SURFACE-MOUNTABLE RAZOR HOLDER

Abstract

A surface-mountable holder includes a rear surface adapted to be coupled with an affixing mechanism for mounting to an external surface. The surface-mountable holder further includes a front surface configured to magnetically secure a shaving razor. The front surface is adapted to receive an upper handle portion of the shaving razor. The upper handle portion is in close proximity to a razor portion of the shaving razor.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/438,159, filed Jun. 11, 2019, which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/140,249, filed Sep. 24, 2018, which claims the benefit of Provisional Patent Application No. 62/567,031, filed Oct. 2, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to holding devices and, more particularly, to a shaving razor holder for securing a safety shaving razor when not in use.

BACKGROUND

Existing wall mountable razor holders fall into three broad groups. In the first group, a pair of horizontally spaced arms extends from a wall mounting structure and simply suspends the razor from the wide part of the razor and with the widest end, usually the cartridge end, at the top. Examples of this first group include holders disclosed in: U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,158 to Kertzman; U.S. Pat. No. 7,506,854 to Lukan; U.S. Design Pat. No. D,333,583 to Hurd; and U.S. Design Pat. No. D294,903 to Pokorny. In a second group, a single prong extends from a wall mounting structure and this prong connects with a recess or hole in the handle to suspend the razor. Examples of this second group are disclosed in U.S. Design Pat. No. D277,434 to Iten and U.S. Design Pat. Nos. D495,179 and D494,795 both to Bunnell, et al. In a third group, a simple cup extends from a wall mounting structure and the razor is simply placed in the cup, usually with the razor cartridge end of the razor at the top and facing out of the cup to prevent the razor blades of the cartridge contacting any internal part of the cup that might cause damage to the razor blades. Examples of this third group include U.S. Design Pat. Nos. D464,222 and D423,845 both to Coffin, et al. and U.S. Design Pat. No. D370,375 to Murgida, et al.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shaving razor holder, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the holder, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3A is a side view of the holder, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3B is a section view of the holder taken along sectional indicator 8 shown in FIG. 1, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the holder's back mounting component, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of the holder's back mounting component, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of the holder's back mounting component, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of the holder's front component, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a rear view of the holder's front component, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the holder, with a razor retained thereon, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a front view of the holder, with a razor retained thereon, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a rear view of the holder, with a razor retained thereon, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a rear perspective view of the holder, with a razor retained therein, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a front view of the razor retained on a holder and a 360-degree access path in an x-y plane, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the holder and a hemisphere of access paths, with a razor retained therein, according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The ergonomic design for existing wall mountable razor holders is suboptimal, as they do not fully expose the razor handle that is intended to be accessed. Rather, in existing wall mountable razor holders, the razor handle is guarded behind prongs, arms, and cups creating unnecessary obstructions for a user to access the razor handle. Such obstructions do not permit a safety shaving razor to be attached and detached in a full range of access paths. For example, the prongs, arms, and/or cups limit the angle that a user can remove and attach the shaving razor from the razor holder.

Therefore, there is a need to provide a surface-mountable (e.g., wall-mountable) holder for a safety razor that may provide unobstructed access (e.g., a 360° access path in an x-y plane substantially parallel to the surface to which the holder is mounted, a full hemisphere of access paths (e.g. 180°) centered at the point of mounting the holder to a surface, etc.) to both affix and remove such safety razor with ease and simplicity. Generally, the present disclosure relates to a surface-mountable holder for removably retaining (e.g., securing, suspending) a safety shaving razor when not in use. The holder may be mounted to a surface (e.g., a wall) that is a planar surface (e.g., disposed along a first plane) in an x-y plane, where the z-direction is going into the planar surface and moving away from the planar surface.

