U.S. patent number 3,563,412 [Application Number 04/773,748] was granted by the patent office on 1971-02-16 for razor blade dispensers.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Wilkinson Sword Limited. Invention is credited to Michael James.
United States Patent |
3,563,412 |
James |
February 16, 1971 |
RAZOR BLADE DISPENSERS
Abstract
A razor blade dispenser including a body part and a lid part has
a new-blade compartment and a used-blade compartment. The pack of
blades in the new-blade compartment is biased by a spring so that
the uppermost blade is aligned with a dispensing slot. The two
parts are relatively slidable and movement in one direction causes
one blade to be dispensed through the slot. In the preferred
embodiment, the spring is only energized to bias the blade pack,
when the dispensing movement is initiated, the energization being
effected by cam followers rigid with the spring and cooperating
with rams on the lid part.
Inventors: |
James; Michael (Welwyn Garden
City, EN) |
Assignee: |
Wilkinson Sword Limited
(London, EN)
|
Family
ID: |
26239425 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/773,748 |
Filed: |
November 6, 1968 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Nov 8, 1967 [GB] |
|
|
50,685/67 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
221/224;
221/273 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D
83/10 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65D
83/10 (20060101); B65D 83/08 (20060101); B65h
005/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;221/232,190,187,224,273,246 ;222/386.5 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Tollberg; Stanley H.
Claims
I claim:
1. A razor blade dispenser comprising:
two interengaged cover parts slidable relatively to one another
between an open position in which there is only partial engagement
of the two cover parts and a closed position in which the parts
together form a box;
means on one of said cover parts for engaging an uppermost blade of
a pack of blades in the second part to dispense said blade by
relative rectilinear sliding movement of the two parts to a closed
position;
resilient means arranged to bias the pack of blades in a direction
to facilitate engagement of said uppermost blade by said engaging
means; and
means for energizing the resilient means to bias said pack only on
initiation of the relative movement which serves to dispense a
blade and for deenergizing said resilient means on completion of
said movement.
2. A dispenser according to claim 1, wherein:
said resilient means comprises a cantilever spring and the means on
one of said cover parts includes a sheet member with a detent
forming a portion of said one of said cover parts; and
the free end of the spring lying approximately opposite the detent
which detent serves to move said uppermost blade of the pack to the
dispensing slot.
3. A razor blade dispenser comprising:
two interengaged cover parts movable relatively to one another
between a first position in which there is only partial engagement
of the two cover parts and second position in which the parts
together substantially form a box;
means for dispensing a blade by effecting relative rectilinear
movement of the cover parts, movement of the cover parts to the
second position thereof serving to eject an uppermost blade of a
blade stack;
means defining a dispensing slot;
a resilient pad of foam synthetic-resin; and
a blade or a pack of blades in the dispenser being biased towards a
position in which the blade or the uppermost blade is aligned with
the dispensing slot by the resilient pad of foam
synthetic-resin.
4. A dispenser comprising:
a first cover part;
a second cover part slidable with respect to the first cover part
between an open position in which there is only partial engagement
of the two cover parts and a closed position in which the parts
together form a box;
means rigid with said first part for engaging an uppermost blade of
a pack of blades in the second part to dispense said blade by
relative rectilinear sliding movement of the two parts to a closed
position;
a resilient cantilever assembly integral with said second part
including:
cam follower means; and
cam means rigid with said first part to effect energization of the
resilient means by engagement with said cam follower means; and
said cam means serving to energize the resilient means to bias the
pack only on initiation of the relative movement which serves to
dispense a blade and for deenergizing said resilient means on
completion of the relative movement.
5. A dispenser according to claim 4, wherein said cantilever
assembly includes an elongate tongue.
6. A dispenser according to claim 4, wherein said resilient
cantilever assembly includes a pair of laterally extending members
of generally trapezoidal form constituting said cam follower
means.
7. A dispenser according to claim 5, wherein said tongue
carries:
a pair of semicircular projections at its free extremity; and
said projections being adapted to rest against one blade of a pack
of blades in the dispenser.
