DE202023100387U1 - Dishwashing brush with replaceable brush head - Google Patents

Abstract

Dishwashing brush (1) for cleaning dishes and the like, comprising a handle (2) and a brush head (3) with bristles which is arranged at a distal end of this handle (2) and can be removed from the handle (2), characterized in that the handle ( 2) at the distal end has a retaining ring (4) made of elastic material that is adapted to the outer contour of the brush head (3) and at least partially surrounds it, so that the brush head (3) is mounted in the independently resilient retaining ring (4).

Description

Introduction

The invention relates to the field of cleaning brushes. More specifically, the invention relates to a dishwashing brush with a replaceable brush head, and a brush head for a dishwashing brush.

State of the art and disadvantages

Dishwashing brushes have been known for a long time. In the kitchen area, for example, they are used to clean dishes or pots. Essential components of a typical dishwashing brush are a handle and the brush head arranged at one end of the same. Handle and brush head can be designed in one piece. However, the brush head wears out faster than the handle; Therefore, for economic reasons, it often makes sense to provide a replaceable brush head that can be separated from the handle and replaced with a new brush head if necessary. The brush head is often made of wood, into which the bristles are inserted.

A problem with a brush head made from such a material is that exposure to water during use can gradually cause the brush head to swell. This leads to less and less play in the corresponding holder on the handle, until the brush head can only be detached from the handle with great effort. The corresponding force cannot be mustered by every person; there is also a risk of injury, for example by slipping, and finally the holder can also be damaged.

Brush heads made of non-swelling materials such as precious woods, metal or plastic are also known; However, such materials should be avoided for cost and sustainability reasons, since they are lost every time the brush head is replaced.

It is true that the change in size that accompanies the swelling can be countered by a correspondingly large play and a profile that ensures a correspondingly designed form shot. However, a further problem then consists in the rotatability of the brush head, which is associated with a gap, if this is designed round, which is the most frequently encountered basic shape. A brush head that rotates during use exerts less frictional forces on the dirt to be cleaned, which is disadvantageous for the work result.

The handles known for holding the brush head typically consist of several individual parts (e.g. metal handle part with retaining clip, wooden handle with metal ring), or at least a multi-component plastic. However, both are disadvantageous for reasons of complexity and the associated costs. In addition, if the known handles are made of plastic, they are unsuitable for use with a wooden brush head.

Object of the invention and solution

The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a device which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.

The invention is intended to allow the brush head to be held securely in the holder, regardless of its swelling state. Unintentional turning should be avoided. The number of materials used for manufacture as well as the complexity should be minimized.

The object is solved by a device according to claim 1. Advantageous embodiments can be found in the dependent subclaims, the following description and the figures.

Description

The invention relates to a dishwashing brush for cleaning dishes and the like. The dishwashing brush comprises a handle and a brush head with bristles which is arranged at a distal end of this handle and can be detached from the handle.

The dishwashing brush according to the invention is characterized in that the handle at the distal end has a retaining ring made of elastic material which is adapted to the outer contour of the brush head and at least partially encloses it, so that the brush head is mounted in the independently resilient retaining ring.

"Resilient" means here that the retaining ring is set up to compensate for changes in size of the brush head, for example due to swelling due to liquid absorption of the wood from which the brush head can be made, and also the additional temporarily required when assembling and disassembling the brush head by tilting or pulling it off can provide space.

In the present case, “independently” means that the retaining ring itself can provide elastic changes in shape, and not due to elastic elements or regions located elsewhere on the dishwashing brush, for example in the handle changes its essentially rigid shape without being elastic itself.

Accordingly, the retaining ring is set up in such a way that the brush head is preferably held at all times by frictional locking, ie both in the dry state to a small extent and in the wet state to a larger extent. It is also conceivable that extreme deviations from the expected changes in size (especially downwards) can be compensated for by (additional) positive locking. This means that even if the circumference of the brush head is too small, which can lead to the non-positive connection, can be accommodated by the shape of the retaining ring on the one hand and the brush head on the other, as will be explained further below.

