US3036322A - Extension brush - Google Patents

Description

y 29, 1962 l. w. JORGENSEN I 3,036,322

' EXTENSION BRUSH I Filed Dec. 12, 1957 INVENTOR.

E 170 22 MJ' 767168 2 BY I Z k/M Unite Filed Dec. 12, 1957, S61. No. 702,285 2 Claims. (31. 1s--111 This invention relates to cleaning tools and more particularly to a combination brush and scraper.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a brush having an extension handle which may be in the form of a cleaning tool having an elongated stem slid-able within the body of the brush and which may be conveniently stored in a small place, such as the glove compartment of an automobile, so as to be readily available for manual use in cleaning surfaces of accumulated ice, snow, dirt or other unwanted foreign matter.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a compact cleaning tool of the above description which is collapsible to fit into small places yet which may be telescoped to an elongated position for reaching surfaces which are otherwise inaccessible, without the necessity of assembling separate components. Included within this object is the concept of a unitary assembly which need not be broken down or disassembled for storage, but which may be simply telescoped to a small size.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an extension brush adapted to be used in cooperation with a cleaning tool having an elongated stem fitted telescopically within the body of the brush in which the brush is operable to limit movement of the stem back into the body of the brush during use of the cleaning tool when the stem is in a position extended from the brush.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an extension brush of the above description which may be fabricated as a single unitary molding, thereby maintaining low manufacturing and assembly costs.

it is a still further object of the present invention to provide a cleaning tool of the above description which is of sturdy construction, is easily cleaned, is quick drying and is non-injurious to the surfaces on which it is ordinarily used.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be specifically pointed out or otherwise become apparent when referring, for a better understanding of the invention, to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

'FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a cleaning tool incorporating the structure of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1 taken along the line 2-2 thereof;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1 taken along the line 33 thereof; and

FIG. 4 is a structural view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1 taken along the line 44 thereof.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a telescoping brush and scraper tool embodying the features of the present invention. The tool comprises two components: a brush member 11 and a scraper member 13. The scraper member 13 is preferably made as a single molding of high impact polystyrene, although other materials, such as hard rubber or metal, could be used. The brush member 11 is preferably made firom a single molding of polyethylene and possesses a resilient quality.

The scraper member 13 has an elongated stem 15 of an I-shaped cross section. The forward end of the stem 15 expands into a neck 17 which, in turn, joins a curved deflecting shield 19 having spaced ends 21 and 23. Sup ported between and integrally connected with the ends 21 and 23 is a scraper blade 25 having a cutting edge 3,036,322 Patented May 29, 19-62 "ice 27 which constitutes the forward terminus of the scraper 13. A plurality of teeth 29 are cut around the upper surfiace of the deflecting shield 19 and lie on a common plane at an angle to the stem 15.

The stem 15 is provided with parallel flanges 31 and 33 disposed on opposite sides thereof along its entire length. A flange 35, extending across the end 37 of the stem 15, joins flanges 31 and 33. A continuous ridge or land 39 extends along the length of flanges 31, 35 and 33.

The brush member 11 includes a hollow, elongated, rectangular body portion 41 having a bore 43 of rectangular cross section which is open at its one end 47, and which is closed at its opposite end 45, except for a small opening (not shown) through which a support for the moulding core extends. The bore 43 is designed to receive the stem 15 of the scraper with the flanges 31 and 33 of the stem 15 slidably engaging opposite walls 49 and 51 of the chamber 43. Grooves 53 and 55 are formed in the walls 49 and 51, respectively, in order to receive the land 39 of the stem 15 and thereby smoothly to guide the stem 15 up and down the bore 43 as the scraper is moved inwardly and outwardly.

The stem 15 is movable in and out of the bore 43 from a collapsed position, with the neck 17 of the scraper 13 abutting the open end 47 of the brush member, to an open position with the flange 35 abutting a pair of oppositely facing detents 57 and 59 formed on opposite sides of the bore 43 near the open end 47. By applying suflicient force the flange 35 may be cammed over the detents 57 and 59, in order to totally disassemble the two components of the tool. However, under normal circumstances the detents 57 and 59 are suflicient to prevent complete withdrawal of the stem 15 out of the bore 43.

