GB2071488A - Retractable fountain brush - Google Patents

Abstract

A retractable fountain brush includes a liquid containing reservoir and handle defining plastic squeeze bottle 11 having inwardly deflectable resilient walls 16 and a piston chamber projecting through and affixed to the bottle neck. A piston 13 having an axial liquid feed bore 30 is axially slidably positioned in the piston chamber and limited in movement between retracted and protracted positions by peripheral end ridges 28 & 33 on the piston and chamber confronting faces 26 & 27 which are spaced and delineate a return liquid storage, and brush bristles 34 are imbedded in the piston end face and are alternatively exposed and chamber housed in the piston protracted and retracted positions respectively. Squeezing of the bottle advances the piston and feeds liquid to the brush and release of the bottle walls retracts the piston and liquid carried by the brush is restricted from returning into the bottle by engagement of the lower peripheral ridges. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Retractable fountain brush The present invention relates generally to improvements in liquid applicators and it relates particularly to an improved fountain brush device.

Fountain brushes of various types and constructions have heretofore been proposed or available but these generally possess numerous drawbacks and disadvantages. They have been complicated, awkward and bulky devices which are highly unreliable, difficult and inconvenient to use and store, of little adaptability and versitility and otherwise leave much to be desired.

There is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,063,829, granted December20, 1977 to Joseph L. LaMura a retractable fountain brush which, although highly satisfactory and overcoming many of the drawbacks of the earlier devices, in certain applications, present problems which interfere with its effectiveness. Its proper application when employed with highly viscous liquids or in positions forming large angles to the vertical is difficult or impossible to achieve in that the brush does not suitably advance from its retracted position attendent to the application of the device, the applied liquid does not adequately and properly flow from the liquid reservoir to the applicator element or brush and for other reasons.

Additionally, liquid fed to and retained by the brush during use returns to the reservoir upon inversion of the fountain brush, a condition which is highly undesirable and may lead to contamination of the stored liquid and other complications. Thus, the fountain brush disclosed in the above identified Patent No.

4,063,829 is limited in its application.

It is a principle object of the present invention to provide an improved device for applying liquids such as paints, liquid adhesives, lacquers, liquid polishers and cleaners and the like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved fountain brush.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved retractable type fountain brush.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved retractable type fountain brush in which the brush member may be protracted independently of the orientation of the brush device and in which the dispensed liquid may be dispensed even at large angles to the vertical and is highly restricted from returning to the liquid reservoir even upon the version of the fountain brush and the retraction of the brush member.

Still a further object of the present invention is to produce a device of the above nature characterized by its simplicity, low cost, ruggedness, great reliability, ease and convenience of use and application and great versitility and adaptability.

The above and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof.

The improved liquid applicator of the present invention comprises a reservoir defining receptacle including a manually inwardly deformable resilient wall releasably reducing the interior volume of the reservoir, and elongated piston chamber is located on the receptacle and communicating with its interior, a piston disposed in the chamber and longitudinally movable along a limited path between protracted and retracted positions in response to increase and decrease pressure within the reservoir attendent to the inward deformation and release respectively of the deformable resilient wall and a liquid applicator member mounted on the outer end of the piston and in liquid communication with the reservoir and projecting outwardly of the chamber in the piston protracted position.

In the preferred form of the improved applicator the receptacle is a bottle formed of a resilient thermoplastic resin such as polyethylene and has a pair of relatively large easily inwardly deflectable opposing walls and a neck in which the piston chamber is affixed and projects through opposite ends depending only slightly or not at all below the bottom of the neck into the bottle. The piston extends loosely coaxially of the chamber having a diameter less than that of the chamber to define a return storage space and includes an enlarged bottom head and a top annular ridge and the chamber includes an enlarged bottom inwardly directed lip and an upper inner peripheral ridge which limits the lower and upper movements of the piston head and hence of the piston and seals the return storage space from the bottom interior in the piston retracted position.The liquid applicator consists of bristles imbedded in the outer end of the piston and communicates with the reservoir by way of an axial passageway in the piston and the space between the confronting faces of the piston and chamber.

The improved liquid applicator is simple, rugged and reliable. The brush may be protracted while in any orientation merely by squeezing the bottle and the flow of even viscous liquids increased by the same expedient and liquid withdrawn from the brush member in its operative conditions returns to the storage space and is prevented from returning into the bottle.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a retractable fountain brush embodying the present invention shown in a closed condition; Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 2-2 in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the brush illustrated during application; Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 4-4 in Figure 3; and Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 in Figure 4.

