GB2501142A

GB2501142A - Hair styling brush

Info

Publication number: GB2501142A
Application number: GB201219833A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Lisa Marie Parsons
Original assignee: LISA MARIE PARSON
Current assignee: LISA MARIE PARSON
Priority date: 2012-04-11
Filing date: 2012-11-05
Publication date: 2013-10-16
Anticipated expiration: 2032-11-05
Also published as: GB201219833D0; GB2501142B; GB201206406D0

Abstract

A hairbrush, suitable for styling the hair, has a handle 1 a large barrel base 3 and a small barrel base 6. A small hair brush element 8 is attached permanently to and extends axially from the small barrel base 6. A medium diameter hair brush element 9 can be secured to the small barrel base 6 by means of a bayonet type fitting, and envelops the small brush element 8. Similarly a large diameter brush element 10 can be attached via a bayonet fitting to the large barrel base 3. Each hair brush element has at least one different characteristic, such as diameter, bristle type, density or length. The various brush elements would be used individually, but may be coupled to the handle 1 simultaneously for compact storage, nesting one within another.

Description

A HAIRBRUSH

Technical Field

[001] The field of the invention relates to hairbrushes.

Prior Art

[002] Conventional hairbrushes comprise a handle supporting a single brush head. A brush head comprises a barrel from which bristles project. The size of the barrel and nature of the bristles adapts the brush for particular hair styling duties. For example nylon bristles provide for grip while a boar bristle is better suited for smoothing. The size of the barrel dictates the styling that can be achieved with the brush e.g. a small barrel is more suitable for short hair or shod layers, whereas a large barrel is more suited to longer hair and longer layers. A hairstylist is therefore inconvenienced by the need to carry store and maintain a range of different brush types. The present invention aims to alleviate the technical problem described above.

Statement of Invention

[003] Accordingly the present invention provides a hair brush comprising a handle with a handle coupling component and; at least a first brush head having a first characteristic and a second brush head having a second characteristic different from any characteristic of the first brush head, and each brush head having a head coupling component whereby each head can be simultaneously compactly attached to the handle and readily deployed for use.

[004] The first brush head may be permanently coupled to the handle or may be exchangeably attached to the handle by means of a first handle coupling component and a first brush head coupling component. The first brush head will have a cross section small relative to the second brush head. Preferably the second brush head has a hollow barrel and a second brush head coupling component whereby the second brush head can be attached to a second handle coupling component so that the second brush head at lest partially encompasses the first brush head. To use the first brush head the second brush head is detached from the handle via the coupling component to expose the first brush

I

head. Conversely to use the second brush head the second brush head is attached to the second handle coupling component.

[005] Each coupling component may be provided by a bayonet type coupling.

However it is envisaged that the coupling may be any of a screw thread, a cam lock, a press fitting interengaging pin and hole arrangements or any other coupling which enables the second brush head to be quickly and reliably attached to and detached from the handle. A trigger or button may be incorporated into the handle actuable to facilitate coupling or decoupling of the second brush head.

[006] Conveniently the second brush head may have a tubular barrel which is preferably cylindrical but may be oval, elliptical or of another asymmetric or irregular section. In a preferred form of the invention the bristles project radially from a longitudinal axis of the barrel.

[007] At least where the barrel is cylindrical the handle coupling may be provided by an annular shoulder on the end of the handle. The brush head coupling may be provided by a complementary socket formed in the brush head into which the shoulder is received.

[008] In a preferred embodiment of the invention a third brush head may be provided.

The third brush head is provided with a third brush head coupling which cooperates with a third handle coupling so that the third brush head envelops the second and/or first brush head when mounted onto the handle for use or storage.

The third brush head may have a similar or differently shaped cross section to the first and second brush heads and may incorporate bristles of similar or different type and pattern to the first and or second brush head. The cross section of the the barrel of the third brush head will necessarily be greater than that of the first and second brush heads.

[009] The hair brush of the present invention is advantageous in effecting a space and weight reduction for storage and travel by comparison with that required for two or three conventional brushes with similar characteristics. There is also a reduction in the use of materials because only 1 handle is required.

