GB2155383A

GB2155383A - Razors

Info

Publication number: GB2155383A
Application number: GB08404326A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Cyril Herbert Moss
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1984-02-18
Filing date: 1984-02-18
Publication date: 1985-09-25
Also published as: GB8404326D0

Abstract

A safety razor, preferably including a handle (10) and a blade unit (11) is moulded in one piece. Two blades (12 and 13) are mounted in the blade unit (11) with their exposed edges facing, and closely adjacent to, each other. The blades are inclined to one another at an angle of about 30 degrees. In a modification the blade unit (21) (Figure 3) is formed with a guard member (22) between the cutting edges of the two blades (12 and 13). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to razors rhis invention relates to razors, and it is an object of the invention to provide an improved safety ra zor.

Safety razors usually comprise a handle and a blade unit in which a blade may be sandwiched between a guard and a cap. In disposable razors the guard, the cap and the handle are all in one piece, whereas in other types of razor the parts may be separable to enable the razor blade to be replaced.

Most known razors have only a single blade (which may be either single- or double-edged) in the blade unit. However, other razors have been proposed in which there are two blades, both designed to cut the hairs when the razor is moved relative to the skin in one direction. In such razors the two cutting edges are arranged close to, and parallel with, each other but both face in the same direction.

The present invention consists in a razor comprising a handle and a blade unit, wherein the blade unit is provided with two elongated parallel blades mounted in fixed relation to a guard extending generally perpendicular to said handle, wherein the cutting edges of the blades are parallel and opposed to each other, and are arranged so that one blade can carry out a hair- cutting operation when the razor is moved relative to the hair in one direction generally parallel to the handle, and so that the other blade can carry out its hair-cutting operation when the razor is moved in a second direction opposite to said one direction.

Preferably the blades are contained in planes which are inclined at a small angle to each other.

The angle of inclination may be, for example, between 5 and 30 degrees.

Preferably the blades are separated by a portion of the guard, the outer surface of which is substantially coplanar with the edges of the two blades.

However if the blades are placed sufficiently close together, each one can act as a guard for the other.

When no guard portion is used between the blades, it is preferred that the angle of inclination between them should be reduced so that they are almost coplanar.

It is well known that if a blade is moved rearwardly along a relatively smooth surface such as a leather strop, sharpening of the blade edge occurs.

Similar effects have been obtained in the past, for example by moving a blade rearwardly across the palm of the hand. In a razor in accordance with the present invention, this stropping effect occurs au tomatically whenever shaving is being performed, since while one blade is carrying out the cutting operation, the other blade is being moved rear wardly over the surface of the skin. Thus, particu larly if a reciprocating motion is used in shaving, both blades will be automatically sharpened alter nately.

In shaving with a razor in accordance with the invention having no guard portion between the blade edges (particularly if the two blades are inclined at very small angles to a common plane), a portion of the skin will tend to enter the gap between the blades as the razor is pressed against the skin. The spacing between the blades and their angle of inclination may be chosen so that this entry of the skin presents the hairs to the cutting blade in the best possible attitude for cutting.

It is to be understood that the hairs of the beard are not normally all oriented in the same direction.

Consequently, with a normal razor having only one cutting stroke, it is necessary to reverse the whole razor in order to cut hairs which are inclined in the same direction as the normal cutting stroke. With a razor in accordance with the present invention, on the other hand, there is no need to reverse the position of the razor: it is only necessary to reverse the direction of motion.

Two embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of a part of the razor illustrated in taken on the line 2,2 looking in the direction of the arrows, and Figure 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention.

The razor illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 includes a handle 10 and a blade unit 11 moulded in one piece. Two blades 12 and 13 are mounted in the blade unit 11 and, apart from marginal portions in the vicinity of their cutting edges are covered by protective caps 14 and 15. In this embodiment there is no guard member between the two cutting edges, but the blades rest in this area on a plurality of ribs, one of which is indicated at 16.

As can be seen particularly from Figure 2, the blades 12 and 13 are respectively moulded in the caps 14 and 15. The blade 12 is contained in a plane 17 while the blade 13 is contained in a plane 18. These planes are inclined to one another at an angle of about 30 degrees, as indicated at 19. The line 20 in Figure 2 indicates the normal to the skin and it will be seen that both blades will be inclined to the skin at an angle of about 15 degrees.

In using a razor illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the blade unit is moved initially in the general direction of the axis of the handle 10 so that the blade 12 will carry out a hair-cutting operation. The direction of movement of the razor may then be reversed so that the blade 13 carries out its haircutting operation.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figure 3 is generally similar to that illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 except tht the blade unit 21 is formed with a guard member 22 located between the cutting edges of the two blades 12 and 13. The arrangement is such that the outer surface of the guard member 22 is substantially coplanar with the cutting edges of the two blades.

Claims

1. A razor comprising a handle and a blade unit, wherein the blade unit is provided with two elongated parallel blades mounted in fixed relation to a guard extending generally perpendicular to said handle, wherein the cutting edges of the blades are parallel and opposed to each other, and are arranged so that one blade can carry out a hair-cutting operation when the razor is moved relative to the hair in one direction generally parallel to the handle, and so that the other blade can carry out its hair-cutting operation when the razor is moved in a second direction opposite to said one direction.

2. A razor as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the blades are contained in planes which are inclined to each other at an angle between 5 and 30 degrees.

3. A razor as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the blades are separated by a portion of the guard, the outer surface of which is substantially coplanar with the edges of the two blades.

4. A razor as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein there is no guard portion between the blades, and wherein the angle of inclination between the blades is less than 10 degrees.

5. A razor substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

6. ' A razor substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, Figure 3 of the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.