Manufacturing razor blades
View Patent ↗A method of making razor blades from a strip material includes offsetting and flattening steps.
1. A method of manufacturing razor blades from a strip material having an upper surface and a lower surface, comprising
(a) offsetting a first lengthwise-extending portion of only one of the surfaces from a second lengthwise-extending portion of the same surface,
(b) flattening the first lengthwise-extending surface portion and the second lengthwise-extending surface portion to remove at least 50% of the offset;
(c) separating the first lengthwise-extending surface portion from the second lengthwise-extending surface portion;
(d) sharpening a lengthwise-extending edge on the separated first lengthwise-extending portion of the strip material at said offset.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein during step (a) the first lengthwise-extending surface portion is offset from the second lengthwise-extending surface portion by at least 10% of the thickness of the strip material.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein during step (a) the first lengthwise-extending surface portion is offset from the second lengthwise-extending surface portion by at least 20% of the thickness of the strip material.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein during step (b) at least 75% of the offset is removed.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein during step (b) at least 90% of the offset is removed.
6. The method of claim 3 , wherein during step (b) at least 95% of the offset is removed.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein sharpening a lengthwise-extending edge occurs after step (b) and before step (c), the method further comprising
(e) separating the first lengthwise-extending strip portion into razor blade length sections, each razor blade length section including part of the first lengthwise-extending surface portion and part of the second lengthwise-extending surface portion,
wherein step (c) comprises separating the first lengthwise-extending strip portion from the second lengthwise-extending strip portion on the razor blade length sections to provide the razor blades.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising attaching the razor blade length sections to a razor housing prior to step (c).
9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising attaching the razor blades to blade support members of a razor housing after step (d).
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first lengthwise-extending surface portion and the second lengthwise-extending surface portion are of approximately equal width.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein a lengthwise-extending edge of the first lengthwise-extending strip portion and a lengthwise-extending edge of the second lengthwise-extending strip portion are sharpened.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein strip material is a metal.