8. A dispenser according to claim 3 wherein one said part has
longitudinally extending ribs each having a detent end arranged to
engage a blade to be dispensed.
9. A dispenser according to claim 8 wherein the other said part has
a recess arranged to be engaged by the thumb of a user and disposed
laterally of the dispensing slot.
10. A razor blade dispenser comprising:
a body part having:
a base;
a pair of upstanding longitudinally extending sidewalls integral
with the base;
a first transverse bridge portion interconnecting with the
sidewalls intermediate the ends thereof;
a pair of upstanding angle-defining members integral with the
transverse bridge portion;
a second transverse bridge portion adjacent one end of the
dispenser; and having
a pair of upstanding members spaced slightly from respective said
sidewalls and cooperating with the angle-defining members of the
first-mentioned bridge portion to define a new blade compartment;
and
a resilient cantilever assembly extending from the second-mentioned
transverse bridge portion and including:
an elongate tongue having at its free extremity:
a pair of semicircular upstanding projections,
a pair of laterally extending cam follower parts, and
a further transverse bridge portion at one end of the body part;
and
an end wall of the body part, said further transverse bridge
portion and said end wall together defining with an end wall of the
body part a slot for dispensing new blades; and
a lid part slidable relatively to the body part over a limited
range of movement, having:
a pair of sidewalls upstanding from the sheet member,
a sheet member,
an end wall arranged at the end of the sidewalls remote from the
corresponding end wall of the body part,
a pair of cams mounted on projections from the sidewalls and
arranged to engage the cam followers of the cantilever spring
assembly whenever the parts are moved from an open to a closed
position whereby the cantilever spring assembly is activated to
bias a blade or blade pack in a direction to align the blade or the
topmost blade of the pack with the dispensing slot of the body
part,
a transverse ridge integral with the inner face of the sheet part
of the lid whereby the blade or the topmost blade of the pack is
engaged to dispense through the slot by movement of the lid part
relatively to the body part in a direction which closes the two
parts together, and
said resilient cantilever assembly being deenergized at the end of
said closing movement by disengagement of the cam follower from the
cams.
Description
This invention relates to razor blade dispensers.
According to the present invention there is provided a razor blade
dispenser comprising two interengaged relatively movable parts, and
means for dispensing a blade by effecting relative rectilinear
movement of the parts.
Further according to the present invention there is provided a
razor blade dispenser having a body part, a lid part slideable
relatively to the body part and means rigid with said lid part for
dispensing a razor blade from the dispenser by sliding said lid
part relatively to the body part.
Still further according to the present invention there is provided
a dispenser according to any one of the preceding claims wherein a
new blade compartment is defined, in part, by transverse bridge
members rigid with the second or body part and two spaced
angle-section members extending perpendicularly to the surface of
one said bridge member.
Yet still further according to the present invention there is
provided a razor blade dispenser comprising a body part having a
base, a pair of upstanding longitudinally extending sidewalls
integral with the base, a transverse bridge portion interconnecting
with the sidewalls intermediate the ends thereof, a pair of
upstanding angle-defining members integral with the transverse
bridge portion, a second transverse bridge portion adjacent one end
of the dispenser and having a pair of upstanding members, spaced
slightly from respective said sidewalls and cooperating with the
angle-defining members of the first-mentioned bridge portion to
define a new-blade compartment, a resilient cantilever assembly
extending from the second-mentioned transverse bridge portion and
including an elongate tongue having at its free extremity a pair of
semicircular upstanding projections and a pair of laterally
extending cam follower parts, a further transverse bridge portion
at one end of the body part and defining with an end wall of the
body part a slot for dispensing new blade, a lid part slidable
relatively to the body part over a limited range of movement,
having a pair of sidewalls upstanding from a sheet member of the
lid part, an end wall arranged at the end of the sidewalls remote
from the corresponding end wall of the body part, a pair of cams
mounted on projections from the sidewalls and arranged to engage
the cam followers of the cantilever spring assembly whenever the
parts are moved from an open to a closed position whereby the
cantilever spring assembly is activated to bias a blade or blade
pack in a direction to align the blade or the topmost blade of the
pack with the dispensing slot of the body part and a transverse
ridge integral with the inner face of the sheet part of the lid
whereby the blade or the topmost blade of the pack is engaged to
dispense through the slot by movement of the lid part relatively to
the body part in a direction which closes the two parts together,
said resilient cantilever assembly being deenergized at the end of
said closing movement by disengagement of the cam follower from the
cams.
