SHAVING DEVICE

Abstract: A tubular upstanding wall (7) of a predetermined height and defining a central aperture (11) has an integrally formed, inwardly facing flange (8) on its upper end, and an integrally formed, outwardly facing flange (9) on its lower end. The inwardly facing flange has a sharpened cutting edge (10) thereby forming a razor blade. One or more razor blades are positioned through apertures in a top member and the outwardly facing flange (9) cooperates with the lower face of the top member to control the vertical position of each razor blade.

Description: This invention relates to a razor blade, shaving member, razor blade unit, a shaving system and a shaving unit, all including a razor blade having a tubular upstanding wall and defining an annular cutting edge and hereinafter referred to as "units." More particularly, this invention relates to units which may be resiliently mounted to provide a close, comfortable shave with a high degree of freedom from nicks and cuts, regardless of the shaving technique used. Wet or dry shaving devices having a single blade or foil formed with multiple cutting edges are known. Typical of such patents are U.S. Patent Nos. 4,483,068; 2,983,041; 2,989,804; and 2,614,321. Wet or dry shaving systems having one or more blades with an internal cutting edge are likewise known. Typical of such patents are U.S. Patent Nos. 4,336,651; 3,702,026; 3,465,436; 2,632,242; 2,598,711; 2,556,208; 2,359,584; 2,279,682; 2,223,286; 1,973,631; and 1,159,647. Such prior art units cannot be resiliently mounted to provide a close, comfortable shaving with the high degree of freedom from nicks and cuts, regardless of the shaving technique used. U.S. Patent 3,702,026 shows a plurality of stationary tubular blades in a housing as defined in the preamble portion of claim 1. The aforementioned U.S. Patent 2,279,682 shows a single stationary blade with an inwardly facing upper flange and an outwardly facing lower flange. Briefly stated and according to an aspect of this invention, the problems associated with the prior art shavers have been solved by providing a razor blade comprising a generally tubular upstanding wall of a predetermined height and defining a central aperture. An integrally formed, inwardly facing flange which includes a sharpened cutting edge, is formed on an upper end of the tubular upstanding wall, and an integrally formed, outwardly facing flange is formed on a lower end of the wall for mounting the razor blade. One or more razor blades may be positioned through mating apertures in a top member wherein the outwardly facing flange controls the vertical position of the razor blade. A razor blade unit may be formed by including a blade member of the type described above and including a guard member disposed in the central aperture of the blade member. A guide means may be provided in the central aperture of the blade member for positioning the guard member and for controlling relative motion of the guard member with respect to the blade member. A preferred razor blade unit may be provided by the practice of this invention in which twin concentric cutting edges are formed by disposing a first razor blade of the above-described type in the central aperture of the first razor blade. A first guide member, including a stop surface, may be included for cooperating with the outwardly facing flange of the concentrically disposed second razor blade, and a second guide member may be included whereby the first and second razor blades are vertically displaceable. If desired, a guard member can also be concentrically disposed in the central aperture of the second concentrically disposed razor blade which itself may be vertically displaceable in response to shaving forces. A resilient means disposed under one or more of the razor blades may be included for providing dynamic control to the razor blades. According to the present invention there is provided a shaving system of the wet shave type which comprises a top member with an array of spaced apertures each having disposed therein for vertical movement relative thereto a razor blade comprising an upstanding tubular wall surrounding a central aperture, an integral inwardly facing flange at the upper end of the wall sharpened to provide a cutting edge, and an integral outwardly facing flange at the lower end of the wall cooperating with a surface of the top member to control the relative vertical movement between each of said razor blades and the top member in response to shaving forces, the thickness of the top member being less than the height of the upstanding wall of the razor blade. A plurality of wet shaving units are provided, all of which include at least one razor blade having a generally tubular upstanding wall of a predetermined height and defining a central aperture. An integrally formed, inwardly facing flange is formed on a first end of the razor blade. The inwardly facing flange includes a sharpened cutting edge. An integrally formed, outwardly facing flange is formed on a second end of the razor blade for mounting the razor blade and for controlling the relative vertical movement between each razor blade and a top member. The invention, both as to its organization and principles of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may better be understood by referring to the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a shaving system, in accordance with this invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a razor blade, in accordance with this invention; Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a dual razor blade unit, in accordance with this invention; Fig. 4 is a sectional view, showing select detail, of a shaving device, in accordance with this invention; Fig. 5 is a top view of the shaving device of Fig. 4, in accordance with this invention; Fig. 6 is a top view of a top member, in accordance with this invention; Fig. 7 is a bottom view of the top member of Fig. 6, in accordance with this invention; Fig. 8 is a top view of a resilient means, in accordance with this invention; Fig. 9 is a top view of a base member, in accordance with this invention; Fig. 10 is a sectional view of a dual blade unit's dynamics in its at-rest position, in accordance with this invention; Fig. 11 is a sectional view of a dual blade unit's dynamics in the presence of low shaving forces, in accordance with this invention; and Fig. 12 is a sectional view of a dual blade unit's dynamics in the presence of high shaving forces, in accordance with this invention. Referring to Fig. 1, a shaving unit 1 is shown in stylized form. The shaving unit 1 is made up of a handle 2 which may include contoured or textured portions to facilitate gripping. The upper portion of the handle 2 is releasably attached to a cartridge 3 by any one of a variety of means well known in the art. Alternatively, the shaving unit 1 may be entirely disposable. The cartridge 3 is shown to include a generally concaved top member 4 which includes a plurality of apertures through which seven blade units such as blade unit 5 are disposed. The specific shape of the top member 4 as well as the number and placement and shape of the blade units, such as blade unit 5, may vary widely depending upon design objectives. The shaving unit 1 is preferably designed to be used with well known shaving preparations such as shaving creams or gels. The outer surface of the top member 4 may be smooth or textured as desired. Preferably, the cartridge 3 of shaving unit 1 is round and is approximately 1.2 inches in diameter and is used for multi-directional shaving. The cartridge 3 preferably consists of seven circular dual blade units, such as blade unit 5. Six of the blade units are arranged concentrically around a seventh centrally located unit. The blade units are resiliently mounted in the top member 4 to provide a close, comfortable shave with a high degree of freedom from nicks and cuts, regardless of the shaving technique used. Referring to Fig. 2, a single razor blade 6 is shown. In the dual blade units described subsequently, it will be apparent that they consist of two razor blades 6 of different diameters and concentrically aligned. The razor blade 6 is designed to be disposed through apertures formed in a top member, such as top member 4, of Fig. 1. Razor blade 6 is generally tubular in shape and includes an upstanding, thin-walled, continuous cylinder portion or wall 7 with an integral inwardly facing flange 8 on an upper end of the wall 7, and an outwardly facing flange 9 on a lower end of the cylindrical wall 7. The inwardly facing flange 8 is sharpened at its edge to produce a blade edge such as circular blade edge 10. The edge 10 on inwardly facing flange 8 may be formed in a variety of manners well known in the art. The edge 10 may be formed in the same or a different plane than the plane parallel to that of the flange 8 or to the face of top member 4 of the shaving unit 1. The manufacturing of the blade 6 may be accomplished in a variety of well known manners, such as starting with a flat stock razor blade steel, drawing the steel in a cup-like configuration to have an inwardly facing flange 8 and an outwardly facing flange 9, and then grinding and honing or the like to provide the cutting edge 10. It is also contemplated that the blade 6 could be formed starting with a tubular stock material. The outwardly facing flange 9 is used to hold the blade 6 in place when the blade 6 is positioned through an aperture formed in the top member 4 of shaving unit 1. Each tubular razor blade 6 defines a central through-flow aperture 11. The specific shape of the tubular blade associated with the practice of this invention may vary. That is, the razor blade may not be cylindrical or disk-shaped. Many other blade shapes are possible either in the single or tandem blade unit embodiments. Other blade shapes are disclosed in document EP-A-305 866. Preferably, each razor blade 6 is formed as a thin-walled, stainless steel cylinder to include an integrally, inwardly facing flange on one end and an outwardly facing flange on the other end. The inwardly facing flange 8 is sharpened to produce a continuous blade edge such as a circular blade edge 10. The outwardly facing flange 9 is used to control the vertical position of the razor blade 6. Referring to Fig. 3, the dual-blade unit 12 comprises an outer tubular blade 13 and an inner tubular blade 14. The blades are preferably formed in the manner described when referring to the razor blade 6 of Fig. 2 and are of different diameters in order to provide concentric alignment of the inner blade unit 14 inside the through-flow aperture of the outer blade unit 13. A generally ring-shaped blade guide 15 is connected to the inside of the outer tubular blade 13 such as by means of a press fit. The first guide means or blade guide 15 is formed of a plastic, such as Delrin, and includes a