US20090000049A1

US20090000049A1 - Hairbrush

Info

Publication number: US20090000049A1
Application number: US11/819,705
Authority: US
Inventors: Bi-chih Liao
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-06-28
Filing date: 2007-06-28
Publication date: 2009-01-01

Abstract

A hairbrush includes a handle, a bristle carrier holder, which is hinged to the handle and has two sliding grooves arranged in parallel at the top and two raised retaining portions protruded from the top wall and projecting into the sliding grooves and two protruding blocks with a respective sloping face respectively disposed inside the sliding grooves, a bristle carrier, which has a flexible pad holding a plurality of metal bristles and two rod-like flanges with a respective recessed retaining portion formed integral with the flexible pad at two sides by insertion molding for insertion into the sliding grooves to secure the bristle carrier to the bristle carrier holder base. The rod-like flanges are forced outwards by the sloping faces of the protruding blocks when inserted into the sliding grooves of the bristle carrier holder base, and therefore the recessed retaining portions of the rod-like flanges are forced into engagement with the raised retaining portions of the bristle carrier holder base.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hairbrushes and more particularly, to such a hairbrush in which the bristle carrier is fastened to the body by means of a slip joint.
2. Description of the Related Art
A hairbrush is a daily implement carrying rows of wires or thin teeth used in hair care for brushing, styling, and detangling human hair.
Following fast development of material science and manufacturing technology, there is a great change in hairbrush. Conventionally, natural materials such as wood and animal bones are used for making hairbrushes. Nowadays, industrial materials such as polymers are intensively used for making hairbrushes. Motor-driven brushes are commercially available nowadays. U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,930, entitled “Travel Massage Brush”, discloses an ultra-compact vibrating hairbrush that comfortably fits an average woman's or man's hand in the hair brushing or massage modes. There are 1 hairbrush-combined hairdryers and hair-dyeing purpose hairbrushes available in the market.
A regular hairbrush generally has parallel rows of bristles for brushing human hair. There are hairbrushes in which the bristles and the bristle carrier are formed in integrity by means of injection molding, and the body of the hairbrush is provided with coupling grooves for the mounting of the bristle carrier. The bristle carrier according to this design is made out of a rigid plastic material for easy installation in the coupling groove of the hairbrush body. However, because the rigid plastic material is not compressible, the scalp may feel uncomfortable.
There are hairbrushes in which the bristle carrier is made of a flexible material, such as rubber. The flexible bristle carrier has through holes for the mounting of bristles. According to this design, a rigid frame is used and fastened to the border of the flexible bristle carrier to secure the flexible bristle carrier to the hairbrush body. Further, insertion connection technique may be employed to detachably secure the bristle carrier to the hairbrush body, allowing easy cleaning of the bristle carrier. The design of the travel massage brush of U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,930 allows easy replacement of the battery. In a slip joint design of hairbrush, the flexible bristle carrier has two coupling flanges at two opposite lateral sides for fastening to the respective coupling grooves at the hairbrush body. However, because the bristle carrier is flexible, it is difficult to insert the coupling flanges of the bristle carrier into the respective coupling grooves. The user usually wastes a lot of time in installing the bristle carrier after each cleaning work.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. The invention uses insertion molding technology to have two rigid rod-like flanges be provided at two opposite lateral sides of the flexible pad of the bristle carrier so that the bristle carrier can easily be fastened to the sliding grooves of the body of the hairbrush.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the hairbrush comprises a body, and a bristle carrier. The body comprises a bristle carrier holder base and a handle extending from one end of the bristle carrier holder base. The bristle carrier holder base comprises two sliding grooves arranged in parallel at the top side, two raised retaining portions protruded from the top side and respectively projecting into the sliding grooves, and two protruding blocks respectively disposed inside the sliding grooves. The protruding blocks each have a sloping face. The bristle carrier comprises a flexible pad holding a plurality of metal bristles, two rod-like flanges extending along two opposite lateral sides of the flexible pad and formed integral with the flexible pad by insertion molding and insertable into the sliding grooves of the bristle carrier holder base to secure the bristle carrier to the bristle carrier holder base. The rod-like flanges each have a recessed retaining portion for engagement with the raised retaining portions of the bristle carrier holder base. When the rod-like flanges of the bristle carrier are inserted into the sliding grooves of the bristle carrier holder base, the rod-like flanges are respectively forced outwards by the sloping faces of the protruding blocks to force the recessed retaining portions into engagement with the raised retaining portions, thereby securing the bristle carrier firmly to the bristle carrier holder base.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the rod-like flanges each have a thin wing extending along its one side and embedded in the flexible pad of the bristle carrier. The thin wing has a plurality of through holes filled up by the material of the flexible pad.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, a hinge coupled between the handle and the bristle carrier holder base for allowing the handle and the bristle carrier holder base to be turned relative each other and closed together.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, the handle has an accommodation open chamber in its top side for receiving the bristle carrier when the bristle carrier holder base and the handle are closed together.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, the hairbrush further comprises at least one magnetic element fastened to the bristle carrier holder base and the bristle carrier to provide a magnetic field for magnetize the metal bristles of the bristle carrier.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a hairbrush according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view in an enlarged scale of bristle carrier for the hairbrush according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing showing the bristle carrier inserted into the sliding grooves of the bristle carrier holder base and forced into engagement with the raised retaining portions of the bristle carrier holder base according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the present invention, showing the extended status of the hairbrush.

