US2361512A - Magazine safety razor - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 31, 1944. N. TEST! 2,361,512

MAGAZINE SAFETY RAZOR Original Filed Oct. 12, 1942- s Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

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3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 31, 1944. v N. TESTl 2,361,512

MAGAZINE SAFETY RAZ'OR Original Filed oci. 12, 1942 s Sheets-Sheet 5 BY. I

Patented Oct. 31, 1944 MAGAZINE SAFETY RAZOR.

Nicholas Testi, Boston, Mass, assignor to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Original application October 1942,. Serial N'o. 461,702. Divided. and this application March 26, 1943, Serial. No. 480,639

10 Claims.

This invention relates to safety razors and magazines for safety razor blades. In one as.- pect it. consists. in a new and improved safety razor having means for positioning and retainingv a slotted open-end blade therein in condition of transverse curvature independently of the usual blade-clamping cap. In another aspect it comprises a novel safety razor and magazine combination. In still'another aspect the inventi'on consists in a new and improved blade magazine wherein the blades are maintained stacked in longitudinally staggered relation and the blade located consecutively uppermost in the stack is fed' out of the magazine by a feeding device which engages a portion of the blade already separated from the next adjacent blade by the staggered arrangement of the blades in the stack.

An important feature of the invention consists in a safety razor having a blade-supporting member or; guard equipped with a blade-locating rib and a blade-retaining plate by which a slotted open-end blade may be retained upon the guard in a transversely curved position. This construction not only adapts the razor to receive blade develops friction sufficient to retain it.

against accidental displacement on the guard. It also provides means for positively controlling contacting ends of blades being ejected and being presented and thus obviates the possibility of one blade riding over the. other and jamming in the razor, a difiiculty which has beentroublesome in the past in dealing. with magazine-supplied razors;

The feature of the razor construction. above discussed is also important as one factor of a new combination of razor and magazine, It has been found impractical to engage the unsupported end of the blade in use by the unsupported end of a fresh blade and accordingly the present invention contemplates equipping the magazine with means for initially displacing the used blade in the razor so as to carry its end into. a position where. it is sandwiched between, or positively located by, the retaining plate and the guard surface. Themagazine is provided with afeeding 4 stack, of bladesinlongitudinal staggered relation and havingmeans 012 feeding the blades alternately firstirom' one and then from the other end of the magazine.

3i My. invention includes also anovel" combination. of. reversible'magazine and. reversible razor so constructed and arranged that blades are. de-

livered from one end of the magazine to one end of the razor and from .the other end of. the magdrawal of a bladeirom the stack.

In this connection my. invention includes as another important aspect the novel process of 15 separating and feeding, slotted openend blades which consists instacki'ng the blades with the slots of alternate blades opening; in opposite directions and with alternate blades' displaced" longitudinally in the stack, and then withdrawing 20 one by one the blades successively located uppermost in the stack and reversing-the stack end for end between each withdrawal.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the fol on an enlarged scale and in'whichz showing a" portion ofa bl'ade thereonf I v Fig. 2 is a view of the razor head in cross-section. showing the cap' in: elevatedposition;

Fig, 3' is a view in side elevation corresponding to Fig". 2 but with theend portions insection;

adapted for use with therazor'of Figs.- 1-53;

Fig. 5 is a plan view'of the magazine; Fig. 6' is a corresponding view in side elevation. showing portions of the casing broken away;

'Fig. 7 is. a View of the magazine in cross-secn on the-lin Figs. 8 and 9 are views of the guard and one end of the magazine showin the blade being Q5 ejected, in two. difierent positions;

Fig 110' is asectional view of the razor head on p a still; further enlarged scale showing the blade clamped for shaving;

Fig. 11[i's a view in cross-section onithe line 50 I'l'll' of Fig. 8', with the addition of. the cap member;

F.?ig.. l21is. a detailed. View in' longitudinal' sece tion of the end of therazor handler F 131s a. plan view of the base plate. ofthe 5'5 agazine;

azine to theother end of the razor, reversing lowing, description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes: of illustration and shown in theaccompanying drawingsall shown Fig. l is" a, plan View of theguarcl member Fig. 4 is a plan view-oia slottedopen-endblade ing member or guard II which is generally rectangular in outline and provided with a shouldered convex blade-supporting face. Longitudinal slots are formed in the guard to provide marginal guard bars I2 which together with'the razor cap determine the edge exposure of the shaving edge of the blade.

