Patent Application
20240238998
The present invention relates to a shaving apparatus having a self-cleaning feature.
A razor is an essential tool of self-grooming. Razors are predominantly used to remove unwanted hair from a user's face or other parts of the body. A manual razor consists of at least one blade that is dragged along the surface of the skin to cut away surface hair.
There are primarily two types of razors a safety razor and a straight razor. These come in many sizes and shapes but retain their basic features. A safety razor is comprised of a holding handle having head at one end. The shaving head is perpendicular to the end of the handle and contains at least one razor blade. The razor blade protrudes just far enough above the surface of the shaving head to expose the sharp edge of the blade to the skin, but not far enough to cut the skin. A straight razor contains the shaving head that is in the straight line with the shaving handle, and all or majority of the blade is exposed. Thus, a straight razor may produce a cleaner shave than a safety razor, with the tradeoff that an awkward stoke may lead to a cut or a more serious injury.
Presently both types of razors accumulate shavings during regular operation, with shavings usually sticking to or otherwise remaining on the surface of the blade. These must be regularly rinsed off from a water source or wiped with a rag or a napkin to avoid unduly dulling the blade and decreasing the effectiveness of the razor. A user lacking either water or a rag, will be forced to blow shavings off or brush them off with a hand. Either method is not very effective, with the latter exposing a hand to the risk of a serious injury. Therefore, a cleaning mechanism that is integrated with the razor would be a highly desirable feature.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and non-obvious razor having a cleaning capability.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a razor device wherein a cleaning element is integrated with a blade housing.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a straight razor with integrated cleaning capability that does not obstruct or interfere with normal operation of the razor.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a safe razor with integrated cleaning capability that does not obstruct or interfere with normal operation of the razor.
The present application discloses a manual razor with self-cleaning capabilities having a handle. The hand having a blade housing at its free end. The blade housing having a razor blade held that firmly, but removable held within the blade housing. The blade housing may further contain a spring element that is integrated into the blade housing. The spring element may be adjacent to said blade, with the first end of the spring element connected to the blade housing and the second end of the spring element connected to the cleaning element. The cleaning element is snugly coupled with the cutting area of the blade, preferably encircling both sides of the cutting area, as well as the edge of the blade. The cleaning element is configured to be displaced or to slide forward and back along the length of the blade in an attempt to clear hair bristles and other shaving debris from the surface of the cutting area.
The spring element, when at rest, is configured to keep the cleaning element to one side of the blade without obstructing the cutting area's surface. The spring element may be easily extended or compressed, depending on whether the spring is an extension or compression spring, respectively, causing the cleaning element to be slid towards the opposite end of the blade housing, sweeping away loose hairs and other shavings in the process. Once the cleaning element is released, the spring tension is intended to return the spring element back to its position of rest at one end of the blade housing.
The cleaning element is connected to a trigger handle that is handled by a user of the razor when activating the cleaning element during the cleaning action of the blade. The trigger handle may connect to the cleaning element through a slot in the blade housing. There may be at least one additional slot in the blade housing having a second trigger handle, which is intended to provide access to the cleaning element from both sides of the razor, at least when describing a straight razor.
The disclosed straight razor may further disclose a casing that may be attached to the first end of the handle through a pivot.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Identical elements in the various figures are identified with the same reference numerals.
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiment of the present invention. Such embodiments are provided by way of explanation of the present invention, which is not intended to be limited thereto. In fact, those of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate upon reading the present specification and viewing the present drawings that various modifications and variations can be made thereto.
Turning now descriptively to the drawings, and in particular to
The razor 10 is shown with a casing 50 that is connected at the first end 23 of the handle 20 with a pivot 54. A hollow slot 52 conceals the blade 36 and most of the blade housing 40, when the razor 10 is not in use.
The trigger handle 34 is visible through a slot 32. The Trigger handle 32 connects through the slot 32 to either the spring 33 or to the cleaning element 30. The spring 33 shown in
Shown in
The cleaning element 30 may be controlled by a user from both sides of the razor 10. Therefore, shown in
Also shown in
The cleaning element 30 preferably encircles the blade 36 on three sides and is comprised of a bottom portion 43 and two parallel side portions 45, each in a snug fit with the cutting area 39, as well as the edge 38. As shown in
The safety razor 70 is shown in greater detail on
The cleaning element 30 is within a snug association with the blade 35. The cleaning element 30 is preferably connected to a spring 33, which immobilizes the cleaning element 30 at one side of the blade housing during stowage or shaving operations. The free end of the spring 33 is then mounted against a side frame component 78, which traverses the length of the side opening 67. A trigger handle 72 connects to the cleaning element outside of the blade hosing 40 using a lever 74, or through a slot in the perimeter frame 66 using a lever 76.
The cleaning element 30 shown if
Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of illustration and that numerous changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention. While various inventive aspects, concepts and features of the inventions may be described and illustrated herein as embodied in combination in the exemplary embodiments, these various aspects, concepts and features may be used in many alternative embodiments, either individually or in various combinations and sub-combinations thereof. Unless expressly excluded herein all such combinations and sub-combinations are intended to be within the scope of the present inventions. Still further, while various alternative embodiments as to the various aspects, concepts and features of the inventions—such as alternative materials, structures, configurations, methods, devices and components, alternatives as to form, fit and function, and so on—may be described herein, such descriptions are not intended to be a complete or exhaustive list of available alternative embodiments, whether presently known or later developed. Those skilled in the art may readily adopt one or more of the inventive aspects, concepts or features into additional embodiments and uses within the scope of the present inventions even if such embodiments are not expressly disclosed herein. Additionally, even though some features, concepts or aspects of the inventions may be described herein as being a preferred arrangement or method, such description is not intended to suggest that such feature is required or necessary unless expressly so stated. Still further, exemplary or representative values and ranges may be included to assist in understanding the present disclosure, however, such values and ranges are not to be construed in a limiting sense and are intended to be critical values or ranges only if so expressly stated. Parameters identified as “approximate” or “about” a specified value are intended to include both the specified value and values within 10% of the specified value, unless expressly stated otherwise. Further, it is to be understood that the drawings accompanying the present disclosure may, but need not, be to scale, and therefore may be understood as teaching various ratios and proportions evident in the drawings. Moreover, while various aspects, features and concepts may be expressly identified herein as being inventive or forming part of an invention, such identification is not intended to be exclusive, but rather there may be inventive aspects, concepts and features that are fully described herein without being expressly identified as such or as part of a specific invention, the inventions instead being set forth in the appended claims, as currently written or as amended or added in the future. Descriptions of exemplary methods or processes are not limited to inclusion of all steps as being required in all cases, nor is the order that the steps are presented to be construed as required or necessary unless expressly so stated.
