The present invention seeks to provide an improved razor, especially an improved razor for use when"wet shaving".

According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a razor, the razor being provided with a head supporting a cutting element or blade, there being resilient means mounting the cutting element or blade to a fixed part of the head such that the cutting element or blade can move with at least one degree of freedom of movement.

Preferably the cutting element or blade can move with at least two degrees of freedom of movement.

Conveniently the cutting element or blade is supported on a support, there being a plurality of resilient elements between the support and a fixed part of the razor.

In one embodiment the cutting element or blade is releasable but rigidly connected to the support and the resilient elements are mounted between the support and the fixed part of the head.

In an alternative embodiment the resilient elements are formed integrally with the support.

Preferably, the resilient elements comprise a plurality of resilient fingers extending from the support.

Conveniently, the support is mounted within a parallel sided slot and the resilient elements comprise a plurality of fingers located on opposed sides of a plane defined by the support, the fingers alternately being deflected upwardly and downwardly relative to the plane to engage opposed sides of the slot.

Advantageously, the support is provided with further resilient fingers in a plane perpendicular to the said plane, said further fingers being adapted to engage the base of the slot.

Conveniently, the support carries a blade support plate or a blade which is inclined relative to the said plane.

Preferably, the angle of inclination of the plate or blade is approximately 45°.

Alternatively the angle of inclination of the plate or blade is approximately 90°.

In one embodiment the blade is mounted on a support plate forming part of the support, the support plate having forwardly directed laterally opposed ends which engage and support the blade.

Conveniently the ends of the blade are secured to the support plate by riveting.

Alternatively the ends of the blade are secured to the support plate by means of tongues on the support plate engaging apertures in the blade.

In some embodiments the cutting element or blade is a planar blade having a planar face positioned to be brought into contact with skin and a bevel on the face opposed to the planar face to define a cutting edge.

It is envisaged that the cutting element will be a planar blade, but alternatively the cutting element may be in the form of a cutting wire.

According to another aspect of this invention there is provided a razor blade unit comprising a support element carrying a cutting element or blade, the support element having a support arm, the support arm being provided with a plurality of opposed laterally extending fingers alternately offset on opposite sides of a plane containing the support arm, the cutting element or blade being mounted on the support arm.

Preferably the support arm carries a further resilient finger in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the support arm.

Conveniently the support arm carries an inclined blade supporting plate or blade at one end thereof which is inclined to the plane of the support arm.

In one embodiment the blade supporting plate or blade is inclined at an angle of approximately 45° to the said plane, but alternatively the angle may be 9oo.

Preferably the blade is mounted on a support plate forming part of the support element, the support plate having forwardly directed laterally opposed ends which engage and support the blade.

In one embodiment the support element is moulded from plastics material.

In an alternative embodiment the support element is stamped from metal.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, and so that further features thereof may be appreciated, the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic side view of part of the head of the razor, illustrating a blade unit which includes a blade support and a blade, FIGURE 2 is a side view of the blade support of the blade unit, FIGURE 3 is a top view of the blade support, FIGURE 4 is a front view of the blade support, FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the blade support, FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of an alternate form of blade support, FIGURE 7 is a top view of the blade support of Figure 6 in one condition, showing the blade in phantom, FIGURE 8 is a corresponding top view in an alternate condition, showing the blade in phantom, FIGURE 9 is a view of yet another blade support, FIGURE 10 is a view illustrating the blade support of the type shown in Figure 9 in use, FIGURE 11 is a view of yet another type of support, FIGURE 12 is a top view of the support of Figure 11, FIGURE 13 is a perspective view of a further blade support, FIGURE 14 is a view corresponding to Figure 13 showing the blade support and the blade, FIGURE 15 is a top view of the blade support of Figure 13 showing the blade in phantom, and FIGURE 16 is a view corresponding to Figure 13 showing a modified embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 illustrates schematically the head 1 of a razor. Head 1 defines a recess 2 which is to receive a blade support unit consisting of a blade support 3 which carries a cutting element in the form of a flat blade 4. [In this Specification the term "blade"is used to mean any cutting element]. The recess 2 is in the form of a parallel sided slot having two opposed sides 5,6 and a transverse base 7. The slot has a width which is slightly greater than the width"W"of the blade support 3 as shown in Figure 3.

The blade support 3 may be fabricated integrally from stamped metal or from a plastics material. The support 3 comprises a central support arm 10.

The support arm 10 is planar and linear, and one end of the support arm carries a transversely extending inclined blade support plate 11. The blade support plate 11 is inclined at an angle of approximately 45° to the plane of the support arm 10.

The other end of the support arm 10 carries a first resilient biasing spring 12 which has a central portion 13, aligned with the support arm 10, which lies in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the support arm 10 and which extends transverse to the axis of the support arm 10. The first spring 12 has two end resilient fingers 14,15 located one on each side of the central region 13, these resilient end fingers being deflected out of the plane of the central portion extending in a direction slightly away from the blade support plate 11.

The central region of the support arm 10 is provided with three laterally extending resilient spring fingers 16,17,18 on one side thereof and three opposed corresponding resilient spring fingers 19,20,21 on the other side thereof. The spring fingers 16,18,19 and 21, that is to say the spring fingers which are closest to the first biasing spring 12 and closest to the blade support plate 11 are deflected to lie on a common side of the plane which contains the support arm 10. In the orientation shown in Figure 5 these fingers are deflected upwardly. In a similar manner the remaining spring fingers, 17 and 20 are deflected to lie on the opposite side of the plane of the support arm 10 and thus, as shown in Figure 5, are deflected downwardly.