The blade-supporting face of the guard is provided centrally with a longitudinal blade-locating rib I3 to the upper face of ,which' is permanently secured by rivets or otherwise an elonjgated blade-retaining or hold-down plate I4.

The rib I3, extends above the face of the guard II and is spaced therefrom by a distance somewhat more than the thickness of the thickest blade which is to be used in the razor. Its upper face and the blade-retaining plate I4 are both curved transversely approximately concentrically with the convex face of the guard so that any flexible blade inserted between the guard and the retaining plate I4 is itself transversely flexed.

The guard, rib and retaining plate are drilled to provide a circular aperture I5 through which extends a spindle I1 carrying at its upper end a blade-clamping cap I6. The inner or bladeclamping face of the cap I6 is concaved transversely on a curve corresponding substantially to the transverse curvature of the guard II. It is provided with an elongated recess 24 in which the retaining plate I4 may be received with clearance when the cap is drawn down to its blade-clamping position as suggested in Fig. 10.

:The cap I6isalso provided with a pair of spaced downwardly projecting pins l8 for which holes vl9 are provided in the guard and through the bladeretaining plate I4. It'will be understood that the pins I8 move freely in the holes I9 and thus maintain the cap and guard accurately in aligned relation. The retaining plate .I4 is provided with concave end edges. All four of its cornersare deflected upwardly or flared to a slight extent in order to facilitate the introduction of the blade ends beneath them.

, Asshown in Fig.12 the lower end of the barrel of the handle I0 is closedby a-hollow cylindrical nut 22 which is freely rotatable therein and internally threaded for engagement with the lower end of the spindle I1. The nut is held in place by a circular internal rib in the barrel II] which fits into an annular groove in the shank of the nut. Thus by turning the nut 22 the spindle I! and the cap I6 may be raised to disengage the blade or lowered to clamp it in shaving position upon the guard. The lower end of the spindle "is axially drilled and threaded to receive the threaded shank of a shouldered retaining screw 23, the head of which is of such dimensions as to pass freely into the end of the hollow nut 22 when the parts of the razor are assembled. The screw 23, of course, limitslthe movement. of the nut 22 with respect to the spindle I1 and these two parts may be completely disengaged by first removing the screw 23 in case it should be desired to take apart the razor for cleanin or for repairs. The upper end of the spindle I! is flattened on opposite sides beneath the cap I6 to afiord clearance for the sides of the slot 2| of the blade.

The razor herein shown is designed for use with a slotted open-end blade 20 of the general character shown in Fig. 4, although not limited in this respect. That blade is generally rectangular in outline, sharpened in its opposite longitudinal edges, provided with corner notches defining elongated unsharpened portions at each end of the blade and provided with a longitudinal slot 2| opening through one end of the blade. The slot 2| is provided with a circular enlargement corresponding to the perforation I5 and forming a passage for the spindle II. It is also provided with a square-sided enlargement 25 located between its central perforation and the open-end of the slot. The blade is of thin flexible steel of an order of .004".006" in thickness.

in Fig. 4. may be presented to the guard II by hand by slipping the open end of its slot 2I upon the rib I3 and' pushing the blade inwardly beneath the blade-retaining plate I4 until its further movement is arrested by contacting the closed or solid end of the blade with the adjacent end of the rib I3. In this movement of presentation the blade is transversely flexed to a noticeable degree by the cooperation of the convex guard surface and concave under surface of the retaining plate I4. The spacing of the retaining plate is such as to accommodate beneath-it any blade ofappropriate thickness for the razor and by flexing the blade to develop a retaining friction which is sufiicient to prevent its accidental displacement at all times, as-in preparing the razor for shaving or in flushing it after the shaving operation. The blade 20 is shown in Fig. 2 in its transversely curved condition of presentation sandwiched between the upper surface of the guard and the under surface of the retaining plate I4. Similarly the used blade may be withdrawn by grasping the solid end of the blade where this is facilitated by the concave end edge of the retaining plate I4.