The invention thus avoids the disadvantages known from the prior art.

Due to the resilient mounting of the brush head in the retaining ring, the brush head is held securely and non-positively to a large extent regardless of its specific condition (dimensionally stable when dry or swollen when wet). If the brush head swells, it can still be removed from the retaining ring without significantly greater effort. The increase in the effort can be kept below 50%, preferably below 25%, and particularly preferably below 10% of the original effort. Unintentional turning of a round brush head due to a lack of traction is avoided. The handle with retaining ring according to the invention can consist of a single part and be made of a single (then sufficiently elastic) material; it is also advantageously suitable for interaction in particular with a brush head made of wood.

Various embodiments of the invention are described in more detail below.

According to a preferred embodiment, the retaining ring is designed to have an interruption, that is to say interrupted. This means that it has a slit which can be located anywhere apart from the handle attachment. The slot leads to increased elasticity in the tangential direction (lower spring constant), so that the ring can be easily "bent open" to accommodate the brush head.

According to another embodiment, the retaining ring is closed and made from a sufficiently flexible material (e.g. silicone), which is correspondingly highly deformable but nevertheless elastic. It can also be sufficient if, for example, the lower edge of the retaining ring is designed accordingly, so that the brush head can be pushed into the resilient opening of the retaining ring from below. However, it should be made clear that the rest of the retaining ring also has the elasticity required according to the invention, at least when it is set up to come into mechanical contact with the brush head, in order to provide the desired resilience in the event of size changes.

If the retaining ring has said interruption, it is preferred that the interruption has an included angle of 105° ± 30°, preferably ± 15°, and most preferably ± 5°, with the bisecting end of the included angle at a starting angle of 90° ± 10° , preferably ±7.5°, and particularly preferably ±2.5°. However, a starting angle is also possible which, for example, results in a bisecting angle of 120°, 180° or 240°. The included angle indicates the angle that results from the center of the retaining ring when the two edges of the interruption are measured. The starting angle indicates where the center of the break is, starting at the center of the grip attachment. A starting angle of 180° therefore means that the center of the interruption is located on the opposite side of the retaining ring from the handle attachment.

Preferably the interruption is symmetrically wide when viewed from the side, i.e. in plan view half the included angle is above the center line passing through the center of the (then round) receiving area of the retaining ring and the other half is below it.

Preferably, the retaining ring has an inner contour whose cross-sectional profile initially has an inner edge running perpendicularly (i.e. in the direction of a longitudinal axis of the retaining ring and brush head) with a horizontal recess spaced from the upper and lower edges, increasing the diameter, which then runs in the vertical direction , and finally a downwardly optionally arcuately narrowing diameter again, but at all times still spaced outwardly from the extension of the inner edge. To clarify the geometry, reference is also made to the figures. Such a profile advantageously allows a suitably shaped brush head to be accommodated, with the upper end of the brush head in particular being placeable so that it rests on the upper side of the retaining ring and covers it all around, so that protection is provided for the upper side.

Preferably, the brush head has an outer contour, which for contacting with the Retaining ring provided profile has a diameter-reducing recess whose height corresponds to the height of the perpendicular inner edge of the retaining ring, wherein the inlet and outlet of the recess are optionally rounded. Such a profile interacts in an advantageous manner with the profile of the retaining ring and is also easy to manufacture. The section lying above the recess is that section which can possibly be placed on the surface of the retaining ring and protects it. The brush head is advantageously introduced into the retaining ring from below.

According to one embodiment, the handle has a cleaning surface at the distal end with at least one cleaning edge, provided for scraping off food residues adhering to the dishes. Accordingly, the cleaning surface is offset geometrically, in particular by means of a bulge. Such a cleaning surface has the advantage of being more robust and thus being able to be used with a correspondingly increased force, particularly in the case of heavily adhering dirt. In addition, the cleaning edge has the advantage of being significantly sharper than the rather soft bristles. In this way, the dishwashing brush can be used to advantage for both large-area, normal soiling and for selective, heavy soiling. A further advantage lies in the fact that in this way it is possible to provide a dishwashing brush whose handle and retaining ring are made of plastic, whereas the brush head can be made of wood, and still provide a cleaning edge (this is not the case with a Wooden brush head cannot be provided by this). At the same time, the handle and retaining ring can still be made of the same material, and no additional, separate components are still required.