stop surface 16. The blade guide 15, accordingly in a preferred embodiment, moves with the vertical movement of the outer tubular blade 13. The stop surface 16 of the blade guide 15 may come into contact with the top surface of outwardly facing flange 17 of inner tubular blade 14 and thereby control relative vertical motion with respect to outer tubular blade 13 and inner tubular blade 14. Inner tubular blade 14 is concentrically disposed inside the aperture of ring-shaped blade guide 15. Inside the through-flow aperture of inner tubular 14 is a generally ring-shaped second guide member or guard guide 18 connected by a press-fit or the like to the inside of inner tubular blade 14 for movement therewith. The guard guide 18 is likewise preferably formed of a plastic such as Delrin and includes a stop surface 19. Disposed in the aperture of the ring-like guard guide 18 is a concentrically located guard member 20. The guard member 20 is preferably formed as a small molded plastic part, of Delrin, which is located concentrically in the dual blade unit 12. The guard member 20 prevents excessive skin bulge from entering the through-flow aperture of inner tubular blade 14, thus preventing nicks and cuts while allowing hair to be cut. The guard member 20 includes a central face-engaging portion 21 on an upper end and a generally conical-shaped portion 22 on a lower end of the guard member 20. The conical shaped portion 22 includes a lip portion 23 which may abut the stop surface 19 of guard guide 18 to control relative vertical movement of the inner tubular blade 14 and the guard member 20. Dual blade unit 12, in a preferred embodiment, thus consists of outer tubular blade 13 and inner tubular blade 14, a concentrically disposed generally cylindrical guard member 20, a first guide means or blade guide 15, and a second guide means or guard guide 18. The dual blade unit 12 is thus comprised of the concentrical alignment of five separate components in a preferred embodiment. In addition, the interaction of the various stop surfaces sets the at-rest geometry of the dual blade unit 12. Preferably, the stop surface 16 on blade guide 15 as well as that portion of the bottom of guard guide 18 which cooperates with stop surface 19 of guard member 20 is discontinuous thereby providing adequate rinsability in the dual-blade unit 12. That is, rinse holes, such as rinse hole 65 in blade guide 15, and rinse hole 66 in guard guide 18 are formed. Referring to Fig. 4, a cartridge section view is shown in which dual-blade units, such as dual-blade unit 30, are captured through apertures in a top member 31. Dual-blade unit 30 includes an outer tubular blade 32, an inner tubular blade 33, a blade guide 34, a guard guide 35, and a guard member 36 having a generally conical portion 37 on the bottom of the guard member 36. Disposed under the dual-blade unit, such as dual-blade unit 30, is a resilient means, such as an elastomeric spring, suspension, solid rubber, or foam member 38. For convenience of illustration, foam member 38 is shown as including no rinse holes or the like. A base member 39, better viewed when referring to Fig. 9, traps the foam member 38 in place. The at-rest position of each dual-blade unit, such as dual-blade unit 30, is set by contact of the underside, such as stop surface 60, of the top member 31 with the top of the outwardly facing flange of the outer blade of each unit, such as outwardly facing flange 40 of outer tubular blade 32. Referring now to Fig. 5, a top view of top member 24 is illustrated with seven dual blade units, such as dual blade unit 41. Formed in dashed lines is a resilient means or foam member 42. Foam member 42 can best be seen in Fig. 8. Foam member 42 is preferably formed in one piece out of a material such as cellular urethane and has a thickness such as approximately 1.5 mm (0.06 inch). The foam member 42 includes a plurality of rinse holes such as rinse holes 43 and 44. The function of the foam member 42 is to provide the dynamic control for all seven dual blade units. Each blade unit is position centrally over a portion of the suspension having three sections extending radially, spaced 120° apart, such as portion 45, 46, and 47, which support a dual blade unit, such as dual blade unit 41, best seen in Fig. 5. The foam is so shaped such that each section has a larger surface area, such as surface areas 48, 49, and 50 to provide contact areas of foam. Utilizing three portions, such as portions or sections 45, 46, and 47 for dual-blade unit 41, provides the best combination of even forced distribution and rinsability. A small pre-load is exerted on the outer blade flanges of each single or dual blade unit associated therewith by way of a slight pre-compression of the foam member 42. When shaving, the face exerts forces on the blade edges which are transferred to the foam by the blade flanges. The inner and outer blades contact areas of foam, which are in direct proportion to the linear blade edge for each. By designing the foam in this way, the forces of the face on the blades per linear blade edge has been kept equal for the inner and outer blades. The conical shape, such as conical portion 37 of guard member 36, best seen in Fig. 4 on the bottom of guard member 36, in combination with the resilient means such as foam member 38 upon which the tip of the conical portion 37 of guard member 36 may rest, provides progressive spring rates increasing the safety of the razor in