Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
115B036
OrlC-PlE~CE RAZOR IIANDLE
BACKGROUND
This invention relates to wet shaving systems using
blade cartridges and par~ic~larly to razor handles adaPted for
: enga~ing blade cartri~ges.
Most wet shaving systems available today use blade
cartridges rather than blades alone as the replaceable elements
of the syste~. The cartridges allow precise location and orien-
tation of the blade in its support structure, and are even more
necessary for the use of dual blade systems, where two cutting
edges are located in a cartridge in a precise relationship.
A number of techniques are used for attaching
cartridges to razor handles. One method is to provide the razor
handle with a pair of spreadable jaws for engaging projections in
the rear of the blade cartridge. The jaws are spread, the
cartridge is inserted between the jaws, ancl the jaws are closed
to engage the cartridge projections. Typically some mechanis~ in
~the razor handle is needed to spread apart the jaws for insertion ¦
and/or removal of the cartridge from the handle.
It is an object of this invention to provide a razor
handle that is simple and easy to use both to attach the handle
~to a blade cartridge, and also to disengage the handle fro~ a
; lused blade cartridge. It is an~ther objeet to provide a razor
!handle for engage~ent and disengagement of a blade cartridge that
¦'is inexpensive to manufacture. Another object is to provide a
,razor handle that is adapted to engage and disengage blade
cartridges with a variety of surfaces, and to engage them
securely and safely. Still another object is to provide a razor
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¦ handle that may be used to convert pivotable cartridges, meant
`for handles that allow the~ to pivot during shaving, to the non-
pivotable , or fixed, engage~ent that 60me ~sers prefer.
suMr1ARy OF ~IE I~lVENmION
A razor handle has a pair of spaced-apart opposing
elongate side walls that have a portion intermediate their length
that define.s a fulcrum about which they are pivotable. ~he upper
portions of the walls extending up from the fulcrum are enqage-
able with a razor blade cartridge. The lower portions, extendin~
downwardly from the fulcrum, are s~ueezable to pivot the upPer
portions outwardly out of engagement with the cartridge.
In preferred embodiments~ the handle portion joins side
walls, the handle is made from a resilient plastic, and the lower
portions of the side walls, between the fulcrum and a spacer
joining the lower portions below the fulcrum, are resiliently
s~ueezable toward each other. Preferred embodiments are also
characterized by a base joining the bottoms of the walls
extending beyond the spacer to allow the handle to be gripped
without disenga~ina the cartridqe. The cartridge engaging upper
` portions of the walls, in the preferred embodiment, include sur-
faces for abutting the cartridge to prevent it from pivoting.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
Gther objects, feature and advantageæ of the invention
¦ will be pointed out or will be readily apparent in the following
i description of a preferred embodiment of the invent}on, including
the drawing, in which:
Fig. 1 i~ a perspective view, from the front, of a
razor blade cartridge and a razor handle ~onstructed according to
the inven~ion;
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~ig. 2 is a pers~ective view, from the rear, of the
' cartridge and handle of Fig. l;
i` i
.
i Fig. 3 is a side elevational view, partially in sec-
'tion through one of the cartridge ri~s, showing the handle of
: Fig. 1 engaged with the blade cartridge;
Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of the handle in its
relaxed position: and
~ ig. 5 is a view like Fig. 4 of the handle showing its
confiauration when the handle is ~queezed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED ~BODIMENm
Fi~s. 1 and 2 show a typical razor blade cartridge 10
and a razor handle 12 constructed according to the invention. The
cartridge 10 is of the type that has two parallel blades 14
mounted in the cartridge to present parallel, spaced-apart,
cutting edges 16 on the front shaving surface 18 of the cartridge
(see Fig. 1). The rear surface 20 of the blade cartridqe 10 ~see
Fi~. 2~ includes portions for engagement with various razor
handles, including a horizontal slot 22 made up of peripheral
vertical walls 24 and upper and lower spaced-apart vertical
ridges 26.
~ he cartridge rear surface 20 also includes a pair of
¦,horizontally spaced-apart ribs 28 projecting rearwardly that have ~
; ¦Irear surfaces 29. Each rib 28 has a horizontally extending aper- ¦
ture 30 facing outwardly for engaqement by inwardly projecting
jaws of a razor handle~ The cartridge rear surface 20 also
includes a cen~ral rearwardly projecting wall 32 with a camming
surface 34 for engagement with a cartridge-pivoting element pro-
vided in some razor handles. Rounded surfaces 35 projecting from
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¦the cartridge rear surface 2~ represent the tops of rivet pieces
used in construction of the ca~trid~e
The razor han21e 12 is a single piece open frame molded
from a plastic and having di~ensions that provide some resiliency
in the frame elements. The handle 12 includes two s~aced-apart
!vertical side walls 36. At the bottom 40 of the handle 12, the
! walls 36 are joined by a portion of the handle forming a base 42
of the handle. About a third of the way up the handle 12, the
walls 36 are joine~ by a portion of the handle for~ing a spacer
44. Further up the handle 12, the walls 36 are joined by a por-
tion of the handle forming a neck 46. The space between the
walls 36 ~ound by the spacer 44 and the neck 46 form a slo~ 48
into which the walls, which are resilient by the nature and
dimensions of the plastic material used to form the handle, can
move if they are squeezed toward each other.
Above the neck 46, the razor handle walls 36 diverge $o
form jaw-like upper wall portions 50 with cartridge engagin~ end
portions 52. The end portions 52 each comprise a surface 54 from !
