Patent Application
20110180013
1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to a pet brush. More specifically, the disclosure relates to a rotary pet brush with tines that are interchangable and that are designed to avoid harming the skin of the pet being groomed.
2. Description of the Background Art
There are numerous brushes and combs available for brushing animal fur (dogs, cats, horses, etc.) as well as human hair. Each brush has a different design of tines and bristles each serving a different purpose. These brushes are operated manually and get clogged with loose fur or hair during brushing. The manual brushing becomes a laborious process. The continuous clogging of the brush reduces the efficiency and effectiveness of the process.
Each brush or comb serves a different purpose, so the brushing must be done in several stages. First brush or comb may remove loose fur, second brush may reduce tangles, third brush may be a slicker, a fourth brush may add a sheen to the coat. The continuous clogging of brushes requires repeated manual removal of the accumulated hair/fur. In addition some tine shapes of the brush may scrape or even dig into the skin. In the brushing process the brush stroke may move with the grain of fur from head to tail or it may move against the grain of fur from tail to head. In either case the brush is gliding over the top surface of the fur and is not getting down to the skin surface of the pet. This is not an efficient or very effective procedure. Prior art brushes are used as a means to remove loose hair, straighten hair, remove tangles, and shape it into a preferred style so a hair spray or gel may be applied to hold the hair in place.
It is a primary objective of this invention to reduce the manual effort, toil and take some tedium out of the process of brushing fur or hair. Grooming an animal can wear out the arm muscles before the job is complete.
It is an objective of this invention to increase the versatility of the electric powered crawler by providing interchangeable heads with heads designed for various crawling applications.
It is a further objective of this invention to eliminate the need for multiple crawls by using fluted crawler heads with interchangeable channel strips. The channel strips shall have a variety of tines and the channel strips themselves may be assembled from an assortment of tines or channel strips. Thus allowing one crawler head to perform multiple functions simultaneously as it crawls the fur.
It is an objective of this invention that crawler heads, drums or sleeve may be custom assembled for the purpose of the situation the user wants to achieve tailored to the type of dog and fur.
It is an objective of this invention that the individual tines and other elements of each channel strip will have the loose hair that adheres to the crawler removed on a continuous basis during operation so there is no accumulation of fur in the brush.
It is an objective that skin guards, built into the tines on channel strips, will prevent individual channel strips from injuring the skin of a pet or person.
It is an objective of this invention that medications for prevention or poisoning of ticks, fleas, mites and other such vermin that reside in the animal fur will be dispensed from a container inside or outside the crawler drum head on the crawler handle and then forced through certain tines designed to deliver the chemical past the fur and down to the skin.
It is an objective of this invention coincident with that described above herein with the exception being that the chemical application shall be for the purpose of treating diseases of the skin such as rashes, blisters, bites, sores, psoriasis, and furthermore may also dispense chemicals for moisturizing dry fur or for adding sheen and/or color to the texture of the fur.
It is an objective of this invention to apply all of the objectives stated above for purposes of application to the human condition for human hair. In addition to brushing human hair to remove loose hair, tangles, and bring out the sheen the brush shall dispensed chemicals for various purposes such as applying coloring to the hair. treatment of dandruff, and dry scalp, hair growth products, and application of gels to hold the hair in a set style or permanent after brushing is complete.
It is yet another objective to use this brush as a means of applying sunscreen, sunless tanning lotion, hair epilators, and skin moisturizers directly to the skin. The advantage being greater efficiency in applying chemicals precisely where required with little waste and minimal mess as well as getting these creams and ointments thoroughly rubbed into the skin by the rolling brush tines without having to get the chemicals into the hands.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more pertinent and important features of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood so that the present contribution to the art can be more fully appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:
a)-(b) are views of a linear channel strip for use with the pet brush.
a)-14(b) are views of a concave channel strip for use with the pet brush.
a)-15(b) are views of a convex channel strip for use with the pet brush.
a)-16(b) are views of a wide channel strip for use with the pet brush.
Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
The present disclosure relates to a rotary brush for use in grooming a pet, such as a dog or cat. The brush includes a handle to which a head is rotatably mounted. The head preferably includes a series of channels that accepted elongated rows of tines. The tines can be formed in any of a variety of shapes or arrangements to facilitate proper grooming. A skin guard can also be included to prevent the tines from damaging the pet's skin. An accumulator is secured to the handle and is interdigitated with the series of upstanding tines. In this manner, the accumulator collects hair gathered by the tines. The various features of the present invention, and the manner in which they interrelate, will be described in greater detail hereinafter.
As illustrated in the exploded view of
The accumulator 44 is described next with particular reference to
As illustrated, when mounted to handle 22, the upstanding teeth 38 of accumulator 44 are positioned between the first and second ends (36 and 38) of yoke 34. It is preferred that teeth 48 are slightly inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of handle 22. Although the depicted embodiment utilizes five teeth 48, different numbers of teeth can likewise be used. Teeth 48 are preferably long enough so they are in close proximity to the face of the rotating head 24. This permits teeth 48 to be interdigitated and mesh with the tines 26 upon head 24. In this manner, teeth 48 collect hair gathered by tines 26.
