Background Art As well known to those skilled in the art, a variety of haircutting tools to cut a customer's hair have been used in barbershops and beauty parlors. Among the haircutting tools, one of the typical items is hair-thinning scissors.

The hair-thinning scissors are used in selectively thinning a part of the customer's hair after a hairdresser cuts the hair to some degree by means of haircutting scissors. The hair-thinning scissors comprise an upper blade and a lower blade, either of which is toothed along one side thereof, with a plurality of clearances formed between teeth. The hair is cut as the upper blade and the lower blade overlap each other, and a part of the hair is received within the clearances and remains uncut. That is, during a hair-thinning operation performed by the hair-thinning scissors, a part of hair is cut, but another part of the hair is uncut.

A razor is a tool to cut the hair downward in an inclined manner. A blade is attached to the razor and the hair is cut by means of the blade. That is, the hair is struck by the blade edge of the razor and is thus cut.

Generally, the hair-thinning scissors and the razor are separately used to cut hair

during a haircutting process. To cut, trim or thin the hair, the hairdresser selectively uses the hair-thinning scissors or the razor alternately. To specify, the hairdresser may select the razor after using the hair-thinning scissors or otherwise he/she may select the hair-thinning scissors after using the razor.

Since the hairdresser has to alternately use the hair-thinning scissors and the razor in order to thin or trim the hair, this causes trouble in cutting the hair and it also takes a longer time to cut the hair.

Disclosure of the Invention Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide hair- thinning scissors combined with a razor blade, with which thinning and razor cutting of the hair can be performed together, thereby resolving the problem caused in using the hair- thinning scissors and the razor separately, thereby reducing the time to cut the hair.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a pair of hair- thinning scissors combined with a razor blade, comprising: an upper blade member provided with a cutting blade formed along an edge thereof ; a lower blade member pivoted to the upper blade member to be rotated relative to each other; a plurality of teeth formed along an edge of the lower blade member at regular intervals, and each having a hair-pinching groove on an end thereof within which a part of the hair is pinched; a plurality of clearances formed between the teeth to form spaces outside the cutting blade of the upper blade member when the upper blade member and the lower blade member overlap each other; and a razor blade coupling part formed on the lower blade member to attach a razor blade to the lower blade member such that an edge of the razor blade is projected into the clearances.

In an embodiment, the razor blade coupling part comprises: a razor blade receiving slot formed by being recessed on an inside surface of the lower blade member, into which the razor blade is inserted via a sliding manner; and a razor blade locking slot formed by being recessed outward along both edges of the razor blade receiving slot, in which both edges of the razor blade are seated, thereby preventing the razor blade from being undesirably removed from the lower blade member.

In another embodiment, the razor blade coupling part comprises: a hook projected from the inside surface of the lower blade member; and a hook coupling hole formed on the razor blade to engage with the hook.

In a further embodiment, the upper blade member comprises: a plurality of second teeth, at one end of which a cutting blade is formed; and a plurality of second clearances formed between the second teeth, within which the hair is accommodated.

With this configuration, where the lower blade member and the upper blade member overlap each other, the hair pinched in the hair-pinching grooves is cut, but the hair received within the clearances is not cut, thereby allowing for selective haircutting. In addition, when the razor blade is attached to the razor blade coupling part, the hair-thinning scissors can perform a razor cutting function, simultaneously.

Brief Description of the Drawings The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which : Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a pair of hair-thinning scissors according to a first embodiment of the present invention, wherein the hair-thinning scissors are opened ;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the hair-thinning scissors shown in Fig. 1, wherein the hair-thinning scissors are closed; Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a part of a lower blade member of the hair- thinning scissors according to the present invention; Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing an arrangement of a razor blade relative to hooks provided at the lower blade member according to a modification of the first embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the lower blade member showing the razor blade installed in a razor blade coupling part of the lower blade member according to the present invention; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a hair-thinning scissors according to a second embodiment of the present invention, wherein the hair-thinning scissors are closed; and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the hair-thinning scissors shown in Fig. 6, wherein the hair-thinning scissors are opened.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Reference should now be made to the drawings, in which the same reference numerals are used throughout the different drawings to designate the same or similar components.

<First Embodiment As illustrated in Figs. 1 through 5, the hair-thinning scissors combined with a razor blade according to the present invention comprise an upper blade member 100, a lower blade member 110, teeth 120, clearances 130, a razor blade coupling part 140 and a razor blade 150.

Along one edge of the upper blade member 100 is formed a cutting blade with which the hair is cut. The upper blade member 100 having a ring-shaped handle is pivoted

to the lower blade member 110 having a ring-shaped handle, so that the two blade members 100 and 110 are rotatable relative to each other. The edge of the upper blade member 100 is sharpened to form a sharp edge.

The lower blade member 110 is in a rotatable manner pivoted to the upper blade member 100 at a position around the center of the hair-thinning scissors. As the thinning scissors are closed, such that the edge of the lower blade member 110 overlaps the sharp edge of the upper blade member 100, the hair is cut. The edge of the lower blade member 100 is toothed to form a plurality of teeth 120 with regular intervals. Between the teeth 120 are formed a plurality of clearances 130. On each end of the teeth 120 is formed a hair-pinching groove 121 recessed inwardly in the tip end of each of the teeth 120. To cut the hair, the hair is pinched within the hair-pinching grooves 121 of the teeth 120 and then cut as the lower blade member 110 and the upper blade member 100 overlap each other to work one against the other.