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the present invention, showing the folded status of the hairbrush.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, a hairbrush in accordance with the present invention is shown comprised of a body 1, and a bristle carrier 2.
The body 1 is comprised of a bristle carrier holder base 11 and a handle 12. The handle 12 extends from one end of the bristle carrier holder base 11 for the holding of the user's hand comfortably. The bristle carrier holder base 11 has mounted therein a vibration source (not shown), for example, a motor-driven vibrating mechanism that is coupled to an on/off switch (not shown) and controllable to vibrate the bristle carrier holder base 1, thereby providing a scalp massage. A battery chamber 13 is mounted inside the bristle carrier holder base 11 and covered with a battery lid 131 to hold a battery cell 132 on the inside. The battery cell 132 is electrically connected to the aforesaid vibration source through the aforesaid on/off switch, and controllable by the on/off switch to provide the necessary working voltage to the vibration source. Because the aforesaid vibration source massage assembly is of the known art, no further detailed description in this regard is necessary. Further, a hinge 14 is connected between the bristle carrier holder base 11 and the handle 12 so that the user can turn the bristle carrier holder base 11 relative to the handle 12. The handle 12 is a hollow member defining an accommodation open chamber 121 on its one side, namely, the top side. The bristle carrier 2 is mounted on one side, namely, the top side of the bristle carrier holder base 11 (see FIG. 4). When the bristle carrier holder base 11 is turned toward the handle 12, the bristle carrier 2 and a part of the bristle carrier holder base 11 are received in the accommodation open chamber 121 (see FIG. 5), i.e., the hairbrush can be folded up to reduce the length, convenient for carrying by the user.
By means of using the battery lid 131 to close/open the battery chamber 13, the user can replace the battery cell 132 conveniently. Further, at least one, for example, three magnetic elements 15 are arranged on the top side of the bristle carrier holder base 11 and the battery lid 131 (see FIG. 1). The magnetic field produced by the magnetic elements distributes over the whole bristle carrier 2 and transmitted through the bristles 22 at the bristle carrier 2 to the ball tips 221 of the bristles 22. When brushing, styling, or detangling the hair of a person with the hairbrush, the magnetic elements 15 eliminate statistic electricity produced from friction between the bristles 22 and the hair. Further, the effect of magnetic attraction between the magnetic pole of the magnetic field produced by the magnetic elements 15 and the micro-metal elements in blood stimulates the circulation of blood. This blood-circulation stimulation effect is more significant in the brain where neurofibres and micro-vessels are intensive.
For enabling the bristle carrier 2 to be conveniently and positively secured to the bristle carrier holder base 11, the bristle carrier holder base 11 provides two sliding grooves 16 arranged in parallel along two opposite lateral sides of the top wall, two protruding retaining portions 161 protruded from the top wall at two sides and respectively projecting into the inner end of each of the sliding groove 16, and two protruding blocks 162 respectively suspending in the sliding grooves 16 at an inner side. The protruding blocks 162 each have a sloping face 163.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the bristle carrier 2 is made out of polymers, for example, rubber, comprising a flexible pad 21 and a plurality of bristles 22 fastened to the flexible pad 21 and arranged in parallel rows. The flexible pad 21 is a smoothly arched pad. The ball tips 221 of the bristles 22 prevent damage to human scalp when brushing the hair. The main feature of the bristle carrier 2 is the formation of two rod-like flanges 23 at two sides of the flexible pad 21.
The rod-like flanges 23 are made of a rigid material. Each rod-like flange 23 has a thin wing 231 longitudinally extending along its one side, and a plurality of through holes 232 cut through the thin wing 231. The two rod-like flanges 23 are formed integral with the two opposite lateral sides of the flexible pad 21 by means of insertion molding. After insertion molding, the rubber material of the flexible pad 21 covers the thin wings 231 and filled up the through holes 232. Therefore, the rod-like flanges 23 are fixedly connected to the flexible pad 21. Further, the rod-like flanges 23 each have a recessed retaining portion 233 corresponding to the raised retaining portions 161 of the bristle carrier holder base 11.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, when fastening the bristle carrier 2 to the bristle carrier holder base 11, insert the rod-like flanges 23 of the bristle carrier 2 into the sliding grooves 16. When the rod-like flanges 23 touch the sloping faces 163 of the protruding blocks 162, they are forced to curve outwards, thereby forcing the recessed retaining portion 233 into engagement with the respective raised retaining portions 161. FIG. 4 shows the hairbrush assembled. Because the bristle carrier holder base 11 and the handle 12 are coupled together by the hinge 14, the user can turn the bristle holder base 11 toward the accommodation open chamber 121 of the handle 12 to fold up the hairbrush. FIG. 5 shows the hairbrush folded up.
As stated above, the invention has two rigid rod-like flanges connected to two opposite lateral sides of a flexible pad to form a bristle carrier by means of insertion molding. Further, because the flexible pad is a smoothly arched pad, a gap is kept between the bottom surface of the flexible pad and the top surface of the bristle carrier holder base, imparting a room for compression of the bristle carrier as the bristles are pressing on the scalp of a person. Because the rod-like flanges are made out of a rigid material, they can easily be inserted into the respective sliding grooves of the bristle carrier holder base, eliminating the drawback of the prior art design in which the flexible material property of the pad of the bristle carrier makes the installation of the bristle carrier difficult. Further, the invention has magnetic elements installed in the top side of the bristle carrier holder base beneath the bristle carrier to provide a magnetic field that magnetizes the metal bristles of the bristle carrier. The magnetized metal bristles can eliminate static electricity and stimulate the circulation of blood. This transmission of magnetic force is not feasible in conventional wooden or plastic hairbrushes. Further, the use of the hinge between the handle and the bristle carrier holder base allows the user to fold up the hairbrush.
Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A hairbrush comprising:

