My present invention relates to improvements in safety razors, and more particularly in improvements in safety razors of the type illustrated and described in my Letters Patent No. 1,540,731, granted June 2, 1925.

A safety razor frame of the aforementioned type comprises generally a guard plate upon which the blade is to be seated and a cover plate or cap hinged to the guard plate to close thereover and down upon the blade. The guard plate has secured to the lower side thereof an underbridge, and one of the features of my invention resides in structural improvements both in the guard plate itself and in the manner in which the underbridge is secured thereto.

Associated with the cover member is a spring latch which cooperates with a portion of the underbridge for securing the cover member in closed position, and also a spring element for automatically moving the blade forwardly to its predetermined position of association with the guard as the cover member is closed.

Another feature of my invention resides in an improved construction of spring latch and spring element.

My invention relates generally to a new, simplified, more efficient and more economically manufactured safety razor of the general type herein referred to.

For the attainment of these objects and such other objects as may hereinafter appear or be pointed out, I have illustrated embodiments of my invention in the drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a central vertical section through a safety razor constructed in accordance with and embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the same, with the cover shown in open position and the razor blade as partly broken away;

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the same, with the cover shown in open position and the handle being omitted; and

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the underbridge shown detached from the guard plate and which underbridge is shown in bottom view in Fig. 3 and vertical section in Fig. 1.

The guard plate 10 of the present invention differs in a number of material respects from the guard plate of the aforementioned patent and as will now be pointed out.

Upon viewing Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings, it will be observed that the guard plate 10 comprises generally three portions, namely, the rear half 10′, the front half 10″, and the guard tine portion 17. The front half 10″ has its upper surface in a plane slightly higher than the surface of the rear portion 10′ to accommodate a blade of the type used in this razor, as is more clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and extending downwardly from the opposite sides of this front portion 10″ are the fingers 18′ having the bent-over hooks 18 at their free end beneath which the extreme sides of the blade 13 are received, the underbridge 14 being provided with upwardly extending hooks 19 as shown in Figs. 2 and 4 to form abutments for the blade sides. The tines 17 project forwardly from the front portion 10″ and are depressed somewhat below the upper level of this portion so as not to interfere with the shaving operation. As a result of these changes the blade 13 seats on the member 10 in the following manner: The thickened portion of the blade along its rear unsharpened edge formed by the cap 13′ passed thereabout, seats on the upper surface 10′ at the lower level, and the blade proper seats on the solid portion 10‴ of the front portion 10″ of this guard plate instead of seating on the tines, as shown in the embodiment of my aforementioned prior patent.

Upon the underside of the guard plate 10 and secured thereto by tongues 20 and, if desired, additionally by rivets 20′, is the underbridge 14, which is in one integral piece of sheet metal stamped and shaped to provide a flat body portion 21 adapted to engage the lower flat surface of the plate 10, forwardly projecting side arms 22 having lateral oppositely projecting pintles 23 at their forward ends, a hollow base having an upwardly projecting concealed sleeve 24, which I interiorly screwthread, a rearwardly projecting protuberance or shoulder 16 to be engaged by the latch spring and an upwardly and forwardly inclined tongue 25 which closes the rear end of said hollow base and at its upper end is secured within a recess or cutout 26 formed in the rear edge of the guard plate 10. The recess 26 not only receives the upper end of the tongue 25 but provides a passage for the projecting lower inner angular end 27 of the spring 15 during the closing and opening of the cover or cap 11. The side arms 22 project forwardly and downwardly below the guard-tines 17 and are free thereof, and said arms constitute spring members and suitably position the pintles 23 to engage apertures 28 formed in the forward ends of the sides 29 of the cover or cap 11 and therewith hinge the cover or cap at its forward portion to the forward portion of the safety razor frame.

The cover or cap 11 is pressed up from sheet metal and comprises the aforesaid side portions 29, a rear end portion 30 and a top or hood portion, as usual. The cover or cap 11 is of suitable dimensions to snugly enclose between its rear end and side portions the guard plate 10 and parts mounted thereon. The forward portion of the cover or cap 11 is open, as shown in Fig. 1, and the top of said cover or cap inclines downwardly and forwardly to an edge 31 which, when the blade 13 is in position and the cover or cap closed, will engage said blade and press the same firmly against the seat formed on the guard tines 17.