Brief Description Of The Drawings

[010] A hair brush constructed in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a front elevation of the brush with medium and large diameter brush elements detached; Figure 2 shows a SW perspective view of the brush as configured in Fig 1; Figure 3 shows a SW perspective view of the brush with a medium sized brush element attached for use; Figure 4 shows a SW perspective view of the brush with a large brush element attached for use; and Figure 5 shows a SW perspective view of the brush with medium and large brush elements attached and cutaway on the line A-A in figure 4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged perspective cutaway view of the latch in figure 5.

Detailed Description of the Drawings

[011] The figures show a brush having an elongate substantially tubular handle part 1 which is preferably formed from moulded plastics material. The handle part 1 supports a trigger 2 the construction and function of which will be described in greater detail later. As can be seen the handle 1 is deformed from a simple cylindrical shape by a radial enlargement between the bottom 1 a of the handle and the top of the handle lb to improve the handle ergonomics.

[012] The top of the handle is expanded radially to form a large diameter barrel base 3.

The barrel base 3 is formed of a disc shaped base part 3a extending radially from the axis of the handle 1 and a tubular wall part 3b extending longitudinally up from the rim of the base part 3a. Four "L" shaped equi-angularly spaced locking slots 4 are cut through the upstanding tubular wall so that a first leg 4a of each slot extends circumferentially from one blind end to communicate with a second leg 4b of the slot extending in the axial direction to open through the upper rim 4c of the tubular wall remote from the base pad 3a.

[013] As may best be seen in figure 5 the chamber 1 c formed within the tubular handle 1 houses an elongate rigid strut 1 e extending axially from the bottom 1 a to the top of the handle 1. The strut extends up through the base part 3a to support a radially extending disc panel 5a supporting a spring release bayonet latch 5.

[014] The strut le also supports a small diameter barrel base 6 disposed axially remote from the large barrel base 3. The small barrel base 6 has a diameter less than that of the large barrel base 3 and provides axially extending wall parts 6a in which are formed four equi-angularly spaced "L" shaped slots 6b. Each slot 6b has an axially extending portion 6c opening through the uppermost rim of the small barrel base 6 and extending to communicate with a circumferentially extending part 6d which blind ends remote from the axially extending part.

[015] The strut le also supports a small diameter elongate tubular brush element 7.

The brush element 7 is permanently fastened to the strut le. For the sake of clarity the small brush element 7 is drawn without showing the bristles which [016] At the discretion of the stylist the hair brush can be used as illustrated in figures 1 and 2 using the small brush 7. However the hair brush includes a medium sized brush element as shown in figure 3 and figure 5. The medium sized brush element comprises a tubular barrel 9 in which is formed an array of holes 9a. In practice each hole would be occupied by a bristle extending radially but for the sake of clarity these have been omitted from the drawings. The internal radius of the medium sized barrel 9 is such as to space the inner surface of the medium barrel 9 from the small brush element 7 when the medium barrel 9 is located onto the small diameter barrel base 6. The resulting annular space accommodates the bristles of the small diameter brush element 7. The medium sized brush element is retained by means of four pins (not shown) which project radially inwards from an annulus near the base end of the medium sized barrel 9. Each pin is received into a corresponding one of the slots 6 by the sequence of an axial and radial displacement of the medium sized barrel 9.

[017] Figure 3 shows a cam pin 5b projecting radially out from the base of the medium sized barrel 9. As the medium sized barrel 9 is engaged with the slots 6 the cam pin Sb rotates clockwise to bear against a ramp Sc formed on spring release bayonet latch 5. The bayonet latch 5 is supported on (and forms part of) the floating disc panel 5a which is urged axially towards the position shown by a compression spring Sd. As the cam pin Sb bears against the ramp Sc the spring release bayonet assembly S is depressed in opposition to the spring force allowing the cam pin 5b to ride over it. The bayonet latch 5 then recovers to the position shown in figures 2 and 3 which resists the counter rotation of the barrel 9. It can be seen that the pin 5b also presents a ramp Se arranged to bear against the bayonet latch 5. When the stylist desires to remove the medium sized brush the barrel 9 is rotated in a removing, clockwise direction. The action of the ramp Se bearing on the latch 5 will overcome the spring force and depress the latch 5. Therefore by rotating the barrel 9 counter clockwise and displacement axially the brush barrel 9 can readily be removed.