Referring now to the drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the reference numeral 10 generally designates the improved liquid applicator device which is shown by way of example as a retractable fountain brush which although highly useful in the application of viscous liquids such as liquid adhesives, paints and the like may be employed in the application of less viscous liquids. The device 10 includes a pump reservoir defining receptacle 11, a tubular cylindrical or piston chamber 12, a brush carrying piston member 13 and a closure cap 14.

The receptacle 11 functions as a reservoir for the liquid to be dispensed and applied and also functions as a pump for alternatively protracting or extending and retracting the piston member 13 and for increasing the flow of the liquid from the receptacle 11 to the liquid applicator element or brush carried by piston 13. Receptacle 11 is in the form of a squeeze bottle and is formed of a resilient flexible or deformable synthetic organic polymeric resin material such as a polyolefin, for example polyethylene, polypropylene, or the like and may be of any desired shape and is advantageously of thin elongated configuration so that it may be conveniently employed as a handle.The receptacle 11 includes a pair of opposing front and rear vertically elongated similar approximately rectangular walls 16 which are joined along their proximate vertical sides by curved edges 17 and are provided with downwardly concave bottom edges which are joined by a complementary depending dihedral bottom wall 18. The opposing walls 16 are outwardly cylindrically convex and are sufficiently thin as to be inwardly flexible by manual pressure to reduce the internal volume of receptacle 11 and are sufficiently resilient to self return upon the release of the external applied pressure.

The upper edges 19 of walls 16 are upwardly convex and are joined by an upwardly convex tap wall 20. Integrally formed with and centrally located on top wall 20 is an upwardly projecting cylindrical tubular neck 21 of increased thickness and having formed on its outer peripheral face a thread defining helically extending ridge 22. The upper inside face of neck 21 is provided with a peripheral ridge 23 having a horizontal flat top shoulder below the top neck 21.

The piston chamber 12 is of vertical tubular configuration and extends through and is affixed to neck 21, projecting above the neck 21, and into the interior of receptacle 11 only to about the level of the bottom neck 21. An intermediate portion of the outside face of chamber 12 is shaped to complement and engage the neck ridge 23 and an outwardly directed peripheral flange 24 is formed on the chamber 12 directly above the so shaped intermediate portion and rests on the flat top annuiar face of neck 21.

Formed at the bottom edge of chamber 12 is a stop defining inwardly projecting peripheral lip 26 having a horizontal top face and a downwardly flared inner face 26a and at the top of chamber 12 an inwardly projecting peripheral lip 27 having an outwardly upwardly flared funnel shaped inside face 27a. The upper and lower peripheral ridges or lips 27 and 26 respectively define upper and lower stops and the inside face of chamber 12 between ridges 26 and 27 is of circular cyindrical configuration.

The piston 13 is coaxially slidably disposed within and shorterthan chamber 12 and has formed therein a liquid passageway defining axial bore 30 of suitable diameter which depends on the bore length and the viscosity of the dispensed liquid. Piston 13 includes a main circular cylindrical portion 32 of a diameter less than the diameter of the inside cylindrical face of chamber 12 and an enlarged bottom cylindrical head portion 33 of slightly less diameter of chamber 12 and of greater diameter than the inside diameter of lip 26. A peripheral ridge is formed on the outside face of piston 13 below the top thereof and is of a diameter between that of the inside face of chamber 12 and inside edge of lip 27.

The piston 13 is limited in its axial upward movement by ridge 28 engaging lip 27 and in its axial downward movement by head 33 engaging lip 26 to thereby restrict the axial movement of the piston 13 to respective protracted and retracted positions. The inside face 29 of head 33 is conical to define a funnel.

A liquid applicator element 34 is amounted atop position 13 and includes upwardly directed brush bristles having their bases imbedded in the annular top end face of piston 13 and being annularly arranged to delineate an axial opening communicating with passage-way 30. The aggregate height of piston 12 and bristles 34 is less than that of chamber 12 so that when the piston 13 rests on the bottom lip 26 brush bristles 34 are fully disposed within the upper part of chamber 12 as seen in Figure 2 and when piston 13 is in its protracted position with piston peripheral ridge 28 engaging chamber ridge 27 the brush bristles 34 project beyond the outer end of chamber 12 as seen in Figure 4.

The closure cap 14 includes a circular end wall 36 and a depending cylindrical skirt wall 37 having an internally threaded lower portion 40 complementing and releasably engaging neck thread 22 and a thicker upper portion 41 terminating at its bottom in a downwardly inwardly inclined shoulder 38 which engages the peripheral flange 24 formed on chamber 12 when the cap 14 is in the device closed condition. The inside diameter of skirt wall upper portion 41 is greater than the outside diameter of chamber 12 and less than that of flange 24 and a cylindrical plug 42 is integ rally formed with and depends coaxially from cap wall 36 and when cap 14 is in a fully closed position on receptacle neck 21 cap end wall 36 is above the top of chamber 12 and plug 42 hermetically engages face 27a.

