US20090211047A1

US20090211047A1 - Brush structure and a bristle structure thereof providing a highly effective cleaning ability

Info

Publication number: US20090211047A1
Application number: US12/176,463
Authority: US
Inventors: Han-Ming Chen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: National Taiwan University NTU
Priority date: 2008-02-22
Filing date: 2008-07-21
Publication date: 2009-08-27
Also published as: TWI342192B; TW200936075A

Abstract

A brush structure and a bristle structure thereof are disclosed. The brush structure comprises a brush body and a bristle structure. The bristle structure is set up on the brush body and includes a plurality of bristles. Each bristle has a cleaning structure set up at the free end of the bristle. The cleaning structure comprises a plurality of cleaning units. Each cleaning unit has a near end and a far end relative to the position of the brush body, and the diameter of the near end is larger than the diameter of the far end. A circular fillister is formed between each two neighboring cleaning units. Hence, the bristle structure is able to scrape and take away the crud from the surface of a cleaned object easily. It is also easy to wash the jammed crud out of the circular fillisters. Moreover, the average cross-section area of the cleaning units is smaller than that of the other part of the bristle, and thereby the free end of the bristle is soft and not easily harm the surface of the cleaned object.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a brush structure and a bristle structure thereof, and more particularly, to the brush structure and the bristle structure thereof providing a highly effective cleaning ability.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

There are many different types of brushes in the present market, most of the brushes are specified by their cleaning ability, the cleaning ability is distinguished by the structure of the bristles, and hence some of the countries have revealed related patents, for example, the following patents of the Republic of China (Taiwan): 269780, 272398, 312615, 319683, 344657, 374701, 388708, 414035, 430550, 440439, 1230044 and M281505, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,167,794, 4,317,463, 4,471,505, 5,678,275, 5,926,897, 5,987,691, 6,138,314, 6,276,021, 6,643,886, 6,851,153, 6,886,207, D483,950 and D487,350 . . . etc.
In the prior art, the U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,275, “Toothbrush with bristles having intermediate roughened portion”, discloses a slightly similar structure as the invention described here. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,275 reveals a kind of the structure of the toothbrush which is consisted of a plurality of bristles and each of the bristles is consisted of a stabilizing post which is rigidly attached to the head portion, a plurality of roughened portions on the post, and a smooth tip at the free end of the post. The roughened portions are evenly placed on the stabilizing post and each roughened portion consists of a plurality of grooves. In general the free ends of the bristles are where get touched with the cleaned objects, and thereby the free ends of the bristles should have a strong cleaning ability. In the U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,275, the free end of each bristle is a short cylinder with a smooth tip; hence this structure does not provide an obvious cleaning ability.
In addition strong scraping boards are required to clean the crud, the scraping boards in the structure of the bristles provided by the U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,275 are thin and weak, and thereby the cleaning ability of the bristles is not strong. Furthermore some small pieces of crud will be stuck in the fillisters because the fillisters of the bristles are very narrow and deep, and thereof the crud stuck in the fillisters is very difficult to be cleaned or washed away.
The complicated structure of the roughened portions of the bristles of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,275 has a high cost. The main objective of the present invention is to provide a brush structure and a bristle structure thereof having a highly effective cleaning ability and a low cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a brush structure and a bristle structure thereof to scrape and take away the crud from the surface of the cleaned object with a highly effective cleaning ability.
One of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a brush structure and a bristle structure thereof to clean or wash away the crud jammed on the bristles easily.
One of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a brush structure and a bristle structure which can't easily harm the surface of the cleaned object.
The present invention provides a brush structure and a bristle structure thereof with highly effective cleaning ability. The brush structure includes a brush body and a bristle structure. The bristle structure is set up on the brush body and includes a plurality of bristles. Each bristle has a cleaning structure set up at the free end of the bristle. The cleaning structure includes a plurality of cleaning units. Each cleaning unit has a near end and a far end relative to the position of the brush body, and the diameter of the near end is larger than the diameter of the far end.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present invention. In the drawings,

FIG. 1A is a structure diagram illustrating the brush structure of one of the preferable embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating the bristle structure of the brush structure of one of the preferable embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the bristle structure of the brush structure of another preferable embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the cleaning unit of one of the preferable embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the cleaning unit of another preferable embodiment of the present invention.

