Adjustable Razor Anatomy: A Basic Terminology Guide

[jruschme]

On the Original Toggle Patent (2,848,806) the Door Actuator is #36 they call it a "Spider". In the Bottom Dial Patent (2,952,911) they also call it a "Spider". So Gillette is no help on the but, they do call it a "Positioning Bar" and even label it as "B" in the picture. So that wins the day for me.

That's the word- "Spider". Patent 3,050,852 covers the redesigned version introduced in the 60's which incorporated the end caps into the actual mechanism.

Speaking of patents... Any possibility of pulling together a list from the various Adjustable packages?

So far, I've seen:

US2848806A— Quick-opening safety razor having adjustable blade edge exposure
US2848807A— Safety razor with adjustable blade setting
US2952911A— Safety razor with adjustable blade setting
US3050852A— Safety razor spider
US3209454A— Safety razor with buttress thread

The last one covers improvements in the Slim and SA.

 

[GlennConti]

That's the word- "Spider". Patent 3,050,852 covers the redesigned version introduced in the 60's which incorporated the end caps into the actual mechanism.

Speaking of patents... Any possibility of pulling together a list from the various Adjustable packages?

So far, I've seen:

US2848806A— Quick-opening safety razor having adjustable blade edge exposure
US2848807A— Safety razor with adjustable blade setting
US2952911A— Safety razor with adjustable blade setting
US3050852A— Safety razor spider
US3209454A— Safety razor with buttress thread

The last one covers improvements in the Slim and SA.

Yes, that is why I have the alternate name "Hinge Cap". Captain Murphy wanted to use it to cover the fact that the actual decorative "End Caps" were no long being used in the later adjustable models.

As far as pulling together all the Gillette Adjustable patents, that sounds like an interesting project. Thanks for giving me so many references as a starting point! I will work on it (too?).

 

[heysi]

As someone that has worked on Patent drawings, please don't put any stock in the names used on them. Attorneys are the ones coming up with those names and, for the life of me, I can never understand where they pull some of the names. "Spider" would be a great example of a name that some attorney pulled outta nowhere, that means nothing, but could have become the permanent name for that part.

 

[GlennConti]

As someone that has worked on Patent drawings, please don't put any stock in the names used on them. Attorneys are the ones coming up with those names and, for the life of me, I can never understand where they pull some of the names. "Spider" would be a great example of a name that some attorney pulled outta nowhere, that means nothing, but could have become the permanent name for that part.

I agree! There is another beauty term on the patents: "Guard Member" = "Base Plate" or "Blade Bed" . I am thinking though, with a comprehensive set of patent drawings over the years, this could be mapped to manufacturing changes, and could provide some new, for me at least, insights.

 

[santamariasteve]

I think the names chosen for various razor parts should be names that are sensible not to attorneys or engineers, because they are not our target audience. Rather, the names selected should make sense and be easily understood by persons with say a modest high school level background, who belong to America's great working middle class. If the middle class can easily understand what we are describing, then most persons should be able to understand the terminology.

Who is the audience? And how will they understand the meanings of these terms? That should be our primary concern and focus.

BTW I like the term "Positioning Bar." That speaks to positioning the doors and to positioning the blade.

 

[GlennConti]

I think the names chosen for various razor parts should be names that are sensible not to attorneys or engineers, because they are not our target audience. Rather, the names selected should make sense and be easily understood by persons with say a modest high school level background, who belong to America's great working middle class. If the middle class can easily understand what we are describing, then most persons should be able to understand the terminology.

Who is the audience? And how will they understand the meanings of these terms? That should be our primary concern and focus.

BTW I like the term "Positioning Bar." That speaks to positioning the doors and to positioning the blade.

I for the most part agree about easily understood names, but I also took into account the needs of guys like Mr-Razor who already has spent a great amount of effort labeling his photos for us and of professional guys who use part names all the time too. I had to strike a balance. I would ultimately like to have a good majority of people using terms on the chart; even if they are using the secondary or tertiary names. I'm trying to cast a wide net.

I just can't have the same name for different parts; that's a deal breaker for me. And, I want the names to apply across the board for all adjustables between 1955 and 1988. It was a bit tricky - 9 revisions worth (Ha.. so far!)

I thought you would like "Positioning Bar". It was you that gave me the idea for it and when I saw back-up for the idea in the A-3 Serial Toggle manual, I knew I had a winner. Thanks for your valuable input and help!

 

[GlennConti]

Stan, I thought more about what you said and added the two following charts to my site. After the Basic Terminology Guide, they can graduate to these two. These photos show the exploded view of the Serial Toggle and the Standard Toggle. I note the differences in the function of the "Bottom Plate" as gap adjuster on the Serial Toggle and the "Base Plate/Blade Bed" as gap adjuster on the Standard Toggle. This is the main reason I wanted to use the term "Bottom Plate" instead of "Adjustment Plate". Calling the "Bottom Plate" an "Adjustment Plate" just doesn't work for either the Standard Toggle or the Red Dot Fatboy.

 

[KQY61]

Hi,

Yeah! I like it!

Not just because they are exploded views (and, yes, I do like those) but because using them for the earlier, less common, design sets things up visually that these are different from the more commonly found units. Nicely done.

Stan

 

[MaineYooper]

@GlennConti , Great work! I just perused your site and found it fun and informative! Well done!

 

[GlennConti]

@GlennConti , Great work! I just perused your site and found it fun and informative! Well done!

Thank you Sir! I have a blast working on it too. Thanks also to B&B users for combing through it for errors and for photo and idea contributions. Ha ha.. I am hoping to make it the best free "book" or Shave Wiki on Gillette Adjustable Razors available!