GB1574963A

GB1574963A - Brush for the application of liquid materials

Info

Publication number: GB1574963A
Application number: GB8205/77A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Desowag Bayer Holzschutz GmbH
Current assignee: Desowag Materialschutz GmbH
Priority date: 1976-02-27
Filing date: 1977-02-25
Publication date: 1980-09-17
Also published as: ES226737Y; FI763776A; AT352231B; IT1076965B; BE851755A; FR2342042A1; DE7605870U1; YU7977A; CH613373A5; DK84577A; NL7701538A; SE7702056L; SE417783B; NO770289L; ATA128677A; ES226737U; FR2342042B1; HU174703B; JPS52104559A

Abstract

When painting overhead there is the risk of the coating compound running down along the brush. In order to avoid this, at the deepest point of the trough-shaped brush head surface there is a funnel-shaped opening (1) which leads to a cavity (3) in the handle (2). In addition, the brush head (4) is surrounded by a lip (4c) bent outwards. By this means, excess coating compounds, in particular wood preservatives, can quickly run off into the cavity in the brush handle. The running-off is helped in that the brush hairs of the paintbrush are collected together in bundles (5). In order to be able to clean the brush better, the brush head is composed of a brush core (4b) which carries the brush hairs and of a brush-head hollow body (4a), which can both be removed. <IMAGE>

Description

(54) A BRUSH FOR THE APPLICATION OF LIQUID MATERIALS (71) We, DESOWAG-BAYER Holz- SCHUTZ G.M.B.H., a body corporate organised under the laws of the German Federal Republic, of 76 Ross-Strasse, 4000 Dusseldorf 30, German Federal Republic, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to a brush for the application of liquid materials, e.g. a paint brush. By a particular construction of the brush it is the aim to prevent or substantially to stop the paint or other liquid running down the brush and dripping on the floor, particularly when painting ceilings or other surfaces which call for overhead work.

It has already been proposed to provide paint brushes having handles which serve as containers for the paint that is to be applied to a surface. These container-type handles have a narrow mouth projecting into the brush or rather between the bristles of the brush, or they may be operable by spring pressure for squeezing the paint out of the handle. In these brushes the hollow handles forming containers represent storage vessels for the paint that is to be applied. However, in view of the purpose that underlies their design, these brushes are hardly suitable for stopping paint from running down the brush by diverting it into the cavity when the brush is used for painting an overhead surface.

In order to enable running paint to be collected, paint brush handles have been provided with funnel-shaped collecting vessels or with funnel-shaped sleeves which may additionally even be provided with a tap.

However, these funnel-shaped collecting vessels or sleeves have the drawback that the motion, when manipulating the brush during painting, may cause paint to spill or spatter out of the funnels and sleeves, so that the object of preventing drip, smudging and running of the paint down the outside of the brush is vitiated. It would be desirable substantially to prevent this from happening when the brush is vigorously handled. Furthermore, the capacity of such sleeves or funnels is very small. In the case of low viscosity coating media, such as wood preservatives, the seal between the funnel or sleeve and the brush is not adequate and the low viscosity liquid will ooze out at the joints in the handle and drip off.In order to deal with this difficulty, it has been proposed to provide a brush having a handle in the form of a cup or container, and, between the handle and the hairs or bristles of the brush there is a hollow space which in the zone behind the hairs or bristles defines a concavity facing the handle. In the bottom of this concavity there is at least one channel which opens between the hairs or bristles of the brush. In addition several channels are provided which open, on the one hand, into the cup near the bottom of the cup and, on the other hand, into the hollow chamber facing the concavity.

Since in this arrangement the centre passage ends between the brush hairs the function of the channel is substantially limited to discharging paint from the storage container (hollow handle), and this channel is therefore not or at best hardly suitable for the reception of surplus paint, this function being reserved to the lateral channels all round the centre channel. Owing to the multitude of channels in this arrangement, they must for structural as well as for stability reasons have very small cross sections, i.e. their diameters must be as small as possible. This design results in the channels becoming quickly choked by a large variety of coating materials, such as lacquers, so that the efficacy of the brush, so far as its collecting efficiency is concerned is likely quickly to deteriorate.

