The present invention relates to wet shaving razors and, more particularly, to a disposable wet shaving razor having a "rubberized" handle for a more comfortable and secure grip.
Disposable wet shaving razors which are intended to be discarded after the shaving blade becomes too dull to provide an acceptable shave are in widespread use. In order for a disposable razor to be commercially feasible, its manufacturing cost must be kept at a minimum.
The desirability of providing a wet shaving razor with a rubberized handle which provides a more comfortable and secure grip, especially when held with wet and sometimes soapy hands, has been recognized. However, known techniques for fabricating wet shaving razors with rubberized handles have the drawback of being too costly to use in the manufacture of disposable razors. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,457 to C. J. Burout III discloses and claims a composite razor handle having a rigid inner core of thermoplastic material and a molded flexible, resilient covering layer. The flexible covering layer is formed by a separate molding process and attached to the rigid inner core, which is provided with elongated recesses to prevent the rotational slippage of the covering layer and notches for anchoring the covering layer to prevent it from peeling away from the core. Although the Burout patent states that the composite razor handle taught therein may be used in disposable as well as nondisposable razors, the additional molding and attachment steps required to form the flexible, resilient covering layer for the Burout razor handle would add significantly to the manufacturing cost of a razor. Therefore, use of the Burout razor handle in a disposable razor is disadvantageous, if not impractical.
Accordingly, a need clearly exists for a disposable razor having a rubberized handle which can be manufactured at low cost.