CA2201975A1 - Retractable soft sole shoe brush - Google Patents

Abstract

A retractable cleaning brush specifically designed to clean and restore the soft suede soles of Ballroom, Latin, and Jazz style dance shoes.
The brush is made of small blunt tipped bristles which effectively remove wax, dirt, and other foreign materials from the soles of said dance shoes by combing the fabric, thus restoring the original integrity to these said dance shoes, and which will not cause injury if occasional contact is made with exposed skin.
The brush head is contoured for ease of use while not compromising cleaning results.
The brush head which is designed to retract into the handle when not in use, eliminates the need for a separate carrying case or protective cover.
The sheath handle is ergonomically designed for safe and easy use by the use of built in finger grip ridges.

Description

~2~1 975 Specification This invention relates to a hand-held retractable shoe brush that is used for cleaning wax and other debris from the soft suede soles of Ballroom, Latin, and Jazz dance shoes.
The tool that is commonly used is a flat headed, wire bristle brush which is used in many applications such as scouring and scraping. [eg. rust removal] this style of brush is hard to maneuver as the wire bristles get caught in the fabric causing tearing and premature wear of the dance shoe soles and requires an excessive amount of force to operate in this capacit,v as the combined amount of the sharp bristles of a flat surface generate a great amount of holding power. The wire bristles on this type of brush are sharp enough to puncture or scratch exposed skin with just an minimum amount of contact. The handle on this type of brush is of the same design as that of a paint brush handle, which is flat and designed for applying materials without a great amount of force, the cleaning of dance shoes require that the brush is drawn across the sole of the shoe towards the user.
This type of brushing action combined with the holding power of the sharp wire bristles on the fabric, result in the brush being constantly yanked from the users hand. With the bristles exposed on this type of brush, an additional piece of equipment is needed such as a carrying bag or box to keep the wire bristles from fl~ ;in~ other objects or clothing that may be in a garment bag or hs~n~bag Using bristles that are made of durab1e plastic with blunt rounded tips [ 1], suede sole dance shoes may be effectively cleaned of debris while not tearing at the fabric, ensuring longer life of said shoes. The blunt tips are also non injurious to the occasional contact with exposed skin. The curved head of this brush [2] allows that only two or three offset rows of bristles make contact with the fabric at a time, therefore easing the amount of force required to operate this tool. The brush head is mounted on a shaft [3] that retracts into a hollow sheath 14] that acts as a handle. The handle is ergonomically designed with finger grips [5~ which aid in keeping the tool in the operators hand without slipping as the tool is operated by the pulling action against the dance shoe sole fabric. Guide rails [6] are used to glide the shaft in the sheath handle. ~he brush head shaft is secured in the open or closed position of said sheath by a locking tab [7~ that is moulded onto the shafts Thumb operated locking device [8] that fits into slots on the sheath handle [9].~he end of the brush shaft has a stopper, which butts up against a matching stopper on the sheath handle (10), Materials used in the manufacture of the brush head shaft and sheath handle may be of metal, plastic, wood or any combination thereof.

Claims (3)

1. A brush for cleaning the suede soles of Ballroom, Latin, and Jazz style dance shoes, made of short, safe, blunt tipped bristles, which are attached to a contoured brush head.

2. A brush that is defined in claim 1, that retracts into a hollow sheath which then acts as the brushes handle.

3. A non slip handle for the brush defined in claim 1.