As the hairs, bristles, and the like are also not specifically spaced nor associated in bundles spaced well defined distances apart, the paint or other coating material cannot readily drain away, so that the risk of spatter when painting persists.

According to the present invention there is provided a brush for the application of liquid materials, wherein the brush comprises a handle containing a cavity, and a brush head carrying the bristles or hairs and having a dished surface from which the bristles or hairs extend, and wherein the brush head has a channel for draining superfluous liquid into the cavity in the handle when the brush is held upright, the drainage channel widening towards the cavity and an entry to the channel being located at the bottom or substantially at the bottom of said dished surface, the brush head having an outwardly splayed rim.

The present brush permits ceilings and overhead surfaces to be safely coated with paint, distemper or other liquid coating medium without substantial risk of paint or the like running off the brush and dripping to the floor. The brush may be used for applying oil or like based wood preservatives, fungicidal and/or insecticidal coating media, impregnating agents, and so forth, without allowing such preservatives and coating media etc, to run or drip, this being particularly desirable since they are capable, according to their com--- position of causing irritating skin inflammations, difficult stains and so forth. The brush may be made so as to obviate or reduce any tendency of a coating material to block the draining channel, for instance by drying out and to provide accelerated drainage or surplus paint or wood preservative into the collecting container.Furthermore, the brush may be made to be of aesthetically pleasing appearance.

In order to enable the surplus paint, wood preservative or the like to drain quickly into the cavity in the handle the hairs or bristles of the brush are combined in bundles and fixed in the dished surface of the brush head around the drainage channel and space to leave intervening distances that will enable the liquid paint or medium to flow down the sides of the concave dished surface to the opening into the drainage channel when the brush is held with its hairs or bristles uppermost. In a preferred embodiment of the present brush, the drainage channel has a diameter at its most constricted point or throat exceeding 3 mm.

The handle and the brush head may be manufactured of conventional materials, preferably of synthetic plastics, particularly of a kind not affected by paints, wood preservatives, and the like.

In an embodiment which is particularly preferred, the brush head consists of a stock which carries the brush bristles or hairs, and which has a dished concave surface, and of a hollow shell which surrounds the stock like a jacket and terminates in said outwardly splayed rim, the shell and the stock of the brush head being of matching configuration.

The stock and the hollow shell of the brush head may each be of integral construction or they may each be composed of several parts.

The hollow shell of the brush head and the stock may consist and be made of the same material or of different materials.

The hollow shell of the brush head and the stock are preferably each integral components of different materials, the stock consisting of an expanded plastics material and the shell of non-expanded synthetic plastics. For making the stock, expanded thermoplastics containing fillers have proved to be particularly suitable.

The shape of the stock may be frusto conical, a frustrum of a pyramid, a dish and so forth and in cross-section it may be oval, trapezium shaped or the like. However, the stock is preferably dish-shaped so that the surface of the stock carrying the hairs and the bristles has a dished configuration that enables the paint to drain readily into the drainage channel.

Moreover, in order to assist the liquid paint or other coating medium to flow to the entry opening of the drainage channel, the hairs or bristles or the like are associated in bundles disposed in the stock in concentric or substantially concentric circles around the drainage channel.

If the drainage channel has a diameter which at the narrowest point or throat exceeds 5 mm and which may be as much as 20 mm, preferably from 8 to 15 mm, the channel is not liable to become choked or blocked up. The outwardly splayed rim in which the brush head peripherally terminates is preferably integrally formed on the hollow shell of the brush head and the cross-section of the hollow shell may taper radially towards the rim like a collar or ruff so that said edge is thinner than the section of the material of the hollow shell as such either at the top or at its base.This splayed rim which surrounds the hairs of the brush like a collar or ruff intercepts any liquid paint running down the sides of the hairs or bristles and diverts it down the slope of the concave dished surface of the brush head towards the entry into the drainage channel when the brush is held upright, i.e. in the position in which it would be used when painting an overhead surface. In order to ensure that the reflexed rim will perform its task of catching the liquid around the peripheral zone and directing it towards the drainage channel, the angle between the bristles and the outwardly splayed rim should be less than 90" and/or the angle between the handle and the rim should be greater than 900.

