Patent Application
20240123642
This invention relates to razors and more particularly to razor cartridges and even more particularly to aspects of the razor blades in the razor cartridges.
In shaving, it is desirable to achieve a close shave, while also providing good shaving comfort. Commercially available razors and razor cartridges provide razor cartridges which have razor blades with sharp cutting edges. The razor blades within one razor cartridge of each razor offering are generally identical. From the vantage point of a target user, consumer, or shopper, the razor blades in any razor cartridge, appear identical (e.g., a gray or silver color of steel). Further, razor blades of different manufacturers manufactured differently also are generally indistinguishable. This confuses the consumer as to the benefits or attributes of a particular razor offering over another, and in particular, differences in razor blade type. It also does not allow a manufacturer or retailer the ability to distinguish the blades as for instance, the color of the blades in each razor cartridge is identical (e.g., a silver color of steel). Thus, a disadvantage of these commercially available products is that there is no correspondence of a type of razor blade or razor cartridge to a target user and there is no visible or direct communication of the benefit of an attribute or appearance of a type of razor blade or razor cartridge provided to a target user.
It is desirable to provide a razor having a correlation or correspondence between a razor blade in a razor cartridge or a type of razor cartridge and a target user.
It is desirable to provide a razor cartridge having a plurality of razor blades contained therein where attributes of the razor blade are communicated to a target user by a visible color.
The present invention is directed to a razor cartridge having a plurality of razor blades, a first blade of the plurality of razor blades including a first color and a second blade of the plurality of razor blades including a second color, wherein the first color and the second color are different colors. The first color is disposed on a blade body of the first blade, on a cutting edge of the first blade, or a combination thereof. The second color is disposed on a blade body of the second blade, on a cutting edge of the second blade, or a combination thereof. The first color and the second color are comprised of any colors. The first and second colors are distinguishable by wavelength. The first color corresponds to a wavelength between 380 nanometers and 740 nanometers. The second color corresponds to a wavelength between 380 nanometers and 740 nanometers. A third blade has a third color disposed on a body of the third blade, on a cutting edge of the third blade, or a combination thereof. The third color is different than the first color, different than the second color, or different than both the first and the second colors. The third color is the same color as the first color or the same color as the second color. A fourth and fifth blade may be present comprising a fourth and fifth color.
In a preferred embodiment, the first color corresponds to an attribute of the first blade and wherein the second color represents an attribute of the second blade. The attribute of the first blade is different than the attribute of the second blade.
The attributes of the first blade and the second blade are comprised of one or more of blade sharpness, blade efficiency, blade safety, blade profile, blade tip size, blade coating material, blade substrate material, thickness of coating, number of coating layers, blade position, blade exposure, blade surface, blade cut force, blade angle, blade degradability, and blade processing conditions.
At least one of the first or the second colors is green corresponding to an increased blade degradability of the first or the second blade or the first or the second blade includes sustainable, recyclable or compostable materials. At least one of the first or the second colors is blue corresponding to the blade cut force.
In an alternate embodiment, the first blade attribute determines a blade position of the first blade in the razor cartridge and the second blade attribute determines a blade position of the second blade in the razor cartridge.
The first blade attribute includes the blade cut force being lower than the second blade attribute.
In another embodiment, at least one of the first or the second colors correspond to a target user of the razor cartridge. The target users comprise one or more of male, female, skin color, skin type, shave-related sensitivity, LGBTQ, country affiliation, geographic affiliation, sport, sporting event, team affiliation, group affiliation, or school affiliation.
The colors of the first and second blades in the razor cartridge are includes blue, gold, silver, bronze, red, pink, green, violet/purple, white, black, brown, orange, yellow, wavelengths thereof, pantones thereof, or any combination thereof.
The first or the second color is a blue color corresponding to the target user identifying as a male. The first or the second color is cyan, pink, red, orange, purple or any combination thereof, corresponding to the target user identifying as a female. The first or the second color is brown or black corresponding to the target user having a brown or black skin color. The first or the second color is green or turquoise corresponding to the target user having sensitive skin or irritation prone skin. A third blade having a third color, the same or different than the first or the second colors is provided.
