US2624453A - Blade dispensing magazine with feed slide - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 6, 1953 J. MUROS BLADE DISPENSING MAGAZINE WITH FEED sum:

Filed April 9, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Jan. 6, 1953 J. MUROS 2,624,453

BLADE DISPENSING MAGAZINE WITH FEED sum:

1 Filed April 9. 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Patented Jan. 6, 1953 BLADE DISPENSING" MAGAZINE" WITH" FEED. SLIDE" JosephsMuros', Newtonville, Masa, .assignor tmThe;v Gillette. Company, acorporation; ofiDelaware,

Application April- '9} 1948; S'erialNo. 20,072.

ejection of: oneeblade; at; a time. while preventing movement: of I any:- other blade; from the; magazine; that: might cause. jamming; in; the delivery:

openings; Thegblades; are ejected by; a; feed slide movable in; achannel; in thetop; portionof the magazine;

'Ilhe fine. cutting, edges of. razor: blades. are susceptible to damage-by any contact-prion to;

actual use, Thereforetosinsure protection, itjis-- important that, the manufacturer of the. blades: should. control. the: packaging; operation.

A. very effective. method of packaging; razor blades. is through the medium: of. a dispenser" which providesforthablades tmbearranged. in; alternately staggered' relation and subject. tozbee ing ejected alternately from; opposite; ends. of; the device- This.arrangementprovidesseparatiomof the ends. of the.- hlades; bya thicknessequalto the thickness: of. each: blade, and thisinitial sep aration issufficient, toexpedite removal 01 01.185 bladeatatime alternately at either end, without. jamming.

General. objects of the. present invention: are: to: provide. a. magazine and. blade combination which. will; be. safe, attractive,v inexpensive tomanufacture and assemble, and which. will. pro.- vide protection-.for therdelicate blade. edges prior: to use..

An. important feature. of the. invention. resides.v in a feed'slide movable along, flanges of. a.win.-- dow in the top-of. the magazine. If. blades in the staggered arrangement above described. are, pressedupwardwby a leaf. spring, and.the.said slide. is pushedto apoint at either. end. of the window, permitting, the end. of. the. uppermost. blade, to. clear. the. feed slide, ,theresult. will he that a: sin: gle blade will now. bepositionedtobe.smoothly, ejected by moving the slide in, the. direction. of." the. exit. opening atlthe. opposite. endothemaga= zine.

A. significant. advantage of: the. use of; a. feed slide is,thatit enables. the user to. eject a blade.- without contact. with. the upper; surface; of; the.- blade and the edges of thelongitudinal; blade: slot- Av feed. slide overcomes; the normal; disinclination of. the.- user to touch: even the. slot. edge; with the unprotected finger or thumb. A feed 1 Claim (CL. 2065-16) slidefurther protects'the blades storedin the magazine from droplets of water which are-*frequently upon'the handsof 'theuser if it is necese saryg-for the-thumb or'finger to make 'contactiwith the-bladesthemselves moisturemay-beintroducedi into the magazine chamber. However; if thefeed slide only need beeoperat'ed the possibility that moisture will reachthe stored" blades. is greatly reduced.

Theseand other features of the invention will.- behest-understood and appreciated from the-folialowing description of a preferred embodiment: thereof; sel'eetedfor purposesof illustratiorrandi shown in--- the accompanying drawings; in:which:-..

Fig. l is anenlargediviewin perspeetive'of the loaded magazine;

Fig; 2 is:a viewrin cross section one thellines; L -2 of Fig.4}.

Fig; axis a .longitudinaksectioni vieworn the lines: 3-3 of Fig. 4:

Fig: is another enlarged'view in perspectiueto thesamezscalashowing a blade inthe. preliminary stages: Ojfii being: ejected.

Fig.5 isianrexploderliview imperspeetiveofithe magazine? with bladee. the: feed; slide; being. par-=- tially 'cut' away: to. show its; construction.-

The; blade. dispensing magazine. herein de scribedmay be: constructed-of any of a number" of: suitable; sheet materials,,forexampleby: mold!- ing; synthetimresin; or: by: die casting light; metall. Themagazine:assemblycomprises a .baseimemberg, a cover: member,; a feed.- slide,. and a: leaf spring. The base; and cover: members; may be. made s.e1: arately andthen sprung. intointerlocking;engage:- ment, as; herein set';for.th,=.0r. they may be fused.- together orcQmbinedbyother means. Since-the. design: of. both members. is; such that. the re.-' speetive: cross-sections. are.- substantially uniform. throughout, molding is facilitated and any.- ten. dency, to distort in usedseliminated. The. feed slide, constructed; of. material. similar. to. the base. andmover. members above, is-. grooved longitudie nally toz movereciprocally. in arectangular win. dow, in the =c0ver.. As will. be-shown, ,theieedslide. may readily 'be sprung into engagement with the. window. flanges; either before-:01; after. the.-maga.-- zine. is. loaded. with blades. The. leaf spring, is, easilyinsertedinto themagazineafterit has-been. loaded with .b1ades, as. will be exp lained below...

