To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Dare A. Macbeth, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Temporary Holder for Safety-Razor Blades, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a device for temporarily holding the blades of safety-razors for the purpose of honing or stropping them, which device is especially adapted for use in connection with razor-blades of the Gillette type.

Another purpose of the invention is to so construct the device that the holder proper will be practically in one piece, the only other factor employed being a clamp mounted upon the jaw-section of the holder, and, further, to so construct the jaw-section of a holder that the razor-blade can be quickly and conveniently introduced betwen the jaws in such manner that the blade will remain in set position while the clamp is being applied.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved holder, illustrating a blade held therein. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the handle and a horizontal section through the jaws of the device, a blade in position between the said jaws, and a clamp for holding the jaws in locking engagement with the blade, the section being taken practically on the line 2 2 of Fig.3. Fig.3 is a transverse section through the jaws of the device, the clamp, and the blade, the section being taken practically on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through the jaw-section of the device, showing an inner face view of the jaw which is utilized to retain the blade in position.

The device primarily consists of a body A and a clamp C. The body A is made of one piece of spring sheet metal and consists of a handle-section 10, continuous with a back section 11, and opposing parallel jaws 12 and 13, which extend down from the under portion of the back section 11, as is best shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The handle member 10 of the said body is preferably circular in general contour, and the back member 11 is segmental. The jaws 12 and 13 are continuations of the lower edges of the said back member of the body. A cut or kerf 14 is produced longitudinally at the central portion of the back member 11 and is carried into the outer end portion of the handle member 10, as is shown best in Fig. 4. This cut or kerf 14 is in alinement‘with the center of the space between the jaws 12 and 13. Furthermore, the handle member 10 is provided in its under face with a longitudinal cut 14^a, which extends from the outer end of the handle to the inner or rear ends of the jaws 12 and 13. Under this construction a very simple and practical holder is obtained and one wherein the jaws have the greatest possible amount of elasticity and wherein also the jaws are prone to preserve their parallelism.

The blade B, which is to be sharpened, is a double-edged blade, as is best shown in Fig. 3, and is provided with a series of apertures 15 about centrally between its cutting edges, as is also shown in Fig. 3, in which one of said apertures is shown, and this type of blade, known as the “Gillette” razor-blade, is that to which the holder is particularly adapted.

One of the jaws—the jaw 12, for example—is provided with a series of indentations in its outer face, producing a series of projections or bosses 16 upon the inner face of said jaw, as is best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and these bosses 16 are of such shape and are so arranged that when the razor-blade B is introduced between the jaws 12 and 13 the said bosses will snugly fit into the openings or apertures 15 in the blade, as is shown particularly in Fig. 3, thus holding the blade between the jaws and preventing the inner edge of the blade from engaging with the back member 11 of the body A; but even should there be danger of such engagement the cut 14 in said back member would permit the outward passage of the inner cutting edge of the blade to some extent.

After the blade has been placed between the jaws, as has been described, the clamp C is slid over the back member 11 of the body and in engagement with the outer faces of the jaws 12 and 13, forcing said jaws to a firm clamping engagement with the blade B and holding the said jaws in such position. Therefore the clamp C is made of spring sheet metal bent upon itself to form a segmental back member 17 and wings 18, which extend from the lower parallel edges of the back member, the said wings being of such depth that when the clamp is in position the said wings will practically extend to the lower edges of the jaws 12 and 13, as is shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The back member 17 when the clamp is in position fits snugly upon the back member 11 of the body. In fact, when the clamp C is placed upon the body of the holder the said clamp is placed and held under tension.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent—

A holder for safety-razor blades, comprising a body constructed of a single piece of resilient material, said body consisting of a handle substantially circular in cross-section, parallel jaws extending from the edges of the body at one end thereof, said body being slotted in alinement with the opening between the jaws, one of said jaws having spaced bosses on the inner face thereof, and a clamp consisting of a body adapted to slide over the body of the holder, and wings extending from the body for engagement with the outer faces of said jaws.

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

Dare A. Macbeth.

Witnesses:

Alfred K. Gavey,

Chas. F. Werner.