To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, William J. Moore, of Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented a certain hew and useful Improvement in Safety-Razors; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which—

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a razor embodying my invention; Fig. 2 a section in a plane longitudinally of the blade; and, Fig. 3 a section in a plane crosswise of the blade.

My invention relates to safety razors of the class in which the handle extends at a right-angle from the blade, the structure having a T-shape. The well-known Gillette razor is of this type, as will be seen by reference to Patent No. 775,134, Nov. 15, 1904.

The object of my invention is to simplify the construction of this type of razor by reducing the number of parts thereof, to the end of both cheapening its cost of manufacture and facilitating the operation of taking it apart and assembling the parts for cleaning and other purposes.

For the attainment of the objects stated,—my invention consists in the safety razor constructed substantially as hereinafter specified and claimed.

Taking the Gillette patent No. 775,134, hereinbefore referred to as illustrative of the type of razor which is the subject of my invention, it will be seen that the razor blade is held between two plates on opposite sides thereof, the under plate constituting the well-known guard, and the handle being extended from the guard. I have found that the guard may be placed on the opposite side of the blade from that in the Gillette construction, that is to say, on the side which comes next the flesh in shaving, and thus be made to serve the double function of guard and blade support, making unnecessary a second plate on the opposite side of the blade, the razor handle being brought directly against the blade on the side thereof opposite the guard plate to clamp the guard plate and blade together.

Referring to the drawings, A designates a blade of the wafer type, which is so thin as to be flexible; B the combined guard and blade-supporting plate; and C the handle, said plate and handle being on opposite sides of the blade. The parts are connected together by a screw D which, in the instance shown, is attached to and projects from the guard plate through an opening in the blade, and is engaged by a tapped or threaded opening in the end of the handle, so that by screwing the handle upon the screw the end of the handle bearing against the adjacent side of the blade presses it firmly in contact with the guard plate and bends or flexes it, to make it conform to the concave formation of the contiguous surface of the guard plate. To prevent movement of the blade the guard plate is provided on the side next the blade with lugs or projections b situated on opposite sides of the screw, which pass through holes provided for them in the plate.

To facilitate the assemblage and separation of the parts, the ends of the guard plate are preferably provided with notches b′ for engagement by the thumb and forefinger to hold the guard plate when the handle is revolved to screw and unscrew it.

It will be evident that by giving the guard plate the location shown with reference to the blade, that is, on the side thereof that comes next the face, and which is opposite to the side to which the handle is applied, and from which it projects at a right-angle, make the guard plate perform the extra function of a supporting plate, and thereby materially simplify the structure, since one less part is necessary than in the case of the constructions heretofore employed in razors of this type, which simplification results in the double advantage of cheapening the cost of manufacture and simplifying the work of separation and assemblage of the parts.

An advantage, other than the simplification of the structure, which is derived by the location of the guard on the side of the blade which brings the guard next to the face, is that the degree of closeness of the shave can be determined or regulated in so simple a manner as the variation of the angle at which the razor is presented to the surface being shaved, a variation in the angle resulting in a change of distance of the razor edge from the surface being shaved. With the ordinary construction, wherein the guard is on the opposite side of the blade, the protrusion of the guard fingers beyond the edge of the razor is indispensable, and this precludes the possibility of regulating the closeness of the shave by change in the angle of presentation of the razor to the surface of the face, making it necessary when the degree of closeness of the shave is to be regulated to change or shift the position of the blade with reference to the guard, a procedure which is not only inconvenient and requires time, but which requires a certain degree of skill, which the inexperienced users of safety razors lack. By my invention, as a result of placing the guard on the side of the razor which comes next to the face, the razor edge projects beyond the edges of the guard fingers, as will be clearly seen by reference to the drawings, and it is because of this relative arrangement of the parts that it is possible with my razor to regulate the closeness of the shave by the angle of presentation of the razor to the surface of the face being shaved. It will be evident that, for the attainment of this important advantage in the use of my razor, it is necessary merely to have the handle in such position that it will not interfere with the application of the razor to the face, with the guard next the surface being shaved.

An advantage in employing an elastic blade of the wafer type with the screw connection between the handle and the guard, is that the pressure of the tense blade upon the end of the handle serves to hold the parts against any tendency to separation by unscrewing, but I, of course, do not limit myself to the employment of a blade of the wafer type, or to a blade having any particular form or shape.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is—

1. In a safety razor, the combination of a razor blade, a combined guard and blade support situated on the side of the blade that comes next to the face in shaving, the razor being free from any surface on the opposite side of the blade contiguous to the cutting edge thereof, and a handle projecting at a right-angle from the guard and blade with one end against the blade and clamping it against the guard.

2. In a safety razor, the combination of a razor blade, a combined guard and blade support situated on the side of the blade that comes next to the face in shaving, the razor being free from any surface on the opposite side of the blade contiguous to the cutting edge thereof, a screw projecting from said guard through an opening in the blade, lugs projecting from the guard through openings in the blade on opposite sides of the screw, and a handle having a threaded opening in its end to engage said screw, the handle at said end engaging the blade and clamping it, against the guard.

3. In a safety razor, the combination of a razor blade, a combined guard and blade support situated on the side of the blade that comes next to the face in shaving, the razor being free from any surface on the opposite side of the blade contiguous to the cutting edge thereof, a screw projecting from said guard through an opening in the blade, lugs projecting from the guard through openings in the blade on opposite sides of the screw, a handle having a threaded opening in its end to engage said screw, the handle at said end engaging the blade and clamping it against the guard, and finger-engaging notches in the ends of the guard.

4. In a safety razor, the combination of a razor blade, a guard situated on the side of the blade that comes next the face in shaving, the razor being free from any surface on the opposite side of the blade contiguous to the cutting edge thereof, and a handle.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

William. J. Moore.

Witnesses:

Chas. J. Williamson,

Josephine L. Lawlor.