Paint Brush with Removable Head, Sliding Ferrule and Removable Accessory Tool

Abstract

A paintbrush features a handle having a longitudinal direction with a gripping area and a first attachment element at opposite ends. A removable brush head has longitudinally oriented bristles and a second attachment element selectively matable with the first attachment element to carry the removable brush head on the handle. The first and second attachment elements are slidingly matable in a lateral direction transverse to the longitudinal direction. A ferrule is slidable longitudinally of the handle into and out of a deployed position closing around the attachment elements to prevent disconnection thereof, and a retracted position enabling removal and replacement of the brush head. The handle comprises a hollow compartment extending longitudinally into the handle from the distal end opposite the brush head. An accessory tool is removably received in the hollow compartment of the handle for storage therein.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to paintbrushes, and more particularly to paintbrushes that include removable brush heads to allow replacement and improved cleaning of the brush, and paintbrushes including accessory tools that are often also useful in a painting project.

BACKGROUND

It has been previously proposed to provide paintbrushes with a removable brush head to allow replacement or more thorough cleaning of the bristles, and to divide the bristles into separable bundles to better remove paint from the overall brush head during cleaning. Examples of such brushes are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,246,773, 2,326,879, 2,490,159, 2,509,013, 2,732,578, 2,943,341, 3,783,468, 5,218,733, 7,059,006, 8,402,592 and D639070.

It has also been known to apply various accessories to a paintbrush, including hooks for storing or temporarily supporting the brush when not in use, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,309,990, 3,231,919, 4,887,327 and 5,636,904, a screwdriver bit useful to deal with projecting drywall screws or other fastener issues during a painting project, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,785 and published International PCT application WO201366140, and a bottle or can opener as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,741,064, 5,575,030, 6,823,553, D538045 and Published U.S. applications 2004/0163193 and 2014/0338500.

However, there remains room for improved and alternative paintbrush designs, and Applicant has developed a unique paint brush having a number of unique aspects not heretofore seen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a paintbrush comprising:

a handle having a proximal end and a distal end lying opposite thereto in a longitudinal direction of said handle, the handle comprising a gripping area defined adjacent the proximal end for manual holding of the paintbrush at said gripping area, and a first attachment element at the proximal end;

a removable brush head selectively attachable to and detachable from the handle at the proximal end thereof, the removable brush head comprising a second attachment element selectively matable with the first attachment element to carry the removable brush head on the handle, and a plurality of bristles carried on the second attachment and extending in a longitudinal direction of said removable brush head;

wherein the first and second attachment elements comprise slidingly matable elements engagable together by sliding one of the attachment elements over the other of the attachment elements in a lateral direction lying transverse to the longitudinal directions of said handle and said removable brush head.

Preferably said one of the attachment elements comprises a channel and said other of the attachment elements comprises a rail over which said channel is slidable in the lateral direction in a position embracing about said rail to prevent withdrawal therefrom in the longitudinal direction.

Preferably a ferrule is arranged to enclose around the first and second attachment elements after engagement of said first and second attachment elements together.

Preferably the ferrule is slidably coupled to the handle for sliding movement relative thereto in the longitudinal direction of the handle between a deployed position enclosing around the first attachment element and a retracted position withdrawn out of the deployed position toward the distal end of the handle to reveal access to the first attachment element for engagement or disengagement thereof with the second attachment element.

Preferably the bristles of the removable brush head are divided into multiple bundles, at least one of said multiple bundles being carried by a respective pivotal bristle support that enables separation of the multiple bundles of bristles from one another during cleaning by pivoting said pivotal bristle support about a pivot axis thereof.

Preferably said pivot axis lies transversely to the longitudinal direction of the brush head.

Preferably the handle comprises a hollow compartment extending longitudinally into the handle from the distal end thereof, and the paintbrush further comprises a removable tool received or receivable in the hollow compartment for removable storage therein.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a paintbrush comprising:

a handle having a proximal end and a distal end lying opposite thereto in a longitudinal direction of said handle, the handle comprising a gripping area defined adjacent the proximal end for manual holding of the paintbrush at said gripping area, and a first attachment element at the proximal end;

a removable brush head selectively attachable to and detachable from the handle at the proximal end thereof, the removable brush head comprising a second attachment element selectively matable with the first attachment element to carry the removable brush head on the handle, and a plurality of bristles carried on the second attachment and extending in a longitudinal direction of said removable brush head;

a ferrule arranged to enclose around the first and second attachment elements when engaged together;

wherein the ferrule is slidably coupled to the handle for sliding movement relative thereto in the longitudinal direction of the handle between a deployed position enclosing around the first attachment element and a retracted position withdrawn out of the deployed position toward the distal end of the handle to reveal access to the first attachment element for engagement or disengagement thereof with the second attachment element.

