GB2495476A

GB2495476A - Hairbrush with hollow bristles

Info

Publication number: GB2495476A
Application number: GB1117021.4A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul John Gwilt
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-10-04
Filing date: 2011-10-04
Publication date: 2013-04-17
Also published as: GB201117021D0

Abstract

A hairbrush, suitable for personal or salon use, has bristles which are hollow to allow liquid to flow out of them onto the hair of the user. The brush may also have a replaceable container of hair treatment control product which is fitted into the handle of the brush. The product is delivered to the hair by means of a manual pumping system, controlled by a depressible button in the brush handle. The brush may also have a cover which protects and seals the bristles during transit.

Description

AN APPLICATOR FOR HAIR CARE PRODUCTS

The present invention is a hair grooming aid which is a hair brush applicator for flowable hair care products, which is equipped with a cartridge dispenser charged with grooming substances such as hair conditioner or styling gel. The brush and the dispenser are self contained and form one convenient and

portable device.

Hair grooming is a task which is undertaken by a large proportion of the population, male and female alike. Most grooming tasks are undertaken in the home and in these circumstances there is no problem with having all of the requisite accessories and chemical solutions such as mousse and gel easily to hand. There are numerous products already on the masicet to assist with such tasks when undertake in the home including hair chemical dispensers and brushes.

The problem to be solved is that It is becoming more important today, for many different people, to maintain Carefully groomed hair when one!s somewhere other than ones own home. In these circumstances it s not always easily possible to carry the requisite accessories around. it would be necessary to have a separate brush and a container of hair gel or motrsse which is not always convenient.

Solutions to this problem can be found in the art and two examples of this art are given below.

US 6 071 029 Is a gel dispensing hair brush which has hollow bristles through which gel can be caused to flow and in which gel is stored in a bellows type storage device contained within the body of the hair brush. This storage device has to be re-charged from time to me and a complex dispensing system is required to physically compress the bellows by rotating a thumb wheel.

us 5 975 089 Is similar to the above patent in that gel is dispensed through hollow bristles from a container in the main body of the hairbrush. There are some wide and some narrow bristles and in this case the dispensing holes.

which are fomied in the wide bristles are formed in the skies of these bristles at varying heights. Gel is dispensed from a chamber by squeezing the handle portion which assists in propelling the flowable hair care product through the bristles.

The disadvantages of these examples of the att of hair care disper,sers is that they both have an internal reservoir and consequently require to be aquipped wh a pressunzanon system for the gel The arrangements in both of tase examples of the art also bring a cleaning rd matntenapr problem in that the reseoir can get clogged and require maintenance It is a tltst object of the present invention to overcome the described maintenance problem and it is a second object of the present invention to Increase the portability of the hairbrush by providing a cover system which also seals the ends of the bristles. When the said transit cover is placed over the end of the brush it is both covering and sealing the bristles According to a first aspect of the invention there is provkjed a hair brush applicator for hair care products which is equipped with a flow system controfleji by a press button which releases flowable hair care products to a series of hollow dispensing bristles charactenseej by, the provision of a bristle cover which in use slides over the bristles sealing the ends of the bristles at the same time According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a hair brush applicator for hair care products as described in the first aspect which is equipped with a cartridge which contains the said flowable hair care product which cartridge is diiposable and replaced by a new cartridge when empty.

The invention will now be more particularty described with reference to the drawings in which: Figure 1 Es an illustration of the brush showing the main body with end cap the release button and the bristles mounted on their feed tube Fiqure 2 Is an outline of the brush with the bristle cover in place over the bristles, Referring now to figure 1 the brush is shown in full outline. The bristles 1, are attached to a feed tube 5, which is fed by flowable hair care product from a cartridge contained within the handle part 2. The fluid is released by button 4.

At the end of the handle 2 there is an end cap 3 which clips on to the end of the handle and retains a cartridge within the handle.

Referring now to figure 2 The hair brush is shown with the cover 6 in place over the bristles. There may be provided a letaining ring 7 or other means of ensuring that the cover does not slide back and expose the bristles when the brush is not in use.

It will be noted that though not shown in the illustrations the cover is so designed that when it is in place it seals the end of the bristles to prevent unwanted discharge of fluid whilst the hair brush is being transported.

The mechanics of the dispensing system is not shown since no novelty is claimed for the method of achieving flow of chemical. This flow relies on existing known art and can either be a pressurised system relying on gas pressure in the cartridge or it can be a mechanical pump system operated by the action of pressing the button 4, Or it can be a gravity flow system. All of these methods of dispensing a fluid are well known.

The cartridge would be a sealed unit which is pierced by a device in the body of the brush when the cartridge is inserted. This system is well known in the art and is therefore also not desthbed here as no novelty is claimed for the method of sealing and breaking the seal on the cartñdge.

The Transit cover (fig 6) acts as a protector for the bristles (fig 1) Whilst the brush is not in use the transit cover (fig 6) which has built in indentations (fig 8) to help secure the bristles into place safely and securely preventing any kind of damage to the bristles or brush itself The bristles (fig 1) slot into the indentation columns (figS) to fully close and prevent any damage to the bristles thus enabling the device to be used again The indentations act as a back up to the columns for aided security The following process allows the applicator to be used again without any problems in the future i.e clogging up the reservoir or unwanted discharge of the fluid The flexibility in the bristles allow motion whilst in transit without any disturbance

Claims

<claim-text>CLAIMS</claim-text> <claim-text>2. A Hairbrush with hollow bristles to allow liquid to flow into them and out onto the hair
2. A Hairbrush with a space in the handle for the insertion of a proprietary hair control product
3. A Hairbrush with a manually controlled pumping system to deliver product from a proprietary can onto the hair
4. Bristles with apertures in the sides to aHow product to flow onto the hair
5. A stylish transit cover for the brush which is designed to cover and to protect bristles
6. Innovative indentations built on the inside of transit cover to secure bristles into place</claim-text>