In some embodiments, unobstructed access to affix and remove a safety razor includes affixing and removing the safety razor in a full 360° access path in an x-y plane substantially parallel to the surface to which the holder is mounted. FIG. 13 illustrates a razor 20 retained on a holder against a planar surface in an x-y plane, according to certain embodiments. The surface (e.g., a wall) may be in a first plane that is an x-y plane. A 360° access path may include any angle (e.g., anywhere between 0° and 360°) in the x-y plane. For example, the safety razor 20 may be affixed to the holder by approaching from a 0° angle, a 90° angle, a 270° angle, etc. in an x-y plane. In another example, the safety razor 20 may be removed from the holder from a 0° angle, a 90° angle, a 270° angle, etc. in an x-y plane. The safety razor 20 may be removed by moving the safety razor 20 away from the holder in the z-direction. The safety razor 20 may be attached to the holder by moving the safety razor 20 towards the holder in the z-direction.

In some embodiments, unobstructed access to affix and remove the safety razor includes affixing and removing the safety razor in a 180° access path (e.g. a full hemisphere of access paths) within a sphere centered at the point (e.g., central point) of mounting the holder to a surface (e.g., wall). FIG. 14 illustrates a razor holder 10 mounted to a surface at the origin of an x-y-z coordinate system. The surface is in the x-y plane and the z-direction is going into the surface and moving away from the surface.

The razor holder is mounted to the external surface at a first point (e.g., origin of the x-y-z axis) on a first side of the external surface. Access paths from the first point create a sphere of access paths centered about the first point. A hemisphere of access paths corresponds to half of the sphere disposed on the first side of the external surface. The surface-mountable razor holder may secure the shaving razor without obstructing the hemisphere of access paths to remove the shaving razor from the surface-mountable razor holder and affix the shaving razor to the surface-mountable razor holder.

The external surface is disposed along a first plane that includes a first point corresponding to the mounting of the holder to the planar surface. A second plane intersects the first plane at the first point and creates a 180° angle (a line) at the intersection with the first plane. For example, the x-z plane intersects the central point and creates a 180° angle along the x-axis.

For the 360° angle centered at the central point and disposed on the second plane (e.g., the x-z plane), a first 180° are outside of the wall (e.g., see hatched portion of FIG. 14) and a second 180° are within the wall. The razor may be accessed (e.g., removed from and attached to the holder) via a full unobstructed 180° (e.g., at any angle of the 180° outside of the wall) in the second plane.

For example, for a second plane that is horizontal (the x-z plane), the razor may be removed from the holder by pulling the razor towards the right (at a 0° angle), by pulling the razor straight out away from the wall (at a 90° angle), by pulling the razor towards the left (at a 180° angle), or any other angle in between. The razor may be attached to the holder by the razor approaching the holder from the right (0° angle), by approaching holder straight on (e.g., at a 90° angle), by approaching the holder from the left (e.g., at a 180° angle), or any other angle in between. (See hatched area of FIG. 14 for angles of access from 0° to 180° in the x-z plane.) In another example, for a second plane that is vertical (e.g., the z-y plane), the razor may be removed from the holder by pulling the razor down (e.g., at a 0° angle), by pulling the razor straight out away from the wall (at a 90° angle), by pulling the razor up (180° angle), or any other angle in between. The razor may be attached to the holder by the razor approaching the holder from below (e.g., at a 0° angle), by approaching the holder straight on (e.g., at a 90° angle), by approaching the holder from above (e.g., at a 180° angle), or any other angle in between.

The shaving razor being removable from and attachable to the front surface of the surface-mountable razor holder in a full hemispherical access path includes the shaving razor being accessible via a full unobstructed access path (e.g., without obstruction by prongs, arms, a cup, etc.) along any plane (horizontal, vertical, diagonal, etc.) that intersects the planar surface (e.g., wall) at the first point corresponding to the mounting of the holder to the planar surface (e.g., the razor may be removed from the holder at any angle other than pushing the shaving razor into the holder or surface to which the holder is mounted).