Preferably one of the brush handle and the ferrule comprises at least one longitudinal slot therein and the other of the brush handle and the ferrule comprises at least one guide matable with the at least one longitudinal slot to guide longitudinal sliding of the ferrule on the brush handle.

Preferably the ferrule is removably coupled to the brush handle.

Preferably the first and second attachment elements are arranged to block removal of the ferrule from the brush handle when said first and second attachment elements are mated together.

Preferably the at least one longitudinal slot is defined on the brush handle and the at least one guide is defined on the removable brush head, and the at least one longitudinal slot extends through the first attachment in the longitudinal direction of the brush handle to allow removal of the ferrule by sliding of the ferrule past the first attachment element via said at least one longitudinal slot.

Preferably the at least one slot spans a fully through the brush handle in a thickness direction thereof, and the at least one guide comprises at least one internal wall of the ferrule that spans from one side of the handle to another in the thickness direction.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a paintbrush comprising:

a handle having a proximal end and a distal end lying opposite thereto in a longitudinal direction of said handle; and

a brush head attached or attachable to the proximal end of the handle;

wherein the handle comprises a hollow compartment extending longitudinally into the handle from the distal end thereof, and the paintbrush further comprises a removable tool received or receivable in the hollow compartment for removable storage therein.

Preferably the removable tool comprises a screwdriver tool having a longitudinal body with a bit-receiving socket at one end for receiving any one of a plurality of different screwdriver bits.

Preferably the screwdriver tool comprises a storage compartment for storing at least one of said screwdriver bits therein when not received in the bit-receiving socket.

Preferably the removable tool comprises a hanging member at an outer end of the removable tool that resides outside the hollow compartment at the distal end of the handle for hanging support of the paintbrush by said hanging feature when said removable tool is received in the hollow compartment of the handle. Preferably the hanging member comprises an openable and closable clip.

Preferably a paint can pry lever projects laterally from the handle for use in prying a lid from a paint can.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a paintbrush of the present invention that features a removable brush head with pivotally separable bristles, a removable sliding ferrule that conceals and maintains the attachment between the handle and the brush head, and a removable utility tool stored within a hollow interior compartment of the handle.

FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of the paintbrush with the sliding ferrule in a retracted position and the brush head removed.

FIG. 3 is an end view of the ferrule in isolation.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the ferrule in isolation.

FIG. 5 is a partial side view of the paintbrush with the sliding ferrule in the retracted position, and with the brush head removed and opened up to separate the pivotally-carried bristles.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the removable utility tool in isolation.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIG. 1, the paintbrush 10 of the illustrated embodiment features a handle 12 having a proximal end 12a and a distal end 12b lying opposite thereto in a longitudinal direction of the handle, which is denoted by central longitudinal axis 14 and corresponds to the length dimension of the brush. A gripping portion 16 of the handle reaches along the longitudinal axis 14 from the distal end 12b of the handle to define an area for manual gripping of the paintbrush by the user, and from this gripping portion 16, the handle then transitions to a wider mounting portion 18 that extends to the proximal end 12b of the handle, at which a removable brush head 20 is detachably mounted.

An axial bore extends into the gripping portion 16 of the handle from the distal end 12b to define a hollow internal compartment 22 for storing a removable utility tool 24 therein. At the wider mounting portion 18 of the handle 12, near the end thereof that transitions to the narrower gripping portion 16, one end of a paint can pry lever 26 is embedded within the handle 12, and the other end of the paint can pry lever 26 projects outwardly from a side edge of the mounting portion 18 in a lateral direction that lies perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 14 and corresponds to a width direction of the brush.

