GB2612630A

GB2612630A - Razor

Info

Publication number: GB2612630A
Application number: GB2115984.3A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Corless Ian
Original assignee: First Inline Products Ltd
Current assignee: First Inline Products Ltd
Priority date: 2021-11-08
Filing date: 2021-11-08
Publication date: 2023-05-10
Anticipated expiration: 2041-11-08
Also published as: GB2612630B

Abstract

The razor (10) has a razor body (12) housing at least one razor blade (30) having a cutting edge (28) which extends along a longitudinal direction of the razor body (12). The razor body has at its bottom a laterally-projecting peripheral flange (36) having an underside and an upper side (38), the underside providing a guide surface (24) which surrounds the cutting edge (28) of the razor blade (30) and contacts the skin of a user whilst shaving. The razor body (12) has two concave oppositely and laterally directed side faces (32, 34), viewed along the longitudinal direction, configured to be held between substantially straight and parallel fingers (14, 16) of a user’s hand (18) with the cutting edge (28) of the razor blade (30) running generally parallel to said fingers (14, 16), with each side face (32, 34) leading downwardly to the upper side (38) of the flange (36), so that in use pressure is able to be applied by undersides of both of the said fingers (20, 22) to the upper side of the flange (36).

Description

RAZOR

The present invention relates to razors.

The typical layout of a safety razor used for shaving of the human body will be familiar to the reader. An elongate and slender handle carries at one end a cross-piece forming the razor's head, so that the razor has a roughly "T" shaped planform. The head carries at least one razor blade which is largely contained within the razor head and whose cutting edge is disposed between guide surfaces provided by the razor head, so that in use the guide surfaces contact the skin and control the action of the cutting edge. Modern safety razors may have multiple blades arranged in parallel, and there have been many variations on this general theme introduced over the years, such as pivoting of the razor head about a lateral axis, and arrangements for providing lubrication of the skin in the vicinity of the blade.

Successful as they are, safety razors of this type are considered by the inventor to be ill-suited to shaving certain parts of the body. In particular, the inventor has encountered difficulties when using conventional safety razors on the back and sides of his own scalp. Even with a mirror, a person shaving him or herself is not able to see the razor when it is being used for example on the rear of the scalp, and must instead rely to a large degree on proprioception and on the sense of touch. But the conventional razor with its elongate handle provides poor proprioceptive feedback to the user, and makes it difficult to feel whether the razor is following the contours of the scalp as desired. This can make achieving a good shave difficult, but it can also involve a risk of at least minor injury, due to the razor blade(s) being inappropriately applied to the skin.

There have been proposals in the past for types of safety razor having a body which is to be retained between sides of two roughly straight fingers of the user's hand.

US8,141,258B1 discloses a neck razor having a generally flat bottom surface with an opening to secure a razor blade and a top surface from which extends an upward protuberance of undulating form. On either side of the protuberance, right-and left-side contoured edges extend upwardly, forming wells on either side of the protuberance to receive fingers of a person's hand. The fingers are said to rest completely within their respective wells. Small apertures are formed in the top surface, over the blade, so that water may flow therethrough in order to clean the blade. The fact that the fingers rest completely within their respective wells means that the fingertips are not able to engage the skin of the user in the vicinity of the razor, to provide tactile guidance for the user to keep the razor in its proper relationship to the skin over which it is being passed.

US2003/0033717A1, Cecil, discloses a razor having a finger grip formed by a body having contoured sides, a top surface and a base, a razor head being affixed to the top surface. The finger grip is to be held between the user's fingers. Only very narrow surfaces appear to be provided on either side of two banks of razor blades, to provide guidance for the blades with respect to the skin over which they are passed, and it is questioned whether the user -when using the razor on parts of the body that cannot be viewed, such as the back of the scalp, would be able to maintain a required angle of the razor head with respect to the skin, to achieve a close and safe shave. Somewhat similar comments may be made in relation to US10,137,58651, Strong.

us2018i0117781A1, Gonterman, discloses a razor for use in an "open palm", having a grip to be positioned in the palm of the hand, said to inhibit symptoms of tendonitits. A pair of horns is provided which together form an open ring to receive a finger of the user.

US2014/0290066A1, Woolfson et al, and US2020/0223083A1, Grunbart, both disclose razors to be gripped with the fingertips, but in each the razor blades extend transversely in use with respect to the fingers carrying the razor.

