Abstract:
A safety razor with a thin profile that can be easily transported on a person, without risk of injury or damage to the razor blades.

Description:
FIELD OF INVENTION 
     Generally, this invention relates to the class of inventions known as Cutlery. More specifically, this invention belongs to the sub-classes of razors with multiple blades. 
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     Most men shave some portion of their face every day, or nearly every day. For many men, their beard grows so fast and dense, that they shave more than once per day. Most men with fast-growing and/or thick beards prefer to wet-shave with a safety razor. Wet shaving is using a razor with water and a lubricant, such as shaving cream or soap. A safety razor is a device which has embedded razor blades, to reduce the risk of an inadvertent cut. A safety razor holds one or more razor blades at an angle that will properly shave a beard, while keeping the user&#39;s hands a safe distance from the cutting surface. A plurality of men use safety razors to shave. 
     Most wet-shave safety razors are impractical for a person to carry. Typical safety razors have a head and a handle, forming, roughly, a “T.” Although many safety razors come with a blade protector, the blade protector is generally easy to knock off. Additionally, the shape of the safety razor makes it clumsy to carry in a pocket, purse, or back-pack. When a safety razor is carried in such a way it is easily damaged. Additionally, the blade cover is easily removed through natural jossling and movement, risking injury, or at the very least, a dull and useless blade. Because of these drawbacks, few people carry a safety razor with them during the day. 
     This creates a difficulty for men who travel and have a thick beard. By the end of the work-day, they would like to shave their beard a second time, but they do not have the means to do so. 
     Disposable safety razors have additional issues. Disposable safety razors have the same form-factor as a regular safety razor. As a result, they are difficult to vend, because they are relatively bulking and poorly shaped. Additionally, disposable safety razors are relatively expensive to ship, because they do not nest or pack well in a box. Not only does this increase the cost of shipping the disposable safety razor, because the box is full of air, it increases the cost of putting the safety razor on display on a store shelf. Last, disposable safety razors are environmentally unfriendly. They are made out of plastic that is placed in a landfill. Although the metal will bio-degrade, the plastic will not. Additionally, since the metal is embedded in the plastic, the plastic cannot be re-cycled. 
     The market is looking for a thin, disposable safety razor that can be easily carried by a person during the day. Preferably, such a device should be easy to carry in a safe place, such as a wallet or purse. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention improves upon the current prior art, in several important aspects. The present invention is a safety shaver, designed to have a form factor similar to a traditional credit card in width and length. The present invention would be thicker than a traditional credit card, but would have, nonetheless, a very thin profile. 
     The present invention can have one or more razor blades. The blades are embedded in an integral body. The integral body is made out of hard plastic, including, but not limited to, polylactic acid (PLA) and ABS. In fact PLA would be an ideal material for a disposable safety razor, because the material both bio-degrades and is recyclable into new PLA (cradle-to-cradle recycling). Alternately, the integral body could be made out of other water-proof, hard materials, such as metal. The present invention comes with a firmly fitting cap, to protect the blades. 
     One embodiment of the invention would have a notch extending around the periphery of the blade head, near where the blades are located. After the blades become dull, such an embodiment would be more environmentally friendly. Using the cap, it would be easy to break the blade head off of the main part of the integral body. As a result, most of the invention, by weight would be recyclable as a single material. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a full front view of the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a full side view of the first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  shows a full front view of a second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a full side view of a second embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a full front view of a third embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a full side view of a third embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a full front view of the cap of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a side view of the cap of the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a full front view of the present invention with cap. 
         FIG. 11  is a full front view of a fourth embodiment of the present invention, with cap. 
         FIG. 12  is a side, see-through view of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     This description does not limit the invention, but rather illustrates its general principles of operation. Examples are illustrated with the accompanying drawings. A variety of drawings are offered, showing the present invention incorporated into two primary embodiments. 
       FIG. 1  shows a full front view of the first embodiment of the present invention. The present invention contains a plurality of razor blades  1  embedded in an integral body  12 . The integral body  12  has a planar face  34  with two coplanar long edges  31  and two coplanar short edges  32 . The razor blades  1  are embedded during fabrication using common molding technics, including, but not limited to, insert injection molding. The razor blades  1  are angled so as to make a suitable cutting angle for shaving a beard. The integral body  12  has a thumb-sized dimple  3 , to help the user grip the present invention. The integral body  12  is most commonly produced from plastic, including, but not limited to ABS, Noryl, polycarbonate, and polypropylene. The integral body  12  contains a notch  14  that securely captures the cap of the present invention.  FIG. 2  shows a full side view of the present invention, showing that the integral body  12  has a thin profile, defined by a width  33 .  FIG. 8  and  FIG. 9  show a cap  6  that fits over the blades  1  of the present invention. In the first embodiment, the cap  6  fits proud over the blades  1 , meaning the cap  6  sticks out from the integral body  12 . 