The support arm 10 is thus provided with a plurality of laterally extending resilient fingers which are alternately deflected upwardly and downwardly relative to the plane of the support arm 10. The figures are deflected to such an extent that the tips of the fingers are spaced apart by a distance greater than the height of the slot 2.

It can be seen that the part of the blade support 3 carrying the resilient fingers is dimensioned to be inserted into the slot 2 formed in the head 1 of the razor, with a slight compressive force being applied to the resilient arms 16,17, 18 and 19, 20,21, and also, when the blade support 3 is fully in position, with a slight compressive force being applied to the resilient fingers 14,15 of the first spring 12. The support arm, and thus the blade carrying plate 11, is totally resiliently supported relative to the recess 2. The blade support plate 11 can thus, in the orientation shown in Figure 1, move upwardly, with a compression of the resilient fingers 16,18,19,21 or downwardly with a resilient compression of the spring fingers 17,20, or rearwardly with a compression of the spring fingers 14,15 of the first spring 12. Also, of course, the blade support plate 11 may be skewed slightly, for example with a compression simply of the resilient finger 15 of the first spring or may be rotated slightly about the axis of the support arm 10, for example with a compression of the resilient fingers 16,18 and a compression of the resilient finger 20. Thus the blade support plate may move with a plurality of degrees of freedom of movement relative to the head 1 of the razor.

The blade support plate 11 is shown, in Figure 1, carrying a planar blade 22.

In a modified embodiment the support element 3 is formed as a metal stamping and the lower edge of the blade support plate 11 is sharpened, with the blade support plate itself constituting a blade.

In use of the razor, as described, it is envisaged that as soon as the razor is moved across the skin of a person shaving and encounters bristles, the blade will be subjected to forces which cause the blade to move slightly from the initial position, with a consequent resilient compression of one or more of the various resilient fingers described above. The compression of any particular resilient finger will, of course, apply a reactive force to the blade tending to move the blade back to its initial position. Consequently, as the blade moves across the skin the blade will vibrate. It is known that a vibrating blade will effect a better cut than a stationary blade, and thus it is believed that a razor of the design described above will provide a very high quality shave.

Figures 6 to 8 illustrate a modified embodiment of the invention in which the blade support 3 is of the type described above, but in which the blade support plate 11 is not planar but, instead, has forwardly directed laterally opposed ends, shown, in Figure 7, as the ends 22, 23. These forwardly directed opposed ends may have resilient properties. The blade, shown as blade 24, has the end portions thereof secured, such as by riveting 25, to the forwardly directly ends 22,23 of the blade support plate 11. As can be seen, for example, in Figure 8, this enables the central part of the blade 24 to bend or deflect, should it be subjected to forces tending to cause such bending or deflection.

This will further assist in the shaving process.

Figure 9 illustrates a modified embodiment of the invention which is very similar to that as shown in Figure 6 to 8, save that the blade 26, as shown in Figure 9, has a flat face 27 adapted to be brought into contact with the skin, with the bevelled or sharpened face 28 being the face directed away from the skin. Referring to Figure 10, it can be seen that the flat face 27 of the blade may move adjacent the skin 29 of a person to be shaved, while the bevelled face 28 engages the bristles 30. It is believed that this will provide an enhanced shave.

Referring now to Figures 11 and 12, a blade support 3 of the type shown in Figures 6 to 8 is provided, but the forwardly directed ends 22,23 of the blade support plate 11, support a blade in the form of a cutting wire 30 which extends between them as opposed to supporting a conventional planar cutting blade.

The wire will be able to deflect inwardly, when subjected to an appropriate force, with a flexing of the forwardly directed parts 22,23 of the support plate 11. The wire has such a small diameter that it is effectively sharp enough to cut bristles.

In a further embodiment of the invention, as shown in Figures 13 to 15, the blade support 3 is generally of the same design as shown in the embodiment of Figures 6 to 8, with the blade support plate 11 having forwardly directed laterally opposed ends 22,23, but in this embodiment those forwardly directed ends 22, 23 are each provided with a forwardly projecting tongue 31,32 adapted to be received in a corresponding aperture 33,34 provided in the blade 35. The blade 35 thus extends between the two tongues 31,32, and the central part of the blade 35 may deflect, in a manner corresponding to the deflection of the central part of the blade 24 as shown in Figure 8 above.

Whilst in all of the embodiments described above in which a planar blade is supported by the planar blade support plate 11, the blade is inclined at about 45° to the plane defined by the support arm 10 of the support 3, in an alternative embodiment shown in Figure 16, which has a mechanical structure similar to that as shown in Figures 13 to 15, the blade 36 is mounted to be at substantially 90° from the plane defined from the support arm 10 of the support 3. In this embodiment the bevelled edge 37 of the blade is positioned so that it is the flat face 38 of the blade that is brought into contact with the skin.

While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it is to be appreciated that many modifications may be effected to the particular design illustrated to achieve the same effect. Whilst, in the described embodiment, the blade carrier is itself provided with the resilient elements that provide the desired effect, it is to be appreciated that in a modified embodiment of the invention, all of the resilient elements could form a permanent part of the head of the razor, and thus a support element could be provided in the head of the razor which is resiliently mounted for movement relative to the rest of the head of the razor with a plurality of degrees of freedom of movement, that support element being adapted to receive rigidly a replaceable blade.

In the present specification"comprise"means"includes or consists of' and"comprising"means"including or consisting of'.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.