U.S. patent application number 11/892835 was filed with the patent office on 2008-02-28 for method for manufacturing brushes.
Invention is credited to Bart Gerard Boucherie.
Application Number | 20080048486 11/892835 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38996436 |
Filed Date | 2008-02-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080048486 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Boucherie; Bart Gerard |
February 28, 2008 |
Method for manufacturing brushes
Abstract
Method for manufacturing a brush of the paint brush type with a
stick (3) and fibers (4), whereby the stick (3) is made of an
actual stick (5) and a fiber holder (6) with a passage (7) to be
provided on the latter, and whereby the method consists in picking
at least one fiber bundle (8) from a supply (13) of fibers (4), in
axially providing the picked-up fiber bundle (8) through the
above-mentioned passage (7) of the fiber holder (6), in melting or
gluing together the far ends (11) of the fibers (4) on one far end
(21) of the fiber bundle (8), and in providing and fixing the fiber
holder (6) together with the fibers (4) on the actual stick
(5).
Inventors: |
Boucherie; Bart Gerard;
(Izegem, BE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BACON & THOMAS, PLLC
625 SLATERS LANE, FOURTH FLOOR
ALEXANDRIA
VA
22314
US
|
Family ID: |
38996436 |
Appl. No.: |
11/892835 |
Filed: |
August 28, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
300/21 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A46D 1/0284 20130101;
A46B 3/06 20130101; A45D 34/045 20130101; A46B 5/00 20130101; A46B
2200/1046 20130101; A46D 9/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
300/21 |
International
Class: |
A46D 3/00 20060101
A46D003/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 28, 2006 |
BE |
2006/0439 |
Claims
1. A method for manufacturing a brush, in particular of the paint
brush type with a stick and fibers or hairs, wherein the stick is
made of at least two loose parts, including a first part in the
shape of a stick and a second part in the shape of a fiber holder
to be provided on the a stick with a passage in which the fibers
can be held, the method comprising the steps: picking at least one
fiber bundle from a supply of fibers; axially providing the at
least one fiber bundle that has been picked up through the said
passage of the fiber holder in such a way that at least one fiber
bundle protrudes with both far ends of the fibers over a length
from the passage; melting or gluing together the far ends of the
fibers on one far end of the fiber bundle so as to prevent the
fiber bundle from being withdrawn from the fiber holder; and
providing and fixing the fiber holder together with the fibers on
the stick.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fibers that are
picked up from the supply have been at least one of pre-cut to a
desired length and subjected to a pre-treatment.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fiber holder is
formed as a cap that is pushed over a far end of the actual
stick.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fiber holder is
formed as a cap with a cross section that is equal to the cross
section of the stick and which is pushed over a narrowed end of the
stick.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fiber holder is
formed as a stopper which is pushed into an axial recess in the
stick.
6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fiber holder is
fixed on or in the stick by a snap-in system.
7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fiber holder is
fixed on or in the stick by means of gluing or welding.
8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fibers, after the
fiber bundle has been provided in the fiber holder, are subjected
to a finishing operation.
9. The method according to claim 1, wherein, before the picked-up
fiber bundles are applied, they are first provided in a support
with at least one through hole; the support is provided with the
picked-up fiber bundle opposite the fiber holder with its through
hold in the prolongation of the passage in the fiber holder, and
the fiber bundle is axially pushed from the support into the
passage of the fiber holder by means of a punch that is shiftable
in the through hole of the support.
10. The method according to claim 9, including using a punch with a
preformed head to provide the free end of the fiber bundle with a
desired relief shape.
11. The method according to claim 9, including using a counterpunch
which, as the fiber bundle is pushed out of the support, is
maintained behind the fiber holder in the prolongation of the
punch.
12. The method according to claim 9, including using an
intermediate plate which is placed between the support and the
fiber holder and which is provided with at least one conducting
channel which connects the through hole of the support to the
passage in the fiber holder.
13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the shape of the
cross section of the picked-up fiber bundle is transformed, before
being applied in the fiber holder, by providing a support or
intermediate plate whereby the cross-sectional shape of its
conducting channel is adjusted to the desired shape of the final
fiber bundle of the brush.
