The invention relates to a portable safety razor made substantially in form of a pen, and corresponding to the pre-characterizing part of claim 1.
A safety razor of this kind is known from the document EP-A-0 278 272. In this known embodiment, the supporting stem consists of a supporting stirrup-like member which by the free ends of its parallel arms is inserted between two wings projecting from the fore or upper end of the handle, and by means of two external co-axial pivots 7 provided on its arms, is snappingly fitted into respective bores in said wings. Thus, the supporting stirrup is pivotable relative to the handle, around the transversal axis formed by these two pivots. The opposite end of the supporting stirrup is shaped like an arc of a circle, and extends between the two arms of said stirrup. The hub of the head-carrying bar is shaped as a disc which is housed in the recess formed by the said arcuate end of the supporting stirrup. The said disc is rotatably engaged by its peripheral edge in a matching groove which is provided in the inner face of the stirrup, and extends also along the two arms of said stirrup. The rotatable disc has a co-axial, discoid extension which is also encompassed by the supporting stirrup, but is not engaged in the groove in said stirrup. This disc extension is integral with a fork extending out of the supporting stirrup, and carrying the shaving head. The rotatable disc is held within the supporting stirrup by a positioning platelet fitted and locked between the arms of the supporting stirrup. In the middle of its side turned toward the rotatable disc, the positioning platelet has a locking tooth which is elastically yieldable in the longitudinal direction of the handle, and co-operates with a matching locking notch provided in the periphery of the extension of the rotatable disc, so as to lock this disc in the shaving position of the shaving head. The 90° rotation of the rotatable disc between the shaving position and the rest position of the shaving head is limited in both directions by a stop tooth which is integral with the arcuate portion of the supporting stirrup, and is engaged in a sector-shaped peripheral recess in the disc extension, thus cooperating as a pawl with the ends of said recess.
From the same document EP-A-0 278 272, and also from the documents US-A-4.074.428 and U8-A-4.332.321, safety razors are known in which the head-carrying bar is rotatably mounted on a pin of the supporting stem, and manually operated locking means, such as a shaving head-locking bar slidably guided in the longitudinal direction of handle or spring washers combined with a cap and with suitable detents, are provided for locking the head-carrying bar in its two positions. The rear end of the supporting stirrup is firmly incorporated or screwed in the handle.
The invention aims to provide a razor of the type as disclosed in the pre-characterizing part of claim 1, which is very easy to make, and inexpensive from the manufacturing standpoint, so that an extremely low-cost razor that may be also used as a disposable razor, particularly when made of plastics material, is obtained.
The invention attains this object by the combination of the features according to the characterizing part of claim 1.
The way of assembling by a snap fit the supporting stem with the handle and the head-carring bar with the supporting stem, is simple and economical, whereby the manufacturing costs come to be minimized.
Some further improvements of the safety razor, according to claim 1, are characterized in the dependent claims. More particularly, the improvement as stated in claim 3, according to which the dispensing valve at the handle rear end is constructed so as to be snap-fitted into a cap which, in turn, may be sealingly snap-fitted onto a tubular union provided at the lower end of the razor, further simplifies the manufacturing of the whole razor, and further abates the manufacturing cost thereof.
A preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the following description, and is shown as a non-limiting example in the accompaying drawings, wherein:
With reference to the Figures, the razor according to the invention, specifically, has an outer appearance which is substantially similar to that of a big pen and is of parallelepipedal shape. The body of the razor is formed of a handle 1 which, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, is of hollow, reservoir-like construction and is used as a container for any shave cream with no pressurized gas. In order to permit the dispensing of the shave cream, the handle 1 is made resiliently compressible by the force of only one hand. The upper end of the handle 1, which mounts the head-carrying assembly 4, may be covered together with said head-carrying assembly 4 by a covering cap 2, while at the lower end of the handle 1 there is provided a dispensing nozzle 3 which, as described below, is also used as a valve shutter.
