direction, is constrained and guided for vertical movement only, parallel with the corresponding movement of the blade units.
• the cap member is also urged to its outermost position by its respective wire springs 6, as shown in Fig. 3.
• Fig. 4 shows the moving parts in their inner ⁇ most positions, in which their springs 6 are "bottomed" against the base 2 of the frame.
• the cap and blade units are able to conform closely to the differing contours of the skin areas being shaved by virtue of their being able to move, independently of each other and against the resilient restoring forces of their springs, according to the forces which they experience.
• This independence of motion is known in itself but, significantly, the blade units are also able to pivot freely in order to permit each unit to maintain close contact with the skin at both its cutting edge 7A and its skin engaging guard surface 11, thus preserving its optimum attitude in spite of variations in the contours of the skin surface. This is due to the fact that the pivotal axis of each unit is parallel with and just ahead of the sharpened edge of the blade.
• Fig. 5 the variations in skin contours are exaggerated to illustrate the way in which the moving parts of the razor accommodate undulations in the skin surface and in particular how the attitudes of the blade units are adjusted automatically to maintain the desired contact with the skin.
• Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate a modified form of blade unit and head frame which are generally similar to the above described embodiment but with some structural modifications, principally as described below. Parts of the modified embodiment are given reference numerals increased by 100 compared with the numerals used for corresponding parts in the first embodiment.
• the blade units 105 are virtually identical with those first described, save that the ears 114 are in the same plane as the guard portion rather than being upwardly offset. As a result the pivotal axis 'A' of the unit is set lower than in the first embodiment.
• the moulded head frame 101 is of a different construction, being provided in known manner with depending legs 22 by which the frame is adapted for releasable mounting on the upper end of a razor handle with limited freedom to pivot, relative to the handle, about a longitudinal axis.
• the upper surface of the base 102 is formed with an upstanding pip 102A destined to provide an inte- gral rivet for securing a metallic spring member com ⁇ prising a rectangular medial portion 106A having inte ⁇ gral spring fingers 106 extending longitudinally away, and also upwardly from the plane of the portion 106A.
• the rear wall of the frame 101 is formed with a channel to receive the cap moulding 117 in a fixed position.
• the slots 118 and recesses 119 are completely open from above and separate clips 123 are provided for retaining the blade units by their ears 114, to the frame.

Landscapes

• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Forests & Forestry (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Dry Shavers And Clippers (AREA)
• Gloves (AREA)
• Knives (AREA)
• Sawing (AREA)
• Finish Polishing, Edge Sharpening, And Grinding By Specific Grinding Devices (AREA)
• Crushing And Pulverization Processes (AREA)

Priority Applications (10)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=10673307

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (19)

Cited By (7)

Families Citing this family (12)

Citations (6)

• 1990
  • 1990-03-27 GB GB909006782A patent/GB9006782D0/en active Pending
• 1991
  • 1991-03-22 WO PCT/US1991/001926 patent/WO1991014546A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1991-03-22 DE DE69122500T patent/DE69122500T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1991-03-22 BR BR919106269A patent/BR9106269A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1991-03-22 CA CA002076534A patent/CA2076534C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1991-03-22 UA UA93004086A patent/UA25899C2/uk unknown
  • 1991-03-22 KR KR1019920702297A patent/KR0174756B1/ko not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1991-03-22 JP JP03507315A patent/JP3085974B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1991-03-22 RU SU915053071A patent/RU2091211C1/ru active
  • 1991-03-22 ES ES91907778T patent/ES2092564T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1991-03-22 EP EP91907778A patent/EP0522071B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1991-03-22 AU AU76532/91A patent/AU649665B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1991-03-22 DK DK91907778.4T patent/DK0522071T3/da active
  • 1991-03-22 AT AT91907778T patent/ATE143624T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1991-03-25 TR TR00294/91A patent/TR27611A/xx unknown
  • 1991-03-26 PL PL91289588A patent/PL166706B1/pl unknown
  • 1991-03-26 CN CN91102479A patent/CN1035163C/zh not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1991-03-27 CZ CS91834A patent/CZ283054B6/cs unknown
• 1996
  • 1996-10-07 GR GR960402631T patent/GR3021275T3/el unknown

Patent Citations (7)

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