The present invention relates to wet shaving safety razors and more particularly to shaving razor cartridges that have a housing for retaining and/or rigidly fixing one or more blades to the housing.
In general, a cartridge or blade unit of a safety razor has at least one blade with a cutting edge which is moved across the surface of the skin being shaved by means of a handle to which the cartridge is attached. Some shaving razors are provided with a spring biased cartridge that pivots relative to the handle to follow the contours of the skin during shaving. The cartridge may be mounted detachably on the handle to enable the cartridge to be replaced by a fresh cartridge when the blade sharpness has diminished to an unsatisfactory level, or it may be attached permanently to the handle with the intention that the entire razor be discarded when the blade or blades have become dulled. Razor cartridges usually include a guard which contacts the skin in front of the blade(s) and a cap for contacting the skin behind the blade(s) during shaving. The cap and guard may aid in establishing the so-called “shaving geometry”, i.e., the parameters which determine the blade orientation and position relative to the skin during shaving, which in turn have a strong influence on the shaving performance and efficacy of the razor. The cap may comprise a water leachable shaving aid to reduce drag and improve comfort. The guard may be generally rigid, for example formed integrally with a frame or platform structure which provides a support for the blades. Guards may also comprise softer elastomeric materials to improve skin stretching.
Wet shaving razors have evolved over the years to include unitary blade members that do not require a blade to be welded to a bent blade support member. These unitary blade members are typically thinner than the previous bent blade support members. It is often difficult to maintain the unitary blade members within the housing securely during repeated shaving strokes because the unitary blade members tend to move in cap-guard direction during a shaving. Movement of the unitary blade members during a shaving stroke can lead to shaving inefficiency and increased nicks and cuts. Similar problems may also occur with welded blade assemblies (i.e., a bent blade support with a welded blade). Thus, there is a need for a safety shaving razor having a housing to minimize movement of the blades during a shaving stroke.
In one aspect, the invention features, in general a shaving razor cartridge with a housing having a blade platform. A first blade retention member is positioned on the blade platform and has a front wall with a first lateral end, a second lateral end and a blade support region between the first lateral end and the second lateral end of the first blade retention member. A second blade retention member is positioned on the blade platform and has a rear wall facing the front wall of the first blade retention member. The rear wall having a first lateral end. A second blade retention member has a rear wall facing the front wall of the first blade retention member. The rear wall having a first lateral end, a second lateral end and a blade support region between the first lateral end and the second lateral end of the rear wall of the second blade retention member. The first lateral ends are spaced apart by a first vertical distance. The second lateral ends are spaced apart by a second vertical distance. The blade support regions are spaced apart by a third vertical distance that is less than the first vertical distance.
In another aspect, the invention features, in general a shaving razor cartridge with a housing having a blade platform. A first blade retention member is positioned on the blade platform and has a front wall formed by a first wall and a second wall that define an obtuse included angle. A second blade retention member is positioned on the blade platform and has a rear wall facing the front wall of the first blade retention member. The rear wall has a first wall and a second wall that define an obtuse included angle. A blade member is positioned between the front wall and the rear wall. The second walls have a contact length of about 0.2 mm to about 1.0 mm.
Other features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the invention itself, can be more fully understood from the following description of the various embodiments, when read together with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to
One or more blade members 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 may be mounted to the housing 12 between the cap 18 and the guard 14 (i.e., in front of the cap 18 and behind the guard 14). The blade members 22, 24, 26, 28, and 30 may each have a respective cutting edge 32, 34, 36, 38, and 40 generally directed towards the guard 14. A primary blade member 22 may be nearest the guard 14, secondary blade 24 is next nearest the guard 14, and so on until the fifth blade 30 is furthest from the guard 14. Although five blade members 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 are shown, the housing 12 may have more or fewer blades depending on the desired performance and cost of the shaving razor cartridge 10. The guard 14 and the cap 18 may define a shaving plane that is tangent to the guard 14 and the cap 18. The guard 14 may be a solid or segmented bar that extends generally parallel to the blade members 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 and supports the skin during a shaving stroke. In certain embodiments, the housing 12 may comprise a skin-engaging member 15 (e.g., a plurality of fins or other protrusions) in front of the guard 14 for stretching the skin during a shaving stroke. In certain embodiments, the skin-engaging member 15 may be insert injection molded or co-injection molded to the housing 12. However, other known assembly methods may also be used such as adhesives, ultrasonic welding, or mechanical fasteners. The skin engaging member 15 may be molded from a softer material (i.e., lower durometer hardness) than the housing 12, such as an elastomer.
