To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Charles W. Jones, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, Angus Hotel, Selby and Western avenues, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Razor-Blade Holders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in holders designed for use in sharpening razors or cutting blades used in safety razors.

An object of the invention is to provide a device that may be conveniently manipulated with one hand throughout the process of honing or stropping and whereby the article to be sharpened may be quickly reversed on the hone and held at a constant angle thereto.

A further object of the invention is to provide a holding and guiding device wherein the parts are at all times separable so that they may be packed in a container to form a unitary package.

The invention consists in the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts shown in the drawings, and hereinafter described and claimed.

Figure 1 is a perspective view in full lines of the invention, the dotted lines representing a blade and a hone and a hand in the act of manipulating the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the invention shown holding a blade.

Referring to the drawings, A is a base member preferably cylindrical in form and having separable connection with a handle or intermediate section B, which in turn has separable connection with a blade holding section C.

The base member movably rests at all times with its bottom on a smooth supporting surface D, as the top of a table and has a vertical bore, between its ends to removably receive the stub end 2 of the handle section.

The handle section comprises a preferably round bar bent to form a forwardly and downwardly extending shank 3, a rearwardly and downwardly extending arm 4 and a central loop 5 constituting a handle, the whole forming an arch with outwardly slanting terminals, one of which is supported on the base.

The handle 5 serves as a finger hold and is arranged to conveniently receive the middle finger (Fig. 1) whereby the assembled device may be controlled to be moved bodily over the supporting surface D.

The blade holding section comprises a pair of spring jaws 6 at its forward extremity fixed on a stem 7 and terminating in a socket 8, said socket fitting revolubly and removably over the end of the shank 3 so as to revolve in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis thereof.

The exterior surface of the socket is milled to afford a firm grip for the index finger and the thumb to turn it on its bearing (Fig. 1) whereby the blade between the jaws may be readily turned from one side to the other on the hone in the process of sharpening, the forward end of the device having been preliminarily raised for that purpose.

The handle 5 and the socket 8 are relatively positioned to fit the hand, so that the socket may be simultaneously rotated and held positioned on the shank.

In Fig. 2 is shown a blade E clamped between the jaws 6, the spring arms 10 thereof being pierced by two registering slots 11 adapted to slidably receive a clamping pin 12, said pin being formed at each of its ends with a head 13 having a rounded undersurface to slide over the outer surface of the spring arms.

The jaws which are preferably made of spring metal are bent inwardly at their inner ends to form the stem 7, and are broadened and curved inwardly at their outer extremities to form two cooperating gripping surfaces 14 adapted to engage the blade to grip and hold it when the pin 12 is slid forwardly over the spring arms to press them resiliently against its opposite sides.

In operation the blade is inserted between the jaws and the clamping pin adjusted to firmly grip it. The base of the device is then placed on a smooth supporting surface such as a table and the cutting edge of the blade allowed to rest on the hone.

The device is then grasped by the hand as indicated in broken lines in Fig.1 and bodily slid back and forth as desired, the blade being periodically lifted and then turned over by means of the index finger and thumb without lifting the base, the latter forming a rolling pivot about which the forward end of the device is rotated when the blade is lifted from the face of the hone.

When not in use the sections and base may be separated and packed in a small container to form a unitary package to constitute a component part of a shaving outfit.

I claim:

1. A blade sharpener, comprising a slidable base, an arched handle portion supported at one end on said base, a blade holder, and a finger and thumb engageable portion rigidly secured to the blade holder and revolubly mounted on the end of the arched handle opposite to the base whereby to be engaged by the thumb and a finger and revolved during the honing operation, for the purpose set forth.

2. A blade sharpener comprising a handle section consisting of a bar coiled centrally to form a finger-receiving loop and downwardly diverging arms extending therefrom tangential to the upper arc thereof whereby the loop will be disposed within the angle formed by the arms, a slidable base member connected to one arm, and a blade holder formed with a socket freely and rotatably receiving the other arm.

3. A blade sharpener comprising a handle section consisting of a bar coiled to form a finger-receiving loop and oppositely extending downwardly divergent arms, a slidable base member removably receiving the free end of one arm, and a blade holder having a shank part formed with a socket freely and rotatably receiving the free end of the other arm, said arms maintaining their connection with the base member and blade holder by reason of their downwardly divergency.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

Charles W.Jones.

Witnesses:

George Warner,

George Voelker.