Clip Brush

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/462,963 filed Apr. 28, 2023 by the present inventor.

The present disclosure relates to brushes, and more particularly to brushes with integral handles.

Brushes have been around for centuries and make life better for the user that is looking to clean, scrub, sweep, apply paint or liquids. Once the user is finished with a brush it is set aside until the next time it is needed. Retaining the brush near where it will be needed at the next use is extremely desirable. Brushes made with retaining features are known and could almost be considered customary by the user.

Many of the present brush retaining features are external appendages that are bulky, add weight, add cost of manufacturing and often interfere with the use of the brush. These include external straps, mechanical clips, and spring-loaded clamps. Other external retaining features such as the hook, though very simple, just do not provide good retention due to only having one point of contact, and once again, is an appendage that is in the way of the user.

The simple hole that is provided on many brushes requires there to be an additional item such as hook or peg to hang the brush from and only offers a single point of contact resulting in very weak retention.

The mentioned brushes with external straps, mechanical clips and spring loaded clamps could provide enough retention that the brush could be transported on the item on which it is held without falling but the appendages add bulk, weight, complexity and higher cost making them undesirable.

In accordance with one embodiment a brush comprises a handle body having an internal channel and contoured exterior sides, a carrier, bristles and a band for secondary retention.

Accordingly several advantages of one or more aspects are as follows: to provide a brush for cleaning, scrubbing, sweeping, applying paint or liquids and the like, that has an integral retaining feature within the handle body that provides constant contact with an item by an interference fit, that is capable of being transporting on the item to which it is clipped, and will be readily available for use, that requires minimum effort to clip and remove, that is lightweight, relatively inexpensive, and minimizes materials for manufacture. Other advantages of one or more aspects will be apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.

,and, show a brushwith a handle bodyhaving opposing contoured sides,, distal ends,and opposing ends,which define an interior channelfor receiving and holding an item C to retain the brushthereon. At the lower portion of the brush, below the handle body, is a carrierwith protruding bristles. In embodiments, the handle bodyand carrierextend substantially coextensively along a dimension of brush.

As shown inand, the handle bodyis contoured with curved exterior sides to fit a user's hand for easy gripping. The handle bodymay be circular in cross section on the interior to form the interior channelthat is to accommodate item C. In embodiments, the interior channelmay define a substantially circular cross-section diameter for receiving and holding a substantially cylindrical item C. Channelis open along the top side at the distal ends,and is labeled receiving area. The receiving areais for insertion of an item C. As shown in, the distal ends,do not have the same curvature of the sides,and aid in flexing the sides during the insertion of an item C. The brush assemblyis retained on an item C within the interior channelby an interference fit, as shown in.

Referring toand, there is provided on the exterior upper portion of the handle bodynear the distal end, a holder. In one possible embodiment of the holdera latchis provided on the other exterior side near distal end. The holderhas a slotprovided for inserting a band. There is provided a pair of locking tabsbelow the slotto keep the bandwithin holder. The band, is for secondary retention of the brush assemblyonto item C once it has been clipped. In one possible embodiment, bandis a silicon band. However, it will be appreciated that bandmay be fabricated of any suitable elastic, resilient material, such as rubber and that alternative secondary retainers may be provided as described below.

The handle bodyand the carrierare injection molded monolithically from material that is light, strong and flexible such as rubber or a synthetic material such as PVC, polypropylene, acetol, nylon, ABS, or a similar material. Handle bodyshould be sufficiently flexible to receive an item C securely yet strong enough to retain the item and not fatigue and remain functional after numerous uses.

The brush assemblyis used in a normal manner as brushes in present use for cleaning, scrubbing, sweeping, or applying paint or liquids by holding the handle body. When finished using and wanting to store the brush, one grabs the handle bodyand makes contact with item C at the receiving area. The user applies force to the handle bodyin the direction of the item C which will spread the distal ends,and cause the opposing sides,to flex out thus allowing the item C to seat within the internal channel. One will then grasp the bandand stretch it across the receiving area, over the exposed portion of item C, and place it around the latchwhich will provide a secondary retention for the brush.

When the user wants to remove the brush assembly, one removes the bandfrom around the latch, grasps the handle bodyand applies force up and away from the item C, freeing the brushfrom the interference fit.

shows varying possibilities regarding carrier shape; in this embodiment the carrier has a much wider berth. It is within scope of the embodiments that the carrier could take on various lengths and breaths; the carrier could be oriented perpendicular to the interior channel and could be located at one end of the handle body.

also shows the bristles protruding from the bottom of the carrier. It is within scope of the embodiments that the bristles could protrude from any of the sides, or the bottom as shown; a ferrule may be included for holding the bristles at the carrier.

shows the secondary retention could be a hook and looptype fastener rather than a band. The brush can also be clipped to a non-circular item N as shown. Multiple pairs of opposing tabsare optionally molded on the inside of the handle body near the distal ends for providing increased retention as the tabswill provide multiple points of contact along the upper portion of the item to which it is clipped.

From the descriptions above, a number of advantages of some embodiments of this clip brush become evident:

Although the descriptions above contain many specifications, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments but merely providing illustrations of some of several embodiments. For example, a thin film of rubber or similar could be provided on the surface of the interior channel to reduce slipping of the brush when clipped to a very smooth item. It is also within the scope that the exterior surface of the handle body could be ergonomically shaped for more ease and comfort when gripping by the user. Additionally, the handle body and carrier exterior surfaces may include a grip pattern to allow for better, non-slip grip by the user.

Other variations are within the spirit of the present invention. Thus, while the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail. It should be understood however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form or forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.