WO2015052461A1

WO2015052461A1 - A hairbrush with at least first and second brush heads

Info

Publication number: WO2015052461A1
Application number: PCT/GB2013/052637
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lisa Marie PARSONS
Original assignee: Parsons Lisa Marie
Priority date: 2013-10-09
Filing date: 2013-10-09
Publication date: 2015-04-16

Abstract

A hairbrush is disclosed having a handle (1) a large barrel base (3) and a small barrel base (6). A small hair brush element (7) is attached permanently to extend axially from the small barrel base (6). A medium diameter hair brush element (9) can be secured to the small barrel base enveloping the small brush element (6) by way of parts of a bayonet fitting provided respectively on the medium diameter hair brush element and the small barrel base. In a similar way a large diameter brush element (10) can be attached via a bayonet fitting to the large barrel base (3). Each hair brush element has at least one different characteristic, the diameter and may differ in bristle type, density and length. The brush occupies only the volume of a single large diameter brush but provides readily the user with a range of brush elements.

Description

A HAIRBRUSH WITH AT LEAST FIRST AND SECOND BRUSH HEADS

Technical Field

[0001] The field of the invention relates to hairbrushes.

Background Art

[0002] Conventional hairbrushes comprise a handle supporting a single brush head. A brush head comprises a barrel from which bristles project. The size of the barrel and nature of the bristles adapts the brush for particular hair styling duties. For example nylon bristles provide for grip while a boar bristle is better suited for smoothing. The size of the barrel dictates the styling that can be achieved with the brush e.g. a small barrel is more suitable for short hair or short layers, whereas a large barrel is more suited to longer hair and longer layers. A hairstylist is therefore inconvenienced by the need to carry store and maintain a range of different brush types. The present invention aims to alleviate the technical problem described above.

[0003] The reader may be further enlightened as to the state of the art by

reference to any of: US5526829 A, GB2461291 A, US6502585 B1 , WO 2010/139073. Each of these prior art hair brush systems disclose handles to which a single one of a selection of hairbrush heads may be attached one at a time.

Disclosure of Invention

[0004] A hair brush comprising: a handle part, a brush head coupling part and at least a first and a second brush head, each brush head having different brush characteristics and each formed with a coupling to enable the brush head to be coupled to the handle part for use wherein each of the brush heads can be coupled simultaneously to the handle for compact storage.

[0005] Compact storage may be understood to mean that the storage space

occupied by the hair brush with two or more attached heads is less than the storage space occupied by the hair brush with one attached head and one detached head.

[0006] The first brush head may be permanently coupled to the handle or may be exchangeably attached to the handle by means of a first handle coupling component and a first brush head coupling component. The first brush head has a small cross section relative to the second brush head. The second brush head may have a recess or chamber in which the first brush head is received when the second brush head is coupled to the handle part. Preferably the second brush head has a hollow barrel and a second brush head coupling component whereby the second brush head can be attached to a second handle coupling component so that the second brush head at least partially encompasses the first brush head. To use the first brush head the second brush head is detached from the handle via the coupling component to expose the first brush head. Conversely to use the second brush head the second brush head is attached to the second handle coupling component.

[0007] Each coupling component may be provided by a bayonet type coupling.

However it is envisaged that the coupling may be any of a screw thread, a cam lock, a press fitting interengaging pin and hole arrangements or any other coupling which enables the second brush head to be quickly and reliably attached to and detached from the handle. A trigger or button may be incorporated into the handle actuable to facilitate coupling or decoupling of the second brush head.

[0008] Conveniently the second brush head may have a tubular barrel which is preferably cylindrical but may be oval, elliptical or of another asymmetric or irregular section. In a preferred form of the invention the bristles project radially from a longitudinal axis of the barrel.