There exists a need for a razor which is able to be effectively and safely used when shaving parts of the user's body which the user is not able to observe, such as the back of the scalp.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is a razor comprising a razor body housing at least one razor blade having a cutting edge which extends along a longitudinal direction of the razor body, the razor body having at its bottom a laterally-projecting peripheral flange having an underside and an upper side, the underside of the flange providing a guide surface which surrounds the cutting edge of the razor blade and is for contacting the skin of a user while shaving to guide the razor blade as it moves over the skin, the razor body being configured to be held between two adjacent, substantially straight and parallel fingers of a user's hand with the cutting edge of the razor blade running generally parallel to said fingers, the razor body having for this purpose two oppositely and laterally directed side faces which are of concave shape, viewed along the longitudinal direction, and are configured to be held between sides of the said fingers, each side face leading downwardly to the upper side of the flange, so that in use pressure is able to be applied by undersides of both of the said fingers to the upper side of the flange.

The flange provides an advantageous means for the user to apply controlled pressure to bring the razor blade into the necessary intimate contact with the skin, for shaving. The flange may comprise elastomer, so that it is able to deform and recover it shape as it moves over the contours of the user's skin. It may be configured to permit undersides of the fingers -the fingertips and/or the parts of the finger's undersides alongside the razor itself -to contact the skin, thereby providing tactile feedback. For this purpose, the flange may be thin, so that the undersides of the fingers are close to the skin. The thickness of the flange (from its underside to it supper side) may be 4mm or less. It may be 3mm or less. It may be 2mm or less. The flange may also be narrow in its lateral extent, so that at least part of the undersides of the fingers alongside the razor body are able to contact the skin. The extent of the flange may be 8mm or less. It may be 6mm or less. It may be 4mm or less.

There also exists a need for a razor which is both able to be effectively and safely used when shaving parts of the user's body which the user is not able to observe, and is capable of convenient mass manufacture.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is a razor comprising a razor body housing at least one razor blade having a cutting edge, the cutting edge extending along a longitudinal direction of the razor body, the razor body comprising: an upper body part comprising stiff polymer material which is configured to be held between two adjacent, substantially straight and parallel fingers of a user's hand with the cutting edge of the razor blade running generally parallel to said fingers, the razor body having for this purpose two oppositely and laterally directed side faces which are of concave shape, viewed along the longitudinal direction, and are configured to be held between sides of the said generally straight fingers, and a guide part comprising elastomer, the guide part being carried on an underside of the upper body part and providing a guide face for contacting the skin of the user during shaving, the guide face being able to deform as it moves over the contours of the skin, and to elastically recover it shape subsequently, the guide face surrounding a blade opening through which the cutting edge of the razor blade is exposed.

The razor may further comprise a blade carrier received in an opening in the guide face.

Specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-Figure 1 is a view of a razor embodying the present invention in an upright orientation; Figure 2 is a view of the same razor shown inverted to reveal its underside; Figure 3 shows the razor inverted and held in the hand of a user, ready for shaving, the hand being palm side up; Figure 4 shows the razor upright and held in the hand of a user, ready for shaving, the hand being palm side down; Figure 5 shows the razor upright and held in the hand of a user, ready for shaving, viewed along a longitudinal direction; Figure 6 shows the razor upright and held in the hand of a user, viewed along a lateral direction; Figure 7 is an exploded representation of the razor; and Figure 8 is a section through the razor in an upright, lateral plane.

The razor 10 depicted in the drawings is a disposable wet razor especially suited to shaving the scalp but also suitable for shaving other body parts including the legs. It comprises a razor body 12 which is to be held in use between fingers 14, 16 of the user's hand 18 as represented in Figures 3,4, Sand 6.

The user may in particular choose to hold the razor body 12 between the index and middle fingers, but can hold it between any adjacent pair of fingers, or between the forefinger and thumb.

Gripping by the digits of the human hand is normally a matter of gripping something between tips of the fingers and the opposable human thumb, or between the fingers and the palm of the hand. Neither of these applies in the present instance, as can be appreciated from Figures 3 to 6. The razor 10 is configured to be held between the sides 20,22 of a pair of fingers 14, 16 which are adjacent one another (as in the case of the index and middle fingers) and which are held roughly straight (although they need not be entirely straight -Figure 6 shows the forefinger 14 to be bent somewhat at the knuckle) and roughly parallel to one another. The user may gently push the two fingers 14, 16 toward one another to exert the modest pressure needed to thereby grip the razor 10 between the fingers' sides 20, 22.