As best shown in FIG. 5, a T-shaped rail 28 is affixed to the proximal end 12a of the handle 12 and runs therealong in the lateral direction so as to lie perpendicularly of the longitudinal axis 14. The T-shape of the rail refers to its cross-sectional shape in planes lying normal to the rail's length, i.e. planes that are parallel to the longitudinal axis 14 and normal to the lateral direction. The lateral direction is denoted in the drawings by axis 29 of FIG. 2. A stem 28a of the T-shape projects axially from the proximal end 12a of the handle 12 in the longitudinal direction, and the cross-head 28b of the T-shape perpendicularly crosses the stem at an outer end thereof lying at a distance from the proximal end 12a of the handle.

Referring to FIG. 2, two longitudinal slots 30 extend through the rail 28 and into the proximal end 12a of the handle in the longitudinal direction parallel to the central axis 14 on opposite sides thereof. The two slots 30 thus divide the rail 28 into three different sections. Each slot 30 extends toward, but stops short of, the end of the mounting portion 18 that transitions to the gripping portion 16 of the handle. Each slot 30 extends fully through the mounting portion 18 of the handle in the thickness direction thereof, thus spanning fully from a topside of the brush to an opposing underside thereof.

Having described the structure of the handle 12, attention is now turned to the structure of the removable brush head 20, with particular reference to the disassembled view of the brush in FIG. 5. A base of the brush head is defined by a length of C-shaped channel 32, which lies in the transverse direction parallel to the T-shaped rail 28 when the brush is assembled. The C-shaped channel 32 is dimensioned to be slidable over the T-shaped rail 28 in the lateral direction from a respective side of the brush, as denoted by arrow 34 in FIG. 2, whereby the C-shaped channel 32 embraces the cross-head 28b of the rail 28 in order to couple the brush head to the handle. This mated condition between the T-shaped rail 28 and the C-shaped channel 32 prevents separation of the brush head from the handle in the longitudinal direction of the brush. Lateral separation of the installed brush head from the handle is prevented by other means, described herein further below.

Attached by respective hinges to the closed front end of the base channel 32 are two bristle supports 36, which are shown in FIG. 5 but are omitted from the other figures for illustrative simplicity. Each bristle support 36 defines a respective forwardly-opening channel that spans the full length of the rearwardly-opening base channel 32 in the lateral direction. The two bristle supports 36 reside one over the other, and each bristle support carries a respective bundle of bristles 38 that project forwardly out of the open side of the channel-shaped bristle support 36. The terms “front” and “forwardly” are being used to denote a direction moving longitudinally from the proximal end 12a of the brush handle in the direction opposite the distal end 12b of the brush handle. The hinged attachment of each bristle support 36 to the base channel 32 allows pivoting of each bristle support 36 about a respective pivot axis lying in the lateral direction of the brush. As shown in FIG. 5, such pivotal movement of the two bundles 38 of bristles allows the bundles to be pivoted away from one another, thus separating the bristles of one bundle away from the other for improved cleaning of the inner bristles of the brush at the inner facing-together sides 38a of the bundles 38. In the assembled state of the brush, the two bundles 38 are maintained in close or abutting proximity in parallel planes that are parallel to the longitudinal and lateral axes 14, 29.

In addition to the handle and the removable brush head, the brush 10 features a movable ferrule 40 that, in the assembled state of the brush 10, is slidably coupled to the mounting portion 18 of the handle 12. More specifically, the ferrule 40 is slidable in the longitudinal direction of the handle 12 between a deployed position shown in FIG. 1, and a retracted position shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. In the deployed position, the ferrule 40 closes around the mounting portion 18 of the handle at a location enclosing the rail 28 thereof within the confines of the ferrule 40. In the retracted position, the ferrule is withdrawn rearwardly from the proximal end 12a of the handle 12 toward distal end 12b thereof in order to expose the rail 28 outside the confines of the ferrule. The withdrawn position of FIGS. 2 and 5 thus reveal access to the T-shaped rail 28 of the handle 12 for sliding of the C-shaped base channel 32 of the brush head onto or off of the rail 28 in order to install or remove the brush head 20 from the handle 12.