Certain embodiments of razor blade dispensers in accordance with
the present invention will now be described, by way of example,
with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in
which:
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section of a first embodiment of an
assembled razor blade dispenser in accordance with the
invention;
FIGS. 2 to 4 are longitudinal sections illustrating the operation
of the first embodiment;
FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate two details;
FIG. 5 is a cross section of the embodiment of FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a plan view of a body part of the first embodiment;
FIG. 7 is an inverted plan view of a lid part of the first
embodiment;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view in one condition of a second
embodiment;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view in another condition of the second
embodiment;
FIG. 10 is a longitudinal section of the second embodiment;
FIG. 11 is a front elevation of a lid part of the second
embodiment;
FIG. 12 is a front elevation, partly cut away and sectioned, of a
body part of the second embodiment;
FIG. 13 is a longitudinal section of the body part of FIG. 12;
and
FIGS. 14 and 15 are perspective views illustrating two
modifications to the lid part of the second embodiment.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 8 of the drawings, the razor blade
dispenser 10 includes a lid part 11 of generally rectangular open
box form and a body part 12 of similar form, the lid part 11 being
slidable longitudinally with respect to the body part. A transverse
stop in the form of a transverse ridge 13 is provided on the face
of the upper portion 14 (as shown in the drawings) of the lid part
11 which lies opposite to the body part when assembled. A pair of
longitudinal ridges 15 or other spacer means are integral with the
lower face of the upper portion 14 of the lid part and have a depth
appropriate to align blades about to be dispensed with a dispensing
slot 37. The difference in depth of the transverse ridge 13 and the
longitudinal ridges 15 is substantially equal to the thickness of a
wrapped razor blade.
The body part 12 has a transverse bridge portion 16 extending
between longitudinally extending sides 41 of the body part, which
transverse bridge portion is integral with a cantilever resilient
assembly 17 including a tongue 18 and two lateral spring members 19
of generally trapezoidal form. The transverse bridge portion 16 is
slightly inclined with respect to the upper portion 14 of the lid
part 11 in a direction upwardly towards the transverse ridge 13 of
the lid part, and when lightly stressed the cantilever resilient
assembly 17 has a similar inclination. The tongue 18 extends
towards, but does not reach the end of the body part 12 remote from
the transverse bridge portion 16 and carries two semicircular
projections 20, one on each of two laterally extending tips 21 of
the tongue 18, the projections 20 themselves extending towards and
lightly contacting a pack of blades 22 in the dispenser 10, when
the lateral spring members 19 are not energized.
The pack of blades 22 rests partly on the ridges 15 to prevent
horizontal movement and further restraint is provided by a further
transverse portion 16A which, like the transverse portion 16 is
inclined with respect to the upper portion 14, but is spaced
therefrom. Any undue pressure by the pack on the projections 20 is
avoided by the support given by the transverse bridge portion
16.
In a modification further support for the pack is provided by ribs
or pips (not shown) on the upper face of the transverse bridge
portion 16A.
The further transverse portion 16A extends between two upstanding
angle section portions 16B of the body part, the internal faces of
which are spaced from one another to form corners accommodating
transversely opposite corners of the blade pack 22.
Each lateral spring member 19 is of generally trapezoidal shape and
is connected by a smoothly curved neck 23 to one longitudinal edge
of the tongue 18. At its free extremity each spring member 19 has a
rectangular shape cam-engaging portion 24 which is arranged to
engage a corresponding cam 25 rigid with a downwardly depending
extension 26 of one side 52 of the lid part 11 of the dispenser. In
the fully closed position of the dispenser the cam 25 and the
extension 26 are both accommodated in a space provided between the
fixed transverse bridge portion of the body part and one end of the
rectangular cam-engaging portion 24 of the spring member 19.