If a cleaning surface is present, it is preferred that the retaining ring has said cleaning surface on its front side remote from the grip. This position has the advantage that when force is applied to the handle, it is directed through the center of the retaining ring and from there to the forward (i.e. pointing away from the handle) tip of the same. Accordingly (particularly when the retaining ring is substantially symmetrical) unintentional lateral slippage of the cleaning surface is avoided when in use. Thus, the handling of the dishwashing brush is simplified and safer.

More preferably, the cleaning surface is tilted at an angle relative to a longitudinal axis of the retaining ring. The longitudinal axis therefore runs perpendicularly through the retaining ring as well as the brush head when its bristles are evenly directed downwards; this is the typical positioning when cleaning. According to this embodiment, the plane of the cleaning surface is not parallel to this longitudinal axis.

The angle is preferably open at the top and is between 1° and 75°, preferably between 20° and 60°, and particularly preferably between 25° and 35°. This means that - in the orientation of the brush head described above - the cleaning surface is tilted "forwards". The advantage of a correspondingly tilted cleaning surface lies in the further improved handling and an even better work result.

The edge of the cleaning surface lying at the end of the angle (ie at the top) is preferably the cleaning edge. In order to bring the cleaning edge into contact with the surface to be cleaned, the brush head, and accordingly the dishwashing brush, must be turned upside down. The advantage of this configuration is that the cleaning edge does not interfere with normal operation using the bristles, since it faces away from the surface to be cleaned. In addition, this ensures that the cleaning edge and bristles do not interfere with each other; a downward cleaning edge would be on the same side as the bristles, which would be disadvantageous.

Furthermore, it is preferred that the cleaning edge is designed to exceed the upper side of the retaining ring, so that the cleaning edge angle is reduced. This is the angle between the upper edge of the retaining ring and the level of the cleaning surface. By further "raising" the cleaning edge, the angle becomes more acute and the cleaning edge "sharper".

The handle with the retaining ring is preferably made of a dishwasher-safe plastic. It is also conceivable to make the handle from a different material than the retaining ring, since the mechanical requirements are different. The retaining ring itself can also have areas with different mechanical properties; thus, the area provided for resiliently receiving the brush head can be more elastic than the area provided for transmitting the cleaning pressure. However, it is preferred if the handle with the retaining ring is made of the same material with the same properties, the different mechanical properties being achieved solely by the shape. The handle can particularly preferably be designed ergonomically, which is an advantage over some of the known handles for brush heads.

The invention also relates to a brush head for a dishwashing brush as described above, the brush head being intended for receiving the area provided by the retaining ring has a profile as also already described above; a repetition of the features can therefore be dispensed with. A brush head designed in this way can therefore interact with the retaining ring in a very advantageous manner.

The use of a dishwashing brush for cleaning dishes and the like is described below, comprising a handle and a brush head with bristles that is arranged at a distal end of this handle and can be removed from the handle, the handle at the distal end having a brush head adapted to the outer contour of the brush head has at least partially enclosing retaining ring made of elastic material. In particular, this is the dishwashing brush described above.

The use is characterized by the fact that if the brush head is enlarged due to the liquid, the same is still held in a non-positive manner at all times due to the elastic yielding of the retaining ring itself (and not other elements of the dishwashing brush). It is possible that the brush head is held predominantly or exclusively in a form-fitting manner in its original, dimensionally stable condition. However, at the latest when there is an increase in the contact areas with the retaining ring caused by liquid, the frictional connection according to the invention, which is caused by the elasticity of the retaining ring, occurs.

The procedure offers the advantage that the brush head can change its circumference without this resulting in a significant increase in the force required for this purpose, which would make assembly on or disassembly from the retaining ring more difficult or even prevent it from being clamped too tightly. This means that a used brush head that has become swollen due to frequent contact with liquid can be removed from the retaining ring without any problems.