[018] To ensure that the medium brush barrel 9 is not inadvertently removed during use the trigger 2 is arranged to displace a rigid elongate prop 2a when displaced radially as shown in figure 6. The displacement upsets a bistable spring 2b from the stable condition shown in figureS to the stable condition shown in figure 6 where the prop is urged against the underside of the floating disc panel 5a thereby preventing the disc and the latch 5 from retracting under the influence of the ramp Se. In this locked condition the medium sized brush barrel cannot rotate counter clockwise. The trigger 2 can be readily displaced back to the release condition by the application of a torque to projection 2c, for example, by thumb pressure.

[019] The medium brush barrel 9 includes slots 10 extending through the barrel wall to provide for airflow.

[020] The brush includes a large diameter brush element generally similar to the medium diameter brush so that only the notable differences will be described hereafter. The large diameter brush element has a barrel 12 with a sufficiently large internal diameter to form a chamber in which the medium sized barrel and brushes can be entirely accommodated. Holes 9a and slots 10 are provided in the barrel for airflow. A cap 11 closes the top of the large barrel. The large barrel 12 is secured to the barrel base 3 by means of four pins (not shown) which project radially inwardly from the barrel wall and are received one each in each of slots 4. The large barrel also has a large barrel cam pin (not shown) similar to that provided on the medium sized barrel but projecting radially inwards from the inner barrel wall to be engageable with the latch 5. To prevent the medium barrel cam pin Se from fouling the large barrel cam pin each cam pin is sized radially to prevent mutual contact while partially overlapping the latch 5.

Claims

Claims 1. A hair brush comprising: a handle part, a brush element coupling part and at least a first and a second brush element, each brush element having different brush characteristics and each formed with a coupling to enable the brush element to be coupled to the handle part for use.
2. A hair brush according to claim 1 wherein each of the brush elements can be coupled simultaneously to the handle for compact storage.
3. A hair brush according to claim 2 wherein the first brush element has a small cross section relative to the second brush element and the second brush element has a recess or chamber in which the first brush element is received when the second brush element is coupled to the handle part.
4. A hair brush according to clairri 3 wherein the second brush element is tubular.
5. A hair brush according to claim 4 wherein the second brush element is cylindrical.
6. A hair brush according to any one of the preceding claims including at least a third brush element.
7. A hair brush according to claim 6 wherein the third brush element includes a recess or chamber wherein the first and second brush elements are received when the third brush element is coupled to the handle.
8. A hair brush according to claim 7 wherein the third brush element is tubular.
9. A hair brush according to claim 8 wherein the third brush element is cylindrical.
10. A hair brush according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the coupling is provided by a bayonet fitting.
11. A hair brush according to claim 10 wherein a latch mechanism controlled by a trigger is arranged to prevent the bayonet fitting uncoupling unintentionally.
12. A hair brush as herein described with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings.Amendments to claims have been filed as follows Claims 1. A hair brush comprising: a handle part, a brush head coupling part and at least a first and a second brush head, each brush head having different brush characteristics and each formed with a coupling to enable the brush head to be coupled to the handle part for use wherein each of the brush heads can be coupled simultaneously to the handle for compact storage.2. A hair brush according to claim 1 wherein the first brush head has a small cross section relative to the second brush head and the second brush head has a recess or chamber in which the first brush head is received when the second brush head is coupled to the handle part. C')3. A hair brush according to claim 2 wherein the second brush head is C) tubular.4. A hair brush according to claim 3 wherein the second brush head is (\J cylindrical.5. A hair brush according to any one of the preceding claims including at least a third brush head.6. A hair brush according to claim 5 wherein the third brush head includes a recess or chamber wherein the first and second brush heads are received when the third brush head is coupled to the handle.7. A hair brush according to claim 6 wherein the third brush head is tubular.8. A hair brush according to claim 7 wherein the third brush head is cylindrical.9. A hair brush according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the coupling is provided by a bayonet fitting.10. A hair brush according to claim 9 wherein a latch mechanism controlled by a trigger is arranged to prevent the bayonet fitting uncoupling unintentionally.11. A hair brush as herein described with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings. C') Co (0