Certain areas of the human body that are typically shaved include skin surfaces that are either substantially convex or concave. Some of these skin surface areas are among the more delicate areas of the body to shave, especially when the natural body contours result in relatively small cavities of hairy skin, like under the arms. These areas are often characterized by soft, sensitive skin and displaceable tissue beneath the skin to be shaved. Also, the arm pits and certain other curved areas can be difficult to reach comfortably and to see easily, and thus are usually harder to shave. A lower level of tactile sensation in these areas, compared to the face, adds to the shaving difficulties.
Skin areas that have one or more of the foregoing characteristics include the underarm areas, the backs or ankles of the legs, the lower abdomen, etc. These areas are conventionally shaved using manual razor blade devices of the type commonly sold today for all-purpose shaving. Such devices typically employ one or more razor blade strips having a generally straight cutting edge surface profile and a blade length of about 3.8 cm (about 1.5 inches). Modern T-bar safety razors typically have a razor head provided with an elongated front guard, a rear guard of equal length upon which a lubricant strip may be mounted, and very narrow non-shaving side edges. These side edges or ends served as guards in the sense that they cover up the ends of the sharpened razor blades. These front, rear and side guards define a safety boundary and working plane around the razor blade strips. Such straight profile razors usually provide satisfactory performance for the shaving of relatively flat, large, easy-to-see skin surface areas. But the use of this type of shaving device for shaving skin areas that are smaller, more contoured, more sensitive, softer or harder-to-see, such as the underarm areas, is often more problematic. Also, conventional shaving devices do not appear to have been specifically designed to make such difficult shaving tasks.
Also, in contoured areas, some users of conventional manual shaving devices may tend to apply additional force beyond that which is needed to accomplish the shaving of the desired skin area. Excessive pressure may be applied to the razor, generally perpendicularly against the skin, while the razor blade strips are dragged forward, in an effort to realize improved, closer or faster shaving. Pressing the razor blade head into the skin's surface may help by slightly changing the skin's contour, e.g., by flattening or pushing it somewhat, so that it more closely matches the relatively flat configuration of the available razor blade edge or edges. Unfortunately, such pressing with a conventional manual razor also increases the incidence of undesirable results, namely cuts, nicks and razor burn, i.e., the series of microscopic cuts that occur when one shaves a skin surface too closely. These results, even though usually minor, can in turn can lead to discomfort, especially from when contacted by antiperspirants or clothing. Some inexperienced users of manual shaving devices may thus avoid shaving these sensitive underarm areas due to a fear of these adverse results.
Thus, one shortcoming of conventional manual razor blade shaving devices is that their straight profiles are not well matched to generally contoured skin surfaces, such as the underarm area, legs and arms. Also, their flat configurations and straight edge profiles do not provide a suitable shaving edge or edges for shaving such contoured skin surfaces. Also, they lack means for allowing a user to safely flatten his or her curved skin areas during shaving.
Accordingly, further improvements in the manual shaving systems for shaving small contoured skin surfaces are still needed, especially for shaving sensitive concave regions such as the underarms. There is a need for razor blade structures that do not require the user to press the razor blade strips too forcefully into areas such as the underarm area in order to accomplish the desired closeness or speed in shaving.
It is therefore a first major object of the present invention is to provide a razor blade shaving device having specifically-designed comfortable non-shaving glide surfaces that are operable to contact the skin and apply a significant non-shaving force to a skin surface being shaved to improve the shaving comfort and action. A related object is to provide non-shaving glide surfaces that are positioned and sized to contact and apply non-shaving pressure against the skin in a sufficient amount to alter the skin contour to match more closely that of the shaving portions of the razor blade head, while simultaneously maintaining a more modest force against the razor blade edges shaving the skin. A further related object is to provide side glide surfaces on a razor blade head structure which facilitate conforming the curvature of the skin to be shaved to a flexible razor head structure.
A second major object of the present invention to provide a razor blade shaving device particularly suitable for shaving contoured skin surfaces. It is a further object to provide a razor blade shaving device that is specifically designed to improve the shaving of skin surfaces that are soft and pliable, particularly small concave areas like the underarms. A related object is to provide a manual shaving device for more easily and safely shaving hard-to-reach or hard-to-see curved regions of the skin.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide contoured glide surfaces upon a conventional manual razor to facilitate manipulation of the skin and/or subcutaneous tissue to improve the shaving action of straight-edge razor-sharp blades on difficult-to-shave skin areas. It is a further object to provide non-shaving glide structures which are rounded, balanced and/or symmetrically arranged about the razor blade shaving portions of the razor head to facilitate shaving difficult areas.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such razor blade shaving devices which include a head structure with non-shaving glide surfaces that the problem is attachable to and compatible with existing handle designs and razor blade platforms. Still another object is to provide moisture-bearing non-shaving surfaces on glide-equipped shaving devices on glide-equipped razor heads to help soften and/or lubricate the hair stubble and/or skin to be shaved. Yet another object to provide such razor blade shaving devices in cartridge form, so that such razor blade structures can be removed and replaced as desired. One more object is to provide improvements which satisfy the foregoing objects in a manner largely compatible with existing designs and manufacturing techniques for conventional razor blade devices.