This invention relates to safety razors in which heat is applied to the razor head and particularly to the blade to assist in shaving.

The primary object of our invention is to provide in a safety razor a handle thereof which in use will apply heat only to the desired portion of the razor, that is, the head and blade, but will maintain a cool handle or grip.

A further object of our invention is to provide an electrically heated safety razor handle which is readily adapted for use on any suitable razor head.

Another object of our invention is to provide a heated razor and handle of a simple and rugged construction and arrangement comprising a minimum number of parts assuring dependable and long service as well as to facilitate repair or replacement of parts as required.

The invention will be fully and comprehensively understood from a consideration of the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing which forms part of the application, with the understanding, however, that the improvement is capable of extended application and is not confined to the exact showing of the drawing nor to the precise construction described and, therefore, such changes and modifications may be made therein as do not affect the spirit of the invention nor exceed the scope thereof as expressed in the appended claim.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a central vertical sectional view, partly in elevation, of our razor;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of same;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view on line 3—3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the razor head taken on line 4—4 of Fig. 2 but omitting the razor blade.

Referring now to the drawing for a more detailed description thereof, the numeral 4 indicates generally the head of the razor which comprises a cap plate 5 and a toothed guard 6 adapted to hold between their adjacent surfaces a cambered flexible blade 7. The cap 5 is provided with a centrally disposed stud screw 8 which is inserted in appropriate apertures in the guard 6 and the blade 7. The stud screw 8 is adapted to threadedly engage a member 9 by which to hold the component parts of the razor head 4 together. The member 9 comprises a depending stud 10 and a circular collar 11, the periphery of the latter being adapted to fit tightly into the upper end of a cylindrical chamber 12 to effect a water tight closure for same so that the stud 10 extends axially into the chamber 12. The depending stud 10 is disposed within the chamber 12 and of such size so as to provide an air space between the walls of the chamber 12 and the stud member. Chamber 12 is constructed of a suitable heat insulating material, such as fibre. The lower end of chamber 12 is constricted to form a tubular ferrule 13. Onto the ferrule 13 the remaining portion of the razor handle is attached, which portion comprises a tubular grip 14 into which is securely fitted an inner sleeve 15 of insulating material and extending substantially thru the entire grip 14. The tubular grip 14 is formed at its lower end into a spherical portion 16 in the center of which is provided an aperture 17. The upper end of the sleeve 15 is adapted to snugly fit onto the ferrule 13 to effect the assembly of these parts, during which assembly a washer 18 of heat resisting material is disposed between the abutting ends of the chamber 12 and the tubular grip 14. Within the chamber 12 and arranged concentrically with the cylindrical wall thereof is disposed a heating element 19 which in the preferred form comprises a helical structure of resistance wire. The terminal ends of the heating element 19 extend thru the ferrule 13 into which they are secured by filling the latter with a suitable sealing and insulating compound 20. The heating element 19 is adapted to surround the depending stud 10 which is constructed of a metal of high heat conductivity, such as copper, so that heat generated by the element 19 is efficiently absorbed in the stud 10 and other portions of the member 9, thru which the heat is transmitted to the razor head 4. The air space surrounding the stud member 10 prevents overheating of the walls of the chamber 12 and likewise the tubular grip of the handle. A duplex wire 21 being inserted in the aperture 17 has its respective conductors spliced to the terminal ends of the heating element 19 so as to provide electrical current to same.

Attention is now directed to Fig. 4 in which the detailed construction of the razor head is illustrated. It is to be noted that the purpose of this novel construction of the razor head 4 is to prevent the cooling of the heated blade during the rinsing of the razor in use as well as to insulate the exposed surfaces of the razor head so that the temperature of same will not become objectionably high when in contact with the skin of the user. To attain the above objects the major upper portion 22 of the cap plate 5 is formed of a suitable insulating material which is permanently attached by suitable means to the lower portion 23. The portion 23 is preferably constructed of metal on which is integrally formed the stud screw 8 shown in Fig. 1. To further attain the above object the upper surface of the toothed guard 6 is centrally recessed to receive an insulating strip 24 so that the exposed surface of the latter is slightly above the corresponding surface of the toothed guard 6. This arrangement of the strip 24 assures that only a minimum portion of the razor blade, specifically the cutting edges thereof, will come in contact with the metallic portions of the toothed guard and thus assure that the heat being transmitted to the razor head proper will be isolated in the razor blade.

It will be observed from the drawing and the preceding description thereof that the construction and arrangement of our safety razor provides an effective means by which the head of the razor, and particularly the blade thereof, may be suitably heated, at the same time maintaining the handle or grip of the razor in a desirable low temperature. It is obvious that because of the arrangement of the chamber 12 of insulating material between the razor head 4 and the grip 14, the latter will not receive any of the heat being generated within the handle proper.

What is claimed as new is:

In a safety razor, a metallic blade, a guard for the blade, means for holding said blade adjacent the guard, a hollow handle for the razor, means within said hollow handle for heating said blade, said means including a metallic member attached to said blade holding means and having a portion thereof contacting the walls of the handle and a reduced end disposed within said handle so as to provide a space around said reduced end, an electrical heating element carried by said handle and surrounding said metallic member and adapted to heat the same and heat insulating means carried by said handle.

Thomas J. Henderson.
Leon Henderson.