GB1589267A - Hairbrush - Google Patents

Description

(54) HAIRBRUSH (71) I, HAROLD LEIGHTON, trading as HAROLD LEIGHTON PRODUCrS LIMITED, of 15 St. John's Wood Court, St. John's Wood, London, N.W.8, a British Subject, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to hairbrushes.

Modern blow styling techniques of hairdressing require a hairbrush which is versatile, strong, and which may be easily sterilized. The brush is used as a combination of a brush and a comb, and as a roller too.

In my copending Application No.

79/30808 (Serial No. 1589268) there is described and claimed a hairbrush comprising a handle portion, a shank portion and bristles in the form of single quills of semirigid plastics material projecting in spaced relation in rows which extend longitudinally of the shank, the quills in the two outermost rows being spaced more closely than the quills in the rows lying between the outermost rows.

According to the present invention there is provided a hairbrush comprising a handle, a shank, and bristles in the form of quills of semi-rigid plastics material projecting outwardly of the shank and extending from the periphery of a plurality of rings detachably mounted on the shank, each ring having substantially the external outline of a sector of a circle with the bristles extending from the arc of that sector.

By means of this construction, the backs of each ring opposite to the bristles, which are rounded off and can be covered with a smooth cover, can be used as a roller surface around which hair being dressed can be shaped.

In order that the invention shall be clearly understood, an exemplary embodiment will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a plan view of a brush according to the invention; Figure 2 shows an end view looking along the handle; Figure 3 shows a sectional view on the line 111-111 in Figure l Figure 4 shows an underplan view of the brush; Figure 5 shows a plan view of another form of brush and Figure 6 shows a sectional view taken on the line VI-VI of Figure 5.

Referring firstly to Figures 1 to 4, a hairbrush comprising a stem 10 having a handle part 11, and a shank part 12. The handle part 11 is of slender construction, being rounded on two sides and having flats on the other two sides. The shank part 12 is circular and has at one point in its circumference a longitudinal groove 13. Bristles 14 extend in longitudinal rows in a direction outwardly of the shank part 12.

The bristles 14 are formed by single quills or spikes of a suitable semi-rigid material, such as nylon. They project from a semirigid ring 15 which has the general extemal outline of a sector of a circle. The part of each ring opposite to the bristles (adjacent to what would be the centre of the circle) is rounded off to form the back of the brush.

Each ring 15 has, in this example, eight individual bristles and can be slid on and off the shank part 12, an end cap 16 being removable to allow this for the purpose of cleaning and sterilization. An end stop 19 on the shank part prevents passage of the rings 15 onto the handle part 11.

In order to prevent the rings 15 rotating on the shank part 12, each ring has an internal protection 17. The projection 17 engages in a groove in a rubber sleeve 18, which in turn has a projection engaging in the groove 13 in the shank.

In order to prevent hairs becoming trapped between adjacent rings around the back of the brush, a cover20 is provided to slide over the whole set of rings mounted on the shank 12. For this purpose, all the rings have small indents 21 at opposite sides so that when they are aligned a groove is formed along each side of the head of the brush. The cover 20 has a return portion 22 at each of its free sides which can then slide longitudinally into these grooves.

In a different form of the invention (Figures 5 and 6), the rings 15 are not all identical. Instead of every ring having eight bristles, alternate rings 15a have only two bristles. These bristles are aligned with the outermost bristles on the rings 15. Thus, the two different kinds of ring 15 and 15a can be positioned alternately on the shank part 12 so that the outermost two rows of bristles along the head of the brush each have twice as many bristles as the other longitudinal rows of bristles. The effect of this is to provide an approximation to a comb along each side of the brush.

The stem 10 may be of any desired material, such as plastics, metal or wood. In use, the slender handle part 11 allows sufficient grip in the hand of a user while permitting the user freely to rotate the brush.

The shank part is shown as circular, but it may have some other cross section such as square. This would have the advantage of making the grooves 13 in the shank part and the groove in the rubber sleeve 18 unnecessary.

The rubber sleeve 18 has the function of a cushion, which allows the rings 15 a certain resilience and movement in use, in addition to their own inherent flexibility. This may also be achieved with the use of some materials other than rubber, such as foamed polystyrene or rubber latex.

This construction of brush has the advantage that if the bristles become damaged, as they sometimes do when using a hot air dryer, they can be replaced independently of the stem 10. Since the rings of bristles can all be separated, it is an easy matter to clean the brush and to disentangle all the trapped hairs.

WHAT I CLAIM IS:- 1. A hairbrush comprising a handle, a shank, and bristles in the form of quills of semi-rigid plastics material projecting outwardly of the shank and extending from the periphery of a plurality of rings detachably mounted on the shank, each ring having substantially the external outline of a sector of a circle with tthe bristles extending from the arc of that sector.

2. A hairbrush as claimed in claim 1 wherein the backs of each ring opposite to the quills are rounded off and are covered by a smooth cover.

3. A hairbrush as claimed in claim 2, as claimed in claimed in claim 2, wherein the edges of each ring adjacent to the quills are provided with- indents which, when aligned together, provide a groove in which the smooth cover can be slid.

4. A hairbrush as claimed in claim 1 or 3, wherein the rings are mounted on a resilient sleeve which is in turn mounted on the shank portion.

5. A hairbrush as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein means are provided for preventing relative rotation between the rings.

6. A hairbrush substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (6)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. (Figures 5 and 6), the rings 15 are not all identical. Instead of every ring having eight bristles, alternate rings 15a have only two bristles. These bristles are aligned with the outermost bristles on the rings 15. Thus, the two different kinds of ring 15 and 15a can be positioned alternately on the shank part 12 so that the outermost two rows of bristles along the head of the brush each have twice as many bristles as the other longitudinal rows of bristles. The effect of this is to provide an approximation to a comb along each side of the brush. The stem 10 may be of any desired material, such as plastics, metal or wood. In use, the slender handle part 11 allows sufficient grip in the hand of a user while permitting the user freely to rotate the brush. The shank part is shown as circular, but it may have some other cross section such as square. This would have the advantage of making the grooves 13 in the shank part and the groove in the rubber sleeve 18 unnecessary. The rubber sleeve 18 has the function of a cushion, which allows the rings 15 a certain resilience and movement in use, in addition to their own inherent flexibility. This may also be achieved with the use of some materials other than rubber, such as foamed polystyrene or rubber latex. This construction of brush has the advantage that if the bristles become damaged, as they sometimes do when using a hot air dryer, they can be replaced independently of the stem 10. Since the rings of bristles can all be separated, it is an easy matter to clean the brush and to disentangle all the trapped hairs. WHAT I CLAIM IS:-

1. A hairbrush comprising a handle, a shank, and bristles in the form of quills of semi-rigid plastics material projecting outwardly of the shank and extending from the periphery of a plurality of rings detachably mounted on the shank, each ring having substantially the external outline of a sector of a circle with tthe bristles extending from the arc of that sector.

2. A hairbrush as claimed in claim 1 wherein the backs of each ring opposite to the quills are rounded off and are covered by a smooth cover.

3. A hairbrush as claimed in claim 2, as claimed in claimed in claim 2, wherein the edges of each ring adjacent to the quills are provided with- indents which, when aligned together, provide a groove in which the smooth cover can be slid.

4. A hairbrush as claimed in claim 1 or 3, wherein the rings are mounted on a resilient sleeve which is in turn mounted on the shank portion.

5. A hairbrush as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein means are provided for preventing relative rotation between the rings.

6. A hairbrush substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings.