Clip Brush

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/462,963 filed Apr. 28, 2023 by the present inventor.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to brushes, and more particularly to brushes with integral handles.

BACKGROUND

Brushes have been around for centuries and make life better for the user that is looking to clean, scrub, sweep, apply paint or liquids. Once the user is finished with a brush it is set aside until the next time it is needed. Retaining the brush near where it will be needed at the next use is extremely desirable. Brushes made with retaining features are known and could almost be considered customary by the user.

Many of the present brush retaining features are external appendages that are bulky, add weight, add cost of manufacturing and often interfere with the use of the brush. These include external straps, mechanical clips, and spring-loaded clamps. Other external retaining features such as the hook, though very simple, just do not provide good retention due to only having one point of contact, and once again, is an appendage that is in the way of the user.

The simple hole that is provided on many brushes requires there to be an additional item such as hook or peg to hang the brush from and only offers a single point of contact resulting in very weak retention.

The mentioned brushes with external straps, mechanical clips and spring loaded clamps could provide enough retention that the brush could be transported on the item on which it is held without falling but the appendages add bulk, weight, complexity and higher cost making them undesirable.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one embodiment a brush comprises a handle body having an internal channel and contoured exterior sides, a carrier, bristles and a band for secondary retention.

Advantages

Accordingly several advantages of one or more aspects are as follows: to provide a brush for cleaning, scrubbing, sweeping, applying paint or liquids and the like, that has an integral retaining feature within the handle body that provides constant contact with an item by an interference fit, that is capable of being transporting on the item to which it is clipped, and will be readily available for use, that requires minimum effort to clip and remove, that is lightweight, relatively inexpensive, and minimizes materials for manufacture. Other advantages of one or more aspects will be apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.

DRAWINGS—FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the disclosed brush, shown clipped to an item for reference.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the brush of FIG. 1 clipped to a cylindrical item and including a secondary retention band.

FIG. 3 is and end view of the brush of FIG. 1

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the brush of FIG. 1, depicted in use.

FIG. 5 shows a brush with locking tabs and a hook and loop secondary retention strap clipped to a non-circular item for reference.

DRAWINGS—REFERENCE NUMERALS AND LETTERS

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, show a brush 10 with a handle body 12 having opposing contoured sides 18, 20, distal ends 14, 16 and opposing ends 22, 24 which define an interior channel 26 for receiving and holding an item C to retain the brush 10 thereon. At the lower portion of the brush, below the handle body 12, is a carrier 30 with protruding bristles 32. In embodiments, the handle body 12 and carrier 30 extend substantially coextensively along a dimension of brush 10.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the handle body 12 is contoured with curved exterior sides to fit a user's hand for easy gripping. The handle body 12 may be circular in cross section on the interior to form the interior channel 26 that is to accommodate item C. In embodiments, the interior channel 26 may define a substantially circular cross-section diameter for receiving and holding a substantially cylindrical item C. Channel 26 is open along the top side at the distal ends 14,16 and is labeled receiving area 40. The receiving area 40 is for insertion of an item C. As shown in FIG. 3, the distal ends 17, 18 do not have the same curvature of the sides 18, 20 and aid in flexing the sides during the insertion of an item C. The brush assembly 10 is retained on an item C within the interior channel 26 by an interference fit, as shown in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, there is provided on the exterior upper portion of the handle body 12 near the distal end 14, a holder 34. In one possible embodiment of the holder 34 a latch 36 is provided on the other exterior side near distal end 16. The holder 34 has a slot 37 provided for inserting a band 38. There is provided a pair of locking tabs 39 below the slot 37 to keep the band 38 within holder 34. The band 38, is for secondary retention of the brush assembly 10 onto item C once it has been clipped. In one possible embodiment, band 38 is a silicon band. However, it will be appreciated that band 38 may be fabricated of any suitable elastic, resilient material, such as rubber and that alternative secondary retainers may be provided as described below.

The handle body 12 and the carrier 30 are injection molded monolithically from material that is light, strong and flexible such as rubber or a synthetic material such as PVC, polypropylene, acetol, nylon, ABS, or a similar material. Handle body 12 should be sufficiently flexible to receive an item C securely yet strong enough to retain the item and not fatigue and remain functional after numerous uses.

Operation—FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4

The brush assembly 10 is used in a normal manner as brushes in present use for cleaning, scrubbing, sweeping, or applying paint or liquids by holding the handle body 12. When finished using and wanting to store the brush, one grabs the handle body 12 and makes contact with item C at the receiving area 40. The user applies force to the handle body 12 in the direction of the item C which will spread the distal ends 14, 16 and cause the opposing sides 18, 20 to flex out thus allowing the item C to seat within the internal channel 26. One will then grasp the band 38 and stretch it across the receiving area 40, over the exposed portion of item C, and place it around the latch 36 which will provide a secondary retention for the brush 10.

When the user wants to remove the brush assembly, one removes the band 38 from around the latch 36, grasps the handle body 12 and applies force up and away from the item C, freeing the brush 10 from the interference fit.

Additional Embodiments—FIGS. 2 & 5

FIG. 5 shows varying possibilities regarding carrier shape; in this embodiment the carrier has a much wider berth. It is within scope of the embodiments that the carrier could take on various lengths and breaths; the carrier could be oriented perpendicular to the interior channel and could be located at one end of the handle body.

FIG. 5 also shows the bristles protruding from the bottom of the carrier. It is within scope of the embodiments that the bristles could protrude from any of the sides, or the bottom as shown; a ferrule may be included for holding the bristles at the carrier.

FIG. 5 shows the secondary retention could be a hook and loop 54 type fastener rather than a band. The brush can also be clipped to a non-circular item N as shown. Multiple pairs of opposing tabs 52 are optionally molded on the inside of the handle body near the distal ends for providing increased retention as the tabs 52 will provide multiple points of contact along the upper portion of the item to which it is clipped.

Advantages

From the descriptions above, a number of advantages of some embodiments of this clip brush become evident:

• • a) Has an integral retaining feature within the handle body that does not interfere with its normal use.
  • b) Clipping and unclipping requires minimum force.
  • c) Has a strong interference fit due to complete contact with the item to which it is clipped.
  • d) The brush is compact, lightweight and economical to manufacture.
  • e) The contoured handle body provides for easy gripping.
  • f) The brush's compact design, minimum weight, and tight retention allows it to be easily transported on the item to which it is clipped.

Conclusion, Ramifications, and Scope

Although the descriptions above contain many specifications, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments but merely providing illustrations of some of several embodiments. For example, a thin film of rubber or similar could be provided on the surface of the interior channel to reduce slipping of the brush when clipped to a very smooth item. It is also within the scope that the exterior surface of the handle body could be ergonomically shaped for more ease and comfort when gripping by the user. Additionally, the handle body and carrier exterior surfaces may include a grip pattern to allow for better, non-slip grip by the user.

Other variations are within the spirit of the present invention. Thus, while the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail. It should be understood however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form or forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.