To connect the retaining ring and the brush head, the retaining ring is elastically deformed by the action of an external force until the brush head can be placed at the location provided for receiving it. It is possible that the external force is provided by a person's hand, or by forces that arise when the brush head is pressed onto the retaining ring and bend it open. For example, a chamfer on the underside of the retaining ring and/or on the top of the brush head is helpful for this.

Likewise, to remove the brush head from the retaining ring, the retaining ring is elastically deformed until the brush head can be removed from the retaining ring. In particular, bending up, ie an elastic enlargement of the opening angle of the interruption, is advantageous here and can be achieved in a simple manner. The bending can in turn be done manually or indirectly, e.g. by manually tilting the brush head in the retaining ring. This increases the distance between the two halves of the retaining ring (as viewed from above in a projection) and the opening angle is increased. The brush head can then (preferably) be pulled out downwards. The retaining ring then springs back into its resting position.

character list

• 1 eine Ausführungsform der Spülbürste in einer perspektivischen Ansicht;
• 2 eine Draufsicht auf den Handgriff;
• 3 eine Schnittansicht durch den vorderen Teil des Handgriffs mit Haltering;
• 4 eine Seitenansicht eines Bürstenkopfes;
• 5 eine Schnittansicht durch die Spülbürste.

The invention is explained below by way of example with reference to figures. while showing

• 1 an embodiment of the dishwashing brush in a perspective view;
• 2 a plan view of the handle;
• 3 a sectional view through the front part of the handle with retaining ring;
• 4 a side view of a brush head;
• 5 a sectional view through the dishwashing brush.

In the 1 an embodiment of the dishwashing brush is shown in a perspective view. 2 shows a plan view of the handle.

The dishwashing brush 1 comprises a preferably ergonomically shaped handle 2 and a removable brush head 3 with bristles arranged at a distal end of this handle 2 . The handle 2 is preferably made of plastic. The brush head can be made of wood and it can have a round, rotationally symmetrical basic shape.

As can be seen, the handle 2 has at the distal end a retaining ring 4 made of elastic material such as plastic in particular, which is adapted to the outer contour of the brush head 3 and partially encloses it in the present case. In this way, the brush head 3 is mounted in the retaining ring 4, which is independently resilient according to the invention.

The retaining ring 4 has an interruption 5. In the present case, the interruption 5 has an opening angle W1 of 105°, and its angle bisector is at a starting angle W2 of 90°.

3 shows a sectional view through the front part of the handle with retaining ring. Accordingly, the retaining ring 4 has an inner contour whose cross-sectional profile initially (after initial rounding) has a vertical inner edge 6 with one of the upper and lower edges of the retaining ring 4 beab stood, the diameter increasing, horizontal recess 7 has. This recess 7 then runs in the vertical direction (perpendicular in the picture, parallel to the longitudinal axis L). Optionally, this recess 7 can be designed in an arcuate manner with the diameter tapering downwards (dotted line). However, the resulting end section 8 is further spaced outwards from the (not shown) extension of the inner edge 6 . According to the embodiment shown, the underside of the retaining ring 4 is bevelled, with the cross-sectional profile of the retaining ring 4 being highest at the point closest to the grip. The advantage of this embodiment lies in the improved support effect when moving the dishwashing brush forward (in this direction of movement, a user typically exerts the most force), and a material-saving construction, since the front side of the retaining ring 4, which is designed for less stress, is correspondingly thinner. In addition, bending forces can be better absorbed by the thicker transition point between the end of the handle and the retaining ring, without subjecting the material to excessive local stress.

In 3 The cleaning surface 9, which has a cleaning edge 10 provided for the scraping removal of food residues adhering to the dishes, is also clearly visible. In the present case, the cleaning surface 9 is arranged on the front side of the retaining ring 4 that is remote from the handle. The cleaning surface 9 is tilted relative to the longitudinal axis L at an angle W3. This is open at the top and is approximately 10° in the present case. The edge of the cleaning surface 9 at the end of the angle W3 (here at the top) is the cleaning edge 10. The cleaning edge 10 is designed so that the upper side of the retaining ring 4 rises above it, resulting in an advantageous reduction in the cleaning edge angle W4. In addition, the cleaning edge 10 can be used better for scraping in both directions (forward and backward).

