To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, John William Murphy, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Cork, Ireland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Razor-Stropping Devices, of which the following is a specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved razor-stropping device by means of which a razor may be conveniently stropped or sharpened whenever necessary and which is also effective in operation and simple in construction; and with these and other objects in view the invention consists in a razor-stroping device constructed as hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in whi—c

Figure 1 is a side view of my improved razor-stropping device looking in the direction of the arrow x of Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a front view thereof; Fig. 3, a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 a section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

In the practice of my invention I provide a frame comprising a horizontal top member a and two depending side members a² and a³, and passing horizontally through the side members a² and a³ and in the top portion thereof is a main shaft b, to the opposite ends of which are secured arms which project forwardly and backwardly and are curved upwardly and in which are mounted rollers b³. The arms b² in the form of construction shown at each side of the machine are formed integrally, and connected with the central portion of one of said arms at the left-hand side of the machine in the form of construction shown is a segmental gear c, the teeth of which are directed downwardly, and in the form of construction shown the shaft b also projects through said segmental gear, and the arms b², at each end of the shaft b, are rigidly secured to said shaft.

The frame of the machine, or the side members a² and a³ thereof, are provided below the shaft b with laterally-directed members a⁴, which support parallel supplemental shafts d, on the outer ends of which are mounted depending supplemental arms d², the lower ends of which extend downwardly and are curved inwardly, and these arms are provided at their lower ends and at the front and back of the device with parallel shafts d³ and laterally thereof with parallel shafts d⁴. The side a² of the frame in the form of construction shown is also provided below the members a⁴ with a short gear-shaft ^e, which passes therethrough and to the outer end of which is secured a segmental gear e², which meshes with the segmental gear c, and connected with the inner end of the shaft e by a universal joint e³ is an auxiliary shaft f, one end of which is mounted in the lower end of the side a³ of the frame, as shown at f² in Fig. 2, and the side a of the frame is longer than the side a², and the shaft f is thus supported in a downwardly-inclined position, said position ranging downwardly from the side a² of the frame and transversely of said frame. Inclosing the shaft f and ranging concentrically thereof is a tubular spring-casing g, which is connected with said shaft by screws g², and said screws are provided between the shaft and the casing g with collars g³, one of which is shown in full lines in Fig. 4 and both of which are shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and these collars hold the tubular spring-casing in proper relative position with reference to the shaft f, and said casing g is slotted or open longitudinally of the bottom thereof, as shown at g⁴.

Arranged within the tubular spring-casing g are longitudinal spring-jaws h, between which the shaft f passes, and these jaws are provided with depending members h², which pass through the slot or opening g⁴ in the bottom of the casing g and are adapted to grasp and hold the back of a razor-blade ⁱ, as shown in Fig. 3, and the jaws h are provided with handle members h³, which pass upwardly through slots g⁵ in the casing g and which are separated by web g⁶, which forms a part of said casing g.

I also provide a razor strop or strap j, which passes over the rollers b³, which are supported by the arms b² and the separate ends of which are then passed downwardly on the inner sides of the shafts d and between the shafts d³ and d⁴ in the lower ends of the arms d², as clearly shown in Fig. 3, and by pulling downwardly on the end j² of the strop or strap j the arms b² will be thrown into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, and by pulling downwardly on the end j³ of said strop the said arms will be thrown into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and at the same time the shaft f and the parts g, h², and h³ will be thrown into the corresponding positions shown in full and dotted lines in Fig. 3.

The frame of the device is also provided with a suspending hook or similar device k, which is secured to the top plate a of said frame, and in practice when it is desired to sharpen a razor the handles h³ of the jaws h are forced together, and the razor-blade is placed between the jaw members h², as clearly shown in Fig. 3, where it is held by the spring action of the tubular casing g.

It will be understood that my improved razor-stropping device may be suspended from any suitable support, and when the razor-blade is in position a pull on the end j² of the strop or strap j will force said razor-blade into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, and the said end of the strop or strap will be pulled downwardly over one side of the edge thereof, as will be readily understood, and a pull on the end j³ of the strop or strap will throw the blade into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and the said end of the strop or strap will pass downwardly over the opposite side of the edge of the blade, as will be readily understood, and the supporting of the blade in a downwardly-inclined position facilitates the operation of the strop or strap in sharpening the edge thereof, as will be readily understood.