The clearances 130 are formed by depressing to a predetermined depth between the teeth 120 of the lower blade member 110. When the upper blade member 100 and the lower blade member 110 completely overlap each other, there exist spaces not overlapped by the two blade members 100 and 110 between the sharp edge of the upper blade member 100 and the inside ends of the clearances 130.

To cut the hair with the haircutting scissors, the upper blade member 100 and the lower blade member 110 should overlap each other to work one against the other. When the two blade members 100 and 110 overlap, the hair pinched by the hair-pinching grooves 121 of the teeth 120 of the lower blade member 110 is cut, but the hair received within the clearances 130 of the toothed lower blade member 110 is not cut because the hair moves inwardly along the clearances 130 of the lower blade member 110 in accordance with the overlapping of the two blade members and reaches the spaces not overlapped by the two

blade members 100 and 110. Therefore, the hair is selectively cut.

The razor blade coupling part 140 comprises a razor blade receiving slot 141 formed along the inside surface of the lower blade member 110, and a razor blade locking slot 142 formed by being recessed outward along both edges of the razor blade receiving slot 141, in which both edges of the razor blade 150 are seated, so that the razor blade 150 is locked.

The razor blade receiving slot 141 is constructed to be wide and long sufficiently for the razor blade 150 to be received therein. The above slot 141 is longitudinally formed from an outside position adjacent to the outermost tooth 120 around the end of the lower blade member 110 to an inside position adjacent to the innermost tooth 120, so that the razor blade 150 is axially installed in the slot 141 in a sliding manner. The razor blade locking slot 142 is formed with two longitudinal lines: one line formed by being recessed backward from the rear edge of the razor blade receiving slot 141 around the back of the blade member 110 and the other line formed by being recessed forward from the front edge of the razor blade receiving slot 141 around the teeth 120. As both longitudinal edges of the razor blade 150 are seated in the two recessed lines of the razor blade locking slot 142, respectively, undesired removal of the razor blade 150 from the hair-thinning scissors is prevented. The razor blade 150 installed in the razor blade receiving slot 141 partially overlaps the clearances 130 at its front sharp edge.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the razor blade coupling part 140 comprises the razor blade receiving slot 141 and the razor blade locking slot 142 as described above, but it has no limitation in this regard. That is, the razor blade coupling part 140 may be structured with hooks and hook coupling holes in place of the two types of slots 141 and 142. As shown in Fig. 4, two hooks 143 are projected from the inside surface of the lower blade member 110, and two hook coupling holes 144 are formed on the razor blade 150.

When the hooks 143 are inserted into the hook coupling holes 144 of the razor blade 150,

respectively, the razor blade 150 is longitudinally attached to the lower blade member 110.

In this regard, the front sharp edge of the razor blade 150 partially overlaps the clearances 130 between the teeth 120.

Operation of the hair-thinning scissors according to the present invention with the above-described configuration will now be described.

When a hairdresser desires to use the hair-thinning scissors only to thin the customer's hair, the razor blade 150 is detached form the razor blade coupling part 140.

Therefore, when the hair is cut by the upper blade member 100 and the lower blade member 110 overlapping each other, the hair pinched in the hair-pinching grooves 121 is cut, but the hair received in the clearances 130 is not cut, and the cut hair easily falls through the clearances 130 when the scissors are opened.

When the hairdresser combines the razor blade 150 with the razor blade coupling part 140, the thinning scissors can be used both to thin the hair and trim the hair with the use of the razor blade 150 coupled thereto. When the hairdresser uses the thinning scissors to thereby allow the upper blade member 100 and the lower blade member 110 to overlap each other, the hair is cut. While the thinning scissors are opened so that the upper blade member 100 and the lower blade member 110 do not overlap, the hairdresser can trim the hair by using the razor blade 150 in a manner similar to a conventional razor. Thus, the hairdresser can perform both a hair-thinning job and a razor-cutting job only with the hair-thinning scissors combined with the razor blade, without replacing the hair-thinning scissors with the razor or vice versa, thereby resolving the trouble experienced in replacing conventional haircutting tools and simplifying the haircutting process. This is convenient to hairdressers.

<Second Embodiment As depicted in Figs. 6 and 7, the second embodiment of the present invention has the same elements as in the first embodiment, except for the upper blade member 100.

In the first embodiment, one edge of the upper blade member 100 is constructed to form a sharp edged blade. But, in the second embodiment, the blade is partially formed on the edge of the blade member 100.

That is, the edge of the upper blade member 100 is toothed to form teeth 101 with regular intervals and a sharp edged blade is formed only at the end of each of the teeth 101.

Between the teeth 101 are formed clearances 102, within which the hair is accommodated.

When cutting the hair using the hair-thinning scissors of the second embodiment, the teeth 101 of the upper blade member 100 and the teeth 120 of the lower blade member 110 overlap each other, thereby cutting only part of the hair. However, the hair received within the clearances 102 is not cut because the clearances 102 of the upper blade member 100 overlap the clearances 130 of the lower blade member 110, when the thinning scissors are closed.

Industrial Applicability As described above, the present invention provides hair-thinning scissors combined with a razor blade, capable of being efficiently used only for the purpose of thinning the hair when the razor blade is detached from the hair scissors, and both for a hair-thinning job and a razor-cutting job with the razor blade when the razor blade is attached to the thinning scissors, thereby allowing a hairdresser to conveniently cut the hair while solving the problem experienced in alternately using two haircutting tools, that is, a pair of hair-thinning scissors and a razor.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.