US3225377A

US3225377A - Brush and comb cleaning device

Info

Publication number: US3225377A
Application number: US231748A
Authority: US
Inventors: Winter Stanley; Alder Hubert
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1962-10-19
Filing date: 1962-10-19
Publication date: 1965-12-28
Anticipated expiration: 1982-12-28

Description

Dec. 28, 1965 5. WINTER ETAL BRUSH AND COMB CLEANING DEVICE Filed Oct. 19, 1962 II II IIHO f INVENTORS HUBERT ALDER AND BY STANLEY WINTER, WM, 9mm and iad'u United States Patent f 3 225 377 BRUSH AND Cori n; CLlii.Al iihI-G DEVICE Stanley Winter, 241 Ciarir Road, Cincinnati 15, Ghio, and Hubert Alder, 8007 Woodbine Ave, Cincinnati 16,

()hio Filed Oct. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 231,748 4 Claims. c1. 1s 311 The invention relates to a device for cleaning hair brushes and combs. While the device of the present invention is suitable for cleaning many types of brushes, combs and the like, for purposes of an exemplary showing it will be described with respect to the cleaning of hair brushes.

Professional hair dressing establishments have always been faced with the problem of removing hair and other foreign material from the brushes used each day. The usual method of cleaning these brushes is to run a stiff comb through them repeatedly by hand until the hair and foreign material has been removed. The brushes are then placed in a sterilizing cabinet. The brushes must be sufficiently clean to meet the requirements of state and Federal health officials. This method of cleaning, while thorough, is time consuming and expensive since the combs used for cleaning purposes must be frequently replaced. In a small business having only one or two beauty operators, the usual procedure is for the operator to remain after hours to clean the brushes used that day. In larger businesses having a staff of beauty operators, it is often necessary to hire a person or persons full time in order to clean the brushes being used.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a device which will substantially reduce the time and effort required to clean a large number of hair brushes.

It is an object of the invention to provide such a device which will cause little or no wear on the brushes themselves, and yet will clean them sufiiciently to meet health requirements.

It is an object of the present invention to provide such a device which is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to maintain.

It is an object of the invention to provide a hair brush cleaner which will substantially eliminate static electricity which so often renders hair brush cleaning extremely difiicult.

It is an object of the invention to provide such a cleaning device which will collect hair and foreign material for easy disposal.

These and other objects of the invention which will be set forth hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, are accomplished by that structure and arrangement of parts of which an exemplary embodiment will now be described. Reference is made to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device of the present invention showing the lid in a partially open position.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the device with the lid or cover member in raised position.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the device taken along the section line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, the cleaning device of the present invention is housed in a casing generally indicated at 1. This casing comprises side walls 2 and 3, a bottom 4, and a front plate 5. The casing 1 has a false bottom or platform 6, parallel to and in spaced relationship with the bottom 4. It will be noted that the front plate 5 extends downwardly to the platform 6. A drawer, generally indicated at 7, is slidably mounted in that space defined by the bottom 4, platform 6 and side members 2 and 3. The drawer 7 comprises a front wall 3, a bottom 9, and side walls one of which is shown at 10. The rear wall 11 of the drawer is made of foraminous material such as 3,225,377 Patented Dec. 28, 1965 wire screening or the like. The drawer may be withdrawn from the front of the casing 1 by means of the drawer pull 12.

The main chamber of the casing, generally indicated at 13, and defined by the platform 6, front plate 5 and side walls 2 and 3 is enclosed by a lid 14. The lid 14 has a horizontal portion 14a enclosing the top of the casing and a downwardly depending portion 14b enclosing the rear portion of the casing down to the platform 6. The lid 14- is hingedly attached to the front plate 5 as at 15, and access may be gained to the chamber 13 by raising the lid to its open position as shown in FIG. 3. Any suitable latch means may be employed to hold the lid in its closed position. For purposes of an exemplary showing, the downwardly depending lid portion 14b may be provided with notches 16, which cooperate with wing nuts 17 affixed to the rear edge of the platform 6.

The front wall 5 has a rectangular perforation 13 therein. A shelf member 19 is located on the exterior surface of the front wall 5 along the lower edge of the perforation 13. The shelf 19 may be an integral part of the wall 5, or may be aflixed thereto in any suitable manner.

It will be understood by one skilled in the art that the casing thus far described may be made of any suitable material. For example, the entire structure may be made of plastic. It is also possible to fabricate the bottom platform, side members and drawer of Wood, and the lid 14, front plate 5, shelf 13 and outermost surface 7a of the drawer of metal.

Two vertical posts 20 and 21 are located in the chamber 13, adjacent the front plate 5 and on either side of the perforation 18. The posts 20 and 21 provide bearings for the shaft 22 of a rotary brush 23. It will be noted from FIGS. 1 and 3, that a portion 230: of the rotary brush extends through the perforation 18. One end of the shaft 22 extends through the post 20 and is provided wtih a pulley 24. The pulley 24 s connected by a belt 25 to a pulley 26 mounted on the shaft 27 of an electric motor 28. Thus when the motor 28 is turned on, the brush 23 (as seen in FIG. 3) is caused to rotate in a clockwise direction.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, an electric blower 30 is mounted in the front portion of the chamber 13. The blower 3t may be of the usual commercial type having an electric motor at 31 and a rotary fan in a housing 32. As is usual for such blowers, air is taken in through a perforation in the side of the housing 32 opposite the motor 31 and is expelled through an outlet 33, which is generally an integral part of the casing 32. The intake portion of the casing 32 is provided with an extension 34 so that air will be drawn into the housing 32 from the perforation 13 in the front plate 5. As indicated in FIGURES 2 and 3, the extension 34 may be rectangular in configuration, having inside dimensions slightly greater than the dimensions of the rectangular perforation 18 in the front plate 5. The member 34 will extend from the intake portion of the casing 32 to the inside surface of the front plate 5. The outlet 33 of the housing 32 extends through a perforation in the platform 6 so that air is discharged from the housing 32 into the drawer 7. Air discharged into the drawer '7 will escape through the foraminous Wall 11 to the surrounding atmosphere. This is true, due to the fact that the portion 14b of the lid 14 extends downwardly to the platform 6 when the lid is in closed position. The space between the platform 6 and the bottom 4 is open to the atmosphere even when the lid 14 is closed. The platform 6 may be provided with