The razor 10 has a lowermost guide face 24, which in use contacts the skin of the user, and an upper rim 26, which in use faces away from the skin of the user. Cutting edges 28 of razor blades 30 extend along the longitudinal direction of the razor 10. The direction represented by arrow A in Figure 5, perpendicular to the cutting edges 28 and to the vertical direction, will be referred to as the lateral direction.

The razor body 12 has side faces 32, 34 which have the form of a concave curve, when viewed along the longitudinal direction as in Figure 5. Their separation (see again arrow A in Figure 5) is such that the razor body 12 can comfortably be accommodated between the two fingers 14, 16.

The side faces terminate at their lower extremity in a peripheral flange 36. The underside of the flange 36 forms the aforementioned guide face 24. The flange 36 projects laterally outwardly of the side faces 32, 34 so that its upper surface 38 can be contacted by the undersides of the fingers 14, 16 in use. This enables the user to apply controlled pressure during shaving through the flange 36, to maintain the guide face 24 in intimate contact with the skin and to enable the razor blades 30 to perform their function in cutting hair close to the level of the skin. The lateral extent of the flange 36 is small. In particular, it may be half or less than half of the width of the user's fingers 14, 16. This dimension may be 8mm or less. The flange 36 is also thin, in the direction from its upper surface 38 to its lower guide face 24. It may have a thickness in this direction of 2mm or less. Preferably, this thickness is lmm or less. Because of its small lateral projection and because it is thin, the flange 36 allows the fingers 14, 16 to contact the skin of the user on either side of the razor body 12, whilst shaving. The fingertips of the user can extend beyond the end of the razor 10 to touch the skin being shaved, as seen in Figure 3. But the undersides of the user's fingers 14, 16 can also contact the skin being shaved along their length, on either side of the razor 10-the relevant regions of the fingers are indicated at 40 in Figure 3. In fact, much of the underside of the fingers and palm may be placed in contact with the skin, in use, which has shown itself in trials conducted by the inventor to be highly advantageous The improved tactile feedback gives the user confidence that the razor is properly oriented with respect to the skin being shaved, even when that skin cannot be viewed (as in the case of the back of the scalp).

The side faces 32, 34 each carry multiple projections 42 arranged to contact the fingers of the user in operation and to resist slipping of the razor body 12 through the fingers. In the present embodiment the projections 42 are formed as shallow upstanding ribs. The projections may take other forms.

The guide face 24 has a smooth and shallow concave curvature both when viewed in the lateral direction, and when viewed in the longitudinal direction, as can best be appreciated from Figure 2. That is, the guide face 24 is concave in two perpendicular sectional planes. This shape makes the guide face 24 able to stably engage with the (typically convex) contours of the scalp.

The razor blades 30 can become clogged in use by hair, shaving foam, etc. In the illustrated embodiment the razor body 12 has the form of an upwardly open funnel. The upper rim 26 surrounds an upwardly directed funnel opening 44. The razor body 12 is a hollow form, its internal space 46 having a downwardly convergent shape leading to the razor blades 30 via a grille 42 comprising multiple cross-pieces 45. To rinse the blades 30, the razor body 12 can be placed upright beneath a running tap (in US English, faucet) to direct a flow of water through the funnel opening 44 and via the convergent internal space 46 and the grille 42 to the razor blades 30. The water emerges between the razor blades 30, taking foreign material with it. The path taken by the water is represented by arrows in Figure 8.

In the present embodiment, and as best seen in Figure 5, the razor body 12 comprises three major components: a blade carrier 47, a guide part 48, and an upper body part 50. In the present embodiment each of these is a moulded plastics polymer component, although the invention imposes no particular restriction on the manufacturing technology used.

The upper body part 50 comprises in the present embodiment a stiff polymer, not expected to flex appreciably during normal use. The cross-pieces 45 contribute to rigidity of its lower portion. To engage with the guide part 48, the upper body part 50 comprises a depending tongue 52 which in this example extends around a lower opening 54, and which is stiffened by the cross-pieces 45. The upper body part 50 also comprises a pair of depending engagement pins 56.

The guide part 48 comprises a compliant material in the present embodiment. In particular, it comprises an elastomer. The guide part 48 provides the aforementioned flange 36 which, in use, rides upon the skin of the user. By virtue of the use of elastomeric material, the flange 36 is able to flex somewhat, conforming to the shape of the scalp or other body part beneath, which helps in providing a comfortable shaving experience. The guide part 48 has an upwardly-directed opening 58 shaped to receive and closely embrace the depending tongue 52 of the upper body, with an upper face 60 of the guide part 48 abutting a lower face 62 of the upper body part SO (see Figure 8). In this way, the guide part 48 and the upper body part 50 engage and locate one relative to the other. Flexure of the guide part 48 is limited by its engagement with the relatively rigid upper body part 50.