Still further, the blade colors are visible to human eyes and the blade colors fall within wavelengths of a color spectrum of visible light. Each blade of the plurality of blades in the razor cartridge is a different color.
Each of the blades have colors of a rainbow including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or violet.
In another embodiment, a razor cartridge including a plurality of blades, a first blade of the plurality of blades having a change in color from any of remaining blades in the cartridge.
In another embodiment, a razor cartridge including at least one pair of razor blades having dissimilar colors is provided.
In another embodiment, a razor cartridge including a plurality of blades, at least one of the plurality of blades including a color, the color corresponding to a target user of the razor cartridge or an attribute of the razor blade or a combination of both is provided. The color is comprised of one or more color of a visible color spectrum. The color is blue, gold, bronze, red, pink, green, violet/purple, white, black, brown, orange, yellow, pantones thereof, or any combination thereof. The color is a blue color corresponding to the target user being a male or identifying as a male. The color is pink, red, orange, purple or any combination thereof, corresponding to the target user being a female or identifying as a female. The color is brown or black corresponding to the target user having a brown or black skin color. The color is cyan or green corresponding to the target user having sensitive skin or irritation prone skin. The color is cyan or green corresponding to a razor cartridge that is includes sustainable, recyclable, or compostable materials. Each of the blades in the razor cartridge is the same color. Each of the blades in the razor cartridge is a different color.
The color is visible to the target user or consumer. The color is disposed on a blade body of the blade, on a cutting edge of the blade, or a combination thereof.
In another embodiment, a razor cartridge including a plurality of razor blades and a plurality of colors disposed on the plurality of razor blades. The plurality of colors correspond to one or more attributes of a blade, one or more attributes of the razor cartridge, a target user, or combinations thereof.
In another embodiment, a razor cartridge including one or more blades, at least one of the one or more blades including a color, the color corresponding to one or more attributes of the at least one blade. One or more attributes comprise a blade profile of at least one of the one or more blades, a blade coating thickness of at least one of the one or more blades, a blade material of at least one of the one or more blades, or any combination thereof.
Still further, a razor cartridge including one or more colored blades, each disposed in a blade position, a color of the colored blades determining the blade position is provided in the present invention.
In yet another embodiment, a razor cartridge including a plurality of razor blades, at least one of the plurality of blades including a color visible to a shopper is provided in the present invention. A blue color corresponds to a male product, a pink or red color corresponds to a female product, a gray color corresponds to a skin safe razor blade. The color is comprised within a coating on the blades or within a substrate of the blades.
In still yet another embodiment, there is provided one or more razors, the razors each having one or more blades, at least one of the one or more blades of the one or more razors having a color visible to a consumer from within the package.
The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter that is regarded as the present invention, it is believed that the invention will be more fully understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
In the present invention, a razor cartridge having a cap, guard and two or more parallel sharpened blades, is provided. The term “first blade” refers to a blade in the razor cartridge comprising a first color. Likewise, term “second blade” refers to a blade in the razor cartridge comprising a second color. The first color is desirably a different color than the second color. Any permutations of blades and colors are contemplated in the present invention.
The present invention contemplates that at least one of the first color or the second color are visible to a target user and can correspond to a particular target user. A “target user” is a person who is the intended user or consumer of the product, in this case, the razor or the razor cartridge. A target user of the present invention may also be the shopper in a physical retail store looking at the shelf of products or an online retail storefront looking at listings of products. While it may occur that a shopper is not the target user but is shopping for a target user, such as the case where a wife is purchasing a razor for her husband, the present invention contemplates that the color of the blade corresponds to the target user.
A target user of the present invention can be defined as anyone or a group of users that the razor or razor cartridge is or can be marketed to. For instance, target users of the present invention include, but are not limited to, one or more of the following: male, female, skin color (e.g., brown), skin type (e.g., aged), shave-related sensitivity (e.g., irritation-prone, in-grown hair propensity), LGBTQ, country affiliation (e.g., USA), geographic affiliation, sport (e.g., basketball), sporting event (e.g., Olympics, World Cup, UEFA cup, NASCAR, Formula 1, team affiliation (e.g., Boston Red Sox), group affiliation (e.g., workplace, non-profit), school affiliation (e.g., Harvard University).
