Cylindrical hair brush cleaner

{
  "publication_number": "US6779220B1",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B1",
  "title": "Cylindrical hair brush cleaner",
  "abstract": "The present invention 10 discloses a partially cylindrical shaped hairbrush cleaner having teeth or tines 16 projecting longitudinally from the structure 26 forming an arc on one end and a gripping handle 22 on the other end. The tines 16 are made of a material suitable to resist bending, therefore, slots 20 are made extending beyond the tine base 24 into the structural member forming flexible ribbing 18 whereby forces 36 applied to the distal end of the tines will cause them to conform to the cylindrically shaped brush being cleaned. The present invention 10 will remove debris such as hair, threads and line 38 from cylindrically shaped hairbrushes 12. The device can be provided with various shaped handles 40, 42, 44 and 50.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A hair brush cleaner for use with a cylindrical shaped hair brush, comprising: a) an arc shaped member, said member having a first end and a second end, said arc shaped member being complementarily shaped as the cylindrical shaped hair brush; b) a handle disposed on said first end of said arc shaped member to permit a user to grasp the cleaner; c) a plurality of tines disposed on said second end of said arc shaped member, said tines having a proximate end and a distal end, said proximate end of said tines being disposed on said second end of said arc shaped member, said second end of said arc shaped member having a plurality of slots disposed therein; d) wherein said slots extend into said arc shaped member to form a flexible ribbing, each of said tines having a single slot disposed thereinbetween, said slots and said tines being disposed longitudinally; and, e) wherein said tines are stiffened to cause said flexible ribbing to flex and thereby permit said tines to conform to the shape of the cylindrical shaped hair brush.",
    "2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said arc shaped member forms a partial arc around a cylindrical shaped hair brush.",
    "3. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a hook being disposed on said distal end of each of said tines.",
    "4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said handle is elongated, having a plurality of finger grips disposed thereon for being grasped by a user.",
    "5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said handle has an aperture therein, said aperture being sized to receive a plurality of fingers of a user.",
    "6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said handle has a grip disposed on the distal end of said handle to permit a user to grip and to pull on the distal end of the handle."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "1. Field of the Invention\n\nThe present invention relates generally to hairbrush cleaning devices and, more specifically, to a partially cylindrical shaped hairbrush cleaner having teeth or tines projecting radially from the structure forming an arc. The tines are made of a material suitable to resist bending, therefore slots are made extending beyond the tine base into the structural member forming flexible ribbing whereby forces applied to the distal end of the tines will cause them to conform to the cylindrically shaped brush being cleaned. The device of the present invention will remove debris such as hair, threads and lint from cylindrically shaped hairbrushes. The device can be provided with various shaped handles all having a proximal end and a distal end. The user of the device of the present invention grips the proximal end opposite the distal end coupling the projecting tines.\n\n2. Description of the Prior Art\n\nThere are other brush cleaning devices designed for cleaning debris from the brush. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 339,137 issued to Brookbank on Apr. 6, 1886.\n\nAnother patent was issued to Myers on Nov. 9, 1909 as U.S. Pat. No. 939,290. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 1,280,821 was issued to O'Leary on Oct. 8, 1918 and still yet another was issued on Oct. 30, 1928 to Majewski as U.S. Pat. No. 1,689,209.\n\nAnother patent was issued to True on Jun. 22, 1937 as U.S. Pat. No. 2,084,603. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 2,230,610 was issued to Solomon on Feb. 4, 1941. Another was issued to Raya on Aug. 21, 1951 as U.S. Pat. No. 2,564,721 and still yet another was issued on Oct. 21, 1958 to Jacobsen as U.S. Pat. No.",
  "cpc": [
    "A46B 17/06",
    "A46B 2200/104"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "A46B 17/06"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Caroline Raffa"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2002-11-25",
  "publication_date": "2004-08-24",
  "grant_date": "2004-08-24",
  "priority_date": "2002-11-25",
  "application_number": "US-30409702-A",
  "family_id": "32867859",
  "cited_by_count": 18,
  "citations": [
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  ]
}