       FIG. 3  shows a full front view of the second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment still contains razor blades  1  that are embedded in an integral body  2 ,  5  using common molding technics. The integral body is molded so that it has two regions: a blade head  5  and a main body  2 . These two regions  5 ,  2  are molded as a single body. The main body  2  has a planar face  34  with two coplanar long edges  31  and two coplanar short edges  32 . The blade head  5  has a planar face  53 , and a lateral edge  52 . The short edges  32  of the main body  2  are parallel, but not coplanar, with the lateral edge  52  of the blade head  5 . The planar face  34  of the main body  2  is parallel, but not coplanar, with the planar face  53  of the blade head  5 . The razor blades  1  are angled so as to make a suitable cutting angle for shaving a beard. The main body  2  has a thumb-sized dimple  3 , to help the user grip the present invention. The integral body  5 ,  2  is most commonly produced from plastic, including, but not limited to ABS, Noryl, polycarbonate, and polypropylene. The integral body  5 ,  2  contains a notch  4  that securely captures the cap of the present invention.  FIG. 4  shows a full side view of the present invention, showing that the main body of the integral body  2  has a thin profile, defined by a width  33 . In  FIG. 10 , the second embodiment has a cap  6  that fits flush, over the blades  1 , with the main body  2 . 
       FIG. 5  shows a full front view of the third embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment still contains razor blades  1  that are embedded in an integral body  2 ,  5  using common molding technics. The integral body is molded so that it has two regions: a blade head  5  and a main body  2 . These two regions  5 ,  2  are molded as a single body. The main body  2  has a planar face  34  with two coplanar long edges  31  and two coplanar short edges  32 . The blade head  5  has a planar face  53  and two lateral edges  52 . The short edges  32  of the main body  2  are parallel, but not coplanar, with the lateral edges  52  of the blade head  5 . The planar face  34  of the main body  2  is parallel, but not coplanar, with the planar face  53  of the blade head  5 . The razor blades  1  are angled so as to make a suitable cutting angle for shaving a beard. The main body  2  has a thumb-sized dimple  3 , to help the user grip the present invention. The integral body  5 ,  2  is most commonly produced from plastic, including, but not limited to ABS, Noryl, polycarbonate, and polypropylene. The integral body  5 ,  2  contains a notch  4  that securely captures the cap of the present invention. In this embodiment, the notch  4  extends around the entire periphery of the blade head  5 , defining a circumferential notch  4  and a second lateral edge  52  (compare  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 5 ). The extended notch  4  more securely captures the cap  6 , and allows the blade head  5  to flex with respect to the main body  2 . This can present the blades  1  at a better angle to shear a beard. Additionally, the extended notch  4  allows the user to break off the blade head  5 , using the cap  6 , once the blades  1  become dull and useless.  FIG. 6  shows a full side view of the present, third embodiment of the invention, showing that the integral body  2  has a thin profile, defined by a width  33 . In the  FIG. 10 , the third embodiment, like the second embodiment, has a cap  6  that fits flush, over the blades  1 , with the main body  2 .  FIG. 7  shows a perspective view of the third embodiment, clearly showing the thumb-sized dimple  3 , main body  2 , blades  1 , the blade head  5 , the face  34 , a short edge  32 , two long edges  31 , and a lateral edge  52 .  FIG. 12  is a see-through side-view of the third embodiment, showing the blades  1 , the main body  2 , the blade head  5 , the notch  4 , the width  33 , and the cap  6 . This view shows the spacing and angling of the blades  1 , so that they may most effectively cut the beard. 
     A fourth embodiment is shown in  FIG. 11 , with the cap  46  on. The major change in this embodiment is that the integral body  10  has two contoured sides  11 . The fourth embodiment has curved corners  45 , a face  44 , a shorter edge  42 , a longer cap edge  142 , and a longer dimension  41 . The longer dimension  41  is the linear distance between the shorter edge  42  of the integral body  10  and the longer cap edge  142  of the cap  46 . The shorter edge  42  of the integral body  10  and the longer cap edge  142  of the cap  46  are co-planar.