14. The method according to claim 12, wherein several fiber bundles
are picked up which are all provided in a fiber holder of the
brush, via a support with several through holes and an intermediate
plate with several conducting channels, so as to form a composed
fiber bundle.
15. The method according to claim 12, wherein the support and
intermediate plate are integrated as a whole.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention concerns a method for manufacturing
brushes, in particular of the type of a paint brush with a stick
and hairs.
[0003] Such brushes are applied for example in bottles of nail
polish or corrector whereby the brush is for example fixed to the
stopper of the bottle.
[0004] 2. Discussion of the Related Art
[0005] According to a known method, such brushes are manufactured
at present by taking a round bundle of fibers from a cartridge
containing fibers that have been cut at length beforehand and by
subsequently bending these fibers double and by fixing them with
the double-bent ends in a blind hole in the stick by means of a
clamp or a metal plate.
[0006] It is also known to further finish the thus obtained brush
in a following step of the method by cutting the fibers at the
desired length if required, possibly with a profile knife if the
far end of the brush must have a profiled form, and/or to finish
the fiber ends by rounding them off or by re-grinding them or by
lightly stroking them or the like.
[0007] A disadvantage of this known method lies in the use of
clamps, which are disadvantageous to the production cost of such
brushes and are detrimental to the environment when such brushes
end up in the waste heap.
[0008] Another disadvantage is that we are restricted to the use of
round fiber bundles with this method, which limits the
manufacturer's design possibilities.
[0009] Another disadvantage is that, each time the production has
to switch to another shape of this type of brush, the production
line or production machine must be reset to a considerable
extent.
[0010] Another additional disadvantage is that, in order to obtain
a profiled far end for the fiber bundle, a profile knife is
required whose purchase price is relatively high and which has to
be replaced or sharpened regularly, to which end the required
safety measures must be taken into account.
[0011] The present invention aims to remedy one or several of the
above-mentioned and other disadvantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] To this end, the invention concerns a method for
manufacturing a brush of the above-mentioned type whereby the stick
is made of at least two loose parts, namely a first part in the
form of an actual stick and a second part in the form of a fiber
holder to be provided on the latter with a passage in which the
fibers can be held and whereby the method consists in picking up at
least one fiber bundle from a supply of fibers, in providing the at
least one picked-up fiber bundle in the axial direction through the
above-mentioned passage of the fiber holder in such a manner that
at least one fiber bundle protrudes with both far ends of the
fibers over a length out of the passage, in melting or gluing
together the far ends of the fibers on one far end of the bundle so
as to prevent the fiber bundle from being withdrawn from the fiber
holder, and in providing and fixing the fiber holder together with
the fibers on the actual stick, either or not in another place
and/or at another time.
[0013] An advantage of this method is that it is no longer required
to use a clamp, which implies a saving in material and which is
more ecologically sound.
[0014] As the stick of the brush is made of several pieces, the
production department can respond in a more flexible manner to the
needs of the market, since when a model is changed, the production
line requires far less resets as the fiber holder can be easily
combined with different sticks.
[0015] To that end, the fiber holder can be advantageously made as
a cap that is pushed over a far end of the actual stick, or in the
shape of a stopper that is pushed in an axial recess of the actual
stick and that is fixed by means of jointing techniques that are
easy to apply such as snapping in, gluing, welding and the
like.
[0016] In order to advantageously apply the fiber bundles that have
been picked up, they can be first provided in a support having at
least one through hole; this support can be provided with the
above-mentioned fiber bundle opposite the fiber holder of the brush
with its through hole in the prolongation of the passage in the
fiber holder, and the fiber bundle can be axially pushed from the
support into the passage of the fiber holder by means of a punch
that can be shifted in the through hole of the support.
[0017] In this way, the fiber bundle can be provided in a
relatively simple manner from the fiber pick-up device into the
fiber holder of the brush.
[0018] This support also makes it possible to more easily mechanize
and automate the method.
[0019] According to a variant, use can further be made of a punch
with a pre-formed head to give the free end of the fiber bundle a
required relief shape that may deviate from a fiber bundle with a
straight cut.
[0020] Moreover, in order to obtain a profiled, cut far end of the
fiber bundle, the use of a profile knife is no longer required.
