To all whom it may concern,

Be it known that I, William N. Ward, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Holders for Safety-Razor Blades, of which the following is a specification.

This device is intended to provide a rigid, easily adjustable and convenient, mounting for holding a safety razor blade while it is being stropped.

The invention more particularly relates to the construction and arrangement of the clamping jaws and the method of forming and mounting the tubular clamp which holds them together.

The objects of the invention are to so construct and arrange the jaws that the blade may be easily inserted into and removed therefrom, and when inserted may be readily clamped and held in a suitable convenient position to be stropped.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the device that the edge of the razor will always lie in proper angular relation with respect to the strop, so that the stropping can be performed in an easy and satisfactory manner.

The invention consists in the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the entire device, showing the razor blade clamped therein; Fig. 2 a side elevation of the clamping jaws in position to receive the blade, with the tubular clamp removed therefrom; Fig. 3 an edge elevation of the clamping jaws in unclamped position; Fig. 4 an enlarged cross sectional view taken on line 4—4 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 a similar view taken through line 5—5 of Fig. 1.

The holder comprises a pair of clamping jaws 6 and 7, each of which terminates at its inner end in an elongated shank or handle 8, the jaws and shank being integrally formed from plate metal, and the shank being of reduced width with respect to the width of the jaws. The shanks are hinged together at their ends by means of a pivot 9, and the clamping members are preferably formed, as shown in Fig. 3, to have a slight divergence from one another at their free ends in order that when the free ends are brought together during the clamping operation the clamping members may be held under a slight spring tension. The jaw 7 is provided on its inner surface with two or more studs 10 which are adapted to register with holes 11 in the companion jaw 6, which studs are adapted to be entered through suitable holes 12 in a safety razor blade 13 of the usual character.

The studs and holes in the jaws are near the inner edges of the companion jaws and in position to engage the center of the safety razor blade which, in the form shown, is of the two edged variety, and a blade thus engaged and clamped will project for almost half of its width beyond the jaws, thereby bringing the edge into suitable position to be stropped in the usual manner. Each of the jaws, on its rear face near its inner end, is provided with an inwardly extending slot or recess 14, which recess comprises a substantially circular hole 15 having a contracted mouth 16, and the two holes are so positioned as to be in alinement with one another when the jaws are in closed or clamping position. The holes 14 provide a pivotal mounting for a clamping member 17 of tubular formation provided along its inner edge with a slot or opening 18 of sufficient width to tightly embrace the companion clamping jaws when a razor blade has been inserted between them. The tubular clamping member is provided near its inner end, and substantially in its center, with a transversely extending pivot pin 19 of suitable diameter to be entered through the contracted portions 16 of the pivotal holes in the jaws and thereafter dropped into the enlarged or socket portions of such holes, which mounting forms, in effect, a hinge for the clamping member and permits it, after the insertion of the cross pivot pin 19, to be swung down over the edges of the clamping members into the position shown in Fig. 1, which holds the clamping members tightly together against the natural spring tension of such members, thereby affording a convenient and safe means for clamping the razor blade in place.

The operation of the device will be partially understood from the foregoing description, but may be briefly described as follows: When it is desired to insert a razor blade in position the clamping members are swung apart as indicated in Fig. 2, and the razor blade is laid on the jaw 7 in position to have the studs 10 engage with the holes in the middle of the razor blade, after which the companion-clamping jaw is swung in position to overlie the inserted blade, so that when the two clamping members are pressed into position to tightly embrace the razor blade the studs 10 will extend through the razor blade and into the registering holes 11, thereby holding the blade against displacement. With the parts thus in position the tubular clamping member is inserted into place in the manner described and swung down into clamping position, after which the parts are in position for the stropping operation. In stropping the blade the holder will always be moved away from the projecting razor edge, which stropping movement will always tend to hold the clamping member in its proper position without the necessity for providing positive connecting means other than the pivot pin previously described. In like manner the pivot pin will prevent any longitudinal displacement of the tubular clamping member which might take place if the pivot pin were omitted. The tubular formation of the clamping member is one which serves to hold the blade in correct angular relation on the strop, and its rounded formation permits easy turning of the holder as the blade is stropped on alternate sides.

What I regard as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A holder for safety razor blades, comprising a pair of clamping jaws adapted to embrace a razor blade, each of the jaws terminating in an elongated shank, the shanks constituting a handle for the manipulation of the device, a pivot near the end of the shanks for pivoting them together, a tubular clamping member provided with a slot adapted to receive the rear edges of the clamping members, and a pivot for hinging the clamping member to the clamping jaws, substantially as described.

2. A holder for safety razor blades, comprising a pair of clamping jaws adapted to embrace a razor blade, a tubular clamping member provided with a slot adapted to receive the rear edges of the clamping members, and a pivotal mounting for the clamping members for holding the latter in hinged relation with respect to the clamping jaws and permitting the clamping member to be bodily removed from the jaws, substantially as described.

3. A holder for safety razor blades, comprising a pair of clamping jaws adapted to clamp a razor blade between them, each of the jaws being provided in its rear edge with a pivotal recess, and a tubular clamping member provided with a slot adapted to embrace the rear edges of the clamping jaws, and a cross pivot pin in the clamping member adapted to enter the registered slots in the clamping jaws for permitting the clamping member to be swung down onto the clamping jaws, substantially as described.

4. A holder for safety razor blades, comprising a pair of clamping jaws adapted to clamp a razor blade between them, each of the jaws being provided in its rear edge with a pivotal recess, a tubular clamping member provided with a slot adapted to embrace the rear edges of the clamping jaws, a cross pivot pin in the clamping member adapted to enter the registered slots in the clamping jaws for permitting the clamping member to be swung down onto the clamping jaws, and means for pivoting the clamping jaws together, substantially as described.

5. A holder for safety razor blades, comprising a pair of pivoted clamping jaws one of the jaws being provided with inwardly extending studs, the other jaw being provided with holes adapted to receive the studs, the jaws being each further provided with an inwardly enlarging pivotal recess, and a tubular clamping member slotted in one side to receive the jaws and provided with a cross pivot pin adapted to be entered into the pivotal recess for hinging the clamping member to the jaws and permitting it to be swung down thereonto to clamp the jaws together, substantially as described.

William N. Ward.

Witnesses:

E. E. Adkins,

A. L. Kiehl.