Exemplary razor blade colors for either the first color or the second color and corresponding target users are indicated below in TABLE 1.
The present invention also contemplates that the first color and the second color correspond to a first attribute of a first blade and a second attribute of a second blade, respectively. Preferably, the first attribute is different than the second attribute.
An attribute of a razor blade can be defined as a property or characteristic of the razor blade, such as a performance characteristic or a benefit that the razor blade provides during or after shaving. Attributes of the razor blades contemplated by the present invention include but are not limited to, blade sharpness (e.g., sharp tip), blade efficiency (e.g., fast shave) blade safety (e.g., comfort), blade profile (e.g., thin, wide), blade tip size (e.g., wide), blade coating material (e.g., hard coating), blade substrate material (e.g., steel), thickness of coating (e.g., extra thick), number of coating layers (e.g., 2, 3, 4), blade position (e.g., closer to guard, closer to cap, slots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.), blade exposure (e.g., greater than zero), blade surface (e.g., smooth, uniform, discontinuous), blade cut force (e.g., low cut force, high cut force), blade angle (e.g., angle greater than 20 degrees), blade degradability (e.g., compostable, sustainable) and blade processing conditions (e.g., deposition, manufacturing, bent blade, supported blade).
While stainless-steel is the desired substrate of the razor blade of the present invention, as it is the common substrate for razor blades, blade substrates comprised of another metal or metals, ceramic, composite, plastic, glass, or any combination thereof, are also contemplated in the present invention. One substrate material which may facilitate producing an appropriately sharpened edge of the present invention is a martensitic stainless-steel with smaller more finely distributed carbides. This type of steel may have similar overall carbon weight percent. A fine carbide substrate provides for a harder and more brittle after-hardening substrates, and enables the making of a thinner, stronger edge. An example of such a substrate material is a martensitic stainless-steel with a finer average carbide size with a carbide density of 90, 100, 200, 300, 400 carbides per 100 square micrometers, to 600, 800, 1000 carbides or more per 100 square micrometers as determined by Scanning Electron Microscopy, SEM 4000× or higher.
Exemplary razor blade colors (e.g., for either the first color or the second color) and corresponding exemplary attributes are indicated in TABLE 2 of the present invention.
In the present invention, at least a portion of a razor blade comprises at least one color. Desirably, a first portion of a first razor blade comprises a first color and a second portion of a second razor blade comprises a second color. The color is defined as any color comprised in the visible spectrum. The “visible spectrum,” as used herein, is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelengths is called visible light or simply light. A typical human eye will respond to wavelengths from about 380 to 740 nanometers. Any colors in the visible spectrum 60 shown in
Determining color on a razor blade can be achieved by various techniques. One technique for determining color on a razor blade of the present invention comprises measuring the wavelength. The wavelength can be measured using a spectrophotometer. A spectrophotometer is an instrument that measures transmission or apparent reflectance of visible light as a function of wavelength, permitting accurate analysis of color or accurate comparison of luminous intensities of two sources or specific wavelengths.
The resultant wavelength value provided by a spectrophotometer analyzing a color of a razor blade is within the range of the wavelengths of the visible spectrum. Generally, the wavelength values for colors in the visible spectrum range from about 380 nanometers to about 740 nanometers. It should be noted that a color can be comprised of two or more colors. A color can be comprised of two or more wavelength spectrum ranges or by combinations or overlapping areas of wavelength spectrum ranges. For instance, a gold color may be formed by a combination of the wavelengths for red and yellow or a green color may be formed by a combination of yellow and blue. A dominant wavelength, where one light source consists of multiple wavelength spectrums from the light source rather than one single wavelength, can also assist in determining color of a razor blade in the present invention.
Another technique of the present invention for determining color on a razor blade comprises matching or equating the color on the razor blade with that of one from a precise color standard such as that of the proprietary numbering and pigment value system of Pantone LLC. The system of Pantone LLC provides a standard with thousands of colors where each color corresponds to a unique code or number.