The relation of the forward edge 31 of the cover or cap to the pintles 23 on the forward ends of the spring arms 22, is such that when the cover or cap is turned to closed position, the said edge 31 pressing against the entire length of the blade 13, acts as an efficient fulcrum for the long lever represented by the cover or cap and that the cover or cap flexes the forward portions of the arms 22 upwardly, with the result that said arms react against said edge 31 to firmly bind the same against the blade 13 and assure the rigid seating of the blade in correct operative position, regardless of slight variations in thicknesses of blades and regardless of unintentional irregularities that may arise in the manufacture or assembly of the parts of the frame of the device.

The latch member 15 already referred to hitherto is in the form of a relatively narrow “strip of metal formed integrally with and extending downwardly from the lower edge 32 of the cover member 11, all as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, and this latch member comprises the vertical connecting portion 33 which in contour forms a continuation of the portion of the outer surface of the cover member 11 to which it is attached and at the lower portion of this connecting member 33 is the protuberance 34 which has the angular lower end 27 engaging the projection or protuberance 16 on the underbridge 14 to lock the cover member in position as the rear end of the cover member is swung downwardly.

Extending upwardly and angularly from the angular lower end 27 of the protuberance 34 is the free end 36 of the latch member which is so arranged and contoured that as the cover member 11 is swung downwardly to the position in which the angular lower inner end 27 of the latch moves over and beneath the protuberance 16 on the underbridge 14, this angular member 36 will engage the rear end of the blade 13 and move it forward until the front sharpened edge engages fully beneath the hooks 18 and are stopped thereby. The free end 36 because of the character of the metal and of the manner in which it is constructed, forms a spring member which readily yields after the blade has been driven home to its predetermined desired forward position. This is an important feature of my invention in that by the combination of the spring member 36 with the latch 15 as above-described I not only have obtained a construction which is simple and efficient but one which costs less to manufacture and can be manufactured much more quickly.

Upon viewing Fig. 1 of the drawings, it will be observed that the latch portion 15 occupies what might be termed generally a vertical position and that as the angular member 27 is moved over the protuberance 16 the action will be such as to force its lower end 27 and with it the spring extension 36 rearwardly until this angular lower end has passed the protuberance 16, when the spring 36 will move forward rather suddenly with a species of snap action and will engage the blade and give it a sudden push forward, with a yielding forward pressure applied thereafter.

The spring latch 15 serves to firmly lock the cover or cap 11 in closed position in opposition to the force exerted by the spring arms or fingers 22 to open said cover or cap. The spring latch 15 has been designed, also, to assist the spring arms or fingers 22 to throw the cover or cap 11 to its full open position, shown in Fig. 2, and to this end the latch spring 15 has been given the form hereinbefore described and shown in Fig. 1, and the tongue 25 of the bridge member 14 has been inclined upwardly and forwardly. On opening the cover or cap 11, the user will grasp the handle 10 with his hand and press with his thumb upwardly against the flat thumb-piece 34 of the spring latch 15, and this pressure will continue until the angular edge 27 of the spring latch has moved over the apex of the projection 16 of the bridge member 14, and thereupon, said spring latch 15 having been flexed by its engagement with and on passing over the said projection 16, will react against the upwardly and forwardly inclined tongue 25 and act to throw the cover or cap 11 to its open position, said spring latch 15 then cooperating with and assisting the spring arms 22 to instantly throw the cover or cap 11 to full open position.

The handle 12 is of usual type and has at its upper end a threaded stem to be screwed into the threaded sleeve 24 formed on the bridge member 14.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is :—

1. In a safety razor, a blade seat provided with a guard edge, blade stops on said guard edge, a rigid protuberance beneath the rear portion of said blade seat, a cover pivoted at its forward end to the forward portion of the blade seat and adapted to swing rearwardly onto the blade seat, and a member carried by the cover and having a portion to bear yieldably against the rear edge of the blade on said seat to force the cutting edge against said blade stops when the cover is brought down upon the blade seat, and having another portion to releasably engage said protuberance to hold the cover on said seat.

2. In a safety razor, a blade seat provided with a guard edge, blade stops on said guard edge, a rigid protuberance beneath the rear portion of said blade seat, a cover pivoted at its forward end to the forward portion of the blade seat and adapted to swing rearwardly onto the blade seat, and a U-shaped extension on the rear of the cover, one leg of said extension being rigidly attached to the cover and the other leg being free and constituting a leaf-spring, the closed end of said U constituting a latch adapted to cooperate with said protuberance and said leaf-spring being adapted to press yieldably against the rear edge of a blade on said seat to force the cutting edge against said blade stops.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

J. B. de Mesquita.