[0009] At least where the barrel is cylindrical the handle coupling may be provided by an annular shoulder on the end of the handle. The brush head coupling may be provided by a complementary socket formed in the brush head into which the shoulder is received.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment of the invention a third brush head may be

provided. The third brush head is provided with a third brush head coupling which cooperates with a third handle coupling. The third brush head may include a recess or chamber wherein each of the first and second brush heads can be received when the third brush head is coupled to the handle for use, thus the third brush head envelops the second and/or first brush head when mounted onto the handle for use or storage. The third brush head may have a similar or differently shaped cross section to the first and second brush heads and may incorporate bristles of similar or different type and pattern to the first and or second brush head. The cross section of the barrel of the third brush head will necessarily be greater than that of the first and second brush heads.

[0011] The hair brush of the present invention is advantageous in effecting a

space and weight reduction for storage and travel by comparison with that required for two or three conventional brushes with similar characteristics. There is also a reduction in the use of materials because only one handle is required.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0012] A hair brush constructed in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a front elevation of the brush with medium and large diameter brush heads detached;

Figure 2 shows a SW perspective view of the brush as configured in Fig 1 ; Figure 3 shows a SW perspective view of the brush with a medium sized brush head attached for use;

Figure 4 shows a SW perspective view of the brush with a large brush head attached for use; and

Figure 5 shows a SW perspective view of the brush with medium and large brush heads attached and cutaway on the line A-A in figure 4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged perspective cutaway view of the latch in figure 5. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] The figures show a brush having an elongate substantially tubular handle part 1 which is preferably formed from moulded plastics material. The handle part 1 supports a trigger 2 the construction and function of which will be described in greater detail later. As can be seen the handle 1 is deformed from a simple cylindrical shape by a radial enlargement between the bottom 1a of the handle and the top of the handle 1 b to improve the handle ergonomics. [0014] Coupling parts are provided by a large diameter barrel base 3 and small diameter barrel base 6.

[0015] In more detail, the top of the handle is expanded radially to form the large diameter barrel base 3. The barrel base 3 is formed of a disc shaped base part 3a extending radially from the axis of the handle 1 and a tubular wall part 3b extending longitudinally up from the rim of the base part 3a. Four "L" shaped equi-angularly spaced locking slots 4 are cut through the upstanding tubular wall so that a first leg 4a of each slot extends

circumferentially from one blind end to communicate with a second leg 4b of the slot extending in the axial direction to open through the upper rim 4c of the tubular wall remote from the base part 3a.

[0016] As may best be seen in figure 5 the chamber 1c formed within the tubular handle 1 houses an elongate rigid strut 1e extending axially from the bottom 1 a to the top of the handle 1. The strut extends up through the base part 3a to support a radially extending disc panel 5a supporting a spring release bayonet latch 5.

[0017] The strut 1e also supports the small diameter barrel base 6 disposed

axially remote from the large barrel base 3. The small barrel base 6 has a diameter less than that of the large barrel base 3 and provides axially extending wall parts 6a in which are formed four equi-angularly spaced "L" shaped slots 6b. Each slot 6b has an axially extending portion 6c opening through the uppermost rim of the small barrel base 6 and extending to communicate with a circumferentially extending part 6d which blind ends remote from the axially extending part.

[0018] The strut 1e also supports a small diameter elongate tubular brush head 7.

The brush head 7 is permanently fastened to the strut 1e. For the sake of clarity the small brush head 7 is drawn without showing the bristles which would in practice occupy holes 8.

[0019] At the discretion of the stylist the hair brush can be used as illustrated in figures 1 and 2 using the small brush 7. However the hair brush includes a medium sized brush head as shown in figure 3 and figure 5. The medium sized brush head comprises a tubular barrel 9 in which is formed an array of holes 9a. In practice each hole would be occupied by a bristle extending radially but for the sake of clarity these have been omitted from the drawings. The internal radius of the medium sized barrel 9 forms a chamber such as to space the inner surface of the medium barrel 9 from the small brush head 7 when the medium barrel 9 is located onto the small diameter barrel base 6. The resulting annular space accommodates the bristles of the small diameter brush head 7. The medium sized brush head is retained by means of four pins (not shown) which project radially inwards from an annulus near the base end of the medium sized barrel 9. Each pin is received into a corresponding one of the slots 6 by the sequence of an axial and radial displacement of the medium sized barrel 9.

