FR2686809A1 - Device which can be used as a disposable paintbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a disposable paintbrush, its price being minimal. The method of manufacture gives particularly good results. This paintbrush consists of a hollow handle (1) prolonged by a flexible staff (2) to which is fixed a brush made of absorbent material (3). The method may also be used for the manufacture of slender (tapered) paintbrushes with a handle and brushes.

Description

 The present invention relates to a disposable brush, as well as a method of manufacturing this brush.

 Traditional brushes usually use a bristle brush. The handle is made of wood or molded plastic. The price is relatively high because the materials are expensive and the manufacturing process is complex.

 Cleaning is messy and tedious, restoration for reuse in good conditions is random.

 The device according to the invention overcomes these drawbacks. Its manufacture is simple, the materials used are inexpensive. This brush is therefore very low cost and in most cases it will be more economical to throw it away than to clean it.

 In this presentation we will call brush the part of the brush which plays the role of the brush of the traditional brush even if this part does not consist of bristles.

 The device according to the invention is composed of a part called a body consisting of a handle extended by a flexible part: the pole, and an absorbent part: the brush, assembled with the body on the pole.

 The attachment of the brush to the pole can be carried out in various ways by gluing, welding, skewering, etc.

 Figures 1) and 2) show an embodiment of this device. The plastic body consists of a hollow handle (1) extended by a flat, thin and flexible part of the shaft (2). It can be provided with a perforated part (3). The brush (4) consists of two pieces of synthetic sponge foam fixed by welding or gluing on each side of the pole.

 Figure 3) shows a brush body or the shaft in the shape of a fork. The teeth play the role of a harpoon and are provided with fixing and retention elements, such as spikes, barbs, hooks, parts coated with adhesive or glue, etc.

 The brush is fixed by skewering on the fork. It is held in place, between the teeth of the fork by their elastic pressure, as well as by the fixing elements which hold it.

 The teeth of the fork are provided with sufficiently sharp or sharp ends to penetrate the brush piece by perforation, in the case where the material used for the brush is sufficiently soft. For example synthetic foam.

 It is also possible to perforate the brush parts in advance to facilitate the penetration of non-cutting teeth, in particular to allow the use of material more difficult to pierce, for example felt or nonwoven. The perforations can be coated with adhesive or glue to ensure better support of the brush piece.

 It should be noted that the shaft can have any shape as long as it can serve as a support for a brush piece. For example, the fork of the pole may have only one tooth.

 Such an embodiment is shown in Figure 4).

The brush body consists of a tapered handle extended by a tapered shaft with the same fastening elements as above. The synthetic foam brush can have a cylindrical, conical, tapered shape, etc.

 The device according to the invention may also be only partially disposable. Indeed it can have a non-disposable handle and a disposable head fixed to the handle in a removable manner. The head includes the shaft, carrying its brush and a connecting piece with the non-disposable handle. This part and the shaft can be considered as brush bodies during the manufacturing process. Indeed, the part which connects the shaft to the non-disposable handle is in fact a particular shape, and in reduction, of the handle of the brush body. Removable attachment between the reusable handle and the disposable head can be accomplished using various known means. For example, the head can be fitted into a recessed part of the handle, or even include a recess in which a protruding part of the handle is fixed.

 The body of the device according to the invention can be manufactured in various ways. For example it can be molded in a plastic material, cut in a plate, etc ...

 A particularly advantageous manufacture of the device according to the invention would use plastic sheets or plates to obtain a hollow brush body.

For example, we produce imprints in hollow, in plates of plastic material,
These imprints have the shape of a half of a brush body.

 We have two plates above each other, the recesses face to face so that the imprints form the internal volume of the brush body, we cut and assemble these shapes, for example by hot welding edge on board. A double plate is obtained where the brush bodies are arranged side by side. They can remain connected by sectionable parts and have various shapes and sizes so as to obtain an assortment. The parts of double plate not used for the formation of the brush bodies can remain connected to be used as spatulas. The shanks are aligned to facilitate the attachment of the brushes.