[0021] Additionally, an intermediate plate can be applied that is
provided between the support and the fiber holder and that is
provided with at least one conducting channel which connects the
through hole of the support to the passage in the fiber holder.
[0022] This intermediate plate makes it possible, for example, to
apply fiber bundles in the brush whose shape differs from a round
bundle with a circular section as has been the case up to now.
[0023] To this end, an intermediate plate is selected with a
conducting channel whose crosscut shape is adjusted to the required
shape of the ultimate fiber bundle of the brush.
[0024] According to an alternative method, several fiber bundles
are picked up that are provided together in the fiber holder of the
brush, via a support with several through holes and an intermediate
plate with several conducting channels, so as to form a composed
fiber bundle.
[0025] In this way can be composed fiber bundles with fiber bundles
of different colors, materials, shapes and the like, so as to
produce brushes in a simple manner with strongly varying
characteristics and qualities.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0026] In order to better explain the characteristics of the
invention, the following preferred applications of the method
according to the invention for manufacturing brushes are described
hereafter as an example only without being limitative in any way,
with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0027] FIG. 1 schematically represents a brush in perspective, made
according to the method of the invention;
[0028] FIG. 2 represents a section according to line II-II in FIG.
1;
[0029] FIG. 3 represents the successive steps of a possible method
according to the invention;
[0030] FIGS. 4 to 7 represent possible variants of certain steps of
the method according to the invention as represented in FIG. 3.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0031] The brush 1 represented in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a brush of the
type as is used for example in a bottle of nail polish whereby the
brush is fixed to the stopper 2 of the bottle concerned.
[0032] The brush 1 is of the paint brush type with a stick 3 and
fibers or hairs 4, whereby the stick 3 is in this case made of two
parts, namely a first part in the shape of an actual stick 5 and a
second part in the shape of a fiber holder 6 that is fixed to the
actual stick 5 and that is provided with a passage 7 in which the
fibers 4 are held in a bundle 8.
[0033] In the given example, the fiber holder 6 is made as a cap
with a central cavity 9 with which the fiber holder 6 is pushed
over a narrowed end 10 of the actual stick 5 and is fixed to it,
for example by means of gluing or other jointing techniques.
[0034] In the example, the diameter of the fiber holder 6 is equal
to the diameter of the actual stick 5, although this is not
necessary.
[0035] The fibers 4 stick with a short end 10 in the
above-mentioned cavity 8 and are connected there to said far ends
10 by means of welding or gluing, such that the fibers 4 cannot be
withdrawn from the fiber holder 6 and the fibers 4 freely protrude
from the fiber holder over a certain length with their other far
end 12.
[0036] The method according to the invention is simple and is
illustrated by means of FIG. 3 in which the different steps of the
method are shown, namely:
[0037] step A: picking a fiber bundle 8 from a supply 13 of fibers
4, whereby the supply can be a spool from which the fibers 4 can be
unwound, or it can be a cartridge of fibers that are pre-cut at
length and whose far ends 12 may be pre-treated so as to round off
these far ends 12 or the like;
[0038] step B: axially putting the picked-up fiber bundle 8 through
the above-mentioned passage 7 of the fiber holder 6, in such a way
that the fibers 4 stick in the cavity 9 of the fiber holder 6 with
a short end 11;
[0039] step C: melting the far ends 11 of the fibers 4 together
with a melting device 14 or gluing them together so as to prevent
the fiber bundle 8 from being withdrawn from the fiber holder, in
other words so as to prevent the fiber bundle 8 from being pushed
out of the fiber holder 6 in at least one direction;
[0040] step D: providing and fixing the fiber holder 6 on the
actual stick 5 together with the fibers 4, for example by means of
gluing, welding (friction welding, ultrasonic welding, . . . ) or
the like;
[0041] step E: optionally finishing the free fiber ends 12 with a
finishing device 15, for example by polishing or rounding off these
far ends 12.
[0042] Naturally, not necessarily all steps must be carried out in
the same production site or at the same point in time. Thus, it is
for example conceivable for the steps A, B and C to be carried out
first so as to thus make a supply of fiber holders 6 in which a
bundle 8 of fibers is fixed, and to carry out the steps D and E at
another point in time and/or in a different location so as to
obtain an entirely finished brush 1.
