Disposable Paintbrushes

Abstract

A paintbrush having a plurality of bristles and a binding therefor. The brush is formed from a piece of woven fabric with the bristles comprising loosely associated filler threads having no lateral support and with the binding comprising warp threads woven through the filler threads. The bristles are formed by slashing the warp threads in a portion of the fabric to free the filler threads therein. The unslashed portion of the fabric forms the binding. The brush is adapted to be releasably secured by its binding within a clamp of a brush holder or can be directly hand-held by its binding.

Description

This invention relates generally to a brush for the application of paint and the like and more particularly to disposable paintbrushes which are adapted to be directly held in a user's hand or held within a reusable and releasably secureably brush holder.

Heretofore, various brushes have been proposed for enabling the painting head (bristle head) of the brush to be removed from the handle portion thereof such that the entire brush need not be discarded when the painting head becomes unusable. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,326,879 (Neuhausen), 2,570,412 (Vogel), 2,900,654 (Koltvedt), 3,340,557 (Rosenszweig), and 3,353,203 (Ginter).

While the prior art brushes, like those disclosed in the above enumerated patents are economical insofar as they enable used up painting heads to be replaced without discarding the entire paintbrush, nevertheless, such brushes are somewhat complex and hence may still be relatively expensive.

Inexpensive paintbrushes have been proposed, such as the entirely disposable paintbrushes shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,094,729 (Dalton). However, such brushes may not be sufficiently durable for economical use.

It is a general object of this invention to overcome the above mentioned disadvantages of the prior art.

It is another object of this invention to provide a disposable paintbrush formed of a woven cloth.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a paintbrush having bristles and a binding therefor formed from a piece of woven cloth with the bristles comprising loosely associated filler threads having no lateral support and with the binding comprising warp threads woven through the filler threads.

It is a further object of this invention to provide the combination of a paintbrush formed of a woven cloth and releasably securable holder for said brush.

These and other objects of this invention are achieved by providing a paintbrush comprising bristles and a binding for the bristles. The bristles comprise loosely associated filler threads having no lateral support. The binding comprises warp threads woven through the filling threads. The brush is adapted to be releasably secured by its binding within the clamp of a brush holder or can be directly hand-held by its binding.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a disposable paintbrush and holder therefor in accordance with one aspect of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a disposable paintbrush like that shown held within the holder of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a greatly enlarged plan view of a portion of the paintbrush shown within the phantom line area 3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 3a is a greatly enlarged view of a portion of a bristle shown within the phantom line area 3a in FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of a paintbrush holder in accordance with one aspect of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the assembled paintbrush holder shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a paintbrush in accordance with another aspect of this invention; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a paintbrush in accordance with yet another aspect of this invention.

Referring now to the various figures of the drawing wherein like reference characters refer to like parts, there is shown by the reference numeral 20, a combined disposable paintbrush and holder therefor. The combined brush and brush holder 20 basically comprises a brush 22 and a releasably secureable holder 24. The holder serves to hold the brush for painting therewith. The brush 22 includes a plurality of bristles 26 and a binder 28 holding the bristles together. The bristles are formed of loosely associated threads having no lateral support for their free ends 30. The bristles 26 are connected together by binder 28. The binder serves as the means by which the brush 22 is gripped and held by holder 24.

The holder 24 includes an elongated handle 32 terminating in a wedge-shaped shank 34. The shank 34 in turn terminates in an end wall 36 (see FIG. 4). The handle 32 is adapted to be gripped in the user's hands to manipulate brush held within the holder. A hold 38 is provided in the end of handle 32 to enable the brush to be hung or otherwise supported during storage thereof.

The holder also includes releasable gripping means to secure the brush to holder 24 and to enable the brush to be removed from the holder when desired. In the preferred embodiment of this invention, the gripping means comprises a normally closed, spring clamp 40. As can be seen, clamp 40 is of the conventional paper-binder type having a slightly bowed base 42 and a pair of side walls 44 and 46 connected at an angle to the base to form a mouth 48 for the clamp. The walls 44 and 46 each terminate in a free edge 50.

The clamp is formed as an integral unit of spring steel and is normally closed, that is the free edges 50 of the walls 44 and 46 are in contact with one another, thereby closing mouth 48.

