US3451723A - Baby bottle brush with tipped ends - Google Patents

Description

June 24, 1969 T. MARKS BABY BOTTLE BRUSH WITH TIPPED ENDS Filed July 26, 1967 IN VE N TOR. 77/500025 MAE/(5 I Z Z .T

area/5m United States Patent US. Cl. 300-21 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method for making a twisted wire baby bottle type brush. Bristles are applied between two separate wires and the wires are twisted. Pressure may be applied to the end of the brush to provide a brush tip.

This invention relates to a baby bottle brush having tipped ends. More particularly, it relates to a twisted wire bottling brush having bristles between twisted wires in which the end of the brush has bristles which are tipped outwardly in all directions. Brushes of this type are formed by twisting wires onto which have been applied bristles, the twisting of the wires locking the bristles in place.

These brushes consist of bristles which are oriented perpendicular to the wires and that is, they are directed radially outwardly. One way of making such brushes of this general type has been disclosed in my prior patent entitled, Fully Automatic Machine for Making Brushes," No. 2,742,327.

However, at the very end of the brush, there is a problem in orienting the bristles in such a way that the tip of the brush provides a cleaning surface.

As an example, for a baby bottle brush, it is desirable for the bristles at the very tip to project in a plurality of directions and particularly, longitudinally in a direction parallel to the path of the wires. This allows the brush to be used in connection with the cleaning of nipples and other parts of the bottle.

The problem of orienting the bristles in such a way has led to a number of attempts all of which utilized an additional bristle grouping or components and which are fixed or placed onto the wires.

One such solution is shown in the Glas Patent No. 3,165,362 which is assigned to the American Technical Machinery Corporation. In this brush, a ferrule is fixed onto the twisted wires and bristles are stapled onto the ferrule. It is also possible with this type of ferrule to position the bristles in any direction so that they will radiate as a fan or as pointed outwardly or in any other direction.

It will be understood that when using a ferrule or any other type of device, that production problems exist because the brush must be removed from the assembly line and additional steps will be required not only to form the ferrule but to position it. Additional operators as well as additional production costs for materials are incurred.

An object of this invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive way of making a baby bottle brush.

A second object of this invention is to provide a twisted wire brush in which the ends of the brush have bristles which project longitudinally along the length of the wires.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a baby bottle brush which is cheaper to make and which does not use any additional elements other than the twisted wire and the bristles for forming the brush head.

Other objects of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will best be understood by reference to the following description of embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal cross section of one embodiment of my novel brush;

FIGURE 2 is an alternate embodiment illustrating a brush or knot of bristles at the tip.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, there :is shown a length of twisted wire 10 having a handle section 11 as well as a working section 12. The working section comprises bristles which have been intertwisted within the length of wire. It will be noted that at the section indicated by the letter A that the bristles extend substantially radially outwardly and are perpendicular to the length of the wire.

At the end B, however, the bristles are formed at an angle to the wire length and at the very tip parallel to the direction of the Wires. The pitch of the bristles therefor varies along the length of the brush, variation beginning at the tip region B.

It will be noted that at the point 1, the angle of the bristles are approximately to the angle of the wires.

At point 2, the angle is 30. At point 3, the angle is 60 and at point 4, the angles are very small and for the purposes herein may be considered 0 degrees. Each line indicated in the drawings as comprising a bristle may include a tuft, a group of bristles or a group of tufts.

One technique for forming the tip is that shown in Ser. No. 463,995 filed June 15, 1965 entitled Branch Pointing Method and Apparatus. In my invention, the brush end may be applied between rollers as disclosed in the patent application under increasing pressure to per manently deform the bristles. Heat may also be applied to provide a permanent set, and in this case, varying amounts of pressure may be used.

In addition, the density of bristles, the number per inch, may be caused to increase in the tip section to provide better cleansing action.

The handle 11, of the brush may be formed from many conventional means, however, it is an important part of this invention that the handle be separate from the bristle surface A, and preferably formed onto the wires. As illustrated, the handle may consist of a section, perhaps two to six inches or greater, of preferably bare twisted wire on which a suitable gripping block 14 is fastened.

One way of making this brush is to form the twisted section of bristles as disclosed for example in the afore mentioned Marks patent or in Patent No. 3,160,440 for Continuous Brush Twister and Feeder. When the bristle section which is to be formed as the tip reaches the very end, pressure may be applied directly onto the bristles to push them in the direction indicated. The bristles thus formed extend at angles, both to the wire and to the main bristle section.

the brush could be formed as a brush or a knot of elements extending at substantially low angles with respect to horizontal, 030, for example. Such bristle orientations could be obtained by pressure and/or heat applied at the tip of the brush. Further, if desired, the tip of the brush, illustrated in FIGURE 2, having the bristles 20 at a low angle with respect to horizontal, could be spaced by a gap, devoid of bristles, from the main body of bristles. In this case, the flow of bristles from the hopper is cut off for a brief period of time corresponding to the desired gap.

What is claimed is:

1. A method for making a brush of the baby bottle type having a tipped end followed by a gap of exposed wires devoid of bristles, followed by a main body of bristles, followed by an exposed handle, comprising the steps of:

feeding means applying bristles between a pair of separate wires,

twisting the wires to form the bristles in place,

forming a hand-gripping section along said wire lengths,

forming the tipped end of the brush by applying pressure along said bristles at the tipped end to orient the bristles at the tip at a plurality of angular directions, the bristles at the very tip being generally parallel to the wire length,

" and cutting off the flow of bristles from said feeding means for brief periods to form the said gap of exposed wires and said exposed handle.

2. The method of claim 1 including the step of:

. heating the tipped end to set the said bristles.

3. A method for making a brush of the baby bottle type having a tipped end followed by a gap of exposed wires devoid of bristles, followed by a main body of bristles, followed by said exposed handle, comprising the steps of:

feeding means applying bristles between a pair of separate wires,

twisting the wires to form the bristles in place,

forming a hand-gripping section along said wire lengths,

forming the tipped end to orient the bristles at the tip in directions extending at a plurality of angular orientations to the wire length, the bristles at the very tip being generally parallel to the wire length,

cutting off the flow of bristles from said feeding means for a brief period to leave a section of wires exposed, said hand-gripping section being formed along said exposed section, and cutting off the flow of bristles from said feeding means for a brief period to form the said gap of exposed wires and said exposed handle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,160,440 12/ 1964 Gelardi 3002 3,231,311 1/1966 Marks et a1. 300-2 3,365,529 1/ 1968 Dieffenbach 300-21 3,370,345 2/1968 Mattie 300-21 853,582 5/1907 Gohrband 15206 XR 1,806,520 5/1931 Cave 15--206 FOREIGN PATENTS 662 1/ 1889 Great Britain. 184,735 8/ 1922 Great Britain.

U.S. Cl. X.R.

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