Once the brush head is installed, the ferrule 40 is slid forwardly into the deployed position, where the ferrule 40 now closes around both the T-shaped rail 28 and the C-shaped base channel 38 that is mated thereto. In this condition, the side walls 40a of the ferrule 40 block lateral sliding of the brush head's base channel 32 off of the handle's cooperating rail 28, thereby maintaining the installed position of the brush head on the proximal end 12a of the handle 12. In addition, in the deployed position, the ferrule 40 reaches past the mated rail 28 and base channel 32 in order to also close around the two bristle supports 36 of the brush head, and thereby maintain them in abutting relation to one another in order to hold the two bristle bundles 38 together in a manner collectively forming a singular overall bristle collection of the assembled brush. The deployed position of the sliding ferrule thus maintains the installed position and parallel-bristle condition of the assembled brush, making it suitable for use. After use of the brush, the brush head can be removed by sliding of the ferrule 40 into the retracted position, and sliding of the base channel 32 of the brush head 20 off of the handle's T-shaped rail 28. The brush head can then be cleaned, during which pivotal separation of the two bristle bundles 38 ensures a thorough cleaning of all bristles. Alternatively, the old brush head can be replaced with a new one.

The sliding of the ferrule 40 in the longitudinal direction on the brush handle is guided by the cooperation of two internal guide walls 42 on the ferrule 40 with the two slots 30 in the brush handle 12. With reference to FIG. 3, each guide wall 42 extends from a top wall 40b of the ferrule to an opposing bottom wall 40b thereof at a position between the ferrule's two side walls 40a. Each guide wall 42 inside the ferrule 40 spans only a partial length thereof. In the retracted position of the ferrule 40, a rear end 42a of each guide wall 42 abuts a closed end 30a of the respective slot 30 in the brush handle 12, thereby blocking the ferrule from sliding rearwardly off of the mounting portion 18 of the handle 12. With the brush head 20 installed and the ferrule deployed, a front end 42b of each guide wall 40 abuts against the C-shaped base channel 32 of the brush head at its mated position embraced about the T-shaped rail 28 of the handle 12. Accordingly, the ferrule 40 is prevented from sliding forwardly off the handle 12 when both the ferrule and brush head are installed.

A frictional fit between the slots 30 of the handle 12 and the guide walls 42 of the ferrule acts to retain the ferrule in the deployed position until a sufficient pulling force is applied to draw the ferrule rearwardly into the withdrawn position.

Accordingly, the ferrule 40 will remain in the deployed position during typical use of the paint brush, thereby ensuring that the removable brush head remains in place. Although not shown, the frictional fit may employ a restriction point in each slot 30, for example as provided by a small protuberance jutting into the slot 30 behind the rear end 42a of the respective guide wall 42 from an otherwise flat sidewall of the slot 30 in order to resist rearward movement of the ferrule from the deployed position.

The lateral retention of the brush head by the ferrule and the longitudinal retention of the brush head by the mating rail and base channel thus cooperate the normally maintain the brush head in the proper working position for use of the brush. In the illustrated embodiment, the handle's rail and the brush head's base channel define cooperating attachment elements for sliding lateral mating of the handle and brush head together. It will be appreciated that in another embodiment, the rail and channel may switch positions. That is, a rail may be provided on the brush head for cooperative mating with a respective channel on the handle, which would again cooperate to longitudinally retain the brush head and handle together, and to block sliding of the movable ferrule forwardly past the deployed position.

In the illustrated embodiment, the paint can pry lever 26 is situated in a position concealed by the retracted position of the ferrule 40. To prevent interference with the sliding of the ferrule by the pry lever 26, the mounting portion 18 of the handle 12 has an asymmetric shape at the end thereof that transitions to the gripping portion 16. Specifically, one side edge of the mounting portion 18 at this end thereof features a cutaway area 49 at which the pry lever 26 projects laterally from the handle 12 such that the pry lever does not project beyond the plane of the remainder of this side edge along which the respective side wall of the ferrule slides during movement between the retracted and deployed positions. At this cutaway area 49, the mounting portion 18 of the handle is narrower on this side of the central longitudinal axis 14 than on the other side thereof.

While the slots 30 of the illustrated embodiment pass fully through the thickness dimension of the handle 12, and the guides of the ferrule are accordingly full-height guide walls 42 spanning fully between the top and bottom walls of the ferrule so as to extending fully through the brush handle from the topside thereof to the opposing underside thereof via the through-slots, other embodiments may alternately feature recessed slots in the top and bottom of the brush handle that don't fully pass through the handle, and corresponding tabs, tongues or other guides protruding from the top and bottom walls of the ferrule for sliding receipt in the recessed slots of the handle.

