Safety razors

A shaving cartridge comprising

• a housing having connecting structure adapted to make a removable connection to a handle,
• a guard at the front of the cartridge,
• a cap at the back of the cartridge, and
• first, second and third parallel blades each with sharpened skin-contacting cutting edges located on said housing between said guard and cap and independently mounted for spring-biased movement with respect to said housing, said third blade being nearer the cap than is said first blade,
• said blades being movable from initial at-rest positions determined by respective exposures of the blades to shaving positions,
• wherein said third blade has a higher preload than said first blade, such that when said first and third blades are depressed by an equal amount, the force exerted on said first blade is less than the force exerted on said third blade.

A shaving cartridge comprising

• a housing having connecting structure adapted to make a connection to a handle,
• a guard at the front of the cartridge,
• a cap at the back of the cartridge, and
• first, second and third parallel blades each with sharpened skin-contacting cutting edges located on said housing between said guard and cap and independently mounted for spring-biased movement with respect to said housing, said third blade being nearer the cap than is said first blade,
• said blades being movable from initial at-rest positions determined by respective exposures of the blades to shaving positions, the three blades being mounted so that during shaving the blade movement from respective shaving positions is translational without changing respective blade angles,
• wherein when said first and-third blades are depressed by an equal amount, the force exerted on said first blade is less than the force exerted on said third blade.

A shaving razor comprising

• a handle,
• a housing having connecting structure adapted to make a removable connection to the handle,
• a guard at the front of the cartridge,
• a cap at the back of the cartridge, and
• first, second and third parallel blades each with sharpened skin-contacting cutting edges located on said housing between said guard and cap and independently mounted for spring-biased movement with respect to said housing, said third blade being nearer the cap tan is said first blade,
• said blades being movable from initial at-rest positions determined by respective exposures of the blades to shaving positions,
• wherein said third blade has a higher preload than said first blade, such that when said first and third blades are depressed by an equal amount, the force exerted on said first blade is less than the force exerted on said blade.

A safety razor blade unit comprising

• a guard a cap and at least three parallel blades each with sharpened cutting edges located in succession between the pad and the cap,
• at least one of the guard and the cap being movable against a spring force, in response to a user bringing the razor blade unit into contacting relation with skin to be shaved but prior to beginning a shaving stroke generally parallel to the skin, from an at-rest position unloaded by externally applied forces to a predetermined operable depressed position in which a target blade geometry is obtained,
• the three blades being independently mounted for spring-biased movement so that during shaving the blade movement from respective operable positions is translational without changing respective blade angles,
• wherein when said first and third blades are depressed by an equal amount, the force exerted on said first blade is less than the force exerted on said third blade, and
• wherein in the at-rest position the blade edges are disposed below a plane tangential to the skin contacting surfaces of the guard and the cap.

A shaving cartridge comprising

• a housing having connecting structure adapted to make a connection to a handle,
• a guard at the front of the cartridge,
• a cap at the back of the cartridge, and
• first, second and third parallel blades each with sharpened skin-contacting cutting edges located on said housing, between said guard and said cap and independently mounted for spring-biased movement with respect to said housing, said third blade being nearer the cap than is said first blade,
• said blades being movable against the spring bias, in response to a user bringing the razor blade unit into contacting relation with skin to be shaved wherein skin contacting surfaces of the guard, cap and three blades bear on the surface to be shaved, from at-rest positions unloaded by externally applied forces to depressed start-shaving positions wherein a target blade geometry is attained in which the exposure on the first blade is less than zero and the exposure on their blade is greater than zero,
• the three blades being mounted so that during shaving the blade movement from respective shaving position is translational without changing respective blade angles,
• and wherein when said first and third blades are depressed by an equal amount, the force exerted on said first blade is less than the force exerted on said third blade.

A shaving razor comprising

• a handle,
• a housing connected to said handle,
• a guard at the front of the cartridge,
• a cap at the back of the cartridge, and
• first, second and third parallel blades each with sharpened skin-contacting cutting edges located on said housing between said guard and cap and independently mounted for spring-biased movement with respect to said housing, said third blade being nearer the cap than is said first blade,
• said blades being movable from initial at-rest positions determined by respective exposures of the blades to shaving positions, the three blades being mounted so that during shaving the blade movement from respective shaving positions is translational without changing respective blade angles,
• wherein when said first and third blades are depressed by an equal amount the force exerted on said first blade is less than the force exerted on said third blade.