I which projects a base 56 for a horizontally inwardly extending
finger 58 for engaging an aperture 30 of a cartridge rib 28. In
the illustrated embodiment, each end portion 52 also includes a
pad 60 for abutting the rear surface 29 of a cartridge rib 28
' when the cartridge 10 and the handle 12 are enga~ed, to prevent
¦Ipivotal movement of the cartridqe about the fingers 58.
With the configuration of the handle ele~ents
j descrihed, the lower portions 62 of the handle walls 36, that is,
ithe portions between the handle neck 46 and the spacer 44 adja-
cent the slot 48, may be sq~eezed together in the directions of
the arrows 64, ~hown in Fig. 5. When that is done, the upper
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wall portions 50 are urged outward, in the direction ~f the
arrows 66, shown in Fig. 5, the handle neck 46 acting like a
fulcrum about which the walls 36 pivot. Vpon release of the
walls 36, the resilience of the walls 36 causes them to return to
their original spaced apart configuration and causes the upper
portions 50 to close.
The ra~or handle 12 is used ~o engage a blade cartridge
10 by pinching, or squeezing, the lower portions 62 of the handle
walls 36 at a point between the handle neck 46 and the handle
spacer 44, preferably midway between the two. This spreads the
wall upper portions 50. A blade cartridge, such as the cartridge
10 illustrated in this description of a preferred embodiment, i5
placed so that the pair of cartridge apertures 30 is between the
fingers ~8 projectiny from the end portions 52 of the wall upper
portions 50. The handle walls 36 are then released, and the
upper portions 50 return to their original position, gripping the
cartridge ribs 28 by way of the fingers S8 in the aperture 30.
The pads 60 at the surface 54 of the upper wall ends 52 are
located to abut the rear surfaces 29 of the blade cartridge
ribs 28. A portion of the surface 54 at the end 52 of the upper
wall portions 50 also abuts a portion of the peripheral wall 24
of the cartridge 10 to help prevent pivotal movement of ~he car-
tridge. In this way the pads 60 and surface 54 prevent pivo~al
movement of the cartridge 10 about the fingers 58.
When it is desired to discard the cartridge 10 and
substitute a fresh one, the handle 12 is ~queezed again to spread;
the upper ~all portions 50, and the cartridge 10 is easily
replaced.
1~ ~
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~ hus a simply man~factured one-~iece handle 12 provides
all t~e mechanis~ necessary to enqaae and disengag~ any razor
blade cartridge 1~ that is adapted to be gripped between pro-
; jectiny fingers o spreadable jaws. The nat~ral resilience of
: i the usual plastic material used for manufacturing inexpensiverazor handles i~ taken advantage of in the construction. The
resilience allows the lower wall portions 62 of the handle to be
squeezed together easily, to be restored to their original con-
figuration ~uickly, and to hold their original position fir~ly.
It would be possible for other elements of the handle
frame, such as the SPacer 44, to provide the resilience necessary
for operation of the handle 12. With a resilient spacer 44, and
no base portion 42, the walls 36 could be rigid and still pivot
about the neck 46 to cause the upper wall portions 50 to spread
apart. Under those circumstances, namely, rigid walls, the bot~
to~s of the walls 3~ would move closer together, and so the base
portion 42 would have to be ~liminated or be ver~ resilient.
Such an arrangement would, however, create an opportunity for
inadvertently releasing the cartridge 10 by gripping the razor
handle strongly during shaving.
In the preferre~ embodiment, the resilience of the
lower wall portions 62 (the portions of the side walls 36 between
! the neck 46 and spacer 44) is used to advantage. Typically the
; ~,flexibility is not so great that simple grasping of the handle
will cause release of the cartridge, nor so little that great
pressure must be put on the handle walls to disengage the
cartridge.
The location of the spacer 44 has an effect on the
flexibility of the handle walls 36. If it is placed near the
6-
1~5~036
! bottom of the handle, the ~lexibility of the walls will increase i
because of the lengthening of the filOt 48 between the walls. If
the spacer 44 is placed nearer the handle neck 46, the flexi~
j lity and the resilience of the walls 36 will decrease. I
:jj Locatinq the spacer 44 some distance up from the ~ottom
!~ 40 of the handle 12 creates a portion of the handle between the
spacer and the bottom that may be gripped as strongly as desired i
without affecting the portions of the walls 36 above the spacer.
The portion between the spacer and the bottom of the handle may
even be filled in if desired, though leaving an open area con-
serves the amount of material used in the manufacture of the
handle.
The pads 60 shown in the illustrated embodiment are
optional. They allow the user of the handle 12 to lock a pivo-
table ra20r cartridge in a non-pivotable position, which some
shavers prefer. The configurations of the ends 52 of the upper
wall portions 50 may be varied to make them suitable for a
variety of blade cartridges. Typically, the end portions would
` be formed to allow use of the handle with as many kinds of blade
cartridges as is feasible.
The neck 46 is shown in the embodiment described as an
integral element joining the handle walls 36. All that is
necessary, however, is that there be an element located between
¦l the walls about which they can pivot. It would be adequate, for i
! example, if the walls had projecting elements that abut in the
` region of the neck. A split down the middle of the neck 46 would,
¦ permit adequate operation of the handle, provided another portion
of the handle did keep the handle walls joined.
115~036
Other modifications to, additions to, and deletions
from the disclosed embodiment will be obvious to those skilled in,
the ~rt and are within the scope of the following claim6.
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