FIG.5, FIG.7 and FIG.8 are diagrams illustrating the cleaning unit of other preferable embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are illustrating the brush structure and the bristle structure of one of the preferable embodiments of the present invention. The present invention discloses a brush structure and a bristle structure thereof with a highly effective cleaning ability. The brush structure 1 comprises a brush body 10 and a bristle structure 12, and the bristle structure 12 is set up on the brush body 10. The bristle structure12 comprises a plurality of bristles 121, and each bristle 121 has a cleaning structure 123 which is set up at the free end of the bristle 121. On the bristle 121, the free end is on the opposite side to the brush body 10. Each cleaning structure 123 comprises a plurality of cleaning units 1231. Each cleaning unit 1231 has a near end 12311 and a far end 12313 relative to the position of the brush body 10. The diameter of the near end 12311 is larger than the diameter of the far end 12313. On each bristle 121, all the cleaning units 1231 are connected to form the cleaning structure 123. A circular fillister 1233 is formed between each two neighboring cleaning units 1231. Owing to several circular fillisters 1233 existing at the free end of each bristle 121, the brush structure 1 is able to scrape the crud from the surface of the cleaned object and take away the crud easily, and therefore the brush structure 1 of the present invention has a highly effective cleaning ability. Because the circular fillisters 1233 are wide and open, it is easy to wash away the crud jammed in the circular fillisters 1233; this is another one of the characteristics of the present invention. Because all the cleaning units 1231 have a smaller average cross-section area than that of the other part of the bristle 121, the cleaning structure 123 on each bristle 121 is soft and thereby not easily harm the surface of the cleaned object.
FIG. 2 is illustrating the bristle structure of another preferable embodiment of the present invention. The present invention discloses a brush structure and a brittle structure thereof with a highly effective cleaning ability. The brush structure 1 (shown in FIG.1) comprises a brush body 10 and a bristle structure 12, and the bristle structure 12 is set on the brush body 10. The bristle structure 12 comprises a plurality of bristles 121, and each bristle 121 has a cleaning structure 123. The cleaning structure 123 is set up at the free end of the bristle 121. The cleaning structure 123 comprises a plurality of cleaning units 1231, each cleaning unit 1231 has a near end 12311 and a far end 12313 relative to the position of the brush body, and the diameter of the near end 12311 is larger than the diameter of the far end 12313. The difference between the cleaning units 1231 in this embodiment and that in FIG. 1B is that a smooth round 125 is set up on the convex edge of each cleaning unit 1231, and a smooth fillet 127 is set up on the concave edge of each circular fillister 1233 which is formed between each two neighbouring cleaning units 1231. Because of the smooth round 125 on the convex edge of each cleaning unit 1231, the brush structure 1 with the cleaning units 1231 shown in FIG. 2 of the prevent invention can prevent the edge of the cleaning units 1231 from harming the surface of the cleaned object. The smooth fillet 127 formed between each two neighboring cleaning units 1231 can prevent the crud from sticking in the circular fillister 1233, and hence makes the brush structure 1 easy to clean up.
FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are illustrating the cleaning units of another two preferable embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, each cleaning unit 1231 has a near end 12311 and a far end 12313 relative to the position of the brush body 10, and the diameter of the near end 12311 is larger than the diameter of the far end 12313. The lateral surfaces of the cleaning units 1231 in FIG. 1B, FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are revolved by straight line or line segments, but the lateral surfaces of the cleaning units 1231 in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are revolved by curves. The lateral surfaces of the cleaning units 1231 in FIG. 3 are convex, but the lateral surfaces of the cleaning units 1231 in FIG. 4 are concave, and thereby the cleaning units 1231 in FIG. 4 can store more crud than the cleaning units 1231 in FIG. 3. The cleaning units 1231 shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 can also be applied to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are illustrating diagrams of three other preferable embodiments of the present invention. Each of these cleaning units 1231 has a near end and a far end relative to the position of the brush body, and the diameter of the near end is larger than the diameter of the far end. The cleaning units 1231 in FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and
FIG. 7 are different to the cleaning unit 1231 in FIG. 1B because the cleaning units 1231 in FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are revolved by line segments, and can also be applied to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2.
The present invention provides a brush structure and a bristle structure thereof with highly effective cleaning ability. The characteristic of the present invention is in the bristle structure which includes a plurality of bristles. Each bristle has a cleaning structure set up at the free end of the bristle, and the free end is on the opposite side to the brush body. The cleaning structure includes a plurality of cleaning units. Each cleaning unit has a near end and a far end relative to the position of the brush body, and the diameter of the near end is larger than the diameter of the far end. A circular fillister is formed between each two neighboring cleaning units. Due to several circular fillisters being placed at the free end of each bristle, the brush structure is able to clean and take the crud away from the surface of the cleaned object easily. Because the circular fillisters are wide and open, it is also easy to wash away the crud jammed in the circular fillisters. The average cross-section area of the cleaning units is smaller than that of the other part of the bristle, so the free end of each bristle is soft and thereby not easily harm the surface of the cleaned object. The brush structure provided in the present invention can be applied to all types of brushes such as toothbrushes, cleaning brushes or any other type of brush.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention covers modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A brush structure comprising:

a brush body, and

a bristle structure, being set up on the brush body, the bristle structure including a plurality of bristles, each bristle having a cleaning structure set up at the free end of the bristle, the free end being on the opposite side to the brush body, the cleaning structure including a plurality of cleaning units, and a circular fillister formed between each two neighboring cleaning units.

2. The brush structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein each cleaning unit has a near end and a far end relative to the position of the brush body, and the diameter of the near end is larger than the diameter of the far end.

3. The brush structure as claimed in claim 1, further comprises smooth rounds set up on the convex edges of each cleaning unit.

4. The brush structure as claimed in claim 1, further comprises smooth fillets set up on the concave edges in each circular fillister.

5. A bristle structure comprising:

a plurality of bristles, each bristle having a cleaning structure set up at the free end of the bristle, the free end being on the opposite side to the brush body, the cleaning structure including a plurality of cleaning units, and a circular fillister formed between each two neighboring cleaning units.

6. The bristle structure as claimed in claim 5, wherein each cleaning unit has a near end and a far end relative to the position of the brush body, and the diameter of the near end is larger than the diameter of the far end.

7. The bristle structure as claimed in claim 5, further comprises smooth rounds set up on the convex edges of each cleaning unit.

8. The bristle structure as claimed in claim 5, further comprises smooth fillets set up on the concave edges in each circular fillister.