The slots of the illustrated embodiment pass through the proximal end 12a of the brush handle and the attached rail 28 so that the ferrule can be fully removed from the handle 12 once the brush head has been removed. To remove the ferrule, it is displaced forwardly off the proximal end of the handle from the retracted position that enabled the removal of the brush head. Full removal of the ferrule allows enhanced cleaning of the overall brush. Other embodiments may lack the ability to remove the ferrule in this manner, and accordingly may use slots that terminate short of the proximal end of the handle and thus are closed at their forward ends. In some embodiments, instead of having slots on the handle and guides on the ferrule, the top and bottom walls of the ferrule, or the side walls thereof, may have slots therein that cooperate with respective guides on the handle 12 to guide the longitudinal sliding motion of the ferrule.

Turning to FIG. 6, the utility tool 24 of the illustrated embodiment is a screwdriver tool having a longitudinal body 44 featuring a hollow socket 46 opening axially thereinto along the longitudinal axis 14 from one end of the body 44. This hollow socket 46 removably receives of a screwdriver bit 48 therein. A longitudinal bore also extends into the opposing end of the longitudinal body to define an internal chamber 50 for storing additional screwdriver bits 52 therein. Each screwdriver bit may be a double ended bit, as shown in the drawings. A clip 54 is removably attached to the longitudinal body at the end thereof having the internal storage chamber 50, thereby forming a lid by which the chamber is closable to safely secure the screwdriver bits 52 therein. The clip may be attached to the tool body, for example, by a releasable snap fit or by mating threads on the clip and tool body. With reference to FIG. 1, the clip 54 is attached to the end of the tool body 44 that resides at the distal end 12b of the brush handle 12 when the tool body 44 is inserted into the internal compartment 22 of the brush handle 12, whereby the clip resides outside the brush handle 12 at the distal end thereof for use in hanging the brush during periods of non-use. The clip 54 has a spring-loaded gate 54a that is spring-biased into the illustrated closed position, but that can be forced open to enable receipt of a hook, hanger, string, cable or other member into the mouth the clip for hanging support of the brush.

The screwdriver tool may feature a nub or protrusion on the external circumference of the tool body near the clip-equipped end thereof to cooperate with a corresponding nub or protrusion on the internal surface of the hollowed-out handle near the distal end thereof in order to provide a snap or friction that secures the tool within the compartment of the brush handle during normal use of the paint brush. Only upon the application of a sufficient pulling force on the clip-equipped end of the tool will the interference between these cooperating protrusions be overcome in order to allow withdrawal of the tool 24 from the paintbrush handle 12.

The tool 24 is thus removable from the paint brush while leaving the handle 12 thereof fully intact, which presents an improvement over prior art designs in which the gripping portion of a handle defines the body of a detachable tool, thereby rendering the paint brush unusable during use of the screwdriver. With the presently disclosed paint brush, the user of the paint brush can remove the screwdriver tool and lend it to another painter or worker while continuing to the use the brush. In addition, painters often leave their brushes in a paint can during temporary periods of non-use. In prior art solutions using a detachable portion of the paint brush handle as the screwdriver body, the lack of an intact handle on the brush head after detachment of the screwdriver makes it unsuitable to leave the brush head in a can of paint, as no handle grip is present for lifting of the brush head from its submerged position in the paint.

While the illustrated embodiment features a screwdriver tool, other embodiments may store tools of other types within the hollowed out portion of the paint brush handle.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the scope of the claims without departure from such scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

Claims

1. A paintbrush comprising: a handle having a proximal end and a distal end lying opposite thereto in a longitudinal direction of said handle, the handle comprising a gripping area defined adjacent the proximal end for manual holding of the paintbrush at said gripping area, and a first attachment element at the proximal end;a removable brush head selectively attachable to and detachable from the handle at the proximal end thereof, the removable brush head comprising a second attachment element selectively matable with the first attachment element to carry the removable brush head on the handle, and a plurality of bristles carried on the second attachment and extending in a longitudinal direction of said removable brush head;wherein the first and second attachment elements comprise slidingly matable elements engagable together by sliding one of the attachment elements over the other of the attachment elements in a lateral direction lying transverse to the longitudinal directions of said handle and said removable brush head.

2. The paintbrush of claim 1 wherein said one of the attachment elements comprises a channel and said other of the attachment elements comprises a rail over which said channel is slidable in the lateral direction in a position embracing about said rail to prevent withdrawal therefrom in the longitudinal direction.