[0043] FIG. 4 illustrates how, for example, step B can be carried
out in an alternative way in three steps B1, B2 and B3, whereby use
is made of an intermediary support 16 with a through hole 17 and a
punch 18 in the shape of a pen which is provided in a shifting
manner in a guide 19 and which can be shifted in the through hole
17 of the support 16.
[0044] In step B1, the fiber bundle 8 that has been picked up in
step A is first provided in the through hole 17 of the support
16.
[0045] In step B2, the support 16 with the picked-up fiber bundle 8
is provided opposite a fiber holder 6 with its through hole 17 in
line with the passage 7 in the fiber holder 6 and in line with the
punch 18 which is also in line with the passage 7 in the fiber
holder 5. It is also possible that the support 16, when the fiber
bundle 8 is being picked up, is already situated opposite the fiber
holder 6, such that step B2 is redundant in that case.
[0046] In step B3, the fiber bundle 8 is axially pushed from the
support 16 in the passage 7 of the fiber holder 6 into the position
in which the fibers 4 stick in the cavity 9 with a short end 11, by
means of the punch 18, such that these far ends 11 can be connected
to one another as explained in step C.
[0047] The punch 18 can be provided with a straight or with a
pre-formed head 20 having another shape, so as to provide the free
end 21 of the fiber bundle 8 with a desired relief shape.
[0048] In the case of FIG. 4, the punch 18 has a rounded head 20,
such that the fibers 4 can be pushed in deeper in the center of the
bundle 8 than the fibers 4 on the outside of the bundle 8, as a
result of which the far end 21 of the fiber bundle 8 can be
finished to a tub shape.
[0049] If necessary, use can be made of a counter-punch, not
represented in the figures, which, as the fiber bundle 8 is being
pushed out of the support 16, is maintained behind the fiber holder
6 in the prolongation of the punch 18.
[0050] According to yet another alternative method, as represented
in FIG. 5, several fiber bundles 8 are picked up, which are all
provided in a fiber holder 6 via a support 16 with several through
holes 17 and an intermediate plate 22 with several conducting
channels 23 so as to form a composed fiber bundle, whereby the
conducting channels 23 to this end all open opposite the entry of
the passage 7 in the fiber holder 6.
[0051] If necessary, the conducting channels in FIG. 5 can be
replaced by a single common funnel for the picked-up bundles 8.
[0052] Another possibility for the intermediate plate 22 is that,
as a result of the design of the cross section of the conducting
channels 23, the form of the picked-up fiber bundles 8 can be
adjusted as desired. Naturally, in this application, an
intermediate plate with only a single conducting channel 23 can be
applied as well.
[0053] Another possibility for adjusting the shape of the fiber
bundles 8 is by directly providing the through hole (17) in the
support (16) with an adapted shape.
[0054] It is clear that the support 16 and the intermediate plate
22 can be integrated as a whole.
[0055] Although, in the preceding figures, a fiber holder 6 is
represented which must be connected to the actual stick 5 by means
of gluing or welding, also other jointing techniques can be
applied, such as snapping on or in, whereby for example, as
represented in FIG. 6, ribs 24 are provided in the narrowed end 10
of the actual stick 5 which can work in conjunction with
corresponding grooves 25 in the walls of the cavity 9 of the fiber
holder 6.
[0056] Another possible jointing technique is the one whereby the
fiber holder 6 is pressed on or in the actual stick 5, either or
not making use of ribs or overcuts or undercuts on the contact
surfaces.
[0057] FIG. 7 represents an example of a brush 1 whereby the fiber
holder 6 is made in the shape of a stopper which is pushed in an
axial recess 26 of the actual stick 5 and which is fixed in it by
means of gluing, welding, pressing, shrinking, snapping or the
like.
[0058] It is clear that certain steps of the method can also be
carried out in another order.
[0059] It is also clear that the brushes 1 must not necessarily be
made one by one, but that certain steps can be carried out
simultaneously for several brushes 1.
[0060] The present invention is by no means limited to the method
described as an example and represented in the accompanying
drawings; on the contrary, such a method according to the invention
for manufacturing brushes can be realized in all sorts of variants
while still remaining within the scope of the invention.
* * * * *