A safety shaving razor may include a razor handle that is coupled to one or more blades. In one implementation, the one or more blades are housed within a razor head that is integral to the razor handle. In another implementation, the one or more blades are housed within a razor head that is removably coupled to the razor handle. The safety shaving razor may be used to sever hair from skin without cutting the skin.

The present disclosure features a shaving razor holder comprising a molded front exterior with contours that substantially match its razor handle counterpart. Such molded exterior is connected with a surface-mountable back panel containing a ferrous magnet inserted into a cavity. The cavity may be a cylindrical cavity. Such ferrous magnet extends to the front edge of the molded front exterior. In a further aspect of the present disclosure, the surface-mountable holder removably connects with a safety razor (e.g., a razor handle of a safety shaving razor) containing ferrous material.

In some implementations, the ferrous magnet is self-contained within the molded front component, or within a single component design. The function of the ferrous magnet may be equivalent in either instance.

Referring to FIGS. 1-12, a razor holder 10 is configured to secure a safety shaving razor 20 (e.g., FIG. 9). The holder 10 may include two interconnecting components: a rear-facing component 14 (back component), which may mount to a surface (e.g., a wall), and a front-facing component 17 (front component), which may couple (e.g., magnetically couple, via magnetic attraction) with a shaving razor 20. A cylindrical member 11 may extend from the inner wall of the rear-facing component 14 and may contain a ferrous magnet which extends to the front edge of the front-facing component 17. The rear-facing component 14 may include a cylindrical member 11 extending from a first inner surface of the rear-facing component 14. The cylindrical member may extend towards a second inner surface of the front-facing component 17 responsive to the front-facing component 17 engaging with the rear-facing component. The cylindrical member may form a cavity and the magnet may be disposed in the cavity. In one embodiment, a vertical ribbing structure 19 (e.g., a structure that protrudes within the cylindrical member 11) is positioned within cylindrical member 11 in order to receive and position the ferrous magnet. For example, the ribbing structure 19 may be a protruding structure within the cylindrical member 11 that regulates the height of the ferrous magnet to position the ferrous magnet proximate the front-facing component 17.

In one embodiment, the rear-facing component 14 is configured to be press fit into the front-facing component 17 via protruding clips 12 and 13 extending from the rear-facing component 14 and interconnecting with receiving members 15 and 16 within the front-facing component 17. In another embodiment, the rear-facing component 14 may be integrally molded with the front-facing component 17. In another embodiment, the rear-facing component 14 may be mechanically attached (e.g. ultrasonically welded or similar) to the front-facing component 17. In another embodiment, the rear-facing component 14 may be chemically attached (e.g., glued with adhesive) to the front-facing component 17.

The front-facing component 17 may be molded generally to conform to the shape of its counterpart shaving razor 20 (e.g., substantially match the shape of the outer surface of the front-facing component 17). Such counterpart shaving razor 20 may include a corresponding ferrous magnet or metal component which can be affixed, implanted or co-molded into such shaving razor handle to ensure proper interaction with the magnet when the handle is affixed to the holder 10. The magnetic interaction provides a retention force so that the shaving razor handle is securely held on the holder 10, but the retention force would not be so strong as to unduly complicate the removal of the shaving razor handle from the holder 10 when desired, e.g. as when initiating shaving. For example, the magnetic interaction may allow the shaving razor handle to snap to the holder 10 when the shaving razor handle is in proximity of the holder 10. The magnetic interaction may retain the shaving razor handle even when water is sprayed on the holder 10 and shaving razor handle (e.g., from a faucet). The magnetic interaction may retain the shaving razor handle even when a user bumps into the shaving razor handle. The magnetic interaction may allow removal of the shaving razor handle from the holder 10 by use of one hand of a user (e.g., is not so strong that it requires removable using two hands).