a body, said body comprising a bristle carrier holder base and a handle extending from one end of said bristle carrier holder base, said bristle carrier holder base comprising two sliding grooves arranged in parallel at a top side thereof, two raised retaining portions protruded from the top side and respectively projecting into said sliding grooves, and two protruding blocks respectively disposed inside said sliding grooves, said protruding blocks each having a sloping face; and

a bristle carrier, said bristle carrier comprising a flexible pad holding a plurality of metal bristles, two rod-like flanges extending along two opposite lateral sides of said flexible pad and formed integral with said flexible pad by insertion molding and insertable into said sliding grooves of said bristle carrier holder base to secure said bristle carrier to said bristle carrier holder base, said rod-like flanges each having a recessed retaining portion for engagement with said raised retaining portions of said bristle carrier holder base;

wherein when the rod-like flanges of said bristle carrier are inserted into said sliding grooves of said bristle carrier holder base, said rod-like flanges are respectively forced outwards by the sloping faces of said protruding blocks to force said recessed retaining portions into engagement with said raised retaining portions, thereby securing said bristle carrier firmly to said bristle carrier holder base.

2. The hairbrush as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rod-like flanges each have a thin wing extending along one side thereof and embedded in said flexible pad of said bristle carrier, said thin wing having a plurality of through holes filled up by the material of said flexible pad.

3. The hairbrush as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a hinge coupled between said handle and said bristle carrier holder base for allowing said handle and said bristle carrier holder base to be turned relative each other and closed together.

4. The hairbrush as claimed in claim 3, wherein said handle has an accommodation open chamber in a top side thereof for receiving said bristle carrier when said bristle carrier holder base and said handle are closed together.

5. The hairbrush as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least one magnetic element fastened to said bristle carrier holder base and said bristle carrier to provide a magnetic field for magnetize the metal bristles of said bristle carrier.

6. The hairbrush as claimed in claim 1, wherein said metal bristles each have a ball tip.