Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
¦ ONF-pI~cE-~AzoR ll~ANDLE POR PIVOTAEILE CART RIDGI;
BACKGROUND
This invention relates to wet ~havin~ sy~tems usin~
~blade cartridges, and particularly to razor h~ndles adapted for
¦engagin~ blade cartridges that are pivotable ~bout the~r major
¦axis during ~having.
' Most wet shaving ~ystems avail~ble to~ay 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 numbe~ of techniques are used for attaching
cartridges to razor handles. Furthermore, ~ome techniques
¦~include the significant addition of attaching the cartridge to
the handle in a way that allows the cartridge to pivot, in a
I controlled way, about its major axis. Piv~tal attachment of the
cartridge allows the blade mounted in the cartridge to follow
skin surface contours independently of the handle orientation.
The cartridge is pivotable between limits, and ordinarily is
;biased toward a preferred angular position vis-a-vis the handle.
In so~e cases, a portion of the cartridge has a camming
surface that is adapted to meet a ca~ follower on the handle when
the cartridge is attached. For example, Nissen et al. (U.S.
Patent No. 4,083,104) 6hows a pivotable blade cartridge in which
a camming surface ~ engaged by a spring biased cam follower.
The camming surface slides along the front of the c~m follower,
and the variation in the camming ~urface acts on the ~ollower in
a generally horizontal way. The cam follower shown ~n the patent
30 i8 ~ mechani8m of ~everal p~rt~.
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Trotta (U.S. Patent No. 4,09~,063) shows another pivoting
cartridge and handle combina-tion. There the en-tire combin-
ation is disposable, allowing some simplification of the
assembly, since there need be no provision for disengaging the
cartridge from the razor handle after it is used. Jaws with
inwardly extending fingers for pivotally engaging apertures in
the cartridge are resiliently e~pandable -to engage the car-
tridge. In other words, the cartridge is "snapped" into
engagement with the handle jaws. At the head of the handle
is a horizontal bridge mounted on legs projecting from the
handle. The bridge is a resilient cam follower that exerts
biasing force on the cartridge camming surface as the camming
surface slides vertically across it, moving it (like the
Nissen device) generally horizontally. In a South African
application corresponding to this U.S. patent, the bridge
is additionally shown in a foxm in which it is split.
In U.S. Patents Nos. 3,938,247 (Carbonell et al.) and
No. 3,935,659 (Terry et al.) cartridces are shown that are
engaged by cantilever springs to control the pivotal move-
ment of the cartridge.
It is desirable to simplify the razor handle used with
blade cartridges, and to simplify the mechanisms for engaging
the cartridge and particularly for biasing the pivotal move-
ment of the cartridge. In another application by the applicant,
Canadian Application No. 365,727, filed November 28, 1980, a
one-piece razor handle is described that has diverging upper
portions which respond to squeezing the handle by spreading
apar-t so that cartridge-engaging fingers at the end of
the upper portions disengage from the cartridge. It would
be desirable to use such a razor handle
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fQr pivoting cartridges, but ~he movement of both upper portions
I makes it difficult to impose a eentrally located CB~ follower.
! Similarly, ~itable handles in which the di~erging upper portions
may be forced apart as by a mechanical 6preading force there-
between, would also pre~ent the same problem.
Accordingly, it i~ an object of the invention to pr~-
vide a razor handle that is simple and easy to attach to a pivo-
, table razor blade cartridge. It i~ another object to provide arazor handle that has a sim~le, sure and reliable ca~ follower
arrangement for the camming surface provided on pivotable razor
cartridges, Another objec~ is to provide a razor handle meeting
the above described ob~ects that is simple and inexpensive to
!- manufacture
l SU~IARY OF TH~ INVENTION
:` _
A one-piece razor handle with a pair of arms with
i cartridge-enga~ing ends, diverging from a neck region, includes a
`, resilient cantilever bea~ estending from one of the arms at a
!i point remote from the neek region and having a forward edge for
~ engaging the camming surfa~e of a pivotable blade cartridge. The
j edge is resiliently deflectable in the generally vertical direc-
tion. In a preferred embodiment, the handle is plastic, the can-
,tilever beam include~ a ~ortion extending inwardly from the arm
¦and an integrally connected cantilever portion, terminating in
the forward edge, extending transversely from the rigid portion.
BRI~F DESCRIPTION OP THE DRAWING
I
j Other object~, fea~ures and advantages of ~he invention
will ~e pointed out or will be readily apparent fro~ the
following description of ~ pre~erred embodiment of the invention,
includin~ the draw~ng in which:
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Eig. 1 is a rear perspective view o~ a ra~or cartri~ge
and a razor handle constructed according to -the inventioni
Fig. 2 is a detailed side view, partially in section,
of the razor car-tridge in engagement with the razor handle cam
follower; and
Fig. 3 is a view like that of Fig. 2, showing the
cartridge pivoted upwardly.
DESCRIPTION OF A PREFFERED EMsoDIMENT
Fig. 1 shows a typical pivotahle razor blade cartridge
10, and a razor handle 12 constructed according to the invention.
The cartridge rear surface 14 includes a pair of horizontally
spaced, vertical wall members 16 projecting rearwardly. Each
wall member 16 has a horizontally extending aperture 18 facing
outwardly for engagemen-t by inwardly extending jaws of a razor
handle.
The cartridge rear surface 14 also includes a central
rearwardly projecting wall 2Q with a camming surface 22 facing
rearwardly. The camming surface 22 is most shallow, or extends
most forward, at a horizontal mid line 24 and extends gradually
more rearwardly on either side of the mid line 24.