As appearing from the following detailed description of the head-carrying assembly 4 and as appearing from Figures 10 and 11, the head 5 may be rotated by at least 90° from a shaving position wherein the head is disposed transversely of the longitudinal direction of the handle 1 (Figures 2 and 10) to a rest position wherein the head 5 is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the handle 1 (Figures 5 and 11), thus permitting the covering cap 2 to be impaled thereon.
To enable the razor according to the invention to be manufactured easily and inexpensively, said razor is of such a construction whereby the individual parts thereof are manufactured separately and are assembled together successively, preferably, with a fit-in engagement.
The covering cap 2 is provided with a clip 6 which is manufactured separately therefrom, means being provided to fit-in said clip 6 into the cap 2. Specifically, said fit-in means comprises an undercut groove 102 at the upper end of the cap 2, wherein a T-shaped projection 106 of the clip 6 is fitted-in, said projection being suitably provided with a ratchet formation at the side edges thereof. Said groove 102 terminates slightly below the upper closed end of the cap 2 whereby, in the assembled condition, the upper end of the clip 6 is substantially flush with the upper end of the cap 2. To enable air to circulate somehow within the cap 2, the upper end of the cap 2 is provided with suitable aeration slits 202.
As shown in Figure 5, the cap 2 is snappingly engageable on the upper end of the handle 1 in that it is provided, in proximity of its open end, with fit-in projections 302, which are preferably beveled at their side edges, and which co-operate with corresponding grooves 7 of the handle 1. The head-carrying member 4 is also snappingly assembled with the handle 1 in a removable manner. For this purpose, the handle 1 comprises a pin 101 provided with a peripheral groove 8 of V-shaped section, and a hollow supporting stem 9 of the head carrying assembly 4 is impaled on 'said pin 101. The supporting stem 9 is provided with fit-in projections 109 designed to co-operate with said peripheral groove 8 of the pin 101.
Specifically, the pin 101 is in the shape of a parallelepiped of comparatively little thickness and is offset laterally with respect to the longitudinal central plane of the handle 1, which is parallel to the plane whereon the shaving head 5 is rotated, thus permitting it to be covered by the cap 2 in the rest condition thereof.
The dispensing nozzle 3 provided at the lower end of the hollow handle 1 is angularly movable about an axis which is transverse to the longitudinal direction of the handle 1, within an accommodation recess 10 in the closed end side of a cap 11. The lower cap 11 can be snap-fitted on the lower end of the handle 1. The angular displacement of the dispensing nozzle 3 is effected over an angular extent of about 90°, alternately to a retracted position wherein the nozzle 3 is disposed parallelly and substantially flush with the end side of the cap 11, and to a dispensing position wherein the dispensing nozzle 3 is disposed substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the handle 1 and protrudes beyond the end surface of the cap 11. The dispensing nozzle 3 is provided with a central through-hole 103 in the longitudinal extent thereof, and it also serves as a valve member. In the retracted position, the central hole 103 of the dispensing nozzle 3 is disposed transversely to the longitudinal direction of the handle 1, while the pivoted end portion of the nozzle 3 sealingly closes a hole 110 in the bottom of the accommodation recess 10 in register with a tubular union 201 of the handle 1. In fact, the pivoted end portion of the nozzle 3 is of substantially cylindrical shape and of such a diameter as to sealingly engage at all times against the bottom of the accommodation recess 10, along at least the portion of its surface co-operating with the hole 110 provided in the bottom of said accommodation recess 10 during its angular displacement either to the dispensing position or retracted position. In the dispensing position, the central hole 103 in the nozzle is in register with the hole 110 in the bottom of the cap 11 and permits the shave cream in the handle 1 to be dispensed. The dispensing nozzle 3 is also constructed separately from the remaining parts of the razor and is mounted snappingly into the cap 11. It is provided at two opposite sides thereof with two pins 203 which, more particularly, are co-axial with the cylindrical part of its pivoted portion. The pins 203 become engaged with corresponding cylindrical seats 12 in the associated sidewalls of the accommodation recess 10. Said seats 12 are opened in the direction of the outer end of the cap 11 through a groove 112 which is slightly constricted with respect to the diameter of the pins 203, whereby thanks to the inherent resiliency of the material said nozzle may be mounted from the exterior into the accommodation recess 10 by snap-fitting the pins 203 into the associated seats 12. Moreover, as from Figure 6, the dispensing nozzle 3 is provided, on its outwardly-directed side when in the retracted position, with a lug 303 which is designed to co-operate as a stop with the outer end of the cap 11 and which, by protruding beyond said outer end of the cap 11 transversely to the handle 1, constitutes a suitable grip for angularly displacing the dispensing nozzle 3 to its dispensing position.