 Instead of using two separate plates, one can form on a single plate, FIG. 5) imprints (5) arranged symmetrically with respect to an axial line.

These half-hollow body imprints are separated by "scraps" (6) which will form spatulas during the brush cutting operation. To assemble the half bodies, simply fold the plate along the axial line.

The fingerprints face to face then form the brush body.

 To obtain a more solid brush body, an interlayer can be placed between the impression-bearing sheets.

This plate can be welded with the two half-bodies or else serve for their assembly while carrying adhesive or even by being itself of adhesive plastic.

 For example, this intermediate plate can be made of thermo-adhesive polyamide or hot-melt glue.

 The manufacture of the brush can be carried out from strips of brush material. From a double brush body carrier plate, at least one strip of absorbent material is attached to the aligned poles. Then we cut to machine the brush and the rest of the brush elements. We can depending on the desired result or the type of assembly, fix two bands on either side of the pole.

 The assembly can be carried out by gluing, or by welding, or else by skewering on the teeth of the fork-shaped shank. The brushes and possibly the "scraps" which can be used as spatulas can remain connected by breakable parts in order to form plates of several detachable brushes. The brushes may have been machined in several sizes so as to present, for sale, an assortment, on the same plate.

 For example twelve brushes, in three sizes, accompanied by eleven spatulas.

 The manufacturing process can use various tools.

For example, the forming of the impressions can be carried out with the press, by stamping, the assembly and the cutting of the superimposed plates carrying the impressions can be accomplished by stamping with the press during a single operation, the welding or bonding can be carried out at the same time, for example using a heated cutting punch.

 Various other machines may be used, various methods of welding or bonding may be suitable. Their implementation, in order to obtain variants of the device and the implementation of the method according to the present invention, is a matter for those skilled in the art.

Claims (9)

 1) Device, usable as a disposable brush, characterized in that it consists of a handle extended by a flexible part: the shaft, secured to an absorbent part: the brush.  2) Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the handle is hollow and possibly has a hole.  3) Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the brush consists of pieces of absorbent material glued or welded to the pole.  4) Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shaft has the shape of a fork of which at least one tooth is provided, like a harpoon, with fixing and retention elements, such as barbs, points , parts coated with adhesive, etc ... the brush being made up of at least one piece of absorbent material pierced by the rod and held in place by the teeth and their fixing elements, the brush piece being able to have been perforated beforehand , and the perforations coated with adhesive, the fork possibly having only a tapered tooth provided with fastening elements.  5) Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is divided into two parts: a non-disposable handle and a disposable head fixed to the handle in a removable manner, the head being constituted by the pole, carrying its brush and provided with a connecting piece with the non-disposable handle, this piece and the shaft being able to be considered as brush bodies during the manufacturing processes, the connecting piece corresponding to the handle of the brush body.  6) A method of manufacturing the device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in plates of plastic material, recesses are produced having the shape of a half of the body of the brush to be manufactured, there are two plates above one another, the recesses facing each other so that the imprints form the internal volume of the brush body, these shapes are cut and assembled, for example by edge-to-edge hot welding, these two plates can be machined in a single sheet, symmetrically with respect to an axial line, the face-to-face assembly then being carried out by folding along this axial line, the various brush bodies, which can have different shapes and dimensions , which can remain connected by sectionable parts, thus forming brush body plates where the poles are aligned  7) A method of manufacturing the device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that between the impression-carrying plates is interposed a plate making it possible to stiffen the assembly and serving to connect the half brush bodies, this plate possibly possibly used to glue the half bodies together.  8) A method of manufacturing the device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that on the shafts of a brush body plate, at least one strip of absorbent material is assembled, then cut in order to machine the brush and the rest of the elements of the brush, the assembly being able to be carried out by gluing, or by welding, or else by skewering on the teeth of the fork-shaped shaft, the brushes as well as possibly the "scraps" usable in as long as spatulas which can remain connected by breakable parts in order to form plates of several detachable brushes.  9) A method of manufacturing the device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the forming of the brush body imprints, the cutting and the edge-to-edge welding of the hollow shapes is carried out with a press, possibly hot. .