Conforming wet shaving razor

#The present invention relates to a razor suitable for use for wet shaving wherein the razor comprises a conforming cartridge that includes rear spring elements that foldably engage with the remainder of the cartridge.

#This invention relates to a wet shaving razor comprising a cartridge and an adjoining handle and includes a shaving blade with a cutting edge which is moved across the surface of the skin being shaved by means of the handle. A cartridge may be mounted detachably on a razor handle to enable the cartridge to be replaced by a fresh cartridge when the blade sharpness has diminished to an unsatisfactory level, or it may be fixedly attached to the handle with the intention that the entire razor be discarded when the blade or blades have become dulled. Detachable and replaceable cartridges are commonly referred to as shaving cartridges.

#There have been various proposals for mounting a cartridge on a handle to enable movement of the cartridge during shaving with the aim of maintaining conformity of the skin contacting parts with the skin surface during shaving. For example, many razors currently marketed have cartridges which are pivotable about longitudinal axes extending parallel to the cutting edges of the elongate blades incorporated in the cartridges. Additionally, the Applicant has realized the utility of providing consumers with a conforming razor cartridge as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,024,776B2 and 7,131,203B2. The conforming razor cartridges disclosed in these two patents were injection molded and the blade unit was attached after molding by forcing metal anchors on a blade support of the blade unit through holes in the elastomeric cartridge. It was typical, however, with this configuration that the thin metal of the blade unit acted in a similar way to a knife blade and would cut the rubber or elastomer material that formed the cartridge if the hole for receiving the blade unit was not held open by a blunt, stretching device which itself required the hole to be stretched to allow for insertion of the blade unit. To accommodate for this manipulation, the patentee realized that it was ideal to employ an elastomeric material or rubber capable of relatively high elongation. Such highly elongatable and/or extensible materials typically exhibit high tear resistance as well but are usually relatively expensive. Another not so positive aspect of this previously disclosed conforming razor was the fact that the anchors and holes mentioned for blade unit insertion often detract from the comfort of the shave experienced by consumers.

#FIG. 1 shows a front perspective view of a wet shaving razor equipped with a conforming cartridge in accordance with the invention;

#FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the razor of FIG. 1;

#FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of cartridge of the present invention prior to final engagement of a plurality of rear spring elements with the sub-frame; and

#The wet shaving razor 5 in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a handle 10 on which a conforming cartridge 15 is mounted. As shown, the handle 10 has joined to it a base 8 to which the cartridge 15 may be fastened, but the cartridge could also be releasably connected to the handle 10 to allow replacement of the cartridge 15. The cartridge 15 comprises an upper frame 6 and a sub-frame 7 joined at a front edge of the cartridge 15. The upper frame 6 comprises a blade frame 1 that comprises a shaving blade 3 wherein the blade frame 1 may be incorporated by clipped in insertion or via insert molding with the latter being advantageous. In the illustrated embodiment, the cartridge 15 consists of a unitary molding of rubber or a material having similar resiliently flexible properties to materials having appropriate characteristics include BASF's Elastollan C60A10W.

#The cartridge 15 comprises an upper frame 6 having an upper face 2 (having a top edge 30 and a bottom edge 31, which actually corresponds and coincides with the front edge 35 of the cartridge) surrounding the blade frame 1 (which includes a shaving blade 3), a sub-frame 7 which has the form of a plurality of rectangular beams joined together by living hinges, and a base 8. The upper frame 6 is hingedly connected to the sub-frame 7 at the bottom edge of the upper face 2 and at front edge 35 of the sub-frame 7. In particular, the upper frame 6 and sub-frame 7 are integral and are connected by a living hinge 9 at their forward edges. The upper frame 6 and the sub-frame 7 lie in first and second planes respectively, and are relatively positioned normally to diverge from each other rearwardly away from the hinge 9. The sub-frame 7 and the base 8 are hingedly connected at the rear of the cartridge, and more especially the sub-frame 7 and base 8 are integrally connected by a living hinge 11 at a rear (or back) 36 edge of the sub-frame. The sub-frame 7 and base 8 are normally disposed to diverge from each other in the direction forwardly away from the hinge 11. With this configuration, the upper frame 6, sub-frame 7 and base 8, as viewed in right end elevation (FIG. 4), define a Z shape, but with the angle α disposed between the upper frame 6 and the sub-frame 7 being greater than the angle β subtended between the sub-frame 7 and the base 8 so that the upper frame 6 is normally set at an appropriate angle with respect to the handle 10 and to ensure the desired deformation characteristics of the cartridge 15 as explained below.

#The sub-frame 7 is supported with respect to the base 8 by one or more (in the case shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 there are several) rear spring elements 14 serially arranged along a rear length of the upper face of the cartridge 15. These rear spring elements 14 are formed by resiliently flexible webs integral with the upper frame. Each of the rear spring elements 14 has a proximate end 16 and a distal end 17 where the proximate end 16 is joined adjacent a top edge 30 of the upper face and where the distal end 17 is joined to a catch plate 18 as shown in FIG. 3. The distal ends 17 of each of the rear spring elements 14 may comprise engaging tips 38 that are useful for joining the distal ends 17 to mating gripping projections 39 that are spaced along a length of the catch plate 18. The distal ends 17 of the rear spring elements 14 are joined to the catch plate 18 and the catch plate 18 is then foldably engaged with a rear edge 36 of the sub-frame 7 by pushing the catch plate 18 downward (from its natural upward positioned state after molding manufacture) to the rear edge 36 of the sub-frame 7. In particular, there may be engagement grooves 19 spaced along a rear length of the sub-frame 7 into which the distal ends 17 and catch plate 18 fit to change an as molded cartridge into a usable cartridge. With respect to the catch plate 18, it is possible for the catch plate 18 to be formed integrally with the upper frame 6 or not. In the instance where it is not, it is also suitable to form the catch plate 18 from the same material as the upper frame 6 or from a different material that possesses the same or different physical properties than the upper frame material. For instance, a different material may be harder than the rubber or elastomeric material of the spring elements. Suitable materials include, but are not limited to Noryl PX5511® and ABS Cycolac® (both obtained from Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, Selkirk, N.Y.), Delrin® (DuPont), polystyrene, etc.