The cap 11 is also constructed as a separate part which may be snap-fitted on the handle 1 and comprises for this purpose at least two wings 111 arranged diametrically opposite to each other around the hole 10 in the bottom of the accommodation recess 10, and directed in the longitudinal direction of the handle 1. The wings 111 are designed to become engaged, by means of their detent-shaped free ends, with an annular shoulder 13 of the tubular union 201 of the handle 1, thus establishing such a locking position whereby the edge of the free end of the tubular union 201 engages sealingly against the bottom of the accommodation recess 10. In order to facilitate the centering of the cap 11 upon fitting it onto the handle 1 and to give a higher strength to the coupling of these two ao portions, as well as to improve the seal between said two portions, an annular extension 211 the diameter of which matches with the inner diameter of the tubular union 201 is provided on the bottom of the accommodation recess 10, so that it may penetrate the tubular union 201 upon mounting the cap 11. Figures 7 to 11 show the particular construction of the head-carrying assembly 4 which, as stated above, is also adapted to be snap-fitted onto the upper end of the handle 1. Moreover, it is formed advantageously of two discrete parts which are suitably snap-engaged with each other, i.e. a supporting stem 9 and a head-carrying bar 14 which are angularly displaceable with respect to each other about an axis which is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the supporting stem 9 and head-carrying bar 14. As it can be viewed in the Figures, the head-carrying bar 14 is constructed so that a usual shaving blade may be mounted thereon and dismounted therefrom, and on the opposite side it comprises a hub 15 which is accommodated in a recess 16 formed in the side of the head-carrying stem 9 that is directed towards the shaving head 5 (not shown in the Figures 7 to 11). The hub 15 has a groove 115 to engageably receive an annular edge 17 of a hole in the recess 16. The free end of the hub 15 has a conical bevel to permit the head-carrying bar 14 to be snap-fitted into the supporting stem 9. Moreover, in order to rotate the head-carrying bar without touching the shaving head, the free end of the hub is provided with a grip wing 315 which, when said two parts are assembled, protrudes out of the supporting stem 9 remote from the shaving head 5.
As it can be viewed in Figures 10 and 11, the head-carrying bar 14 may be rotated from a shaving position wherein it is disposed transversely to the longitudinal direction of the supporting stem 9 and, therefore, as from Figures 2 and 5, transversely to the longitudinal direction of the handle 1, to a rest position wherein it is disposed parallelly to the longitudinal direction of the supporting stem 9 and handle 1. To enable the head-carrying bar 14 to be locked sufficiently in the shaving position, the hub 15 is provided with an integral tooth 215 co-operating with a resilient locking lug 116 integral with the supporting stem 9 on the inner side of the recess 16. In the shaving position of the head-carrying bar 14 (Figure 10) the lug 116 abuts behind the tooth 215 of the hub 15, yielding resiliently upon rotation of the hub from said shaving position to said rest position. Advantageously, the free end of the lug 116 is of rounded outline.
The advantages of the safety razor according to the invention appear from the Figures and from the preceding description, and they reside first of all in the fact that the handle, constructed in the form of a container, can be compressed by the force of only one hand, thus permitting the use of shave creams containing no pressurized gas. Secondly, the construction of the razor with separately-manufactured discrete parts which may then be snap-fitted together is extremely advantageous. Thanks to the above, the razor according to the invention has an extremely low manufacturing cost and, therefore, it may even be used as a disposable article, while being of handy and reliable operation.