3. The paintbrush of claim 1 further comprising a ferrule arranged to enclose around the first and second attachment elements after engagement of said first and second attachment elements together.

4. The paintbrush of claim 3 wherein the ferrule is slidably coupled to the handle for sliding movement relative thereto in the longitudinal direction of the handle between a deployed position enclosing around the first attachment element and a retracted position withdrawn out of the deployed position toward the distal end of the handle to reveal access to the first attachment element for engagement or disengagement thereof with the second attachment element.

5. The paintbrush of claim 1 wherein the bristles of the removable brush head are divided into multiple bundles, at least one of said multiple bundles being carried by a respective pivotal bristle support that enables separation of the multiple bundles of bristles from one another during cleaning by pivoting said pivotal bristle support about a pivot axis thereof.

6. The paintbrush of claim 5 wherein said pivot axis lies transversely to the longitudinal direction of the brush head.

7. The paintbrush of claim 1 wherein the handle comprises a hollow compartment extending longitudinally into the handle from the distal end thereof, and the paintbrush further comprises a removable tool received or receivable in the hollow compartment for removable storage therein.

8. A paintbrush comprising: a handle having a proximal end and a distal end lying opposite thereto in a longitudinal direction of said handle, the handle comprising a gripping area defined adjacent the proximal end for manual holding of the paintbrush at said gripping area, and a first attachment element at the proximal end;a removable brush head selectively attachable to and detachable from the handle at the proximal end thereof, the removable brush head comprising a second attachment element selectively matable with the first attachment element to carry the removable brush head on the handle, and a plurality of bristles carried on the second attachment and extending in a longitudinal direction of said removable brush head;a ferrule arranged to enclose around the first and second attachment elements when engaged together;wherein the ferrule is slidably coupled to the handle for sliding movement relative thereto in the longitudinal direction of the handle between a deployed position enclosing around the first attachment element and a retracted position withdrawn out of the deployed position toward the distal end of the handle to reveal access to the first attachment element for engagement or disengagement thereof with the second attachment element.

9. The paintbrush of claim 8 wherein one of the brush handle and the ferrule comprises at least one longitudinal slot therein and the other of the brush handle and the ferrule comprises at least one guide matable with the at least one longitudinal slot to guide longitudinal sliding of the ferrule on the brush handle.

10. The paintbrush of any one of claim 8 wherein the ferrule is removably coupled to the brush handle.

11. The paintbrush of claim 10 wherein the first and second attachment elements are arranged to block removal of the ferrule from the brush handle when said first and second attachment elements are mated together.

12. The paintbrush of claim 9 wherein the at least one longitudinal slot is defined on the brush handle and the at least one guide is defined on the removable brush head, and the at least one longitudinal slot extends through the first attachment in the longitudinal direction of the brush handle to allow removal of the ferrule by sliding of the ferrule past the first attachment element via said at least one longitudinal slot.

13. The paintbrush of claim 12 wherein the at least one slot spans a fully through the brush handle in a thickness direction thereof, and the at least one guide comprises at least one internal wall of the ferrule that spans from one side of the handle to another in the thickness direction.

14. A paintbrush comprising: a handle having a proximal end and a distal end lying opposite thereto in a longitudinal direction of said handle; anda brush head attached or attachable to the proximal end of the handle;wherein the handle comprises a hollow compartment extending longitudinally into the handle from the distal end thereof, and the paintbrush further comprises a removable tool received or receivable in the hollow compartment for removable storage therein.

15. The paintbrush of claim 14 wherein the removable tool comprises a screwdriver tool having a longitudinal body with a bit-receiving socket at one end for receiving any one of a plurality of different screwdriver bits.

16. The paintbrush of claim 15 wherein the screwdriver tool comprises a storage compartment for storing at least one of said screwdriver bits therein when not received in the bit-receiving socket.

17. The paintbrush of claim 14 wherein the removable tool comprises a hanging member at an outer end of the removable tool that resides outside the hollow compartment at the distal end of the handle for hanging support of the paintbrush by said hanging feature when said removable tool is received in the hollow compartment of the handle.

18. The paintbrush of claim 17 wherein the hanging member comprises an openable and closable clip.

19. The paintbrush of claim 1 comprising a paint can pry lever projecting laterally from the handle for use in prying a lid from a paint can.