In certain embodiments, the blades 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 may be mounted to the housing 12 and secured by one or more clips 62 and 64 located at opposite lateral sides of the housing 12. The blade members 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 may be fixed in the housing 12 or may be resiliently mounted such that the blade members 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 (e.g., respective cutting edge 32, 34, 36, 38, and 40) are biased against the clips 62 and 64. The clips 62 and 64 may aid in retaining the blades 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 in an up and down direction (i.e., toward and away from a top surface 55 of the housing 12). Each of the clips 62 and 64 extend thru the housing 12 or wrap around the housing 12. The clips 62 and 64 may comprise a metal, such as aluminum or plastic. The clips 62 and 64 may also be interconnected to form a one piece assembly. Other assembly methods known to those skilled in the art may also be used to secure and/or mount the blades members 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 to the housing 12 including, but not limited to, wire wrapping, cold forming, hot staking, insert molding, ultrasonic welding, and adhesives.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The first blade retention member 72 may have a first lateral end wall 108 extending from the first lateral end 86 and away from the first wall 100. The first blade retention member 72 may have a second lateral end wall 110 extending between the blade support region 90 (and second wall 102) and the lateral end 88. The first lateral end wall 108, the second lateral end wall 110 and the first wall 100 may act as relief walls (e.g., they do not contact a blade member) to facilitate loading of the blades between the blade retention members 72 and 74. In addition, the first lateral end wall 108, the second lateral end wall 110 may provide sufficient rigidity to the first blade retention member 72 and thus prevent deflection or distortion which may result in unwanted blade movement.
The second blade retention member 74 may have a first lateral end wall 112 extending between the blade support region 98 (second wall 106) and the first lateral end 94. The second blade retention member 74 may have a second lateral end wall 114 extending from the second lateral end 96 and away from the first wall 104. The first wall 104, the first lateral end wall 112 and the second lateral end wall may act as relief walls (e.g., they do not contact a blade member) that facilitate loading of the blades between the blade retention members 72 and 74. Furthermore, the first lateral end wall 112 and the second lateral end wall 114 may provide sufficient rigidity to the second blade retention member 74 and thus prevent deflection or distortion, which may result in unwanted blade movement. In certain embodiments, the blade retention members 72 and 74 may have a respective width “w1” and “w2” of about 0.75 mm to about 1.25 mm. The width “w1” may be a vertical distance extending from the second wall 102 to a rear wall 105 of the first blade retention member 72. The rear wall 105 may be generally parallel to the second wall 102. The width “w2” may be a vertical distance extending from the second wall 106 to a front wall 115 of the second blade retention member 74. The front wall 115 may be generally parallel to the second wall 106.
The blade retention members 72 and 74 are described in greater detail, referring to
The first lateral end 86 of the front wall 84 may be spaced apart from the first lateral end 94 of the rear wall by a first vertical distance “d1” of about 0.4 mm to about 1.8 mm. The second lateral end 88 of the front wall 84 may be spaced apart from the second lateral end 96 of the rear wall 92 by a second vertical distance “d2” of about 0.4 mm to about 1.8 mm. The blade support region 90 of the front wall 84 may be spaced apart from the blade support region 98 of the rear wall 92 by a third vertical distance “d3” of about 0.07 mm to about 0.38 mm. The third vertical distance may be less than both the first vertical distance and the second vertical distance to securely support the member blade 30 (
Referring to
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In certain embodiments, the front wall 204 of the first blade retention member 200 may be formed by a first wall 220 and the blade support region 210 that define an obtuse included angle “A3”. Similarly, the rear wall 212 of the second blade retention member 202 may be formed by a first wall 222 and the blade support region 218 that define an obtuse included angle “A4”. The obtuse angles “A3” and “A4” may facilitate loading of blade members by providing a larger opening between adjacent blade retention members 200 and 202, as well as, increase the size of the adjacent blade retention members 200 and 202. For example, an acute angle may decrease the size of the blade retention members 200 and 202, thus making them weaker. The first lateral end 206 may be positioned between a first lateral end wall 224 and the first wall 220 (e.g., an intersection between the first lateral end 224 wall and the first wall 220). A second lateral end wall 226 of the first blade retention member 200 may be positioned between the lateral end 208 and the blade support region 210. The first lateral end 214 of the second blade retention member 202 may be positioned between a first lateral end wall 228 and the first wall 222. A second lateral end wall 230 may be positioned between the blade support region 218 and the second lateral end 216.