perforations

35 and 36 so that part of the air escaping through the foraminous wall 11 may enter the chamber 13 to cool the

motors

28 and 31.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a switch 37 is provided on 3 the front plate 5 by which the

motors

28 and 31 may be simultaneously actuated.

The operation of the device of the present invention is as follows: The switch 37 is moved to the on position which will cause the brush 23 to rotate and the blower 313 to set up a vacuum at the perforation 18. A hair brush is rested on the shelf 19 in such away that its bristles will be penetrated by the bristles of the rotary brush 23. The hair brush may be rotated slightly on the shelf 19 so that all of its bristles will be penetrated by the rotary brush 23. Hair and foreign material will be removed from the hair brush by the rotary brush 23 and carried into the extension 34 from which they will be drawn into the blower chamber 32 and deposited. therefrom into the drawer 7. The foraminous back wall 11 of the drawer will permit the air to escape, but will insure that the hair and foreign material will remain in the drawer. After a number of brushes have been cleaned in this manner, the drawer 7 may be removed and emptied of its contents.

It has been found that the best results are obtained when the rotary brush Z3 is made of finely corrugated synthetic bristles. Brushes may be cleaned in the manner .described above with great rapidity and extreme thoroughness. Once the brushes have been cleaned, they will be placed in a suitable sterilization cabinet, as is the usual practice.

Frequently static electricity renders the cleaning of hair brushes extremely diflicult. Such static electricity causes the hair and foreign material to stick not only to the hair brushes themselves but also to the comb or other device used to clean it. It has been found that in the use of the present device, if all of the conductive elements are grounded this problem is overcome. For example, if the motor 28, blower 30, shaft 22 and bearings 20 and 21 are grounded (as is diagrammatically indicated in FIG- URE 2), and the entire casing 1 is made of non-conductive materials, static electricity will not present a problem. On the other hand, if the front plate 5 and the shelf 19 are made of metal, they may also be grounded as is diagrammatically represented in FIG. 3.

Modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit of it. The invention having been described in certain exemplary embodiments, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A brush and comb cleaning device comprising a casing, said casing having a bottom, sidewalls, and a front wall, a platform within said casing parallel to and in spaced relationship with said bottom, said front wall extending downwardly to said platform, said platform, sidewalls, and front wall defining a chamber, a lid member hingedly afiixed to said front wall and forming a cover for said chamber, said lid member having a downwardly depending portion forming a rear wall for said chamber, means for holding said lid member in closed position, said bottom, sidewalls and platform forming an open-ended portion of said casing, a removable drawer slidably mounted within said open-ended portion, said front wall having a perforation, a rotary brush mounted within said chamber, a portion of said rotary brush extending through said perforation, an electric motor mounted within said chamber for rotating said brush, an electric vacuum fan within said chamber, said fan having an intake adjacent said rotary brush, and an outlet in communication with said drawer through said platform, whereby hair and foreign material is transferred from said rotary brush to said. drawer, said drawer having a foraminous rear wall to allow air from said outlet to escape and to retain said hair and foreign material within said drawer, said platform having holes therein so that part of said escaping air may enter said chamber to cool said motor and said fan, a switch mounted on said front wall to simultaneously actuate said motor and said fan, and a shelf affixed to said front wall adjacent said perforation upon which brushes and combs being cleaned may be rested.

2. The structure claimed in claim 1 wherein said rotary brush comprises a shaft and a plurality of finely corrugated synthetic bristles extending radially therefrom.

3. The structure claimed in claim 2 wherein said electric motor, said fan, said rotary brush, said casing and said shelf are grounded.

4. A brush and comb cleaning device comprising a casing having a perforation therein, a rotary brush mounted within said casing, a portion of said rotary brush extending through said perforation, means within said casing for rotating said brush comprising an electric motor, a removable drawer slidably mounted within said casing, vacuum means in association with said rotary brush whereby hair and foreign material are removed therefrom, said vacuum means comprising an electric vacuum fan, said fan having an intake adjacent said rotary brush and an outlet communicating with said drawer, said drawer having a bottom, side walls, a front wall and a rear wall, said rear wall being foraminous to allow air from said outlet to escape and to retain said hair and foreign material within said drawer, said casing having an opening therein for passage of said escaping air into the surrounding atmosphere.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,291,550 7/1942 Heinichen 15-311 X 2,414,056 1/1947 Nieman. 2,470,601 5/ 1949 Burke 51273 2,482,166 9/1949 Gage 15-352 X 2,733,465 2/1956 Holt. 2,879,534 3/1959 Swanson et al. 15-179 3,015,121 1/1962 Ulrich 15311 3,080,591 3/1963 Townsend 15-38 FOREIGN PATENTS 110,199 4/1900 Germany.

450,299 10/ 1927 Germany.

168,790 9/1920 Great Britain.

DANIEL BLUM, Primary Examiner.

CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Examiner.