GB2063064A - Improvements relating to scrubbing brushes - Google Patents

Abstract

A scrubbing brush including a substantially cylindrical portion (4) having bristles (12) or a cleaning pad projecting radially within said cylindrical portion, the size of said cylindrical portion and the bristles or cleaning pad being such as to allow the insertion of a finger within the cylindrical portion in contact with the bristles or pad. The brush may additionally include external bristles (8) or a cleaning pad for brushing other areas of skin and a nail brushing device (10). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements relating to scrubbing brushes This invention relates to scrubbing brushes and in particular to scrubbing brushes suitable for cleaning hands.

Conventional scrubbing brushes for cleaning hands usually comprise a simple block of wood or plastic material with bristles extending at right angles from one face for scrubbing large areas of skin. A simple nail brushing device may be included on the opposite face comprising bristles extending at an acute angle to the face for cleaning underneath the nails.

It is an object of the invention to provide an alternative form of scrubbing brush suitable for cleaning fingers.

Therefore according to the invention there is provided a scrubbing brush including a substantially cylindrical portion having bristles or a cleaning pad projecting radially within said cylindrical portion, and the bristles or the cleaning pad being such as to allow the insertion of a finger within the cylindrical portion in contact with the bristles or pad.

The term scrubbing brush is used generically herein to refer to cleaning implements in which the cleaning surface is formed of bristles or a cleaning pad, e.g. sponge.

The scrubbing brush of the invention is based upon the observation that the finger print lines, which are the dirt traps, tend to run at right angles to the longitudinal axis of a finger for at least the major length of the finger. Thus, a logical brushing action to remove dirt from the finger print lines would be movement of the bristles or cleaning pad of a brush along the finger print lines, in an analogous manner to a record stylus in the groove of a gramaphone record. The brush of the invention preferably has bristles extending radially from the inner surface of a cylinder and therefore a finger may be inserted in the brush and the brush rotated in order to achieve the optimum brushing action for cleansing the finger.

In a second embodiment the bristles may be replaced by a cleaning pad extending round the inner surface of the cylindrical portion, e.g. of sponge. The cleaning pad may be in the form of a cylinder or may be a planar pad which as been bent and secured to the interior of the cylindrical portion.

Suitable materials for use as a cleaning pad include flannel and sponge. Suitable sponge may be made of synthetic polymeric material, e.g. polyurethane.

At least a portion of the outer surface of the scrubbing brush of the invention may be conveniently provided with bristles or a cleaning pad projecting radially outwardly in order to provide a brush pad for cleaning larger areas of skin. A nail brushing device may also be included on the exterior surface of the brush.

In one embodiment of the invention the casing of the scrubbing brush comprises a bent cylinder slightly longer at one end than the other, the longer end having bristles or a cleaning pad projecting radially within the cylinder and the short end having bristles projecting radially outwardly and may include a nail brushing device. The outside otthe longer cylindrical portion may be used as the handle of the brush. It has been found that an angle of 165 to 170 between the two cylindrical portions is desirable in the interests of comfort and convenience for the use and to improve the scrubbing action when using the external bristles. The casing may conveniently be made of plastics material, e.g. by injection moulding. The bristles may be attached to the casing by any suitable means.For example, the casing of the brush may include female dove-tails within the longer end of the cylinder and on the exterior surface of the shorter end of the cylinder for attachment of the bristles. The bristles may be mounted within a male dove-tail strip which slideably engages within the female dove-tails of the casing. Alternatively the bristles may be inserted into a planar sheet of material which is thereafter bent and secured to the interiororexteriorofthe casing. Afurther method of attachment of the bristles consists of providing holes in the casing of the brush into which the clumps of bristles are inserted.

The bristles may be made of any conventional natural or synthetic material. Preferably, the bristles comprise synthetic material, e.g. nylon, and the individual bristles have an angular cross-section, e.g.

square or diamond, in order to ensure efficient cleansing, the cross-sectional apexes of these angular bristles being a more efficient shape to track the minute valleys of the finger print lines. The bristles projecting radially within the brush may have different lengths to provide an undulating formation so that the brushing action is effective for different sized fingers. Similarly, the cleaning pad may be shaped to provide an undulating surface.

The invention will now be illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 represents an isometric view of a brush in accordance with the invention, Figure 2 represents an exploded end view of the brush of Figure 1, and Figure 3 represents the attachment of a set of bristles to the exterior of the casing.

The brush shown in the drawings comprises a cylindrical casing 2 of plastics material having a iong end 4 and a short end 6. The short end is provided with a series of radially outwardly extending bristles 8 for cleaning large areas of the skin and a nail brushing device 10 comprising bristles extending substantially tangential to the outer casing.

Within the longer end of the cylindrical casing is provided a series of radially inwardly extending bristles 12, one set of which is shown in the exploded view of Figure 2. The bristles 12 shown in Figure 2 are mounted in the male portion 14 of a dove-tail and are slideably disposed within the female portion 16 of a dove-tail moulded in the inner surface of the casing. The bristles 12 may be of different lengths so as to provide an undulating contour marked by the dotted line 18 in orderto provide efficient cleansing action for fingers of different sizes. The sets of bristles 12 may be arranged so that the longer bristles of one set and the shorter bristles of an adjacent set of bristles alternate.

Figure 3 illustrates a method of attaching the external bristles 8 mounted in a male dove-tail strip 14 which is inserted in a female dove-tail 16 provided on the exterior of the casing.

Claims (12)

1. A scrubbing brush including a substantially cylindrical portion having bristles or a cleaning pad projecting radially within said cylindrical portion, the size of said cylindrical portion and the bristles or cleaning pad being such as to allow the insertion of a finger within the cylindrical portion in contact with the bristles or pad.

2. A scrubbing brush as claimed in Claim 1 which additionally comprises bristles or a cleaning pad projecting radially outwardly from the exterior surface of the brush.

3. A scrubbing brush as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 which additionally comprises a nail scrubbing device formed by bristles projecting substantially tangentially from the exterior surface of the brush.

4. A scrubbing brush as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3 which comprises a casing formed from two substantially cylindrical portions making an angle of 165 to 170". one of said cylindrical portions containing bristles or a cleaning pad projecting radially therein and the other of said cylindrical portions hav ing bristles or a cleaning pad on the exterior surface thereof.

5. Ascrubbing brush as claimed in any preceding claim in which the bristles or cleaning pad within the cylindrical portion are arranged to provide an undulating cleaning surface.

6. A scrubbing brush as claimed in any preceding claim in which bristles are mounted in a male dovetail strip and located within a female dove-tail slot in the scrubbing brush.

7. Ascrubbing brush as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5 in which bristles are mounted in holes within the casing of the scrubbing brush.

8. A scrubbing brush as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5 in which bristles are mounted in a planar sheet of material which is shaped and secured to an exterior or interior surface of the casing of the brush.

9. A scrubbing brush as claimed in any preceding claim in which the bristles are made of nylon.

10. A scrubbing brush as claimed in any preceding claim in which a cleaning pad comprising a sponge is located within the cylindrical portion.

11. A scrubbing brush as claimed in Claim 10 in which the sponge is polyurethane.

12. Ascrubbing brush substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.