The term “about” as used herein generally signifies approximately or around. When a range of numerals are given, e.g., “about 4 to about 40” is disclosed herein, the present invention contemplates +/−10 percent of each number. Thus, for clarity, if a reference is described as being “about 4 to about 40” signifies the range of “3.6 to 44” as being encompassed by the present invention since the range of 3.6 to 4.4 represents +/−10 percent of 4 and the range of 36 to 44 represents +/−10 percent of 40.
Referring to
To represent the color differences of the blades of the present invention in the figures herein, different shading, hatching or other lines are utilized to indicate that colors are different. For instance, the shading of first color 14a on first blade 14 is different than the hatching pattern of second color 16a on second blade 16. First color 14a is represented by shading of a blue color in
The present invention as noted above, contemplates that the first color can correspond to a first attribute of the first blade and that the second color can correspond to a second attribute of the second blade, the second attribute a different attribute than that of the first attribute of the first blade.
Where a razor has multiple blades, as in
A cutter force is measured by the wool felt cutter test, which measures the cutter forces of the blade by measuring the force required by each blade to cut through wool felt. The cutter force of each blade is determined by measuring the force required by each blade to cut through wool felt. Each blade is run through the wool felt cutter 5 times and the force of each cut is measured on a recorder. The lowest of 5 cuts is defined as the cutter force.
Referring to
As depicted in
It should be noted that while the colors are different in
In another embodiment of the present invention, the first blade 14 has a different attribute than the second blade 16. For instance, the first blade 14 has higher cutter forces than the second blade 16. The first blade 14 may have the same or different attributes than the third blade 15. In the present invention, a first color of the first blade can be blue, and the second color may be any other color (e.g., silver or green) indicating the different attributes of the blades. Or alternately, if the blades are comprised of recyclable materials, the first color may be aqua or green to indicate that the razor can biodegrade or is recyclable and the second blade may be a white color to provide a contrasting color to the green. These colors are visible to a human eye.
As depicted in
The differences in color can distinguish the blade attributes. For instance, the difference between the first and second blade colors as compared to the third blades' color can correspond to these blade pairs having different attributes. The first blade 14 and the second blade 16, being the same color, can represent that these blades have the attribute of blade comfort while the third blades' color can comprise the attribute of blade tip size.
The present invention contemplates that while the blades with different colors have some of the same attributes, there is at least one attribute that is different between the different colored blades.
As depicted in
It is also contemplated that one of the blades in the razor cartridge will not have a color disposed thereon. A blade with no color will be considered to have a steel gray color, the color of blade steel after processing.
For instance, if in
While razor cartridges have been shown with two, three, four and five blades, razor cartridges having six or more blades may also be desirable.
Preferably, the blades are arranged within the razor cartridge such that they have a progressive geometry. An example of razor cartridges with blades arranged to have a progressive geometry is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,777, incorporated herein by reference.
In addition, the present invention contemplates that the first color and the second color can correspond to both a target user and an attribute. For instance, a blue colored blade 14a, 15a, 15b, 15c may correspond to both a male target user and have the attribute of low coating thickness or other attributes such as high cutter force. The embodiments of
The human eye of the target user, which in this illustration appears as a shopper, can see the colors 14a, 15a, 15b, 15c 16a, of the blades 14, 15′, 15″, 15′″, and 16 respectively of razor cartridges 70 in the razor packages 98 in the system 94. By seeing the colors of the blades, the target user/shopper 92 is not confused by the razor product offerings and has knowledge of what to purchase based on the knowledge of the colors, which colors are directed to a target user 92 or correspond to an attribute of the razor blade or razor cartridge.
The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood as being strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead, unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean both the recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding that value. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to mean “about 40 mm.”
All documents cited in the Detailed Description of the Invention are, in relevant part, incorporated herein by reference; the citation of any document is not to be construed as an admission that it is prior art with respect to the present invention. To the extent that any meaning or definition of a term in this document conflicts with any meaning or definition of the same term in a document incorporated by reference, the meaning or definition assigned to that term in this document shall govern.
While particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of this invention.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62881202 | Jul 2019 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 16942955 | Jul 2020 | US |
| Child | 18533340 | US |
