Bristles having varying stiffness
AssigneeE. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company
InventorMark Stephen Edwards
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Bristle stiffness is varied by allowing a support beam that carries the bristles to undergo torsional movement in response to brushing action. Torsional movement is achieved by allowing the support beam to be disconnected to the brush head along at least portions of the length of the support beam. In particularly preferred embodiments, brushes employing the varying stiffness techniques are made with bristle sub-assemblies that have at least one row of bristles connected to a base string or similar structure that functions as a support beam. The base string can be connected across an opening in the brush, and is thus connected at its opposite ends, or it can be connected at any number of spaced intervals, the number and length of spacing being selected to achieve a desired degree of stiffness.
Claims12
A method of manufacturing a brush comprising the steps of;
- forming a bristle sub-assembly having a support beam and a plurality of bristles connected to the support beam;
- forming a brush head;
- connecting the support beam to the brush head at one point or at spaced intervals along the support beam;
- and
- varying at least one parameter of the support beam to thereby vary stiffness of the bristles.
A method of manufacturing a brush comprising the steps of;
- forming a bristle sub-assembly having a support beam and a plurality of bristles connected to the support beam;
- forming a brush head;
- connecting the support beam to the brush head at at least one point;
- varying at least one parameter of the support beam to thereby vary stiffness of the bristles;
- and
- varying the stiffness of the bristles along the length of the bristle sub-assembly by varying the length of the support beam that is unconnected to the brush head.
A method of manufacturing a brush comprising the steps of;
- forming a bristle sub-assembly having a support beam and a plurality of bristles connected to the support beam;
- forming a brush head;
- connecting the support beam to the brush head at at least one point, wherein the connecting step includes connecting opposite ends of the support beam to the brush head while leaving a length of the support beam between the opposite ends unconnected;
- and
- varying at least one parameter of the support beam to thereby vary stiffness of the bristles.
A brush comprising;
- at least one bristle sub-assembly having a support beam and a plurality of bristles connected to the support beam;
- a brush head;
- means for connecting the support beam to the brush head at spaced intervals along the support beam, thereby providing bristle stiffness which is dependent on the parameters of the support beam.
A brush comprising;
- at least one bristle sub-assembly having a support beam and a plurality of bristles connected to the support beam;
- a brush head;
- and
- means for connecting the support beam to the brush head at at least one point, thereby providing bristle stiffness which is dependent on the parameters of the support beam, wherein the connecting means includes means for connecting opposite ends of the support beam to the brush head while leaving a length of the support beam between the opposite ends unconnected, thereby providing bristle
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.