'I'helower, on basemember. I0= of the mangazine, as; best. shown; in. the exploded. view. Fig. 5;, is: rectangular in outline. and substantially. flatexceptv at.- either end,,where.= the bottom curves. upwardly, bothr inside. and. outside. the, magazine. At each corner of the lower member ID is a rounded shoulder II extending in a convex arc from a point near the beginning of the upward concave curve of the base member Ill to the extreme edge of the base member II]. The top portion of each shoulder II is flattened to provide part of the lower lip of each exit slot. Between the flattened portions of each pair of shoulders extend the lands I2 and I3 at a level slightly below that of the adjoining shoulders. The purpose of this difference in level will appear hereafter.

A pair of narrow blade-locating studs I4 and I5 project upward from the inner face of the base. These studs, spaced apart a distance approximately two-thirds the length of the blade slot, have an open space between them and have symmetrically tapered inner ends and rounded inner corners. These studs I4 and I5 are aligned with each other in the major longitudinal axis of the base and are of a width enabling them to receive the blade slot with clearance and of a height so as to approach the inner face of the cover of the magazine and to project slightly above the plane of the flattened top portion of the shoulder I I. These studs are designed to accommodate a stack of about twenty blades. Along the parallel side edges of the base member is a series of shallow rectangular recesses I5, here shown as three in each edge.

In the base member is a transverse springreceiving slot ll located adjacent to one of its ends and opening in a position approximately at the level of the inner face of the base. The slot I1 is enlarged at its inner edge by a central notch I8. Directly behind the slot, in the inner face of the base, is a transverse recess I9 providing an abrupt shoulder constituting an abutment for one end of the spring when the latter has been once fully inserted in the magazine beneath the blade stack, as will be presently described. The notch I8 extends from the inner edge of the slot I! through the shoulder of the recess I9.

The cover or uppe member 20 of the magazine as best shown in Figs. 3 and 5, i rectangular in outline, with side walls 2| spaced so as to receive between them the base member I and shouldered in their lower edges so as to provide a series of shallow rectangular lugs 22, three on each edge, designed to fit with clearance and interlock with the recesses I6 of the base member. There is sufficient resiliency in the material of the cover member to permit it to be sprung into interlocking engagement with the base member, and when so interlocked the lugs 22 positively determine the longitudinal relation of the two parts which are thus assembled and together provide a shell enclosure for the blade stack. A clearance of about .007 is provided between the lugs 22 and the recesses I6 for manufacturing purposes and to relieve strain in the finished magazine.

The cover member is provided with a rectangular aperture or window 23 extending longitudinally and having extending along its parallel sides depressed or inwardly offset flanges 24 upon which track moves the feed slide 25. The cover member is also provided centrally with longitudinal guide ribs 26 and 21 which in the assembled magazine (as shown in Fig. 3) extend downwardly from a point adjacent the exit edge of each stud I4 and I into the respective exit slots at each end of the magazine. Examination of Fig. 5 will show how the longitudinal guide ribs 26 and 21 are constructed to fit into the recesses formed by the lands I2 and I3 being slightly depressed below the surface of the shoulders II,

as was mentioned above. This structural feature is also shown in Fig. 4, and will be touched upon later.

The feed slide 25 shown in Fig. 5 is constructed of somewhat resilient material and rectangular in shape, with lateral ribs 28 in its top surface to facilitate manipulation by the thumb of the user. Two projections 29 from the bottom of the feed slide, separated by the groove, 3! are each channeled along their outer sides to engage the flanges 24 of the cover member 20 as best shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 discloses that the outer edges of said projections are tapered inwardly to facilitate snapping the feed slide into place on the flanges 24. The body of the feed slide fits between the side edges of the aperture 23 and is partially contained therein, no portion of the slide overlying the outer surface of the cover.

The magazine includes a forked leaf spring 3 I, shown in Fig. 5, which is slightly narrower than the width of the spring slot I! and is forked so that when introduced through the said slot its advancing end and sides will pass freely past the studs I4 and I5. The insertion of the spring is facilitated by the notch I8, which permits the rear edge of the spring to be advanced by a blade or other pointed instrument until its trailing end is fully settled in the recess I9 and positively prevented from being thereafte displaced toward the slot IT. The spring is upwardly bowed and serves to press the blade stack yieldingly upwardly to a position determined by engagement of the uppermost blade in the stack with the inner face of the cover member 20 or the bottom surface of the projection 29 of the slide member 25, as the case may be. The spring 3| may be inserted as one of the last steps of the packaging operation, after the blade stack has been assembled and the magazine closed. While its rear end is anchored against the shoulder of the recess I9, its forward end is unconfined and is free to shift on the surface of the base member If] as the effective thickness of the blade stack is progressively reduced in use.

The magazine is herein shown as loaded with a stack of about ten blades of a well-known commercial type, that is to say, double-edged blades 32 each provided with a longitudinal median slot 33 and each carrying direction indicia in the shape of arrows 34 which inform the user which way the uppermost blade must be moved to eject it properly. The indicia feature, in combination with a dispensing magazine of the general type is the subject matter of U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,544,410 granted March 6, 1951, in the name of Louis H. Young. Each blade is notched at its corners and those notches define elongated unsharpened end portions, centrally and symmetrically located in the blade.