How out 4 As can be seen, the brush head 3 has an outer contour whose profile intended for contacting the retaining ring (not shown) has a diameter-reducing recess 11 whose height corresponds to the height of the perpendicular inner edge 6 of the retaining ring 4 . As shown, the inlet and outlet of the recess 11 are preferably rounded.

The interaction of the profiles of the retaining ring 4 and the brush head 3 also means that the top of the brush head 3 partially covers the top of the retaining ring 4, as shown in 5 recognizable, which shows a sectional view of the dishwashing brush. The reference numbers and hatching have been omitted for the sake of clarity. This will protect the top of the retaining ring; a brush head that is worn on its upper side after frequent use usually has to be replaced anyway because of the correspondingly worn bristles.

Reference List

1

dishwashing brush

2

handle

3

brush head

4

retaining ring

5

interruption

6

inside edge

7

return

7'

line

8th

end section

9

cleaning surface

10

cleaning edge

11

return

w1

opening angle

W2

starting angle

W3

angle

W4

cleaning edge angle

L

longitudinal axis

Claims (12)

Dishwashing brush (1) for cleaning dishes and the like, comprising a handle (2) and a brush head (3) with bristles which is arranged at a distal end of this handle (2) and can be removed from the handle (2), characterized in that the handle ( 2) at the distal end has a retaining ring (4) made of elastic material that is adapted to the outer contour of the brush head (3) and at least partially surrounds it, so that the brush head (3) is mounted in the independently resilient retaining ring (4). Dishwashing brush (1) after claim 1 , wherein the retaining ring (4) is designed to have an interruption (5). Dishwashing brush (1) after claim 2 , wherein the interruption (5) has an opening angle (W1) of 105° ± 15°, and the bisector of the opening angle (W1) lies at a starting angle (W2) of 90° ± 7.5°. Dishwashing brush (1) according to one of Claims 1 until 3 , Wherein the retaining ring (4) has an inner contour whose cross-sectional profile initially has a sink right running inner edge (6) with a distance from the upper and lower edge, the diameter increasing, horizontal recess (7), which then runs in the vertical direction, and finally a downwards optionally arcuately narrowing the diameter again, but from the Extension of the inner edge (6) further providing spaced-apart end section (8) to the outside. Dishwashing brush (1) according to one of Claims 1 until 3 , wherein the brush head (3) has an outer contour whose profile intended for contacting with the retaining ring has a diameter-reducing recess (11), the height of which corresponds to the height of the vertical inner edge (6) of the retaining ring (4), the one - and outlet of the return are optionally rounded. Dishwashing brush (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the handle (2) at the distal end has a cleaning surface (9) with at least one cleaning edge (10) provided for scraping off food residues adhering to dishes. Dishwashing brush (1) after claim 6 , wherein the retaining ring (4) has the cleaning surface (9) on its front side remote from the handle. Dishwashing brush (1) according to one of Claims 6 or 7 wherein the cleaning surface (9) is tilted at an angle (W3) relative to a longitudinal axis (L) of the retaining ring (4). Dishwashing brush (1) after claim 8 , where the angle (W3) is open at the top and is between 1° and 45°. Dishwashing brush (1) according to one of Claims 8 or 9 , the edge of the cleaning surface (9) lying at the end of the angle (W3) being the cleaning edge (10), and this cleaning edge (10) being designed so that it exceeds the upper side of the retaining ring (4), so that the cleaning edge angle ( W4) results. Dishwashing brush (1) according to one of the preceding claims, in which the handle (2) with the retaining ring (4) is made from a dishwasher-safe plastic. Brush head (3) for a dishwashing brush (1) as defined in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the brush head (3) has a profile as defined in claim 5 having.

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