Nail Brush

Abstract

A backing member has a surface on which there is provided a plurality of slender bristles of different lengths. The free tips of these bristles together define a cleaning face having a plurality of transversely extending depressions of arcuate cross-sectional contour, a central longitudinally extending depression, and a central longitudinally extending recess provided in the bottom wall of the longitudinally extending depression.

Parent Case Text

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a continuation-in-part of my co-pending application Ser. No. 162,343 filed July 14, l971, for "Brush", now U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,078.

Description

This invention relates to a brush, more particularly to a nail brush for cleaning the nails on the human extremities.

In my co-pending application mentioned above I have disclosed a brush which is particularly suitable as a nail brush and in which a backing member is provided on a surface thereof with a plurality of slender bristles of different lengths which project from this surface and which have free tips together defining a cleaning face. According to my disclosure this cleaning face has a plurality of transversely extending depressions and a central longitudinally extending depression. The purpose of having the longitudinally extending depression is to permit a simpler and more effecting cleaning of the fingernails, because the tip of each finger can be inserted into this depression and will be brushed when relative movement of the finger and backing member is effected, whereas opposite sides (top and bottom) of the fingertip will be cleaned by the bristles located at opposite sides of and bounding the central longitudinally extending depression.

It has been observed, however, that there are instances where further improvements are desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, accordingly, a general object of the present invention to provide such further improvements.

More particularly it is an object of the invention to provide an improved nail brush which affored such improvements.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an improved nail brush which is simple to manufacture and therefore inexpensive to sell, and which is highly effective in its intended purpose.

In keeping with these objects, and with others which will become apparent hereafter, one feature of the invention resides, briefly stated, in a nail brush which comprises a backing member having a surface, a longitudinal and a transverse direction, and a plurality of slender bristles of different lengths which project from this surface and have free tips together defining a cleaning face.

According to the invention the cleaning face has a plurality of transversely extending depressions, a central longitudinally extending depression having a bottom wall, and a central longitudinally extending recess provided in this bottom wall.

The present invention as thus briefly outlined above achieves its intended purpose. By inserting the tip of a finger into the central longitudinally extending depression, the tip and the two sides of the finger are cleaned as before, that is as with the brush disclosed in my aforementioned co-pending application.

However, in many instances a user will have long fingernails, especially ladies who tend to quite frequently have long or even very long fingernails. These are not properly cleaned in the nail brushes according to the prior art, but due to the fact that they can now extend into the central longitudinally extending recess which is formed in the bottom wall or bottom surface of the central longitudinally extending depression provided in the cleaning face of my novel nail brush, the fingernails can extend into this central longitudinally extending recess and will be cleaned; especially, they will be cleaned underneath the nail because the bristles will enter into the space between the surface of the finger and the nail and will provide the intended cleaning function.

Thus, the nail brush according to the present invention achieves it intended purpose, in that it provides an improvement over what is known from the art.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The single FIGURE is a perspective view illustrating the novel nail brush according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Discussing the drawing in detail it will be seen that reference numeral 1 identifies my novel nail brush in toto, and reference numeral 2 identifies the backing member of the nail brush. The backing member is elongated, having a longitudinal and a transverse direction, and on one of its surfaces there is provided a plurality of slender bristles 3 of different lengths. The bristles may be of synthetic plastic material, for instance nylon or the like, and the same is true of the backing member 2. In fact, it is advantageous from a point of view of manufactureing simplicity, and thus from a point of view of selling economy, if the backing member and the bristles are of one piece with one another.

The bristles have free tips which, as the drawing clearly shows, together define a cleaning face. According to the invention, and due to the different lengths of the various bristles, this cleaning face is provided with a plurality of transverse recesses 4, that is recesses which are adjacent one another in the longitudinal direction of the backing member 2 and which extend in the transverse direction thereof. These recesses serve the same purpose as the similar transverse recesses disclosed in my aforementioned co-pending application and are of substantially arcuate cross-sectional contour. The cleaning face is in addition provided with a longitudinally extending recess 5, being located centrally intermediate the lateral edges of the cleaning face and having a bottom wall or bottom surface bounding it. In this bottom wall or bottom surface there is provided, again centrally located, a longitudinally extending depression 6 which, of course, is also formed due to the fact that the various bristles are of different lengths as the drawing shows. When a fingertip is inserted into the recess 5 the fingernails will extend into the depression 6 and relative movement of nail brush and fingertip in the longitudinal direction of the backing member 2, will effect cleaning of the surfaces of the fingertip as well as cleaning underneath the nail of the finger.

Advantageously the backing member 2 will be provided with a plurality of holes 7 which are shown in broken lines and which may have various different configurations, including the slot-shaped configuration which has been illustrated. This makes it possible for water employed in the cleaning of fingertips and fingernails, to run out, carrying away any dirt that has been removed.

Naturally, it would be possible to configurate my novel nail brush in a manner other than what has been illustrated, and in fact any configuration suitable is intended to be encompassed within the concept of my invention and within the claims which are appended hereto, as long as the provision of a central recess in the bottom wall or bottom surface of the central depression is assured.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a nail brush, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:

1. A nail brush, comprising a backing member having a surface, a longitudinal and a transverse direction; and a plurality of slender bristles of different lengths projecting from said surface and having free tips which together define a cleaning face having a plurality of transversely extending depressions, a central longitudinally extending depression having a bottom wall, and a central longitudinally extending recess in said bottom wall.

2. A nail brush as defined in claim 1, wherein said bristles are of synthetic plastic material.

3. A nail brush as defined in claim 2, wherein said backing member is also of synthetic plastic material and of one piece with said bristles.

4. A nail brush as defined in claim 1, wherein said longitudinally extending depression and said longitudinally extending recess are each of substantially right-angular cross-sectional contour.

5. A nail brush as defined in claim 1, wherein said transversely extending depressions are of substantially arcuate cross-sectional contour.

6. A nail brush as defined in claim 1, wherein said backing member is provided with a plurality of holes.

7. A nail brush as defined in claim 6, wherein said holes are slot-shaped.