In the operation and application of the improved retractable fountain brush described above, the cap 14 is unscrewed and separated and the receptacle 11 grasped between the fingers of an operator and inverted, as shown in Figures 3 and 4 and the walls 16 of receptable 11 squeezed together to increase the pressure within the reseptacle whereby, under the increased internal pressure, to urge the piston 13 to its protracted position and urge the contained liquid Lthrough passageway 30 to the brush bristles 34 which have been exposed with the protraction of piston 13 and the liquid Lthus fed to the brush 34 may be applied to a surface S or any other desired surface.After the desired amount of liquid has been applied, the device is inverted to its upright position and the pressure on receptacle walls 16 is released so that the walls resiliently return to their retracted rest positions to reduce the pressure within receptacle 11 whereby to suck and draw piston 13 to its retracted position with brush bristles 34 housed in chamber 12.

When piston 13 is in its fully protracted operative position, piston ridge 28 engages chamber ridge 27 to restrict the outward flow of liquid through passageway 30. However, when pressure on the walls of receptacle 11 is released and the device 10 inverted to its upright inoperative position to retract piston 13, with the inward movement of piston 13 an opening is provided between ridge 28 and ridge 27 and the chamber inside face to a return liquid storage space 44 delineated by the confronting faces of chamber 12 and piston 13. Thus, excess liquid accumulated on brush 34 flows into the storage space 44 as enhanced by the reduce pressure in storage space 44 which communicates with the bottle interior when piston 13 is not fully retracted. With the full retraction of piston 13 the interengagement of bottom ridge 26 and piston head 33 hermetically separates space 44 from the bottle interior to prevent return of the flow of liquid from space 44. The cap 14 is then applied and tightened to close the device so that it may be stored for future use, plug 42 engaging chamber conical face 27a in the device closed condition.

While there has been described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is apparent that numerous alterations, omissions and additions may be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

Claims (14)

1. A liquid applicator device comprising a reservoir defining receptacle having a manually inwardly deformable resilient wall for returnably reducing the volume of said reservoir, a piston chamber located on said receptacle and communicating with the interior thereof and the exterior, a piston disposed in said chamber and longitudinally movable therein along a limited path between protracted and retracted positions in response to increased and decreased pressures within the reservoir attendent to the inward deformation and release respectively of said resilient wall and a liquid applicator member mounted on the outer end of said piston and in liquid communication with said reservoir and projecting outwardly of said chamber in said piston protracted position.

2. The liquid applicator device of claim 1, wherein said receptacle comprises a squeeze bottle formed of a thermoplastic synthetic organic polymeric resin.

3. The liquid applicator device of claim 2, wherein said squeeze bottle includes a pair of opposing outwardly convex longitudinally extending elongated flexible walls.

4. The liquid applicator device of claim 2, wherein said bottle includes a neck portion and said piston chamber projects through and engages the inside face of said neck portion.

5. The liquid applicator device of claim 1, wherein said piston chamber is provided on the inner portion of its inside face with longitudinally spaced peripheral ridges and said piston is provided with axially spaced outwardly projecting peripheral ridges between said chamber ridges to limit the longitudinal movement of said piston.

6. The liquid applicator device of claim 1, wherein said liquid applicator member includes brush bristles secured to and projecting longitudinally outwardly from the outer end of said piston.

7. The liquid applicator device of claim 6, wherein said piston has a longitudinally extending passageway formed therein and providing liquid communication between said bristles and the inner end of said piston.

8. The liquid applicator device of claim 6, wherein the confronting peripheral faces of said piston and piston chamber are transversely spaced to delineate a space for receiving and storing liquid from said applicator.

9. The liquid applicator device of claim 4, wherein said neck portion has an external screw thread formed on its outer peripheral face and comprising an internally threaded closure cap member releasably engaging said screw thread.

10. The liquid applicator device of claim 8, wherein an annular inwardly directed lip is formed on the lower end of said chamber and has an inside diameter less than that of the bottom end face of said piston to seal the bottom of said liquid receiving space in the piston retracted position.

11. The liquid applicator of claim 10, wherein the lower end of said piston is radially enlarged to form a cylindrical head of a diameter between that of the inner face of said chamber and the inner edge of said lower lip.

12. The liquid applicator of claim 9, wherein said chamber has a conical inner upper end face and said closure cap member includes an end wall having a depending plug member engaging said conical face in the closed position of said closure cap member.

13. The liquid applicator of claim 4, wherein the lower end of said chamber is at about the level of the bottom of said neck portion.

14. A liquid applicator substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.