The clamp 40 includes a pair of pivotable arms 54 and 56 which are adapted to be grasped and squeezed together to separate the free edges of walls 44 and 46 and thereby open the clamp's mouth and enable the insertion or removal of a brush therefrom. Each arm is of a generally wishbone shape having a pair of legs 58, each of which terminates in an ear 60. The ears 60 of each arm project away from each other in opposed directions.

The free edge of each side wall of the clamp 40 is curved back upon itself to form a cylindrical channel 52 therein. The channel serves to receive the ear 60 of the associated arm to thereby pivotably secure the arm to the clamp.

In FIG. 4 there is shown the manner which clamp 40 is connected to handle 32. As can be seen, the end wall 36 of handle 32 includes a pair of holes 62. A pair of holes 64, only one of which can be seen, are provided in the bowed bottom wall 42 of clamp 40 and are separated from one another by the same distance as that separating holes 62 in wall 36. Accordingly, when the bottom wall of clamp 40 is abutted against wall 36, the holes in the clamp and the holes in the handle are aligned with one another. The clamp is connected to the handle via a pair of screws 66 in the aligned holes. FIG. 5 shows the holder 24 when assembled as described above.

The holder 24 shown in FIG. 5 is preferably used to hold the novel disposable paintbrushes of this invention, however, it is to be understood that the holder can also be used to hold various prior art disposable brush heads.

One type of disposable brush in accordance with this invention is shown in FIG. 2 by the reference numeral 22. Brush 22 includes a plurality of relatively thin, web-like, brush elements 68. Each of the brush elements includes a plurality of bristles 26 formed of loosely associated threads having no lateral support and a binding 28 connecting the threads together. The brush elements are disposed on top of one another, for a reason to be considered later, and are connected together at their bindings by stitches 70.

Each brush element 68 is formed of a woven fabric having plural similar woven layers, each of which including a plurality of longitudinally extending filler threads which are interconnected by plural warp threads. In FIG. 3 there is shown a portion of the top woven layer of the top brush element 68 of the brush shown in FIG. 2 in order to clearly illustrate the manner in which the filler threads are interconnected by the warp threads. As can be seen, the top layer of brush element 68 includes a plurality of generally parallel filler threads 72. Each of the filler threads is interwoven by a plurality of warp thread legs 74. A single thread forms the plural warp thread by coursing in a serpentine manner to and fro across the width of the fabric for a predetermined length of the fabric while running under and over adjacent filler threads to interconnect those threads and form the binding 26. The portion of the filler threads which are not interwoven with the warp thread legs form the brush bristles 26, with each filler thread forming a separate bristle.

It should be pointed out at this juncture that in practice, the threads forming the filler threads and the warp threads do not extend as straight or as parallel with one another as is shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is provided to merely illustrate the manner in which the threads are interwoven.

In accordance with one aspect of this invention, the brush elements 68 are constructed from a strip of woven material, such as seat-belt fabrics of polyester or nylon yarns. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, such fabrics are woven in the same manner as that shown in FIG. 3. In order to form the loosely associated bristles 26 of the brush, all of the warp thread legs adjacent one end of the length of the fabric are slashed or otherwise severed. The severed warp thread legs fall out, thereby freeing portions of the filler thread. The freed portions of the filler threads hang loosely from the unslashed portion of the fabric to thereby form the brush bristles with the unslashed portion of the woven fabric serving as the binding for the bristles.

Owing to the fact that seat belt fabric is relatively thin, i.e., composed of only a few woven layers, in the preferred embodiment of this invention, several brush elements are sewn together at their bindings, as described above, to provide a brush having sufficient body and thickness for general painting purposes. It is to be understood, however, that a brush may, depending upon the thickness of the fabric utilized and upon the desired use for the brush, be formed of only a single woven brush element. Furthermore, while a preferred embodiment of this invention utilizes brush elements formed of seat belt fabric, as described above, it is to be understood that other fabrics can be utilized to form the brush elements.

Each of the threads in the brush element may be a monofilament thread or, as is preferred, may comprise a yarn formed of plural strands or fibers. As can be seen in FIG. 3a, bristles 26 each comprise a yarn composed of plural fibers. By utilizing plural fiber threads as the bristles 26, the brushes are enabled to hold a substantial volume of paint in the interstices between the fibers in each of the bristles as well as in the interstices between the bristles themselves. This action permits faster painting by reducing the number of times the brush has to be dipped in the paint for a given area of application.

In FIG. 6 there is shown a brush 76 in accordance with another embodiment of this invention. Brush 76 is constructed in the same manner as brush 22 and includes plural, relatively thin, web-like brush elements 78 which are disposed on top of one another. Each of the elements include a plurality of bristles 80 formed of loosely associated threads having no lateral support and a binder 82 connecting the filaments together. The brush elements are connected together at their bindings by plural stitches 84 therethrough. Each brush element 78 is formed of a woven fabric having plural woven layers, each of which including a plurality of longitudinally extending filler threads which are interconnected by plural warp thread legs. Each of the threads preferably comprises a yarn formed of plural strands or fibers. As can be seen, the threads forming the bristles 80 are each of generally cork-screw shape. This shape results from the fact that the fabric is tightly woven wherein the warp thread legs tightly compress the interwoven filler threads, thereby deforming the filler threads laterally. When the warp thread legs are slashed to free the filler threads and thereby form the bristles, the filler threads remain slightly deformed, thereby giving the appearance of a cork-screw shape.

The cork-screw shape of bristles 80 serves a valuable function in that it enables the brush 76 to hold more paint therein than would otherwise be possible due to the fact that additional paint is held within the relatively wide interstices formed between the adjacent corkscrew strands.

In FIG. 7 there is shown a brush 86 in accordance with another aspect of this invention. Brush 86 is constructed in the same manner as brushes 22 and 76, that is, it includes plural, relatively thin, web-like, brush elements 88, each of which includes a plurality of bristles 90 formed of loosely associated threads having no lateral support and a binder 92 connecting the threads together. The binders 92 are sewn together by plural stitches 94.

The binders of brushes 22 and 76 are substantially shorter than the binder of brush 80, since the former brushes are primarily intended to be held by a releasably secureable holder, such as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, whereas the relatively long binder of brush 86 forms a handle itself, by which the brush can be gripped by the user.

In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the brush 86 is constructed of a parachute-harness-strap fabric, which fabric is woven in a similar manner to seat-belt fabric, but is narrower in width, by severing plural warp thread legs to free the ends of the filler threads and thereby form the brush bristles.

While the brushes 22 and 76 are, as noted above, primarily for use with a releasably secureable holder like that shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, it is to be understood that those brushes may each be used without any other holder by merely gripping their bindings directly. Similarly, while the brush 86 is primarily for direct hand-held use, it is to be understood that releasably secureable holders, like that shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, can be used to hold the brush by its binding, if desired.

For some painting applications, stiff bristles are necessary. To that end, the bristles of the disposable woven fabric brushes of this invention may be stiffened by coating them with a stiffening agent such as an acrylic or a polyester resin.

As should be appreciated from the foregoing disclosure, the brushes of this invention are simple in construction and can be made quickly and inexpensively from various types of woven fabrics. Furthermore, the bristles formed by the filler threads of the fabric are effective for holding large volumes of paint therein and for enabling the paint to be applied in a smooth, ridge-free coat. Particularly effective, yet inexpensive brushes can be made from nylon or polyester seat-belt or parachute-harness-strap fabric. Since only short lengths of such fabrics are required, brushes in accordance with this invention can be made of scraps of such fabrics, which would otherwise be discarded, thereby further decreasing costs.

The holders constructed in accordance with this invention are simple and hence economical to construct. In addition, such holders have wide applicability, in that they can be used to hold various types of prior art disposable brushes in addition to the brushes constructed in accordance with this invention.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully illustrate our invention that others may, by applying current or future knowledge, readily adapt the same for use under various conditions of service.

Claims

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. In combination, a paint brush and a releasable holder therefor, said holder comprising a handle having a clip secured thereto, said clip being of a paper-binder type having a pair of integral sidewalls forming a mouth therebetween for releasably holding said brush, said brush being formed of plural strips of woven, seat-belt material, each strip comprising a binding having filler threads with warp threads woven therethrough, said threads being formed of multifilament nylon yarn said filler threads being loosely associated and having no lateral support, said loosely associated filler threads serving as bristles for the brush and being coated with a stiffening agent, said strips being disposed on top of each other and secured together by plural stitches through their bindings.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said bristles are of a generally cork-screw shape.