Brush With Rotatable Brush Plate

Abstract

A brush comprises a brush plate rotatably arranged on a brush back. Detent members projecting from the plate and back interconnect the plate and back and interengage in the interior of the brush while allowing relative rotation therebetween. A ring surrounds one of the detent members and diametrically opposed axial ribs are arranged on the outer wall of the ring and engage in axial grooves formed in a sleeve extending from the inner side of the brush back and surrounding the ring.

Description

The invention relates to a brush having a brush plate rotatably arranged on a brush back and in which the two brush parts are connected with each other by means which are rotatable relative to each other.

Brushes with rotatable brush plates are known in various embodiments. They have been found to be particularly suitable for brushes with handles, in which the bristles provided for the brushing procedure are embedded in a flexible carrier such as a woven fabric, closely alongside each other and with their points all obliquely inclined in the same direction. Such brushes fitted with inclined bristle material always have to be moved in the same direction over the surface to be cleaned, that is to say in the direction of inclination of the bristles. If brushing is in a direction opposite to the direction of inclination, the particles picked up by the brush and held in the spaces between the inclined bristles, are released and are again deposited on the brushed surface. If a brush with a handle, provided with the inclined bristle material, is changed from one hand into the other, then the brushing direction also has to change, and the brushing has to be effected in a direction opposite to the direction of the previous strokes. In order to avoid this change in brushing direction, it has been proposed to arrange the brush plate rotatably on the brush body so that on changing the brush from one hand into the other, the user can rotate through 180.degree. the brush plate which is fitted with the inclined bristles, and set the bristle tips into the direction required by him.

A known brush of this kind comprises a brush plate one side of which has the brush material fixed thereto so that the brush plate and brush material form a unit. This brush plate is inserted in a brush back which is provided with a handle and it is held fixed in the brush back by means of a helical spring the upper end of which bears against an abutment connected with the brush plate and the lower end of which is seated in a recess which is formed in a part screwed on to an inwardly extending projection of the upper part of the brush plate. In order to rotate the brush plate, this is gripped at its somewhat protruding margin, pulled out of its seat against the action of the spring and rotated. After releasing the base, the spring draws this again against the upper part of the brush and holds the parts together. Instead of a helical spring, it has also been proposed to use a flat spring or a spring plate which is screwed tight on to the brush back and the brush plate at suitable regions.

In these known embodiments of brushes with rotatable brush plates, the individual parts are connected together by screws, pins or the like, on assembly. However, such an assembly has certain disadvantages, since not only are relatively many additional parts required, but also the screwing in the interior of the brush body required manual work and causes difficulties. An automatic assembly, as is important for economic production of such an article of daily use, is not possible.

A further embodiment has partly overcome this known disadvantage, by avoiding screw connections when fixing the brush plate to the brush back. In this known brush, the brush plate has a centrally arranged sleeve which extends upwardly from the side of the brush plate remote from the brush surface. The lower section of this sleeve has a larger diameter than the upper section, so that a step is formed on the outer periphery of the sleeve, on which the lower end of a sleeve projecting from the inner side of the brush back rests. This lower end of the sleeve forms the seat for one end of the helical spring which surrounds the upper narrower section of the sleeve of the base plate, that is to say, is inserted in the intermediate space between the sleeves, one of which surrounds the other. In the upper narrow section of the sleeve, a bolt having a head is provided, the bolt being slotted from below, and having hooks at its lower end which latch on to the lower side of the upper limit of the wider section of the sleeve projecting from the brush plate. In this way, the brush plate is fixed on to the brush back without screwing or pin connections. In order to release the brush plate from the brush back, the head of the bolt, which extends through an opening in the brush back, is pressed downwardly. Thereby, the helical spring is compressed and the base plate is pressed out of its seat so that it can then be rotated.

This brush embodiment, contrary to the first-mentioned brush, has the advantage that automatic assembly by way of a tool can be performed. The individual parts only have to be appropriately inserted and the tool closed. However, a number of individual parts are required, as well as a helical spring.

It is an object of the invention to provide a brush with a rotatable brush plate, which requires a minimum of individual parts without using a spring, and in which automatic assembly of the brush is facilitated.