use. As more force is exerted on the guard member 36 by the face, the conical portion 37 is pushed further into the foam member 38, which will offer progressively more resistance. This feature contrasts with the linear spring rates for the inner and outer tubular blades of the dual-blade unit. The foam suspension is preferably designed for the following approximate forces: total deflection - 1 cm (-0.4 inch); outer blade - 37g; inner blade - 20g; and guard - 10g. Referring to Figs. 6 and 7, the top member 24 is illustrated as being generally cylindrical and including seven apertures or holes. A central aperture 25 is formed in the middle of the top member 24. Six like holes, such as hole 26, having a diameter such as about 6.3 mm (0.27 inch), are arranged concentrically around hole 25 at approximately every 60° from the center of the top member 24. The top member 24 is preferably integrally molded from a plastic such as Delrin and has a thickness of approximately 1.75 mm (0.073 inch). The surface or outer face 29 of top member 24 may be polished, textured, or the like. The face surface 29 of the top member 24 has a spherical radius of approximately 7.5 cm (2.95 inches) which has been determined to be optimum in a circular cartridge of an appropriate diameter of 3 cm (1.20 inches). The cartridge includes seven dual-blade units. Best seen in Fig. 7, six keys, such as key 28, are integrally formed on the bottom of top member 24. Each key is aligned with respect to keyways, such as keyway 70, integrally formed on base member 51, best seen in Fig. 9, to provide relative radial alignment between the top member 24 and the base member 51 with the foam member 42 of Fig. 8 trapped between. Detents, such as detent 52 on base member 51, cooperate with slots, such as slot 27 of top member 24 to provide a secure mating of the top member 24 to the base member 51. As best seen in Fig. 9, a plurality of handle attachment detents, such as detent 57, are provided on the base member 51 for coupling with a handle. The handle attachment may be formed as a releasable coupling to the formed cartridge in order to form a razor system having a replaceable cartridge. The base member 51 of Fig. 9 is preferably a molded plastic part made of polystyrene. The base member 51 also positions and aligns the foam member 42 by having a similarly shaped platform portion including a plurality of upstanding ridges, such as ridges 53. The foam member 42 is positioned on the platform 54 between ridges such as ridges 53 which are of a height less than the thickness of the foam member 42. The solid ridges thereby set the deflection limits of the blades. Disposed through the platform 54 of the base member 51 are a plurality of rinse holes, such as rinse hole 55, which align generally under rinse hole 43 of foam member 42, and rinse hole 56 which aligns generally under rinse hole 44 of foam member 42. Referring now to Fig. 10, it is important to note that the shaving system defined herein was designed to give close, comfortable shaves without a high degree of nicks and cuts, regardless of the shaving techniques used. This is accomplished by carefully controlling the relative motions of the shaving components, i.e. the blades and guards. The factors which determine the closeness and safety of the shaving unit can be divided into two categories, i.e. the internal dual-blade unit geometries and the heights of the dual-blade units in the head or cartridge of the razor. With the cartridge at rest, such as shown in Fig. 10, the internal dual-blade unit geometry is at its safest position, while the height of the unit in the head is at its most aggressive position. As shown in Fig. 11, shaving commences, and force is exerted by the skin surface 58 on the shaving elements, the skin bulge produced causes the internal geometries to become more aggressive while the height in the head becomes less aggressive. Referring to Fig. 12, for maximum shaving forces, the internal geometries increase in safety once again, due to the progressive spring rate of the guard member 36, discussed earlier, and the bottoming out of the outwardly facing flanges of the blade members on the ridges, such as ridges 53, described when referring to Fig. 9. Thus, at high forces, safety is maximized. Referring to Fig. 10, relative motion is provided between aperture wall 61 of top member 31 and the outer wall surface 62 of the outer blade; between wall 63 of blade guide 64 and outer wall surface 67 of the inner blade; and between wall 68 of guard guide 69 and the outer wall surface 71 of guard member 36. The clearance between these bearing surfaces must be adequate to allow the desired relative motions. The diameter of each hole, such as hole 26 of Fig. 6, is such that the outer tubular member, in the case of a dual-blade unit, or a single tubular razor blade can retract into the cartridge smoothly during shaving, without allowing excessive lateral movement or the possibility of jamming. Thus, each of the blade units are captured in the cartridge but permit relative motion with respect thereto. While embodiments and applications of the invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many more modifications are possible within the scope of the appended claims. For example, the guard member may be also molded entirely, or in part, through a technique such as two-color molding to including a water-leachable material, such as polyethylene oxide, well known in the art.

