Patent Publication Number: US-4920644-A

Title: Disposable straight razor and/or blade holder therefor

Description:
THE FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a straight razor of the kind used by barbers to shave their customers. 
     THE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     By &#34;straight razor&#34; we mean a razor blade-carrying device comprising a handle portion, a blade holder portion one end of which is pivotally attached adjacent to one end of the handle and a razor blade which is held by or attached to the blade holder by a variety of means. The handle may have a blade-receiving recess located so that the razor blade, when not in use, may be completely covered by folding the blade holder toward the handle protecting persons and property from being inadvertently cut. 
     The straight razor is to be distinguished form a common shaving razor which is used by an individual to shave himself which comprises a blade holder with a handle and separately sold razor blades which are inserted in or mounted on the blade holder. Recently a very advantageous modification of this common shaving razor has been marketed in which the blade holder, the handle and the razor blade are a single unit which is made of plastic with the exception of the razor blade. This shaving razor is disposable and cheap. 
     The straight razor in contrast to the common shaving razor is used primarily by barbers in barber shops to remove side burns and hair from necks to obtain a very close shave. The barber often sharpens the blade immediately before using it on a particular customer. This type of razor then is used on a number of different individuals. Disadvantageously it either transfers germs, tissue and blood residue from individual to individual or it must be carefully cleaned between uses. This is especially a problem now because of the current concern with various infectious blood diseases. When the straight razor has a guard and a plurality of other parts this is even more difficult. 
     Straight razors of the type described above date back to a time before the turn of the century. 
     A straight razor having a separate blade holder for a razor blade in which the razor blade engages slidably is described in U.S. Pat. No. 871,037. Various straight razors with guards for the blade have been described including ones in U.S. Pat. Nos. 854,540; 1,262,073; 1,088,183; 933,317; and 3,646,672. Often however these guards contribute additional parts to he razor which provide more locations for dirt and germs to collect making the straight razor more difficult to clean. 
     It is an object of this invention to provide an improved straight razor which is entirely or in part inexpensive and disposable. 
     It is also an object of the present invention to provide an improved straight razor which eliminates the time required to clean it between customers and/or does not communicate germs and/or dirt between customers in a barber shop. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved straight razor which may be disposed easily but, when disposed, does not cause injury. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to the present invention the straight razor has a handle portion and a pivotable blade holder with a razor blade pivotally attached to the handle portion. The handle portion and the blade holder are made of economical easily used materials so that the straight razor is at least partially disposable. In one embodiment the blade holder is pivotally permanently mounted on a connecting pin joining two opposing parallel handle panels of the handle and the entire straight razor is disposable, while in another embodiment the shank portion of the blade holder has a recess in which the connecting pin is engageable so that only the blade holder and razor blade are disposable. 
     The blade holder and the handle may be made of any of a variety of inexpensive materials such as plastic materials, metal and wood. 
     The blade holder may comprise a holder portion with a central longitudinal slot in which the razor blade is slidably mounted and a connected shank portion with a rearward-directed finger for manipulation. The razor blade may be rigidly attached to the holder portion by a plurality of studs and/or bonding agents. Alternatively it can be tensionally held in a holder portion with deformable side walls and pressing lips which has a longitudinal slot which is laterally smaller than the razor blade. Then the heel of the blade may rest on any of a number of projections on the interior of the side walls. 
     The handle portion may comprise two similarly shaped substantially parallel handle panels attached to each other with connecting pins one of which is a pivot for the blade holder. The upper edges of the handle panels may be inwardly directed and may be deformable so that they can engage in longitudinal grooves in opposite sides of the holder portion. In this case then, when the straight razor is thrown away, the blade holder can be pressed toward the handle until the blade holder is locked in the handle with the upper edges of the handle panels engaged in the longitudinal grooves. Individuals handling the disposed straight razor are thus protected from injury. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
     FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of one embodiment of a disposable straight razor according to the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is top plan view of the disposable straight razor shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a partially perspective, partially cross sectional view of the straight razor of FIG. 1 showing structural details in the vicinity of the blade. 
     FIG. 4 is a partially perspective, partially cross sectional view of the straight razor of FIG. 1 similar to FIG. 3. 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing details of the straight razor of FIG. 1 in the vicinity of the razor blade. 
     FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of a straight razor showing details of attachment of the razor blade taken along the section line 6--6. 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a straight razor according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway side view of the rear portion of the straight razor of FIG. 7 showing how the shank of the blade holder is attached to the handle. 
     FIG. 9 is a rear elevational view of the straight razor of FIG. 7 showing further details. 
     FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the blade holder for the razor blade used in the straight razor of FIG. 7. 
     FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view of the blade holder and razor blade of FIG. 10 taken along the section line 11--11. 
     FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing how the razor blade is held in the blade holder. 
     FIG. 13 is a side elevational view of the razor blade mounted in the blade holder. 