In preparing the dispensing magazine above described the manufacturer will preferably deliver automatically a stack of ten or twenty slotted blades to the base member, empaling alternate blades upon their respective studs l4 and I5 so that each blade is free to be moved longitudinally for the length of its slot less the length of one of the studs and in one direction on y. they are reversed end for end so that the direction indicating arrows 34 also alternate in direction and indicate at which end of the magazine the blade at that moment uppermost in the stack should be moved in being ejected.

The cover member 28 may now be snapped onto the base member I0, the cover members shallow In supplying the blades in this manner rectangular lugs 22 described above interlocking with their opposite members, the base members recesses II to form a shell enclosure. Next the feed slide 25 is pressed into position on the flanges 24, the resiliency of the material and the tapered construction of the projections 29 conducing to facilitate this result. The spring 3i is then inserted through the slot 33 in the manner explained above and the blade stack pressed upwardly by the spring to a level determined by the lower surface of the projections 23 of the feed slide 25. In the event the feed slide 25 is at either end of the Window 23, the uppermost blade will be pressed against the inner face of the cover member 20. In either case the studs [4 and It? will project with clearance through the blade slots to a height above the level of the uppermost blade, thus securing the blades from contact with the side walls of the magazine while they are stored in the magazine and while they are in the process of being ejected from it.

The operation of the magazine may be best explained by reference to the longitudinal section view of Fig. 3. Let it be assumed that as the magazine is loaded the uppermost blade 32 of the stack of blades is left in contact with the projections 29 of the feed slide 25. To engage this blade the feed slide must be moved toward the right along the flanges 24 as far as it will go, its right edge then being in contact with the right edge of the window 23. The topmost blade 32 is now afforded clearance to slide upwardly past the projections of the feed slide, and with continued pressure applied by the leaf spring 3| the said blade will assume a position against the inner surface of the cover member 26.

If the user advances the feed slide 25 to the left with his thumb the rectangular projections 29 on the bottom of the feed slide will engage and evenly displace the uppermost blade through the left exit slot. Two structural features here deserve attention. First, as Fig. 3 (clearly) shows, the design of the shoulders H and the guide rib 26 cooperate to direct the leading edge of the blade 32 accurately into the exit slot. Second, as Fig. 2 indicates, the two projections 29 of the feed slide, with their contact faces at right angles to the direction of movement of the blade, insure firm pressure along the longitudinal axis of the magazine. This makes for movement in a straight path, with the blade slot smoothly progressing along the flat edges of the stud l4, and this efiect is further insured by the guiding function of the rib 26.

The feed slide will be stopped at the left end of its course by contact with the left end of window 23. It will be noted by referring to Fig. 3 that at this stage of the emergence of the blade the projections 29 will have advanced the end portion of the blade to a position approximately midway of the upper surface of the left stud 14. As has been noted above, the studs l4 and I5 project upwardly above the inner face of the cover member 20. Therefore the end portion of the blade 32 is now held in a transversely flexed position, shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, either side edge being slightly depressed below the level of the center of the end portions of the blade.

The resultant flexure of the blade is sufficient to retain the blade friotionally in place although the magazine is tilted with the emergent blade held down. Therefore the blade is conveniently available for positioning upon the spider of a safety razor, but is not subject to slipping accidentally from the magazine.

As the blade is finally withdrawn from the magazine the end portion slides smoothly along the top of the stud l4 and the edges are protected from accidental contact with the side walls of the magazine or slot by the operation of guide rib 26 which serves to guide and so protect the blade even when it is beyond the effective reach of the stud l4, that is to say, the guiding function of the magazine on the blade passes from the stud M to the rib 26.

With the feed slide in its left position last described the blade next to the top will now be afforded clearance to slide upwardly past the projections 29 into a position ready for ejection through the right slot when the feed slide is advanced toward the right. No sooner, therefore, is one blade ejected, than the feed slide is in position to eject another at the opposite exit slot. There can be no confusion concerning the proper direction to move the feed slide; only the uppermost blade in any event i in position for ejection and the uppermost blade may only be advanced in one direction by the slide, namely in the direction of its appropriate exit slot. Thus the question of jamming of blades in one slot, or of emitting simultaneously a blade from each slot, and the operation of engaging and ejecting a, single blade is effected without contact with the fingers of the user.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

A blade dispensing magazine comprising a rectangular shell having blade exit slots at both ends, and spaced blade-locating studs within the shell, the shell including a cover having a central longitudinal aperture therein with inwardly projecting flanges at its lower longitudinal edges, and a feed slide grooved at its side edges to engage said fianges, and having a body portion movable in the aperture of the cover partially below the upper face of the cover, the side edges of the feed slide being beveled so that they may be forced between the flanges of the cover in interlocking the feed slide therewith.

JOSEPH MUROS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,061,810 Bowles May 13, 1913 2,111,739 Rodrigues Mar. 22, 1938 2,287,487 Roberts June 23, 1942 2,330,252 Testi Sept. 28, 1943 2,410,311 Steinbach Oct. 29, 1946 2,439,243 Dalkowitz Apr. 6, 1948

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