Head 24 is preferably driven by an electric motor assembly 54 positioned within the interior of head 24. One suitable motor assembly 54 is depicted in the exploded view of
Motor assembly 54 also includes a motor mount 62 that is fixedly secured via a threaded connection to motor pivot 54. Motor mount 62, in turn, is secured to the motor 64 and a motor drive 66. The individual components of motor assembly 54 are arranged and secured such that the motor drive 66 rotates with respect to handle 22.
Motor assembly 54 drives both a drum assembly 68 and a sleeve 72. With continuing reference to
End cap 86 is preferably threadably secured to second end 78 of drum 74. As such, end cap 86 secures both motor mount 62 and motor 64 within the interior of drum 74. End cap 86 includes a central opening 88 that permits end cap 86 to be rotatably positioned over motor mount 62. As illustrated in
Sleeve 72 is lockingly received over drum 74. In the depicted embodiment, sleeve 72 includes grooves (or protrusions) 92 along its interior surface that mate with corresponding protrusions (or grooves) 94 on the exterior surface of drum 74. In this fashion, drum and sleeve (74 and 72) rotate as a unit with respect to handle 22. Sleeve also includes an outer surface 96 with a series of longitudinally formed channels 98. These channels 98 are adapted to receive a series of channel strips 102 as described below.
In use, the user can install a series of channel strips 102 into the channels 98 of a sleeve 72. These channel strips 102 can include particular tines 106 and tine configurations depending upon the nature of the grooming being performed. For instance, tines 106 can have different shapes or textures can be formed from varying materials depending upon whether the animal is being groomed for flea removal, hair removal, or simply combing. Once channel strips 102 are installed, sleeve 72 is inserted over drum 74. In order to accomplish, latch 72 is opened to permit drum 74 and interior motor 64 to be pivoted upwardly amount motor pivot 56. In this orientation, a sleeve 72 and be taken off or inserted over drum 74. Once a sleeve 72 is secured, the assembly can be pivoted back down and locked via the yoke latch 42.
Alternative designs to the above described sleeve 72 can also be employed. As noted in
There are numerous alternative embodiments for the channel strips and the associated tines and guards. In one embodiment, channel strip 102 includes tines 124 with a number of upstanding bristles. These bristles can be arranged in a broom type pattern. In another embodiment, the tines include an uppermost end that is “J” shaped 126. In yet another embodiment, the tine has an uppermost end that is “L” shaped 128. Elongated skin guards 108 can be spaced between the broom shaped, J-shaped, or L-shaped tines (124, 126, 128). As noted above, the skin guards 108 are preferably taller than the tines (124, 126, 128) and terminate in a bulbous end 112. This bulbous end 112 is designed to contact the skin of the animal without scraping or otherwise penetrating the skin. The guards 108 also prevent the surrounding tines (124, 126, or 128) from making contact with the skin.
In still yet other embodiments, the channel strip anchors can have a concave or convex shape (132, 134). These convex and concave channel strips (132, 134) can be used upon a cylindrical sleeve 72 or upon a convex or concave sleeve (114, 116). By selecting different channel strips with differing anchors (104, 132, 134) for differing sleeves (72, 114, 116), a wide variety of brush configurations can be achieved. The channel strip 102 can also be extra wide such that it spans multiple channels 98 upon the sleeve 72. In this embodiment, the channel strip includes two anchors 104 that are inserted into different channels 98 about the periphery of sleeve 72. Namely, a single channel strip 102 can be wide enough to span multiple channels 98.
In a further alternative embodiment, a modified brush 136 is provided wherein the rotary head 138 delivers fluids, such as water, medicine, or grooming products to the fur of the animal. This is accomplished by providing a tube within the interior of the handle that routes fluids to a fluid hub 142. Hub 142 is secured to the second end 38 of yoke 34 and includes a cut-out 144 that directs the fluid towards the forward face of brush 136. Hub 144 is positioned within the end cap 146 of the drum. The end cap 146 is modified to provide a peripheral fluid distribution line 148 and a series of fluid nozzles 152. These nozzles 152 are oriented to be aligned with the channels 98 formed within sleeve 72. Because the hub 142 is fixed and the end cap 146 rotates, water will be sequentially delivered to different fluid nozzles 152 as the rotary head 138 travels along the surface of an animal. As such, the fluid is only delivered to the surface being groomed. This also prevents the user from getting sprayed as the fluid is being applied to the animal.
The sleeve can be further modified to facilitate more targeted application of the fluid.
The present disclosure includes that contained in the appended claims, as well as that of the foregoing description. Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Now that the invention has been described,
This application claims priority from provisional application Ser. No. 61/298,707 filed on Jan. 27, 2010 and entitled Canine Pet Brush. The contents of this co-pending application are fully incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61298707 | Jan 2010 | US |
