Patent ID: 8607667

Claim:
A method of manufacturing razor blades from a strip material having upper and lower surfaces, a maximum thickness, and lengthwise-extending edge regions that are converted to blade edges during the method, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing the strip material; (b) contacting the upper and lower surfaces of the strip of material with a first set of rollers to reduce the maximum thickness of the strip material by at least 10% and to roll down the material at locations to provide beveled surfaces in the upper and lower surfaces at the lengthwise extending edge regions of the strip material, wherein the beveled surfaces have a thickness which is less than the maximum thickness; (c) contacting the upper and lower surfaces of the strip of material with a second set of rollers to reduce the maximum thickness of the strip material by an additional amount and to offset the material at locations with the beveled surfaces at the lengthwise extending edge regions placed in between the offsets; (d) contacting the upper and lower surfaces of the strip material with a third set of rollers to reduce the maximum thickness of the strip material by an additional amount and to flatten the offsets and provide weakened regions; (e) separating the strip material lengthwise between the beveled surfaces and the weakened regions; and (f) sharpening the beveled surfaces to provide blade edges.