Blade receptacle

Application filed November 15, 1930. Serial No. 495,954.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive receptacle which will not only serve as a container in which safety razor blades may be packed for sale to the individual user, but will also receive and securely retain the blades when discarded after use, thereby meeting a need which has been felt by many users of safety razors when disposing of their used blades. This receptacle is normally, as contemplated, a non-refillable receptacle except that it is adapted to receive the used blades which are taken from the upper part of the receptacle and inserted, after use, in the lower part of the receptacle. When the receptacle is filled with used blades that can not be removed, this receptacle is in a pronounced manner a non-refillable receptacle. It is filled with used blades that can not be removed.

My invention is particularly applicable to receptacles for flat, flexible blades of uniform thickness, a preferred embodiment of my invention in such a receptacle being illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an isometric view of the receptacle.

Fig. 2 shows, on a smaller scale, a blank used in making the receptacle illustrated in Fig,¹.

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the receptacle.

Figs. 4 and 5 are front and rear end views of the same, respectively.

Fig. 6 shows the receptacle in central longitudinal section, with several blades therein, and

Fig. 7 is an isometric view of a spring follower hereinafter described.

The receptacle illustrated is of rectangular contour arid in length and width is slightly larger than the blades which it is to. contain, a portion of one of the blades being shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. It may have any desired depth, according to the number of n'ew blades intended to be packed in it, and is made deep enough to received not only the predetermined number of blades but also a spring follower to be presently described. Its top 2, bottom 3, side walls 4r—4, front end wall 5 and rear end wall 6 are so shaped and proportioned that in the completed receptacle there is a perforation 7 in the top 2, a discharge opening 8 extending across the front end of the receptacle adjacent to the top 2 and having a ⁸⁸sufficient depth to permit a single blade to pass freely through it, and another opening 9 extending across the receptacle at its bottom and near one end, preferably the rear end. ‘ 60

In the box-like structure thus constituted is located a spring follower 10 preferably made from a.strip of sheet metal and curved in one direction throughout the greater part of its length, with its ends turned in the opposite direction as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. This follower lies beneath the stack of new blades 11 in the receptacle, with its central portion adjacent to the bottom of the receptacle and its ends exerting a spring pressure against the under side of the blade stack near the ends of the latter, as illustrated in Fig. θ’⁴¹¹.^e spring action of the follower being sufficient to hold the top-most blade in the stuck against the top 2 of the receptacle whatever the number of blades in the latter may be.

As thus arranged, the blade which is held against the top of the receptacle is in line with the opening 8 and can be removed by pressing on it slightly with the thumb through the perforation 7 and pushing it forward by frictional engagement, thereby sliding it through the opening 8 until it can be grasped between the.thumb and finger and withdrawn. The spring follower 10 then forces the blade stack upward until the topmost blade of those remaining is held against the top 2 in readiness to be removed in the same way when required. After a blade has been used up and is ready to be discarded it can be introduced into the receptacle by inserting one end through the opening 9 and then sliding it endwise into the receptacle beneath the spring follower, Sle space for the reception of the used es being made available by the withdrawal of the unused blades. The latter blades are commonly put up in individual envelopes or the like, which protect the edges from damage by contact with the receptacle while

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1,908,116 being removed. The used blades can of course he inserted without their envelopes, two such blades being shown at 11' in Fig. 6.

It is possible to introduce a blade, such as a partially used blade for example, into the top of the receptacle by pressing the blade stack downward through the perforation 7 until one end of the blade to be introduced can be inserted through the opening 8 and then pushing the blade lengthwise into the receptacle, but the construction is preferably such that after a used blade has once been introduced beneath the spring follower it cannot be removed without practically destroying the receptacle. To this end the lower edge of the end wall 6 is so located with respect to the opening 9 that the used blade while being introduced is necessarily bent slightly but springs back into its normal flat condition as soon as it has been pushed into the receptacle beyond said end wall and thereby align itself in opposed relation to the end walls of the receptacle, which then prevents its removal through the opening 9. The end wall 6 serves as a guard or baffle plate to prevent the removal of used blades. Since the follower 10 separates the new and used blades the latter cannot be withdrawn through the opening 8 without first removing the follower, and this is prevented by its down-turned front end. - Consequently the receptacle provides for the safe storage of used blades to the limit of its capactiy, and when filled may be thrown away with its contents.

The specific receptacle illustrated may be made from a single piece of sheet metal cut to the shape illustrated in Fig. 2, in which 12—12 and 13—13 indicate integral tabs projecting respectively from the front and rear ends of those portions of the blank which form the side walls of the receptacle. After the blank has been bent along the dotted lines a to form the top, bottom and sides of the receptacle the meeting edges of the blank are brazed together and one of the end walls, preferably the front end wall 5, is then bent up on the dotted line δ and secured in position by bending the tabs 12 laterally over its ends, as shown in Fig. 1. A stack of unused blades and the spring follower 10 in proper position beneath them are then introduced through the open rear end of the receptacle, which is then closed by bending the rear end wall downward along the dotted line “c”, Fig, 2, and securing it in position by bending the tabs 13—13 over its ends, which completes the package.

It is to be noted that some of the joints and corners formed by meeting portions of the walls are integral while others are brazed together and therefore the expression that all portions of the receptacle are chemically and metallurgically united is generic and includes all forms and variations of jointe within the range of equivalents which can be legitimate ly attributed to this invention when it is embodied in metal.

The notches 14 and 15, located respectively at the front and rear ends of the receptacle, are for the purpose of facilitating the removal of a blade through the opening 8 in case it does not yield readily to forward pressure applied through the perforation 7. For example, if the front end of the blade envelope should be turned downward slightly below the bottom of the opening 8 it can be lifted and straightened out by inserting a thin knife blade or the like beneath the blade envelope at the notch 14 and then moving it laterally across the top of the front end wall 5 in both directions. The notch 15 enables a forward pressure to be applied directly to the rear end of the topmost blade. These notches are essential for convenience if a blade wrapper should cause trouble and tend to prevent ejection although they are not absolutely necessary for successful operation of the device, however, and the other details of the receptacle, including the manner in which it is made, may be modified in various ways without departing from my invention.