The drainage channel could naturally also be offset towards one side of the dished surface of the brush head, particularly if the brush were of oval, oblong or like shape in cross-section.

However, it is always preferred that the channel which widens towards the handle should be centrally or nearly centrally positioned in the expanded synthetic plastics stock.

In one desirable form of construction, the bundles of hairs or bristles which concentrically or substantially concentrically directly surround the drainage channel have a smaller diameter than the other bundles of hairs or bristles in the stock.

Moreover, the spacing of the bundles of hairs or bristles surrounding the drainage channel is preferably at least 0.3 mm and more preferably more than 0.5 mm.

It is also desirable for the external surface of the handle to be formed with rib-like reinforcements or groove-like indentations running substantially normal to or at an acute angle to the handle axis. Preferably the hollow shell of the brush head may be of integral construction with the brush handle containing the cavity.

Moreover, the end of the brush handle may also be provided with a threaded plug or like closure to permit the brush head to be detached for cleaning the internal cavity.

Finally, it is preferred that the peripheral bristles should be spaced radially away from the extreme edge of the rim a distance of at least 8 mm and preferably more than 10 mum.

In order to enable the invention to be more readily understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate diagrammatically and by way of example an embodiment thereof, and in which: Figure 1 is a sectional side view of a paint or like brush, and Figure 2 is a sectional plan view of the brush shown in Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a brush for applying paint, distemper or other coating agent. Figure 1 shows the brush has a drainage channel 1 which leads to a cavity 3 inside the handle 2, and which widens like a funnel towards the handle. The entry opening into the drainage channel 1 is at or near the bottom of a concave dished surface of the brush head carrying the hairs or bristles, bundles 5 of which are secured in an inside stock 4b of the brush head 4 which is formed peripherally with an outwardly splayed rim 4c.

The brush head consists of an inside stock 4b which has the concave dished surface and a hollow shell 4a surrounding the stock like a jacket, the shell and stock being of matching configuration. The shell 4a terminates in an outwardly splayed rim 4c which peripherally surrounds the brush head 4 and is formed integrally with the shell 4a. The rim 4c surrounds the hairs annularly like a ruff or collar, and tapers towards its edge where it is thinner than the remainder of the hollow shell.

With reference to Figure 2 it will be seen that the bundles 5 of hairs or bristles are fixed in the stock to surround the drainage channel 1 in concentric or substantially concentric rings, the spacing of the bundles of hairs or bristles in consecutive concentric rings decreasing from ring to ring radially outwards. The distance on the stock between neighbouring bundles of hairs or bristles in the rings surrounding the drainage channel should be at least 0.3 mm, and should preferably exceed 0.5 mm.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A brush for the application of liquid materials wherein the brush comprises a handle containing a cavity, and a brush head carrying the bristles or hairs and having a dished surface from which the bristles or hairs extend, and wherein the brush head has a channel for draining superfluous liquid into the cavity in the handle when the brush is held upright, the drainage channel widening towards the cavity and an entry to the channel being located at the bottom or substantially at the bottom of said dished surface, the brush head having an outwardly splayed rim.

2. A brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bristles or hairs are associated in bundles and secured in the brush head in relatively spaced disposition to enable liquid to run down the dished surface to the entry opening of the drainage channel, when the brush is held upright, the narrowest point or throat of the channel having a diameter exceeding 3mm.

3. A brush as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the brush head consists of a stock carrying the bristles or hairs and having said dished surface, and of a hollow outer shell which surrounds the stock like a jacket and terminates in said outwardly splayed rim, the shell and stock of the brush head being of matching configuration.

4. A brush as claimed in claim 3, wherein the bristles or hairs are combined in bundles and secured in the stock in concentric or substantially concentric circles surrounding the drainage channel.

5. A brush as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the narrowest portion or throat of the drainage channel has a diameter exceeding 5 mm and less than 20 mm.

6. A brush as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the narrowest portion or throat of the drainage channel has a diameter of from 8 to 15 mm.

