Razors, Razor Blades and Razor Blade Dispensers

This invention relates to razors, razor blades, and razor blade dispensers.

More particularly the invention relates to razors for use with razor blades which are in the form of a metal foil which has a number of holes therein, the periphery of each hole constituting a cutting edge. The invention also relates to dispensers in which replacement blades of the kind described are stored prior to use and to which used blades may be returned.

The invention will be better understood from the following description of one construction of razor, razor blade and dispenser in accordance with the invention, which will be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a razor blade in accordance with the invention,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line II--II in FIG. 1, on an enlarged scale,

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the razor,

FIG. 4 is a similar view to FIG. 3 but of the head and upper end of the handle only and on an enlarged scale, showing the razor in the shaving position,

FIG. 5 is a similar view to FIG. 4 but showing the razor in the blade changing position,

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a moulding which forms a part of the head of the razor,

FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of a part only of the moulding shown in FIG. 6,

FIG. 8 is a sectional side elevation of the head of the razor taken on the line VIII--VIII in FIG. 4 but with a sub-assembly of an operating button and the blade carrier shown separately above the rest of the head,

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the dispenser showing one used blade in the left hand end of one compartment and an unused blade in the right hand end of the other compartment,

FIG. 10 is a similar view to FIG. 9, but with the additional of the head of the razor in a position in which a left handed person, holding the dispenser in their right hand, and the razor in their left hand, has returned a used blade to the left hand end of one compartment and is in process of picking up an unused blade from the right hand end of the same compartment, and

FIG. 11 is an end elevational view of the dispenser in the direction of the arrow XI in FIG. 9.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2 it will be seen that the foil blade 10 of the present embodiment is of generally rectangular form with cut-away corners 10a, and that it has five lines of holes 10b of elongated shape with rounded ends, each line consisting of eight holes 10b. The periphery region of each hole 10b is deformed out of the plane of the blade, as can be seen in FIG. 2, and the periphery is sharpened to form a cutting edge 10c, the tip of which has chord widths comparable to those of conventional razor blades. Preferably the blades 10 are of a stainless steel alloy and the holes 10b are formed by an initial pierce and form operation followed by hardening and grinding to form a rough cutting edge which is finished by an electrolytic reducing process. The facets of the cutting edges 10c are given a coating of polytetrafluoroethylene.

Referring now to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, in particular, these show the razor which comprises a handle 11 which at its upper end has a head 12 designed to carry the blades. In use, a blade 10 is held by engagement of its two longer edges in a track formed by opposing inwardly-directed flanges 13a (FIGS. 5 and 8) of a metal carrier 13. The distance between the flanges 13a is such that the blade 10 is arched with the cutting edges 10c directed outwardly. In use, the razor will normally be moved to and fro across the skin in a direction parallel to the shorter edge of the blade. However, the blade 10 will also shave whilst being moved in any other direction across the skin, due to the fact that the complete periphery of each hole 10b is in the form of the cutting edge 10c.

The displacement of the centres of the holes 10b relative to one another in alternate lines, serves to ensure that when the blade 10 is moved across the skin in a direction parallel to its shorter edge hairs not cut because of the land between holes 10b in one row will be cut by the hole 10b in the next row, which is in line with the land in the preceding row. The effective shaving angle of the longer sides of each hole of any cutting edge 10c is determined by the angle of the bisector of the facets, by the curvature imparted to the blade when held between the flanges 13a, and by the distance between the longer sides of each hole.

The blade carrier 13 is designed to be selectively movable by a thumb button 14 between two positions relative to the remainder of the head 12 of the razor. These two positions are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the "shaving position" being shown in FIG. 4 and the "loading position" being shown in FIG. 5. The "shaving position" is that in which the razor is used for shaving, and the carrier 13 is only moved forward to the "loading position" when it is desired to replace the blade 10.

The razor head 12 comprises a cowl 12a to the underside of which is fitted a plastic moulding 15, FIGS. 6 and 7, which has ears 15a at each extremity adjacent each end of the carrier 13. In the shaving position the ears 15a cover the respective ends of the blade 10 to protect the user against any inadvertent cutting or discomfort which might result from the engagement of the ends of the blade 10 with the skin of the user.

The moulding 15 is secured to the underside of the cowl 12a by two screws (not shown) which pass through holes 15b in the moulding into screw-threaded blind holes (not shown) in the underside of the cowl 12a. The moulding 15 has a central slideway 15c in which a depending flexible tongue 14a of the button 14 is a sliding fit, the tip 14b of the tongue 14a being engageable in a forward slot 15d or a rearward slot 15e in the base of the slide 15c. The carrier 13 is secured to the button 14 by forwardly extending projections 14c which extend through an aperture in the carrier 13. The tongue 14a is resilient and its tip 14b is bevelled. The edges of the slot 15e and the rear edge of slot 15d are rounded and by forward pressure on the ledge 14d the button 14 can be moved forward with the tip 14b of the tongue 14a lifting out of the slot 15e and stopping when it enters the slot 15d and its forwardly directed face 14e engages the face of an abutment 15f in the slideway 15c. The carrier 13 is then in the loading position shown in FIG. 5.

A used blade is replaced with the carrier 13 in the loading position, the carrier 13 being brought into engagement with the dispenser 16 at the open end and opposite a compartment where there is no blade 10 in the section of the compartment adjacent the open end (in the condition shown in FIG. 9 this would be the lower left-hand compartment). The razor head is moved across the dispenser (in a direction from left to right as seen in the drawings) with the carrier 13 adjacent the bottom of the trough in the dispenser. The carrier 13 is located by seating on ledges 16a, 16a in the walls of the dispenser and by passing under pairs of guide-rails 16b, 16b, formed in the walls of the dispenser. With further transverse movement of the razor relative to the dispenser the right hand end of the blade 10 meets a stop 16c upstanding from the base of the dispenser and this stop 16c prevent further movement of the blade 10 into the dispenser. Continuing movement of the holder brings the flanges 13a of the carrier 13 into engagement with the unused blade so that, as shown in FIG. 10, continuing movement of the holder progressively releases the used blade from the flanges 13a whilst the latter engage the unused blade. Eventually, further movement of the holder is prevented by engagement of the end of the flanges 13a with the end wall 16d of the dispenser and in this position the unused blade is fully engaged in the carrier 13. The used blade partly unflexes from its arched condition as it is freed from the flanges 13a and is trapped under the guide-rails 16b, 16b. The blade 10, held by the carrier 13, is then released from the dispenser 16 by a tilting movement of the handle 11, the carrier 13 being released from under catches 16f, 16f as a result of the limited flexibility of the dispenser resulting from the relatively thin plastic material of which it is composed. The cut-away corners 10a at the end of a blade facilitate entry into the tract formed by the flanges 13a. Additionally, the end of the unused blade is lifted a short distance off the ledges 16a, 16a by pips 16e, 16e (as can be seen in FIG. 11) to allow the ends of the flanges 13a to pass under the end of the blade. The blade can then be moved into the shaving position by rearward movement of the button 14.

As can be seen in FIG. 10, the width of the ears 15a is greater than the width of the compartments in the dispenser 16. Consequently it is not possible for the blade carrier 13 inadvertently to move to the shaving position by downward pressure on the razor during loading and unloading.

It will be appreciated that although the dispenser illustrated is designed to hold two unused blades in the sections at one end and to have deposited therein, in due course, used blades in the other sections, any desired number of compartments can be provided. Moreover, other mechanisms than that described can be used for moving the head into the loading position.