It is contemplated, however, that the razor herein shown may be more conveniently used when fresh sharp blades are supplied to it by a magazine which will now be described. vReferring first to Figs, 13-17 it will be seen that the magazine comprises an elongated base plate of rectangular outline provided centrally and symmetrically with a rectangular well 3i. From the bottom of this well projects an elongated v b1ade-locating rib. 33 and blade stops 34 and 35 which are arranged in alignment with the central I rib 33, spaced equally from its ends and provided with triangular enlargements which are designed to fit the square-sided enlargements 25 inthe slots of the blades. The rib and stops 34 and 35 It will be understood that theblade 20 shown with its slot opening toward the left, whereas, the second blade in the stack is locatedwith its solid end between the stop 34 and the left end of the rib 33, with its lot opening toward the right, and so on The blades are somewhat shorter than the overall length of the well 3| so that. when the stack is located as above explained there is an opportunity for a forked lifting spring to be forcibly inserted beneath the assembled stack. The lifting spring 26 is shown in Fig. .17 as being longitudinally curved and slotted so that it may be pushed into the well 3| from either end, clearing the blade-locating rib and stops and being finally retained position by. the end walls of the well. It will be understood that the blade stacks may thus be assembled on the base plate conveniently and without any tendency toward being displaced and then the spring 26 may he slipped intoplace after the loaded base plate is inserted in the magazine casing. The base plate is reduced in thickness at each end to provide transverse shoulders 28 and 29. The base plate is provided in each side edge with a pair of recesses 32 into which the material of the maga zine casing may be swaged to retain the two parts permanently in assembled relation,

The casing or shell 33 of the-magazine comprises a metal tube of rectangular cross-section. as best shown in Figs. 7 and 11, and of such dimensions as to receive the base platewith a stack of blades 23 thereon and with the lifting spring 26 compressed to substantially horizontal position. The upper wall of the magazine casing is formed by a pair of inturned spaced flanges 3'! and 38 which overlie the side portions of the blades 2.0 but leave exposedthe central area of the blade which is uppermost in the stack. The outer corners of the flanges 31 and 38 are flared and are bent downwardly to form bladeengaging projection as shown in Fig. 1.1, that is to say, projections which engage the used blade upon-the guard H and displace it initially when the magazine is brought into operative relation with the razor head as will be presently explained. After the casing has been assembled upon the base plate 30 depressions 43 are formed in its side walls which interlock with the recesses 32 above described. In the side walls of the casing elongated depressions are also formed which provide short internal longitudinal ribs 39. These ribs overlie and positively guide the guard bars [2 of the razor guard into contact with the shoulders 28. or 29 of the magazine.

The magazine casing is provided witha sliding feeding member 40 which embraces the sides of the casing 36 and is permanently connected to an internal flanged blade-engaging member 44, the outer edges of which run beneath the flanges 31 and 38 of the magazine casing "36. Stop pins 42 are provided in the flanges 31 and 38 near opposite ends thereof to limit the travel of the feeder Ml so that at each extremity of its stroke it clears the olid end of the blades which are located inside the respective stops 34 and 35. The rib 33 and stops 34 and 35 are of such height as to permit the solid end of a blade to pass above them in bowed condition while its longitudinal edges pass beneath the flanges 31 and 38.

In using the magazine above described it will be assumed that it is desired to eject and replace the blade shown in Fig. 8 as retained upon the guard II by the retaining plate 14, The cap l6 having been first lifted, the guard and magazine are brought together as suggested in Fig. 8,

thatis to ay' the right hand end of the guard is telescoped into the left-hand end of the magazine, that being the end of the magazinein which the open end of the uppermost blade in the stack is disposed. In this preliminary movement of engagement of the. uard and magazinethe downwardly deflected corners, of the flanges ill and .38 engage the shoulders of the blade and displace it toward the left upon the guard fora substantial distance, for example, for about onefourth of its length, but in any case far enough to locate the open-end of the blade well beneath the retaining plate I4 and in a position where tive longitudinal movement being arrested by contact of the end of the guard with one or other of the'shoulders 28 or 29.

The feeding device 40 is now at the right-hand end of the magazine in a position beyond the end of the uppermost blade where it slightly depresses the second blade in the stack as shown in Fig. 16. It is now moved toward the left advancing the uppermost blade in the stack, which is lifted by the spring 26 above the rib 33 and stop 34, with its open-end foremost into the opening between the right-hand end of the retaining plate l4 and the guard I-| beneath it. The entrance of the blade is facilitated. as already noted, by the flaring corners of the retaining plate and it has free passage beneath the plate withoutanyobstruction I until it encounters theright-hand end of the blade 20 which has already been displaced as above explained and as illustrated in Fig.8. The contact between the. twoblades is made in substantially the location shown in -Fig. 9, that is to say, in a location where the contacting ends of both :blades are sandwiched between the retaining plate and the guard and consequently have no opportunity for vertical displacement which would result in one blade riding over the other andjamming. Movement of the feed slide 40 is continued until arrested by the pins 42 at the left-hand end of the magazine. When this occurs the blade 20 has been substantially ejected from the razor head and the new blade located in its place.