Integrally formed on the body portion '41 of the brush member 11 are a plurality of closely spaced bristles 61. The bristles 61 are formed in groups of four, each group extending from a cylindrical base 63 which divides into four separate bristles. Each bristle 61 is sutiiciently thin that it will easily deflect upon contact with a hard surface, yet will return to its upright position due to the resilient character of the material from which it is made. However, the body portion 41 of the brush member, while being of the same material as the bristles, is of much greater thickness than the bristles and is therefore sufiiciently rigid to [function as a handle and as support for the bristles. It may be seen that when the tool is telescoped to an open position with the flange 35 of the scraper stem 15 engaging the detents 57 and 59 of the brush body each of the two components acts as an extension handle for the other and, thus, if the user desires to brush snow from the roof of an automobile and cannot reach the desired location by grasping the body portion 41 of the brush member in his hand, additional reach may be obtained by extending the tool and grasping it at or in the area of the deflector shield 19. Similarly, the brush member may be gasped adjacent the closed end 45 in order to scrape locations remote from his own reach. For this use the brush member may be grasped with the fingers of the user curled around the bristles 61 which provide a wide, easily grasped gripping surface.

While the bore 43, extending the length of the brush member 11, serves to house the stem 15, it also offers a distinct advantage in the manufacture of the brush member 11. As was stated above, this member is preferably moulded. In the moulding operation a die having two sections and a central core are used. One section of the die dorms the bristles 61 and a part of the body portion 41, while the other section forms the top of the body section.

A rectangular core is held in the center of the die and 3 forms the bore 43. After the the top section of the die is removed and the entire part separated from the bottom section by lifitintg up on the ends of the core. It was found that the lower section of the die had so many surfaces which formed the bristles that the bristles tended to stick in the die and a strong, uniform upward lifting motion was needed to separate the two without breakingbristles ofi in the die. The use of the core to form the bore 43 provides the desired lifting device by which the entire part may be stripped from the lower die section without breaking bristles or other. wise damaging the part. 1

It will be noted that the scraper member 13 oliers two separate and distinct scraping surfaces which may be used on layers of ice and snow. The cutting edge 27 of the blade 25 may be used on thin layers of ice and snow in order to scrape such surfaces as automobile windshields. During this type of use-the deflecting shield 19 deflects the snow and ice which is scraped up over the blade 25 and causes the snow and ice to pass through the opening bounded by the inner edge 65 of the deflector shield 19 and the rear edge 67 of the scraper blade 25, thereby preventing the snow from running up on the hand of the user. Thusthe user may scrape an automobile windshield withont fear of getting his hands wet or cold from the snow or ice which he is scraping.

When thick layers of ice are encountered the ice may be scraped with the teeth 29. The teeth 29 bite into thick layers of ice on movement of the scraper back and forth over the ice and break up ice too thick to be peeled ofi by the blade 25. The user may easily convert from one scraping surface to another by merely turning the tool over. Then after use of the scraper, if loose snow or ice remains on a surface, this may be easily brushed away with the brush member, the scraper member cooperating to provide a long handle for reaching locations remote from the user. When ice is scraped with the tool extended, the pressure-of use will cause the brush mem* ber 11 to bow slightly and the stem will bind within the bore 43, which is sutficient to'preventthe stem 11 from working back into the bore 43. After use, the tool may.

molten material has set i 4 be collapsed for convenient storage with the stem 15 fully inserted in the chamber 43.

What is claimed is:

1. In a combination cleaning'tool including a work performing member having a stem, the improvement which comprises an integrally molded brush having a body portion provided with an elongated bore within which said stem is freely slidable and of a length suflicient to receive the major portion of the length of said stem, said brush member having a plurality of integrally formed bristles extending laterally from said body portion, and said brush member being suflieiently rigid to serve as an extension for said handle but being suificiently flexible so as to bind against said stem upon the application of lateral pressure to said brush member in order to limit movement of said stem back into said bore during use of said work performing member while said stem is in an extended position supported by said brush member.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1 wherein said body member is provided with a shoulder portion extending into said bore for'limiting movement of said stem Wholly out of said bore.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D.'154,526 Woofter July 12, 1949 1,495,675 Colt May 27, 1924 2,079,728 Arnold--. May 11, 1937 2,299,039 Haan Oct. 20, 1942 2,534,100 Baumgartner Dec. 12, 1950 2,645,804 Gantz et al. July 21, 1953 2,719,316 Hauser Oct. 4, 1955 2,762,074 Danchig Sept. 11, 1956 2,783,490 Kutik Mar. 5, 1957 2,832,980 ONeill May 6, 1958 2,856,621 R acicot Oct. 21, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 133,377 Austria May 26, 1933 430,712 Great Britain June 24,1935

Images