Patent Application
20140007366
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to swimming pool cleaning devices and more particularly to swimming pool brushes.
2. Background of the Art
Swimming pool brushes have been around for many years. Most traditional brushes have an elongated handle connected to a brush head. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. D. 351,948 to Getchell, which illustrates an ornamental design for a pool cleaning brush. Various other patents disclose swimming pool brushes.
U.S. Patent No. 8,024,833 to Fuller et al. discloses a swimming pool and deck brush having a transversely elongated mounting bar curved rearwardly from a centerline and mounting longitudinally projecting bristles on the front side thereof to terminate in free ends disposed in a working plane.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,397 to Bean discloses a hydrofoil (10) for attachment to a pool brush to facilitate cleaning the side walls of a pool. The hydrofoil is pivotally attached to the handle through a resilient clip passing through a pair of opposed holes in the hydrofoil and received in matching engagement pin receiving apertures in a notch in the hydrofoil. As the pool brush is moved up and down along the side of the pool, the hydrofoil pivots and causes the water to force the pool brush against the side of the pool to facilitate cleaning.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,863 to O'Callaghan discloses a swimming pool cleaning brush having a pivotal vane that uses fluid dynamics for increasing contact pressure of the brush with the surfaces being cleaned during forward motion and then pivots to a nonimpeding position upon backward motion. The vane is designed to enable after market installation and is economically formed from two or three pieces of flat metal or plastic with necessary fasteners.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,427 to Conrad discloses a brush for cleaning underwater surfaces, such as swimming pool walls and bottoms, and uses a hinged wing that presents an inclined plane to the water when the brush is moved in its downward stroke. The wing thus acts to exert a desired force upon the brush which urges the brush against the surface being cleaned. On the return stroke of the brush, the hinged wing is caused to move to a position trailing the brush, where it avoids urging the brush back into contact with the surface that was just cleaned on the downward stroke.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,535 to Nehls discloses a brush for underwater cleaning of swimming pool edges and corners having a convex cylindrical bristle-mounting surface, bristles extending therefrom with distal ends which form a second convex cylindrical surface, and means for attachment of an elongated handle member.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,087 to Feinberg discloses a water foil attached to a swimming pool brush or vacuum cleaning head. The foil has a check valve structure (one-way valve) incorporated therein so that the foil urges a cleaning device against a swimming pool surface when pushed down through the water while presenting a minimum surface area during an upward stroke, thereby increasing the efficiency of a pool cleaning operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,296,643 to Fortune discloses a swimming pool brush including a brush head having four aligned end to end brushes comprising first and second intermediate brushes and first and second outer brushes, means pivotally interconnecting contiguous ends of said brushes whereby pairs of the brushes may assume different relative angularities lying in one plane, a fixed bracket secured to the means pivotally interconnecting contiguous ends of the first outer brush with the first intermediate brush and likewise interconnecting the contiguous ends of the second intermediate brush with the second outer brush, and separate links interconnecting the outer ends of the first and second outer brushes with the means pivotally interconnecting the contiguous ends of the first and second intermediate brushes.
When cleaning the swimming pool, conventional swimming pool brushes often permit dirt and debris to flow over the head of the brush and result in inefficient cleaning of the pool. This often necessitates multiple strokes of the brush to provide a more complete cleaning, requiring more time and effort. It would be advantageous to have a swimming pool brush which eliminates wasted effort in cleaning the walls and floor of the swimming pool.
A swimming pool brush is provided herein which comprises (a) a longitudinally extending handle; (b) a transversely projecting mounting bar having a central rectilinear portion; (c) a backing strip attached to the mounting bar; and (d) a plurality of longitudinally projecting discrete bristles of substantially equal length and each having a cross sectional diameter of no more than 0.3 mm.
Various embodiments are described below with reference to the drawings wherein:
It will be understood that any numerical range recited herein is intended to include all sub-ranges within that range.
It will be further understood that any compound, material or substance which is expressly or implicitly disclosed in the specification and/or recited in a claim as belonging to a group of structurally, compositionally and/or functionally related compounds, materials or substances includes individual representatives of the group and all combinations thereof.
Referring now to
Support frame 120 includes a tube 121 having a hollow bore for the reception of a removable handle 101. Handle 101 can include resiliently depressable buttons 102 configured to engage corresponding apertures in tube 121 of the support frame to provide a snap-in engagement. Other methods of connecting a handle 101 to the support frame 120, such as screw type engagements can alternatively be employed. The support frame 120 further includes a linear backing strip 122 to which bar 130 is removably fastened. Support frame 120 is preferably integrally constructed as a single piece member from a suitable material such as a metal which is corrosion resistant in a wet environment (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, and the like) or a high strength engineering plastic such as, for example, high density polyethylene plastic (HDPE), ultra high molecular weight polyethylene plastic (UHMWPE), MC cast nylon 6/66 plastic (Nylon), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polycarbonates (PC), polyamides (PA), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyphenylene oxide (PPO), polysulphone (PSU), polyetherketone (PEK), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyimides, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), or polyoxymethylene plastic (POM/Acetal).
Mounting bar 130 comprises a rectilinear portion 131 optionally having upturned positions 132 on opposite ends thereof The upturned end portions 132 are each rectilinear and oriented at an angle of from about 5 to about 30 degrees from the central rectilinear portion 131. Mounting bar 130 can be fabricated from a suitable high strength engineering plastic such as listed above.
Mounting bar 130 has a length L ranging from about 5 inches to about 36 inches and preferably is longer than conventional pool brushes. Mounting bar 130 can be removably attached to the linear backing strip 122 of the support frame 120 by screw fasteners or any other suitable method. Alternatively, mounting bar 130 can be permanently affixed to the linear backing strip 122 by, for example, adhesive.
Bristles 140 are a significant feature of the invention. Bristles 140 are attached at one end to, and extended perpendicularly from, the mounting bar 130. Bristles 140 are of equal length H which can be from about 1.5 inches to about 5.0 inches. In an embodiment bristles 140 are longer than conventional bristles on similarly sized brushes and can range in length from 3.0 to 5.0 inches, preferably 3.5 to 4.75 inches. Bristles 140 are substantially parallel to each other, except that the bristles 141 extending from upturned portions 132 of the mounting bar 130 are parallel to each other, but not parallel to the bristles extending from rectilinear portion 131 of the bar.
Bristles 140 can be fabricated from a natural fiber or any synthetic polymer suitable for the purposes described herein. Suitable polymers from which bristles 140 can be fabricated include, but are not limited to nylon, polybutylene terephthalate, polyphenylene sulfide, polyethylene and polypropylene. The polymers can optionally include dyes or pigments to make the bristles colored. The individual bristles each have a diameter of no more than about 0.3 mm to provide a desired flexibility and softness and allowing more bristles to be packed per unit area.
The present invention is especially advantageous for use in cleaning walls and floors of vinyl lined pools because the bristles are softer, and the extra length of the bristles facilitates cleaning contoured areas and pool steps.
While the above description contains many specifics, these specifics should not be construed as limitations of the invention, but merely as exemplifications of preferred embodiments thereof. Those skilled in the art will envision many other embodiments within the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the claims appended hereto.
The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/667,552 filed Jul. 3, 2012, which is herein incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61667552 | Jul 2012 | US |