Each cam 25 has a cross section in the form of a triangle. As can
be seen from FIGS. 2 to 4 two short sides 30, 31 of the triangle
extend respectively perpendicularly to the upper portion 14 of the
lid part and inclined to the upper portion 14 of the lid part at a
relatively shallow angle whereas a longer side 32 is inclined at a
sharper angle to the upper portion of the lid part. The side 32
forms the operative rectilinear face of the cam. Although this form
of cam as illustrated separately in FIG. 4A is preferred, it will
be understood that the exact form of cam is immaterial, provided
that the function described hereinafter can be satisfactorily
performed. An example of an alternative cam form is illustrated in
FIG. 4B. In this alternative the cam has two spaced parallel
surfaces 33, 34 which are themselves parallel with the blade pack,
a surface 35 perpendicular to the blade pack and two inclined
surfaces 36, 37 which interconnect respectively the surface 33 with
the surface 34 and the surface 34 with the surface 35. The surface
36 acts as an operative rectilinear face.
The body part 12 has an end portion 35 extending between the
longitudinal sides 41 of the body part and a still further
transverse bridge portion 36 extends between the longitudinal upper
edges of the sides 41 of the body part and lies in a plane parallel
to the plane of the upper portion 14 of the lid part 11. This
transverse bridge portion 36 has only a small dimension in the
longitudinal direction of the dispenser and at the edge adjacent
the end portion 35 of the body part 12 it is spaced therefrom to
define a blade-dispensing or delivery slot 37. An inner transverse
edge 38 of this further transverse portion is chamfered to
facilitate the dispensing of each blade as further described
hereinafter.
The body part 12, has, in addition to the portions thereof
hereinbefore described, a base 40 and two longitudinally extending
sides 41 which join the base 40 along the longitudinally extending
edges thereof. Both sides 41 are slightly inclined outwardly with
respect to a plane perpendicular to the base (FIG. 5) and each has
an inwardly facing shallow V-section groove 42, adjacent the upper
edge (as shown in FIG. 5) thereof.
Below the cantilever assembly 17, the body part 12 has a
compartment 43 for used razor blades and an entry 44 to this
compartment is defined by a series of short longitudinally
extending ridges 45 formed on the underside of the transverse
bridge portion 16. The base 40 has a portion thereof cut away to
enable access to the used-blade entry 44.
The lid part 11 includes a depending transverse portion 50
positioned approximately three-quarters of the length thereof from
the dispensing opening 37 and a further depending transverse
portion 51 at the end remote from the dispensing opening. The
portion 50 which does not extend fully across the lid part width
forms a part of the boundary of the new-blade compartment and also
of the used-blade compartment 43. The lid part further comprises
depending, longitudinally extending sides 52 and a longitudinally
extending ridge 53 at the upper edge of each of these sides. Each
ridge 53 is of a cross section complementary to that of the
corresponding groove 42 of the body part, thus enabling easy
sliding movement of the lid part 11 relative to the body part 12.
It will be noted that the sides 52 extend to only approximately
one-half of the depth of the dispenser and that longitudinally,
each side stops short of the end of the portion 14 by an amount
corresponding to the longitudinal dimension of the transverse
bridge portion 36 of the body part.
The operation of the dispenser will now be described with
particular reference to FIGS. 2 to 4 of the accompanying
drawing.
When the dispenser is inoperative, the blades are held in their
compartment by the transverse bridge portions 16 and 16A and by the
angle section portions 16B.
As soon as the lid part 11 is moved longitudinally relatively to
the body part 12, the cams 25 force the cam-engaging portions 24 of
the spring members 19 downwardly and at the end of its travel which
is the fully extended or open position of the dispenser, the cams
trip beyond the edge of the cam-engaging portions 24 of the spring
members 19. It will be noted that the pack of blades as a whole
remains within the body part and in the fully open position the
pack is spaced from the transverse ridge 13 of the lid part.