The razor handle 12 is a single piece open frame,
molded from a plastic that provides some resiliency in the frame
elements. The handle 12 includes two spaced apart vertical side
walls 26 rising from a solid base portion 28. Above the base 2~,
the walls 26 form a slot 30 between them, the slot 30 terminating
at the upper part with a neck 32 extending from one side wall 26
to the other. The walls 26 are resiliently squeezable into the
slot 30 by virtue of the characteristics of the plastic material
used to form the handle
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Above ~he neck 32, the razor h~ndle wall~ 26 ~verge to
~form jaw-like upper wall portions 34 terminating with c~rt~idge
engaging, horizont~lly lnwardly extending fingers 36 or engaginq
the apertures 18 of the blade cartridge 10. The upper wall por-
tions 34 are responsive to ~queezing of the handle side wall
lower portions B8. When the lower portions 38 of the ~ide walls
26 are ~queezed together in the direction indicated by the arrows
39, the handle neck 32 acts like a fulcrum B0 that the upper por-
tions 34 of the ~ide walls diverge in the direc~ion indicated by
, the arrows 41. In this way the razor cartri`dge 10 can be
i attached and detached to the handle 12. Alternatively, par-
ticularly if the side walls of the handle are not so flexible, a
machine may spread the jaws and finger~.
A cam follower 40 is al~o formed as part of the razor
handle 12. The cam follower 40 is a generally L-shaped portion
of the razor handle. It has a base por~ion 42 extending hori~on- ¦
' tally inwardly parallel to the ~artridge 10 from the inside sur- !
`~ face 44 o~ one of the ~ide wall upper portions 34. The base
I,portion 42 is joined to a central portion 46 extending generally
.hori20ntally toward the cartridge 10 and terminating in a cam
¦follower edge 48. The cam follower edge 48 is located so ~hat
~when the cartridge 10 and han~le 1. are engaged via the handle
fingers 36, the edge 48 ~but~ the cam 6urface 22 ~t its ~id line
24 (see Fig. 2~. The line of engagement of the ca~ follower edge
48 and ca~ surface 22 at ~he mid line 24 is behind the pivot axis
of the cartridge 10, the axis being defined by the location of
the ~artridge engaging finger~ 36. The ~am follower 40 is re~i-
liently ~lexible about a ~orizontal axis aligned generally with
the base portion 42 60 that the ca~ ~ollower edge 48 is ~ovable
in a gener~lly ver~cal direction. The edge 4B applies a pre--
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losd biasing force to ca~ ~urf~ce 22 to l~ure th~t the cartridge
10 ~s~umes a neutral angle in the absence of ~having f~rces.
The razor handle 12 of thi~ embodiment ~ used to
e.~gage the blade cartridge 10 by pinching, or ~queezing, the
lower portions 38 of the h~ndle wall6 26 at a point between the
handle neck 32 and the handle base 28, preferably midway between
~ the two. This 6preads the wall upper portions 34 as the neck ~2
!` acts like a fulcrum. The razor handle 12 is positioned relative
' to blade cartridge 10 so that the pair of cartridge apertures 18 ~l
is ~etween the fingers 36 projecting inwardly from the spread
apart wall upper ~ortions 34. When the ~andle walls 26 are
re!eased, the upper portions 34 return to their original posi-
tion, with the fingers 36 now inserted into the apertures lB.
The cartrid~e 10 i5 pivotable about an axis extending
through the fingers 36 when it is engaged in the manner set out
! above. However, in its engaged position the cartridge is also
affected by the relationship between its cam ~urface 22 and the
i cam follower 40 of the handle 12. The edge 48 of the cam
¦.follower abuts the cam surface 22 at its shallow mid line 24.
j Without any other forces acting on the cartridqe, the cam
! follower edge maintains the cartridqe at a neutral position
;corresponding to the relaxed position of the cam follower 40.
During shavinq, however, forces are generated that ~ause the
cartridge 10 to pivot about the handle finger~ 36. ~he forces
are transmitted to the cam follower edge 48 by ~he ~am surface
22, and the cam follower 20 is deflected ~ccordingly. Thus, as
¦shaving produces an upward force on the ~ront of the cartridge
(~ee Fig. 3), the am ~urface 22 tend~ to deflect the cam
follower edge 4B vertic~lly downwardly. The resilience of the
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cam follower 40 urges it ~o re6ume lt6 original position, and if
the changing contour o ~he surf~ce being shaved change~ ~he
Inature of the forces acting on the car~ridge 10, the cam follower
: j~0 will urge the cartridge back toward its neutral po~ition.
With this arrangement of the cam ~urface 22 and the cam
follo~er 40, the pi~otin~ m~tion of the cartridge 10 is trans-
~formed into vertical motion of the cam follower edge 4B. Thebase portion 42 of the cam follower is relatively non-resilient
l and immovable because of its connection to the razor handle upper
portion 34, and because lts cross-~ectional area i5 made large
¦ enough. The central portion 46, on the other hand, is relatively
resilient because its cross-section is thin and because it is a
j distance from the handle to which it i5 atta~hed, in a c~ntilever
' arrangement.
The configuration of the cam follower 40 allows its use
with the open, ~preadable upper portions 34 o~ the razor handle
12. The open framework sf the handle 12 dictates against having
; a ~head" of the handle on which a cam follower can be mounted. A
¦'head would interfere with the ~preadability of the handle upper
¦ portions. The cam follower 40 of the invention is mounted as a
~cantilever beam on a side of one of the diverging wall upper por-
tions ~4, so ~hat the upper portions 34 may be spread out easily
by squeezing the wall lower p~rtions 38 without interference ~rom
structure supporting a cam follower.
Additions, dele~ions and modific~tions o~ the preferred
embodiment illu~trating the invention ~ay be made by those
skilled in the art ~nd are wi~hin th~ scope of t~e invention, as
defined b ehe ~ollowing claim~
