Basting brush having nubs formed on the brush elements

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a brush particularly suitable for basting food products and more particularly to such a brush having nubs formed along the brush elements for improving the retention of the basting liquid on the brush and its distribution on the food during the basting process.

2. Description of the Related Art

Prior art basting brushes generally employ thin bristles which are close to each other, Such prior art brushes are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,651 issued Jun. 10, 2003 to Bertothy and U.S. Pat. No. 6,910,241 issued Jun. 28, 2005 to Wang, With such prior art brush heads, the movement of the basing liquid on the food is limited as a good part of such liquid falls between the spaces between the bristle elements. This tends to limit and slow down the basting operation. The device of the present invention overcomes this shortcoming as pointed out below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The device of the present invention employs a head with bristles of a relatively large diameter as compared with bristles of prior art brushes. Each bristle has a plurality of nubs extending outwardly from the sides thereof. These nubs are spaced from each other along the longitudinal axes of the bristles and extend far enough so that they come very close to or abut against the nubs of adjacent bristles. By virtue of the nubs, liquid can be more effectively basted onto the food product. Further the basting liquid tends to be held to the bristles so that a minimum amount of liquid is lost in the basting process.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view illustrating the use of a preferred embodiment of the invention in basting food;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the plane indicated by 2-2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of one of the bristles of the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a side view with a cutaway section of the preferred embodiment showing a bristle in engagement against a food product; and

FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of the preferred embodiment showing the bristle head removed from the handle of the device of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to the drawings, the bristles 11 are fitted into a head piece 12 which in turn is fitted into handle 13. Each bristle 11 has a plurality of nubs 14 protruding from the surface thereof. These nubs in the preferred embodiment are substantially circular and extend normally from the longitudinal axes of the bristles. The nubs of each bristle are spaced from each other along the longitudinal axis of the bristle. The nubs have large enough diameters so that the nubs of adjacent bristles are either very close to each other or abut against each other. As can be seen in FIG. 4, during basting, the nubs abut against the basting liquid and tend to efficiently draw it along the surface of the food 15. The bristles of the preferred embodiment are fabricated of a flexible silica material,

It is to be noted that while the device of the invention is particularly suited for use in basting food, it can be used in other applications where a liquid is to be drawn along a surface.

It is further to be noted that while the nubs in the preferred embodiment are shown to run normal to the longitudinal axis of the bristles, they could also be angulated at acute angles relative to the bristles, In addition, the nubs could be shaped square, triangular,or oval, rather than circular, as the particular application may require.

While the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, this is intended by example only and is not be be taken by way of limitation, the spirit and scope of the invention being limited only by the terms of the following claims.