Claims: A shaving system of the wet shave type which comprises a ton member (4) with an array of spaced apertures characterized in that each has disposed therein for vertical movement relative thereto a razor blade (5, 12) comprising an upstanding tubular wall (7, 13) surrounding a central aperture, an integral inwardly facing flange (8) at the upper end of the wall sharpened to provide a cutting edge, and an integral outwardly facing flange (9) at the lower end of the wall cooperating with a surface of the top member to control the relative vertical movement between each of said razor blades and the top member in response to shaving forces, the thickness of the top member being less than the height of the upstanding wall of the razor blade. A shaving system according to claim 1, having a guard member (20) disposed in the central aperture of the razor blade, and guide means (15) between the upstanding wall (13) of the razor blade and the guard member permitting relative vertical movement between the guard member and guide means. A shaving system according to claim 2, in which the guard member (20) has a column portion disposed in the aperture of the guide means. A shaving system according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the razor blade (13) and a second similar razor blade (14) concentrically disposed in the central aperture of the first razor blade constitute a razor blade unit having provision for vertical movement of the first and second razor blades relative to one another, a first guide means (15) being disposed in the central aperture of the first razor blade (13) and connected thereto and having a first stop surface (16) cooperating with the outwardly facing flange (17) of the second razor blade (14). A shaving system according to claim 4, in which a second guide means (18) is disposed in the central aperture of the second razor blade (14) and connected thereto, and a guard member (20) disposed within said second guide means, which has a lip portion (23) cooperating with a second stop surface (19) of said second guide member (18), the razor blades and guard member being vertically movable relative to one another in response to shaving forces but controlled by said stop surfaces. A shaving system according to claim 5, in which the first guide (15) means is press-fit into the first razor blade (13) and the second guide means (18) is press-fit into the second razor blade (14). A shaving system according to any one of the preceding claims, including resilient means (38, 42), such as a foam member disposed under the razor blades for biasing the outwardly facing flange thereof. A shaving system according to claim 7, having a guard member (20) with a bottom conical portion (37) to provide progressive spring rates in cooperation with the resilient means (38, 42). A shaving system according to claim 7 or 8, in which the resilient means (38, 42) includes three radially extending sections (45, 46, 47) spaced approximately 120° apart and having the razor blades positioned over said sections. A shaving system according to any one of claims 7-9, in which the resilient means (38, 42) provides a small pre-load on the outwardly extending flanges (9) of the razor blades. A shaving system according to any one of claims 7-10, having a base member (39) under the resilient means (38, 42) and connected to the top member (4). A shaving system according to claim 11, in which the base member (39) includes structure of a height less than the thickness of the resilient means (38, 42) for limiting vertical movement of the razor blades. A shaving system according to claim 11 or 12, in which the base member (39) includes means adapted to provide for attachment to a handle (2). A shaving system according to any one of claims 7-13, having rinse holes (43,55) in the resilient means (38, 42) and/or base member (39). A shaving system according to any one of the preceding claims, having a guard member (20) made with water-leachable material.

Inventors: CERIER, JEFFREY CHARLES, TROTTA, ROBERT ANTHONY
Applicants: THE GILLETTE COMPANY
Application year: 1988
Main classification: B26B21
IPC codes: B26B21