7. A brush as claimed in claim 3 or any one of claims 4 to 6 when appended to claim 3, wherein the stock consists of an expanded plastics material and the hollow shell of the brush head of a non-expanded plastics material.

8. A brush as claimed in claim 3 or any one of claims 4 to 7 when appended to claim 3, wherein the outwardly splayed rim of the brush head is integrally formed with the hollow shell of the brush head, and wherein the cross-section of the hollow shell tapers radially towards the rim like a collar or ruff so that said edge is thinner than the material of the remainder of the hollow shell.

9. A brush as claimed in claim 3 or any one of claims 4 to 8 when appended to claim 3, wherein the stock consists of an expanded thermoplastic synthetic material containing fillers.

10. A brush as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the drainage channel is located in the middle or substantially in the middle of the stock.

11. A brush as claimed in any one of

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. preferably more than 0.5 mm. It is also desirable for the external surface of the handle to be formed with rib-like reinforcements or groove-like indentations running substantially normal to or at an acute angle to the handle axis. Preferably the hollow shell of the brush head may be of integral construction with the brush handle containing the cavity. Moreover, the end of the brush handle may also be provided with a threaded plug or like closure to permit the brush head to be detached for cleaning the internal cavity. Finally, it is preferred that the peripheral bristles should be spaced radially away from the extreme edge of the rim a distance of at least 8 mm and preferably more than 10 mum. In order to enable the invention to be more readily understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate diagrammatically and by way of example an embodiment thereof, and in which: Figure 1 is a sectional side view of a paint or like brush, and Figure 2 is a sectional plan view of the brush shown in Figure 1. Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a brush for applying paint, distemper or other coating agent. Figure 1 shows the brush has a drainage channel 1 which leads to a cavity 3 inside the handle 2, and which widens like a funnel towards the handle. The entry opening into the drainage channel 1 is at or near the bottom of a concave dished surface of the brush head carrying the hairs or bristles, bundles 5 of which are secured in an inside stock 4b of the brush head 4 which is formed peripherally with an outwardly splayed rim 4c. The brush head consists of an inside stock 4b which has the concave dished surface and a hollow shell 4a surrounding the stock like a jacket, the shell and stock being of matching configuration. The shell 4a terminates in an outwardly splayed rim 4c which peripherally surrounds the brush head 4 and is formed integrally with the shell 4a. The rim 4c surrounds the hairs annularly like a ruff or collar, and tapers towards its edge where it is thinner than the remainder of the hollow shell. With reference to Figure 2 it will be seen that the bundles 5 of hairs or bristles are fixed in the stock to surround the drainage channel 1 in concentric or substantially concentric rings, the spacing of the bundles of hairs or bristles in consecutive concentric rings decreasing from ring to ring radially outwards. The distance on the stock between neighbouring bundles of hairs or bristles in the rings surrounding the drainage channel should be at least 0.3 mm, and should preferably exceed 0.5 mm. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A brush for the application of liquid materials wherein the brush comprises a handle containing a cavity, and a brush head carrying the bristles or hairs and having a dished surface from which the bristles or hairs extend, and wherein the brush head has a channel for draining superfluous liquid into the cavity in the handle when the brush is held upright, the drainage channel widening towards the cavity and an entry to the channel being located at the bottom or substantially at the bottom of said dished surface, the brush head having an outwardly splayed rim.

11. A brush as claimed in any one of

claims 1 to 10, wherein the bundles of bristles or hairs concentrically or substantially concentrically directly surrounding the drainage channel have a smaller diameter than the other bundles of hairs or bristles.

12. A brush as claimed in claim 11, wherein the spacing of the bundles of bristles or hairs disposed in concentric or substantially concentric rings lessens with increasing distance of the rings from the drainage channel.

13. A brush as claimed in claim 11 or 12, wherein the spacing of the bundles of bristles or hairs surrounding the drainage channel is at least 0.3 mm.

14. A brush as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the spacing of the bundles of bristles or hairs surrounding the drainage channel is more than 0.5 mm.

15. A brush as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the external surface of the handle is formed with reinforcing ribs or groove-like indentations running substantially normal to or at an acute angle to the handle axis.

16. A brush for the application of liquid materials substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.