[0020] Figure 3 shows a cam pin 5b projecting radially out from the base of the medium sized barrel 9. As the medium sized barrel 9 is engaged with the slots 6 the cam pin 5b rotates clockwise to bear against a ramp 5c formed on spring release bayonet latch 5. The bayonet latch 5 is supported on (and forms part of) the floating disc panel 5a which is urged axially towards the position shown by a compression spring 5d. As the cam pin 5b bears against the ramp 5c the spring release bayonet assembly 5 is depressed in opposition to the spring force allowing the cam pin 5b to ride over it. The bayonet latch 5 then recovers to the position shown in figures 2 and 3 which resists the counter rotation of the barrel 9. It can be seen that the pin 5b also presents a ramp 5e arranged to bear against the bayonet latch 5. When the stylist desires to remove the medium sized brush the barrel 9 is rotated in a removing, clockwise direction. The action of the ramp 5e bearing on the latch 5 will overcome the spring force and depress the latch 5. Therefore by rotating the barrel 9 counter clockwise and displacement axially the brush barrel 9 can readily be removed.

[0021] To ensure that the medium brush barrel 9 is not inadvertently removed during use the trigger 2 is arranged to displace a rigid elongate prop 2a when displaced radially as shown in figure 6. The displacement upsets a bistable spring 2b from the stable condition shown in figure 5 to the stable condition shown in figure 6 where the prop is urged against the underside of the floating disc panel 5a thereby preventing the disc and the latch 5 from retracting under the influence of the ramp 5e. In this locked condition the medium sized brush barrel cannot rotate counter clockwise. The trigger 2 can be readily displaced back to the release condition by the application of a torque to projection 2c, for example, by thumb pressure.

[0022] The medium brush barrel 9 includes slots 10 extending through the barrel wall to provide for airflow.

[0023] The brush includes a large diameter brush head generally similar to the medium diameter brush so that only the notable differences will be described hereafter. The large diameter brush head has a barrel 12 with a sufficiently large internal diameter to form a chamber in which the medium sized barrel and brushes can be entirely accommodated. Holes 9a and slots 10 are provided in the barrel for airflow. A cap 11 closes the top of the large barrel. The large barrel 12 is secured to the barrel base 3 by means of four pins (not shown) which project radially inwardly from the barrel wall and are received one each in each of slots 4. The large barrel also has a large barrel cam pin (not shown) similar to that provided on the medium sized barrel but projecting radially inwards from the inner barrel wall to be engageable with the latch 5. To prevent the medium barrel cam pin 5e from fouling the large barrel cam pin each cam pin is sized radially to prevent mutual contact while partially overlapping the latch 5.

Claims

1. A hair brush comprising:

a handle part (1),

a brush head coupling part (3,6) and

at least a first and a second brush head (7, 9) each brush head having different brush characteristics and at least one of the brush heads (7,9) formed with a coupling to enable the brush head (7,9) to be coupled to the handle part (1) for use characterised in that each of the brush heads (7,9) can be coupled simultaneously to the handle for compact storage.

2. A hair brush according to claim 1 wherein the first brush head (7) has a

characteristic of a small cross section relative to the second brush head (9) and the second brush head (9) has a recess or chamber in which the first brush head is received when the second brush head is coupled to the handle part (1).

3. A hair brush according to claim 2 wherein the second brush head (9) is tubular.

4. A hair brush according to claim 3 wherein the second brush head (9) is

cylindrical.

5. A hair brush according to any one of the preceding claims including at least a third brush head (12).

6. A hair brush according to claim 5 wherein the third brush head (12) includes a recess or chamber wherein the first and second brush heads (7,9) are received when the third brush head (12) is coupled to the handle (1).

7. A hair brush according to claim 6 wherein the third brush head (12) is tubular.

8. A hair brush according to claim 7 wherein the third brush head (12) is

cylindrical.

9. A hair brush according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the coupling is provided by a bayonet fitting.

10. A hair brush according to claim 9 wherein a latch mechanism (5) controlled by a trigger (2) is arranged to prevent the bayonet fitting uncoupling unintentionally.