In one embodiment, the rear-facing component 14 is mounted to a wall via an adhesive bond 18 (e.g., with a strong moisture-resistant adhesive putty tack, with a double-sided tape, with another form of adhesion, etc.). In some embodiments, the adhesive bond between the surface (e.g., wall) and the holder 10 may be stronger than the magnetic force between the holder 10 and the shaving razor handle 20. The adhesive bond 18 may resist water (e.g., water being sprayed by a faucet) and bumps (e.g., by a user bumping into the shaving razor handle and/or holder 10). The adhesive bond 18 may be removed from a surface and/or the holder 10 by twisting the adhesive bond 18. The adhesive bond 18 may be reusable. For example, the adhesive bond 18 may be used to mount a holder 10 to a surface, may be removed from the holder 10 and/or surface, and may be reused to mount the holder 10 to a surface.

The holder 10 may be made of any suitable material including, for example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE), high density (HD) PETE, thermoplastic polymer, polypropylene, oriented polypropylene, polyurethane, polystyrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyester, metal, synthetic rubber, natural rubber, silicone, nylon, polymer, wood, antibacterial or antimicrobial materials, insulating, thermal, other suitable sustainable or biodegradable materials, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, it should be understood that the holder 10 may be constructed of material that could be colored or plated to look like metal, wood, or other materials.

Other Embodiments

Embodiments have been described in the present disclosure. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. For example, the holder may be affixed to a wall via a suction cup, double sided mounting tape, screws, or nails.

Claims

1. A surface-mountable holder comprising:

a rear surface adapted to be coupled with an affixing mechanism for mounting to an external surface; and

a front surface configured to magnetically secure a shaving razor, the front surface adapted to receive an upper handle portion of the shaving razor, the upper handle portion being in close proximity to a razor portion of the shaving razor.

2. The surface-mountable holder of claim 1, wherein the front surface is configured to magnetically secure the shaving razor in an upright position.

3. The surface-mountable holder of claim 1, wherein a surface area of the front surface is shaped and sized to provide sufficient contact for magnetically securing the upper handle portion of the shaving razor.

4. The surface-mountable holder of claim 1, further comprising a first magnet positioned adjacent to the front surface.

5. The surface-mountable holder of claim 4, wherein the first magnet interacts with a second magnet incorporated in the upper handle portion of the shaving razor to magnetically secure the shaving razor to the front surface.

6. The surface-mountable holder of claim 4, wherein the first magnet interacts with a ferromagnetic material incorporated in the upper handle portion of the shaving razor to magnetically secure the shaving razor to the front surface.

7. The surface-mountable holder of claim 1, further comprising a body separating the rear surface from the front surface.

8. The surface-mountable holder of claim 7, wherein the body comprises a length extending in a direction away from the external surface when the rear surface is affixed thereto, and wherein the length is sufficient to provide clearance for unobstructed access to a lower handle portion of the shaving razor when the shaving razor is magnetically secured to the front surface.

9. The surface-mountable holder of claim 8, wherein the length of the body forms an approximate orthogonal angle with the external surface when the rear surface is affixed to the external surface.

10. The surface-mountable holder of claim 7, wherein the body is adapted to support an external hanging object along its peripheral surface.

11. The surface-mountable holder of claim 7, wherein a magnet is provided within the body, the magnet positioned in close proximity to the front surface.

12. The surface-mountable holder of claim 1, wherein the affixing mechanism is an adhesive backing.

13. A surface-mountable holder comprising:

a rear surface adapted to be coupled with an affixing mechanism for mounting to an external surface;

a front surface configured to magnetically secure a shaving razor, the front surface adapted to receive an upper handle portion of the shaving razor, the upper handle portion being in close proximity to a razor portion of the shaving razor; and

a body separating the rear surface from the front surface.

14. A surface-mountable holder comprising:

a rear surface adapted to be coupled with an adhesive backing for mounting to an external surface;

a front surface configured to magnetically secure a shaving razor, the front surface adapted to receive an upper handle portion of the shaving razor, the upper handle portion being in close proximity to a razor portion of the shaving razor; and

a body separating the rear surface from the front surface, the body forming an approximate orthogonal angle with the external surface when the rear surface is affixed to the external surface.