The invention consists in a brush comprising a brush plate rotatably arranged on a brush back and in which these two brush parts are connected with each other by members which project from the brush plate and the brush back and interengage in the interior of the brush so as to allow relative rotation of the said members, the said members having co-operating detent formations which maintain the said members in their interengaged relation while allowing the relative rotation, a ring surrounding one of the said members at a spacing being provided on the side of the brush plate remote from its brushing surface, diametrically oppositely disposed axial ribs being arranged on the outer wall of the ring, which engage in axial grooves, which are formed in a sleeve which extends from the inner side of the brush back and which surrounds the ring.

Preferably the said interengaging members are sleeves, one of them being slotted so as to form a plurality of segment shaped fingers which can resiliently yield to allow engagement of the detent formations when the said two brush parts are being assembled together.

Advantageously, the said member projecting from the brush plate extends centrally therefrom and is formed with a continuous wall, and the said member projecting from the brush back is the slotted one. Preferably, the said member projecting from the brush plate is provided at its outer periphery with a continuous groove in which projections latchingly engage, which extend inwardly from the free lower ends of the segment shaped fingers.

The brush plate may comprise a base plate and a shallow frame applied at the side of this base plate remote from the brushing surface, the said member which projects from the brush plate being arranged on the base plate and the ring being arranged on the frame. The ring may be disposed on the upper side of the frame and is fixed to the frame only at two oppositely lying arcuate sections, the arcuate sections which lie between these being disposed over the opening defined by the frame.

The sleeve which surrounds the ring may have an elliptical cross section, the minor axis of which passes through the groove regions of said sleeve.

The axial ribs on the ring may be of triangular or semicircular shape in cross section. The axial grooves may have outwardly tapering sidewalls.

The brush plate and brush back may be made of plastics.

In order to make the invention clearly understood reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which are given by way of example and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a brush with a handle;

FIG. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through the brush of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section along the line A -- A in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a partial view of the rotary parts of the brush.

The brush B consists essentially of two parts, namely the brush back 1 with the handle 1S and the brush plate 2 provided with the brush surface 3, which in the illustrated embodiment consists of a base plate 2a and a shallow frame 2b applied thereon. The brush back and brush handle are advantageously of unitary construction. The brush surface consists of inclined bristle material for example, which is firmly connected with the brush plate 2 in any known manner. In the illustrated embodiment, the brush material is clamped fast by the frame 2b.

On the side of the brush plate 2, more accurately the base plate 2a, remote from the brush surface 3, a sleeve 4 is centrally provided, which preferably takes up the entire height of the cavity in the brush. In the illustrated embodiment (FIG. 2) a recess is provided in the brush back 1, in which the sleeve 4 terminates. The opening of the sleeve is closed by a plate 6. A groove 5 is provided which extends around the outer periphery of the sleeve 4, approximately at its middle.

From the inner side of the brush back 1, a sleeve 7 projects, which engages around the sleeve 4, of the base plate 2a. The sleeve 7 has axial slits which divide it into segment shaped fingers 7a, 7b, 7c, and 7d (FIG. 3) in order to give the sleeve suitable resilience. The free lower ends of the segment shaped fingers are provided with inwardly directed projections 8 which engage in the groove 5 which extends around the outer periphery of the sleeve 4, after the two brush parts, that is to say the brush plate 2 and the brush back 1, are assembled together. Each projection 8 preferably extends over the entire breadth of the respective finger of the sleeve 7, and is shaped in the form of a hook in order to hold the brush plate 2 firmly but rotatably on the brush back 1. The sleeve 7 engages around the sleeve 4 of the brush plate resiliently in such a manner that the two sleeves are rotatable relative to each other.

A ring 9 is furthermore provided on the side of the brush plate 2 remote from the brushing surface 3, and surrounds the two sleeves 4 and 7 at a distance. This ring is fixed on the upper side of the frame 2b, oppositely lying arcuate sections of the ring 9 lying free over the recess A in the frame (FIG. 4). The ring 9 has two diametrically oppositely disposed axial ribs 10 at its outer wall, which engage in axial grooves 12 (FIG. 3) which are arranged in the inner wall of a second sleeve 11 projecting from the inner side of the brush back 1. This sleeve 11 extends from the inner side of the brush back 1 as far as the upper side of the frame 2b of the brush plate 2. The axial grooves 12 are provided with outwardly tapering side walls, whereas the axial ribs 10 on the ring 9 which fit into the longitudinal grooves, are preferably constructed with semi-circular or possibly triangular cross section. These tapering or rounded-off surfaces allow the ribs to move out of the grooves by a rotary movement. The ring 9 is cylindrical, whereas the second sleeve 11 of the brush back 1 has an elliptical cross section. The minor axis of the ellipse extends through the grooves 12 so that necessarily the major axis lies at an angle of 90.degree. to the grooves 12. The intermediate space 13 formed thereby between the ring 9 and the sleeve 11, facilitates the rotation of the brush plate 2 after the ribs 10 have been released from the grooves 12.