The blade support regions 210 and 218 may have a contact length of about 0.2 mm to about 2.0 mm and preferably about 0.3 mm to 0.6 mm. The increased contact length may provide for improved blade security and decrease blade movement. The first blade retention member 200 may have a length “L3” that is a horizontal distance from the first lateral end 206 to the second lateral end 208. The second blade retention member 202 may have a length “L4” that is a horizontal distance extending from the first lateral end 214 to the second lateral end 216. The lengths “L3” and “L4” may be about 1 mm to about 3 mm and preferably about 1.5 mm to about 2.5 mm. In certain embodiments, a ratio of the contact length of the blade support regions 210 and 218 to the corresponding length “L3” or “L4” may be about 1:3 to about 1:10 and preferably about 1:3 to about 1:5. The first lateral end walls 224 and 228, the second lateral end walls 226 and 230 and the first walls 220 and 222 may act as relief walls (e.g., they do not contact the blade members) to facilitate loading of the blade members between the respective blade retention members 200 and 202. In addition, the first lateral end walls 206 and 228, the second lateral end wall 226 and 230 may provide sufficient rigidity to the respective first and second blade retention members 200 and 202 and thus prevent deflection or distortion which may result in unwanted blade member movement during shaving.
In certain embodiments, the blade retention members 200 and 202 may have a respective width “w3” and “w4” of about 0.75 mm to about 1.25 mm. The width “w3” may be a vertical distance extending from the blade support region 210 to a rear wall 225 of the first blade retention member 200. The rear wall 225 may be generally parallel to the blade support region 210. The width “w4” may be a vertical distance extending from the blade support region 218 to a front wall 235 of the second blade retention member 74. The front wall 235 may be generally parallel to the the second blade support region 218.
Referring to
One or more of the blade first blade retention members 200b, 200c and second blade retention members 202a, 202b may support more than one blade; however, only one blade member may be positioned between a single pair of blade retention members. For example, the second blade retention member 202a may include both the blade support region 218 to support one blade member and another blade support region (e.g., wall 235) to support another blade member (not shown). One of the blade support regions 218 may contact or support a front side of one blade member and the other blade support region 235 may support a rear side of another blade member. The two blade support regions 218 and 235 positioned on the same blade retention member (e.g., blade retention member 202a) may be offset from each other in both a horizontal and a vertical direction to provide sufficient support and spacing of the blade members. This may be accomplished by orienting the first blade retention members 200a, 200b, 200c and second blade retention members 202a, 202b and 202c in an alternating manner. For example, one of the second blade retention members 202a, 202b, 202c may be positioned between two of the first blade retention members 200a, 200b, 200c on the blade support 232.
Referring to
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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”
Every document cited herein, including any cross referenced or related patent or application and any patent application or patent to which this application claims priority or benefit thereof, is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety unless expressly excluded or otherwise limited. The citation of any document is not an admission that it is prior art with respect to any invention disclosed or claimed herein or that it alone, or in any combination with any other reference or references, teaches, suggests or discloses any such invention. Further, 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.
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20090193659 | Park | Aug 2009 | A1 |
20090293281 | Bruno | Dec 2009 | A1 |
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Number | Date | Country |
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102216038 | Oct 2011 | CN |
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2018507737 | Mar 2018 | JP |
Entry |
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International Search Report PCT/US2019/023064 dated Mar. 20, 2019, 12 pages. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20190299457 A1 | Oct 2019 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62650375 | Mar 2018 | US |