To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Thomas Addison Bell and Ellis Jerome Uhle, citizens of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York, State of New York, have invented a new and useful Safety-Razor, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to safety razors.

The object of the invention is to provide a novel form of razor of this character that shall, when drawn in straight lines over the face, secure a smooth shearing cut, whereby the operation of shaving will materially be facilitated, and the labor and care exercised in the act be measurably decreased.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts, Figure 1 is a collective view in perspective of a safety razor constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the blank from which the holder is made. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the handle detached showing the same used for stropping. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the handle sections telescoped. Fig. 5 is a side elevation illustrating a modified form of the Invention.

As shown in Fig. 2, the guard is constructed from a single piece of metal, of any suitable character, and stamped to the appropriate shape, and comprises a trapezoidal-shaped member 1 which will constitute the shank of the holder, when the blank is bent to shape, an approximately circular member 2 disposed intermediate of the ends of the member 1 and constituting an arm, an approximately straight member 3 constituting the back of the holder, a straight member 4 disposed obliquely to the member 3 and constituting the front of the holder, two end members 5 and 6 that connect the members 3 and 4, a plurality of spaced fingers 7 projecting from the inner edge of the member 4, and an angularly disposed extension 8 on the member 6 that constitutes a blade strop.

In forming the blank, shown in Fig. 2, to constitute the holder, shown in Fig. 1, the member 1 is formed into a tapered cylinder, and the member 2 bent at any desired angle thereto, and preferably soldered or brazed to the upper end of the shank to form a closure for the upper end thereof. The member 3 is then bent upward approximately at right angles to the length of the shank and then rebent to provide an approximately U-shaped keeper 9, while the member 4 is bent upon itself to form approximately U-shaped terminal keepers 10 and 11, the members 7 having a portion of their length bent rearwardly or towards the shank to provide the usual guard fingers common to such holders. The member 8 is then bent rearward, or in the direction of the shank, to close the ends of the keepers 9 and 11, thus to form a stop which will limit the insertion of the blade 12.

It will be observed by reference to Fig. 1 that the guard fingers are disposed obliquely to the back edge of the member 3, the degree of this angular disposition of the two parts being determined by the degree of shear that is desired. The blade 12, which will engage with the keepers 9 and 10 and 11, conforms in contour to the shape of the holder, so that when the holder is drawn in straight lines over the face, a shear cut may be secured, the advantage of which will be readily understood. The blade 12 may be flat, as shown, or hollow ground, as preferred.

The supporting handle is preferably formed of a plurality of tapered telescopic sections 13, 14 and 15, the degree of taper corresponding to that of the shank, although, as will be obvious, these parts may be constructed as true cylinders, and still be within the scope of the invention. The terminal section 15 is provided with a longitudinal slot 16 defining spring flanges 17 adapted to clamp the blade 12 when stropping the latter, the sections 14 and 15 being housed within the sections 13 when the razor is not in use so as to permit the same to be compactly assembled in a suitable box or case.

The handle sections are held in operative or extended position by frictional contact with each other, there being a slot 18 formed in the lower end of the intermediate section 14 and adapted to receive the adjacent end of the blade 12 so as to prevent rotary movement of said sections during the stropping operation, as best shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. When the stropping operation is completed, the blade is removed, and the tubes 14 and 15 telescoped within the section 13 by which they are conveniently housed.

In inserting the blade within the holder, its back is pressed against the inner wall of the keeper 9, thus to keep its edge out of contact with the keepers 10 and 11, and when the narrower end of the blade contacts with the stop, the assemblage of the parts will be correct. It is designed that the holder shall be made of flexible metal that will yield when the blade is being inserted, but will exert such pressure thereon as to retain the blade in operative position.

In Fig. 5 of the drawings there is illustrated a modified form of the invention in which the circular piece or head 2′ is inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of the shank 1, this form of the device being found preferable in some cases.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that although the improvements herein defined are simple in character, that they will mutually coöperate in the production of a thoroughly effective article and one that will reduce to a minimum the labor of securing a clean and painless shave.

We claim:

1. A safety razor blade holder having its guard fingers disposed obliquely to its back, one end of the holder being open and the other end thereof provided with a stop forming a closure therefor.

2. A safety razor blade holder having guard fingers arranged at an angle to its back and provided with oppositely disposed keepers, and a blade stop forming a closure for both keepers at one end of the holder.

3. A safety razor blade holder having oppositely disposed blade keepers arranged at an angle to each other and that operate by friction to retain a blade in position.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a blade holder for safety razors embodying, a shank, an arm projecting therefrom and constituting a closure for one end of the shank, a keeper disposed at right angles to the length of the shank, a second keeper disposed obliquely to the length of the shank and embodying guard fingers, and a blade stop at one end of the holder.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as ow own, we have hereto affixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

Thomas Addison Bell.
Ellis Jerome Uhle.

Witnesses:

Owen E. Abraham,

I. S. Ruddick.