When the blade thus presented is to be ejected and themagazine used again it is reversed end for end. The reversal beingjnecessary because the second blade in the stack has its open end directedaway from the razor head as shown in Figs. 8 and 9 and because the feed slide has now been moved to the left-end of the magazine and positioned for delivery by movement toward the opposite end of the .magazine.

It will be understood .01? course, that the spring 26 pushes the stack of blades upwardly at all times and holds the uppermost blade in contact with the flanges 31 and 38 of the magazine casing where it may be moved endwise freely above the rib 33 and the stops 34 and 35. The function of The user of the razor and magazine herein de-"' scribed may easily determine which end of the magazine should be brought into engagement with the razor, and to which endof the razor the new blade should be presented, by notinginlwhich end of the magazine or razor is located .the Open end of the blade to be delivered or ejecteda;

The concave retaining plate I4 serves; by maintaining the blade always in flexed condition, to increase and hold its stifinesss'ubstantially constant regardless of the-cap position. Therefore, the cap may-be adjusted freely to vary theiedge exposure of the blade without danger of loosening it and permitting chatter or flutter of the shaving edge. l

The present application is a division of my application Serial Number 461,702, filed October 12,

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment there of, I claim as new and desire to secure by. Letters Patent:

l. A magazine for safety razor blades comprising an elongated casing having spaced flanges with inwardly deflected blade-pushing corners, an internal blade-locating rib, and a slidable feeding device in combination with a safety razor shaped to fit at one end within said casing and having a blade seat aligned with the rib of the magazineand with the blade-pushing corners of the casing, whereby a blade may be displaced on the blade seat independently of the feeding device. I

2. A safety razor having opposed walls for yieldingly holding an open-end blade in place, in combination with a magazine having an opening f shaped to receive the razor telescopicallyanda projection for initially displacing a blade the razor between said walls, and amovable feeding device for advancing a blade from the magazine into ejecting contact with the said initially dis- Placed blade. i i

3. A safety razor having opposed walls forhold-. ing a blade in curved condition, in combination with a magazine interfitting with said razor and having a projection for locating the magazinelfor blade delivery and for initially displacing a blade from shaving position in the razor, and separate means for advancing a blade from'the magazine into the razor to make contact with the curved blade in the location into which it has been thus initially displaced; l i v v 4. A safety razor having opposed curved walls for holding a blade intransversely curved condition therein, in combination with a magazine ina retaining'i plate spacedto engage between them a thin-blada'and a magazine shaped to engage with the safety razor and having at a fixed part thereof a projecting arm arranged to pass adjacent to said blade seat and retaining plate and to contact a blade located in said razor and displace it initially. i s

6. A safety razor and magazine combination including a safety razor provided with means for sandwiching a blade in shaving position between fixed underlying and overlying surfaces, a magazine having means as a part thereof for registering the razor and magazine and for initially displacing a blade in the razor so that its end lies between said underlying and overlying surfaces, and blade feeding =means associated with the magazine. l

A safety razor and magazine combination including a safety razor having. longitudinal guard bars at either side and means for holding a blade in shaving position between them, a magazine having a casing open at both ends with walls for engaging the guard bars in either endof the razor, and a blade feeding device in the magazine movable to deliverablade from either end to the blade holding means to the-razor. 1 I

8. A safety razor and magazine combination in-' cluding a safety razor having guard bars at both edges, and a tubular magazine shaped to receive one end ofthe razor and provided with ribs for over-riding the said guard bars, means within the razor for positioning a blade in shaving position, and means in the magazine for feeding a fresh blade to'said positioning means While the razor is held in positon by said ribs. 9. A safety razor and magazine combination including a safety razor havingcap and guard members, a blade-retaining plate on the uard member, and means for separating the cap from the guard, and a magazine comprising an openended casing shaped to enclose one end of the taining plate of the razor.

' 10. A safety razor and magazine combination including'a safety razor having cap and guard members and means for locating a blade between them, and a magazine comprising a casing open at both ends and shaped to receive and enclose one end of the razor guard, means in the magazine for locating a stack oi blades with the ends of the stack spaced substantially within the ends of the casing to provide clearance therein for the guard, and means for feeding a blade from the stack in the magazine to the blade-locating means of the razor while the magazine and razor are so engaged.

NICHOLAS TES'I'I.

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