The blade carrier 47 comprises a stiff polymer, not intended to flex appreciably during shaving. It has an oval lower face 64 which in the assembled razor 10 is exposed through a complementarily shaped opening 66 in the guide face 24. This lower face 64 has an elongate, longitudinal blade opening 68 through which the cutting edges 28 of the razor blades 30 are exposed. The level of the cutting edges 28 with respect to the lower face 64 is chosen to provide a comfortable and safe shave. The razor blades 30 can be seen in Figure 8 to be mounted in the blade carrier 47, being inclined with respect to the lower face 64 to provide the desired cutting angle. The illustrated embodiment has two razor blades 30, arranged parallel to and slightly spaced from one another. Other embodiments of the invention may have one, three, four, five or even more razor blades 30.

Looking at Figure 7 in particular, a shallow rebate 70 is formed around the opening 66 in the guide face 24 of the guide part 48, to receive and engage a peripheral portion 72 of the blade carrier 47. The blade carrier 47 also has a pair of upstanding sockets 74 arranged to receive the engagement pins 56 of the upper body part 50. The engagement of the sockets 74 and pins 56 serves to couple the blade carrier 47 to the upper body part 50, with the guide part 48 being sandwiched between them. This frictional engagement may be sufficient to keep the assembly together, or a suitable adhesive may be used.

The razor 10 according to the present embodiment is essentially symmetrical about a lateral plane passing through its mid-point of length, and is consequently ambidextrous, in the sense that it can be used in the same manner in the left hand or in the right hand.

The aforegoing embodiment is presented by way of example and not limitation. Numerous variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as set out in the appended claims. For example, the aforementioned embodiment takes the form of a disposable razor, intended to be discarded when the razor blades 30 have been blunted by use. But other embodiments could be configured to enable replacement of the blade carrier 47, and thus of the blades 30, so that the other parts can be re-used.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A razor comprising a razor body housing at least one razor blade having a cutting edge which extends along a longitudinal direction of the razor body, the razor body having at its bottom a laterally-projecting peripheral flange having an underside and an upper side, the underside of the flange providing a guide surface which surrounds the cutting edge of the razor blade and is for contacting the skin of a user while shaving to guide the razor blade as it moves over the skin, the razor body being configured to be held between two adjacent, substantially straight and parallel fingers of a user's hand with the cutting edge of the razor blade running generally parallel to said fingers, the razor body having for this purpose two oppositely and laterally directed side faces which are of concave shape, viewed along the longitudinal direction, and are configured to be held between sides of the said fingers, each side face leading downwardly to the upper side of the flange, so that in use pressure is able to be applied by undersides of both of the said fingers to the upper side of the flange.
2. A razor as claimed in claim 1 in which the flange comprises elastomer, enabling it to elastically deform as it is moved over the skin.
3. A razor as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which the flange is configured to permit the undersides of the said fingers to contact the skin of the user while shaving.
4. A razor as claimed in any preceding claim in which the flange has a thickness, from its underside to its upper side, of 3mm or less.
5. A razor as claimed in any preceding claim in which the flange has a lateral extent of 6mm or less.
6. A razor as claimed in any preceding claim in which the guide surface has concave curvature in a longitudinal sectional plane.
7. A razor as claimed in any preceding claim in which the guide surface has concave curvature in a lateral sectional plane.
8. A razor as claimed in any preceding claim in which the razor body is a hollow form having an upwardly directed opening through which water is able to be introduced to rinse the razor blade.
9. A razor as claimed in any preceding claim in which the flange is formed by a guide part comprising elastomer, and the side faces are formed by an upper body part comprising more rigid material.
10. A razor as claimed in claim Yin which the guide part and the upper body part locate relative to one another through complementary male and female features.
11. A razor as claimed in claim 9 in which the guide part and the upper body part locate relative to one another through a tongue on one of them received in an opening on the other.
12. A razor as claimed in any of claims 9 to 11 in which the razor blade is carried in a blade carrier which is received and located in an opening in the guide face.
13. A razor as claimed in claim 12 in which the opening in the guide face has a periphery comprising a rebate in which is seated a peripheral portion of the guide part.
14. A razor as claimed in claim 12 or claim 13 in which the upper body part and the blade carrier engage with one another through complementary male and female features, the guide part being sandwiched between the upper body part and the blade carrier.