When the lid part 11 is moved forwardly, that is towards its closed
position, the edges 32 of the cams 25 engage the lower faces of the
cam-engaging portions of the spring member 19 thus causing the
semicircular projections 20 to be forced against the lowermost
blade of the pack 22 and the whole pack to move upwardly so that
the uppermost blade engages the spacer ridges 15 of the lid part 11
and as the movement is continued, the uppermost blade also engages
the transverse ridge 13 and is forced through the dispensing slot
37 with the guidance of the chamfer 38 on the further transverse
bridge portion 36 of the body part 12, until, when fully retracted,
a sufficient proportion of the uppermost blade projects beyond the
slot to enable it to be fully removed. As can be clearly seen from
FIG. 4, the spring member 19 is deformed both in a lateral and
longitudinal sense. On completion of the reverse movement, the cams
25 again trip at the end of the cam-engaging portions 24 of the
spring members 19 and the condition illustrated in FIG. 1 is
resumed.
It will be appreciated, that by the use of the cams in conjunction
with the cantilever resilient assembly, it becomes possible to use
synthetic resins which, if continuously stressed, would otherwise
take up a permanent set and thus be of little value as biassing
means. It will further be appreciated that the invention can be
employed in various forms of razor blade dispenser, wherever a
spring bias is required on the pack of razor blades, such as those
disclosed in the embodiments now to be described.
In a modification of the first embodiment the cam means and cam
followers integral with the resilient cantilever assembly are
omitted and the tongue is so shaped that it biases the blades
continuously to a position in which the uppermost blade of a pack
is aligned with the dispensing slot of the dispenser. The free tip
of the tongue lies approximately opposite a detent formed on the
inner surface of the lid part.
Referring now to the second embodiment as illustrated in FIGS. 8 to
13, the razor blade dispenser includes an inner or body part 150
and an outer or lid part 151 which is arranged to receive the inner
part in nesting relationship. The outer part 151 is of generally
flat rectangular shape and has a front portion 152, a rear portion
152, two sidewalls 154, 155 and a bottom 156. The front portion 152
carries four internal ribs 157 each of which has an inclined ramp
portion 158, a step 159 or other detent end and a portion which has
an exposed face 160 extending parallel to the outer face of the
front portion 152. The rear portion 153 has an internal ridge 161
at the upper end thereof as illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13.
The inner part 150 of the dispenser, includes a front portion 162,
a rear portion 163, two sidewalls 164, 165 and an upper wall 166
having a slot 167 of a thickness corresponding to the thickness of
one wrapped razor blade and of a length corresponding to the
transverse dimension of the wrapped blade. The topmost blade is
biassed into engagement with the ribs 157 of the outer portion and
with the inner surface of the front portion 162 by a pad 168 of
resilient expanded synthetic-resin plastics material or
alternatively by a light spring (not shown). The inner part 150 has
the front portion 162 thereof formed with four slots 170 which are
arranged to mesh with the ribs 157 of the outer part. The normally
exposed portion of the inner part 150 has a depression or recess
171 which is shaped for engagement by a thumb or a finger of the
user.
When assembled, a stack of new blades is inserted into the inner
part 150 and this is then nested in the outer part 151. A spring
172 (FIG. 13) biases the inner part to the position relative to the
outer part as illustrated in FIG. 8 and when the dispenser is held
in the user's hand by the thumb engaging in the depression 171 the
inner part is caused to slide relatively to the outer part and one
blade only engages the detent end surfaces 159 of the ribs 157 thus
causing partial ejection of the blade through the slot 167. On
release, the dispenser returns to the condition illustrated in FIG.
8, by means of the spring 172. Disassembly of the two parts is
prevented by engagement of a ridge 174 on the outer surface of the
portion 162 with the ridge 161 on the inner surface of the portion
153 of the outer part 151.
In a modification illustrated in FIG. 14 a portion 180 of the inner
part 150 is made removable and in a modification illustrated in
FIG. 15 a portion 181 of the inner part is hinged. The purpose of
both modifications is to simplify the insertion of a new blade
pack.
* * * * *