To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, John Kinloch, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and now of the United States Army, have invented a Safety-Guard for Razors; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention consists of a toothed guard arranged in respect to the blade of a razor, and rendered reversible on and detachable from the same, substantially as described hereinafter, so that the razor may be used without danger of cutting the face by those who are maimed or wounded, and by those who have to shave themselves in situations and under circumstances which render the operation by an ordinary naked razor both tedious and dangerous.

In order to enable others to make and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation.

On reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side view of a razor with the reversible and detachable guard, and Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the blade and guard drawn to an enlarged scale.

The blade A and handle B of the razor are of the usual construction; with this exception, that a small hole is bored in the back edge of the blade, and an internal screw-thread formed in this hole for the reception of a thumb-screw, C, by means of which the guard is secured to the blade. This guard consists of a metal plate, D, having teeth somewhat similar to those of a comb, one edge of the plate being bent so as to form a flange d, through an oblong slot, in which passes the stem of the thumb screw C, the head of which bears against the flange d of the guard, and thus confines the latter to the back of the blade. The guard is adapted or nearly adapted to the shape of the blade, as seen in Fig. 2, and the end of the teeth, which are slightly rounded and made perfectly smooth, project a short distance beyond the cutting-edge of the blade, the position of which in respect to the surface of the face to be shaved is represented in Fig. 2, the line y representing the surface of the face, and the lines i being exaggerated representations of the hairs of the beard to be operated on.

As the edge of the blade is moved in contact with the surface of the face, the hairs are separated by the teeth and between the latter are presented to the action of the advancing cutting-edge.

It will be evident that the teeth must prevent any accidental cutting of the face, that the guard can be readily reversed and adapted to either side of the blade, or entirely detached when the razor has to be sharpened, and when a thorough cleansing of both blade and guard are necessary, and consequently that my invention is especially adapted to the use of those who have but one arm, or are otherwise so maimed as to render the operation of shaving with an ordinary razor both tedious and dangerous.

The improvement also renders a razor especially well adapted to sailors and others who have to shave at sea, and to those who are compelled to perform the same operation in localities and under circumstances when the usual appliances and comforts are not accessible.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent—

The toothed guard arranged in respect to the blade of a razor and rendered reversible on and detachable from the same, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

John Kinloch.

Witnesses:

John White.

Henry Howson.