The shafts d may be made to serve as rollers, if desired, as may also the shafts d³ and d⁴, and while I have described the parts b as rollers simple shafts may be used in this position, if desired; but it will be seen that the shafts d³ and d⁴ in the lower ends of the supplemental arms d² operate only as guides for the strop or strap j and to control to an extent the movement of the various parts of the device.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is—

1. In a device of the class described, a frame having parallel side portions, arms mounted on said side portions and adapted to swing in a vertical plane and the ends of which are curved upwardly and connected by parallel shafts, parallel supplemental shafts mounted in the opposite sides of the frame and below said arms, a gear-shaft mounted in one side of the frame below the supplemental shafts and geared in connection with one of said arms, an auxiliary shaft connected with the inner end of the gear-shaft and ranging transversely of the frame, means connected with the auxiliary shaft for holding a razor, supplemental arms connected with the opposite ends of the supplemental shaft and curved downwardly and inwardly, and parallel guide-shafts mounted in the lower ends of the supplemental arms at both sides of the device, substantially as shown and described.

2. A device of the class described, comprising a frame having parallel sides, a shaft mounted in the top portion of said frame, arms secured to the opposite ends of said shaft and projecting forwardly and backwardly and curved upwardly, shafts mounted in the ends of said arms at the front and back of the frame, a segmental gear secured to one of said arms at one side of the frame, front and back parallel shafts mounted in the frame below said arms and at each end thereof, arms connected with the ends of said shafts, at each side of the device and at the front and back thereof, said arms being curved downwardly and inwardly and said arms being also provided at their lower ends and at the front and back of the device with parallel shafts, a gear-shaft mounted in one side of the frame and provided with a segmental gear which meshes with the first-named segmental gear, a razor-holding shaft connected with the inner end of the gear-shaft by a universal joint and ranging downwardly and transversely of the frame, and means connected with said last-named shaft for holding a razor-blade, substantially as shown and described.

3. A device of the class described, comprising a frame having parallel sides, a shaft mounted in the top portion of said frame, arms secured to the opposite ends of said shaft and projecting forwardly and backwardly and curved upwardly, shafts mounted in the ends of said arms at the front and back of the frame, a segmental gear secured to one of said arms at one side of the frame, front and back parallel shafts mounted in the frame below said arms and at each end thereof, arms connected with the ends of said shaft at each side of the device and at the front and back thereof, said arms being curved downwardly and inwardly and said arms being also provided at their lower ends and at the front and back of the device with parallel shafts, a gear-shaft mounted in one side of the frame and provided with a segmental gear which meshes with the first-named segmental gear, a razor-holding shaft connected with the inner end of the gear-shaft by a universal joint and ranging downwardly and transversely of the frame, and means connected with said last-named shaft for holding a razor-blade, comprising a tubular spring-casing through which said shaft passes and which is open longitudinally of the bottom thereof, longitudinal spring-jaws mounted in said casing and provided with members which pass through the opening in the bottom thereof, and handle members connected with said jaws and passing through slots or openings in the top of said casing, substantially as shown and described.

4. In a device of the class described, a frame having parallel side portions, a main shaft mounted in the opposite side portions of said frame, arms secured to the opposite ends of the main shaft and projecting forwardly and backwardly and provided with front and back shafts parallel with the main shaft, a segmental gear secured at one end of the main shaft, parallel supplemental shafts mounted in the side portions of the frame below the main shaft, a gear-shaft mounted in one side portion of the frame below the supplemental shafts and operating in connection with the segmental gear, an auxiliary shaft connected with the inner end of the gear-shaft and ranging transversely of the frame, means connected with the auxiliary shaft for holding a razor-blade, and supplemental arms connected with the opposite ends of the supplemental shafts and curved downwardly and inwardly and provided at the lower ends with parallel guide-shafts, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name, in presence of the subscribing witnesses, this 8th day of April, 1904.

John William Murphy.

Witnesses:

Vincent P. Murphy,

Geo. W. Hawthorne.