     FIG. 14 is a top plan view of a straight razor according to our invention showing structural details of the handle panels. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     One embodiment of a disposable straight razor according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 6. FIGS. 7 to 9 show a variant, i.e. another embodiment, in which the blade holder and razor blade but not the handle are disposable. FIGS. 10 to 13 show details of construction of the blade holder and razor blade. 
     The completely disposable razor blade 10 of FIGS. 1 to 6 comprises a handle 12 having two handle panels 14 of a similar longitudinally-extended shape attached together with connecting pins 16 adjacent opposite ends of the handle 12, a blade holder 18 having a holder portion 20 and a shank portion 22 with a rearward-directed finger 24 for opening and closing the straight razor and a razor blade 26 rigidly attached by studs 28 in the holder portion 20. The handle panels 14, the holder portion 20 and the shank portion 22 must be made of an inexpensive deformable material such as plastic or wood so that disposal of the razor is economical after its use. The handle connecting pins 16 are made of a low cost easily obtainable material such as steel or iron. 
     The handle panels 14 have upper and lower inwardly-directed longitudinal edges 30&#39;,30 and are deformable. The opposing upper longitudinal edges 30&#39; and lower longitudinal edges 30 are parallel with each other. The razor blade 26 is held in a longitudinal slot 32 in the center of the approximately triangular cross-sectioned holder portion 20. The top portion of the blade holder 18 has twin parallel longitudinally extending grooves 34 adjacent the top of the blade holder 18. The holder portion 20 is rigidly attached to the shank portion 22. 
     As shown in FIG. 6 the razor blade 26 is held in the longitudinal slot by the studs 28 which are engaged in the material of the holder portion 20. The handle connecting pins 16 connect the handle panels 14 rigidly to each other similarly but the shank portion 22 which passes through the opposing handle panels is pivotally mounted on the rear connecting pin 16 which passes through a hole in it. 
     In operation the finger may be used to manipulate the straight razor open or closed. FIG. 3 and 4 show the disposable straight razor being closed. The blade holder 18 is pivoted on the rear connecting pin 16 and the holder portion 20 is pressed between the handle panels 14. This may be continued until the upper inwardly-directed edges 30&#39; are outwardly deformed and engage in the opposing parallel grooves 34. Then the straight razor 10 is locked with the handle completely covering the razor blade as shown in FIG. 4 and may be disposed after it is used on a single customer without threatening to injure because of an exposed blade. 
     Another embodiment of the straight razor 10 is shown in FIGS. 7 to 10. The same economical materials and general construction methods are used. Similar parts are numbered with the same referenced number. The primary difference between this and the preceding embodiment is the manner in which the shank portion is pivotally connected to the handle. Here the shank portion 22 has a recess 38 in the edge which is nearly circular in cross section (about 90 degrees of arc are removed from the circle). The shank portion 22 is made of a deformable plastic material. Thus the recess 38 is easily engaged on the connecting pin 16 which is of a diameter such that the shank portion 22 will not readily disconnect or fall off the connecting pin 16 after the connecting pin has been snapped into the recess by deforming the edges of the recess. Then the razor blade 26 in the blade holder 18 may be pivoted and manipulated without falling from the handle. However the shank portion 20 may be easily removed from the connecting pin 16 so that the blade holder 18 and the razor blade 26 may be disposed after use. In this embodiment then the handle need not be disposed but only the razor blade 26 and the blade holder 18. 
     FIGS. 10 to 13 show an alternative way of holding the razor blade 26 in the holder portion 20. In this embodiment the longitudinal slot 34 has projections 42 placed at varying intervals along its interior wall. The heel 48 of the razor blade 26 then rests on these projections 42 while it is held under tension by the side walls 44 of the holder portion 20 which must be deformed for insertion of the razor blade 26 in the slot 34. The razor blade 26 is then held primarily by the pressing lips 46. 
     There are a variety of ways to maintain the handle panel spacing at the end of the straight razor 10 at which the shank portion 22 is pivotally attached where that spacing is maintained by the intervening shank portion 22. A washer or spacer may be used as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. An alternative is shown in FIG. 16. In this case the handle panels 16 are thickened at the end of the handle to which the shank portion of the blade holder is not pivotally attached. In this way the spacing between the handle panels is maintained at this end of the handle as well. 
     LIST OF REFERENCE PARTS 
     10 straight razor(the invention) 
     12 handle 
     14 handle panel 
     16 connecting pin 
     18 blade holder 
     20 holder portion 
     22 shank portion 
     24 rearward-directed finger 
     26 razor blade 
     28 studs 
     30 lower inwardly-directed edges(on handle panel) 
     30&#39; upper inwardly-directed edges 
     32 longitudinal slot 
     34 longitudinally-extending groove 
     38 recess(in shank portion) 
     42 projections 
     44 side wall 
     46 pressing lip 
     48 heel 
     It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other devices differing from the type of device described above. 
     The invention is not intended to be limited to the details provided above and it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions, and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. 
     Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of the prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.