To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Louis Heckel, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Safety-Razor-Blade Holder, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to safety-razors, and has for its principal object to provide a novel form of blade holder or clamp formed of a number of sections which when assembled with the blade in position will present a composite blade of the same shape and size as the blades used in the well-known “Star” and “Gem” type of safety-razor.

A further object of the invention is to provide a holder of this class which may be readily opened for the purpose of adjusting the position of the blade proper or for the renewal of the blade, and, further, to so arrange and construct the device that it may be employed as a substitute for the usual razor-blade employed in the frames of the type above mentioned and which may be placed in position in the ordinary stropping devices generally employed in connection with this type of razor-blade.

With these and other objects in view, as will more fully hereinafter appear, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportions, size, and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a blade clamp or holder constructed in accordance with the invention and showing the razor-blade in position therein. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the several members of the clamp detached. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the clamp and blade drawn to an enlarged scale.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In one type of safety-razor now in common use the blade is formed of a short section of an ordinary razor-blade, its opposite sides being hollow-ground, and the back of the blade is arranged to slide within a suitable frame having guards to prevent accidental cutting of the skin while shaving. In another type of razor now in use the blades are formed of short flexible sheets or strips of steel having two cutting edges, and these blades require a special form of holding and clamping mechanism.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a means whereby the flexible two-edged blades may be used in connection with the frames and stropping devices of the first-named type.

In the drawings, 10 designates the blade proper, said blade being formed of a thin strip of metal having two cutting edges and provided with one or more openings arranged centrally between its two edges. This blade is placed between two clamping-strips 11 and 12, one of which is provided with projecting pins or lugs 13, adapted to pass through the openings in the blade and extending also into openings 14, formed in the strip 12. The outer face of each strip is curved or inclined from a comparatively sharp edge 15 upward to a point near the top of the strip, the thickness of the strip gradually increasing from the bottom up to this point, where the outer face of the strip is recessed to form a shoulder 16, extending continuously from end to end of the strip and parallel with the upper and lower edges thereof. The outer face of the upper portion of the strip is continued upward on an inclined line that is gradually curved over at the top, so that when the two strips are placed together the curved tops will be approximately semicircular in form viewed in cross-section, as will be apparent on reference to Fig. 3. The two strips, together with the blade, are held together by a channeled back-piece 17, the outer walls of which form continuations of the inclined outer faces of the strips, so that when the parts are in position a structure will be formed in which the outer faces are practically continuous and unbroken, the contour of the device being practically the same as that of a section of a razor-blade of the ordinary type. One end of the channeled back-piece is closed by a vertical flange or wall 18 in order to prevent excessive movement of said back-piece while sliding the same into position on the clamping-plates.

When the several parts are assembled, the device as a whole may be placed in any form of holder or frame that will receive a blade of the type used in the “Star” or “Gem” safety-razor, and it may be removed therefrom and placed in the stropping mechanism and holding mechanisms ordinarily employed for such blades.

It will readily be seen that by the employment of a clamp or holder of this type the thin two-edged blades now on the market may be successfully employed in frames of existing types and without the necessity of employing any special form of holder or carrier.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is—

1. In a device of the class specified, a pair of clamping-strips of gradually-increasing thickness from the front toward the rear edge, and provided with interfiling pins and openings, the outer faces of the strips being recessed, and a channeled back-piece fitting over the recessed portions of the strips, the outer surface of the back being practically continuous with the outer faces of the strips, the device as a whole being of a contour similar to that of a short section of an ordinary razor-blade.

2. A sectional clamp comprising a pair of blade-engaging strips, and provided with interfitting pins and openings to secure the blade to the strips, the outer faces of which are tapered from front to rear, the rear portions of the outer faces of the strips being recessed, defining a pair of shoulders extending lengthwise of the strips and parallel with the edges thereof, and a channeled back-piece fitting over the rear edges of the shoulders and having its opposite edges bearing against said shoulders, the outer face of the strip being continuous with the outer faces of the blades.

3. A sectional blade-clamp of a contour in cross-section similar to that of an ordinary razor-blade and comprising a pair of strips tapered in thickness from outer edge toward their rear edges, and provided with interfitting pins and holes, the outer faces of the rear portions of the strips being provided with recesses terminating in shoulders that extend from end to end of the strips and parallel with the two edges thereof, the lower walls of the recesses being disposed at a slight angle to the plane of the inner faces of the strips, and a channeled back-piece fitting over the recessed portions of the strips and provided at one end with a flange or wall to limit movement of said back-piece with respect to the strips.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

Louis Heckel.

Witnesses:

Wm. E. Lee,

James E. Campbell.