By the above described construction of the brush plate and the brush back, these two parts are simply pressed together on assembly in such a manner that the sleeve 7 on the brush back engages in the sleeve 4 on the base plate 2a of the brush plate 2 and the ribs 10 on the ring of the frame 2b of the brush plate 2 engage in the grooves 12 of the second sleeve 11 of the brush back 1. The side wall of the brush back should be so constructed that its lower margin rests on the frame 2b of the brush plate 2.

If the brush plate 2 is to be rotated, it is simply gripped laterally and turned with slight pressure. Thereby the axial ribs 10 of the ring 9 move laterally out of the axial grooves 12 of the sleeve 11 and without great force can be moved through the intermediate space 13. After a rotation of the brush plate 2 through 180.degree., the ribs 10 again latch into the grooves 12. The cover plate 6, by which the upper opening of the sleeve 4 of the brush plate 2 is closed, also participates in this rotary movement. Thus, an arrow can be provided on this cover plate, which indicates the direction of bristle tips and thus the brushing direction necessary. The upper side of the brush back can alternatively be of continuous construction and the arrow for the brushing direction can be provided at any other suitable place.

Since the ring 9 is fixed only at two oppositely disposed arcuate sections of its lower peripheral edge, and the arcuate sections lying therebetween are disposed freely above the recess A in the frame 2b, a sufficient resilience is ensured which gives a low friction release, rotation and latching of the brush plate.

The sleeves and the ring may be constructed integrally with the brush back and the parts of the brush plate, respectively.

A brush with a rotatable brush plate is thus provided, with a minimum of individual parts, without the requirement of any kind of spring, and which can be assembled in a single working operation with the minimum number of actions, with the aid of a tool, an optimum manufacturing simplification thereby being achieved.

Claims

What we claim is:

1. A brush comprising a brush plate rotatably arranged on a brush back and in which these two brush parts are connected with each other by members which project from the brush plate and the brush back and interengage in the interior of the brush so as to allow relative rotation of the said members through 360.degree., the said members having co-operating detent formations which maintain the said members in their interengaged relation while allowing the relative rotation, a ring surrounding one of the said members at a spacing being provided on the side of the brush plate remote from its brushing surface, diametrically oppositely disposed axial ribs being arranged on the outer wall of the ring, which engage in axial grooves which are formed in a sleeve which extends from the inner side of the brush back and which surrounds the ring, said ribs and grooves acting as detent means.

2. A brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said interengaging members are sleeves, one of them being slotted so as to form a plurality of segment shaped fingers which can resiliently yield to allow engagement of the detent formations when the said two brush parts are being assembled together.

3. A brush as claimed in claim 2, wherein the said member projecting from the brush plate extends centrally therefrom and is formed with a continuous wall, and the said member projecting from the brush back is the slotted one.

4. A brush as claimed in claim 3, wherein the said member projecting from the brush plate is provided at its outer periphery with a continuous groove in which projections latchingly engage, which extend inwardly from the free lower ends of the segment shaped fingers.

5. A brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein the brush plate comprises a base plate and a shallow frame applied at the side of this base plate remote from the brushing surface, the said member which projects from the brush plate being arranged on the base plate, and the ring being arranged on the frame.

6. A brush as claimed in claim 5, wherein the ring is disposed on the upper side of the frame and is fixed to the frame only at two oppositely lying arcuate sections, the arcuate sections which lie between these being disposed over the opening defined by the frame.

7. A brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sleeve which surrounds the ring has an elliptical cross section, the minor axis of which passes through the groove regions of said sleeve.

8. A brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein the axial ribs on the ring are of tapered shape in cross section.

9. A brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein the axial grooves have outwardly tapering sidewalls.

10. A brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein the brush plate and brush back are made of plastics.