Bottle-nipple brush
AssigneeMunchkin, Inc.
InventorSteven B. Dunn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A brush assembly for scrubbing an article such as a baby bottle includes a bottle brush that has a recess defined in its handle and a nipple brush that has a scrubbing end that is sized and shaped to at least partially fit within the recess in a storage position. A second end of the nipple brush is provided with a suction cup that permits the nipple brush to be mounted to a fixed surface, such as a sink. Retention structure is provided for retaining the nipple brush in the storage position with respect to the bottle brush, so that the bottle brush may be used to scrub bottles while the nipple brush, and hence the bottle brush, remains affixed to the fixed surface.
Claims21
A brush assembly, comprising:
- a bottle brush, said bottle brush comprising a handle having a recess defined therein and a bottle scrubbing portion that is adapted for scrubbing baby bottles;
- a nipple brush, said nipple brush comprising mounting means for mounting said nipple brush to a fixed surface and a nipple scrubbing portion that is adapted for scrubbing baby bottle nipples, and wherein said bottle brush and said nipple brush are sized and shaped so that said nipple brush is attached to said bottle brush in a storage position wherein said nipple scrubbing portion is positioned within said recess;
- and
- retention means for releasably retaining said nipple brush in said storage position with respect to said bottle brush, and wherein:
- said retention means has sufficient axial strength to retain said nipple brush in the storage position when said mounting means is attached to a fixed surface and said bottle brush is being used to scrub a standard narrow neck baby bottle;
- and
- said mounting means has a sufficient predetermined force of adhesion to remain attached to the fixed surface when said bottle brush is being used to scrub a standard narrow neck baby bottle.
A brush assembly, comprising:
- a bottle brush, said bottle brush comprising a handle having a recess defined therein and a bottle scrubbing portion that is adapted for scrubbing baby bottles;
- a nipple brush that is separable in use from said bottle brush, said nipple brush comprising mounting means for mounting said nipple brush to a fixed surface and a nipple scrubbing portion that is adapted for scrubbing baby bottle nipples, and wherein said bottle brush and said nipple brush are sized and shaped so that said nipple brush is attached to said bottle brush in a storage position wherein said nipple scrubbing portion is positioned within said recess;
- and
- retention means for releasably retaining said nipple brush in said storage position with respect to said bottle brush, said retention means being constructed and arranged so that said nipple brush will be maintained in the storage position when said mounting means is attached to a fixed surface and said bottle brush is being used to scrub a baby bottle, and wherein said mounting means is constructed and arranged to mount said nipple brush to a fixed surface with a predetermined force of adhesion, and wherein said retention means is constructed and arranged to retain said nipple brush in said storage position against an axial tensile force that is no less than said predetermined force of adhesion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.