BRUSH COMPRISING A CARRIER MADE OF BAMBOO MATERIAL AND WIRE FOR FORMING STAPLES FOR A BRUSH OF THIS TYPE

Abstract

A brush including a support made of bamboo material having a plurality of cluster holes each accommodating one bristle cluster fixed in a cluster hole by a clip having a length 1 greater than the diameter D of the cluster hole to form clip projections on both longitudinal ends. The clips have at least two wedges on at least one side disposed one above the other in the direction of the vertical axis and widening upward, the upper ends of the wedges forming catch shoulders extending in the longitudinal direction of the clip, wherein a press-in end of the clip having a reduced width is formed at a lower end of the lower wedge.

Claims

1. A brush comprising a support made of bamboo material for disposing bristle clusters thereon, the support having a plurality of cluster holes each serving to accommodate one bristle cluster, the bristle clusters each being fixed in a cluster hole by means of a clip, the clips having a length 1 greater than the diameter D of the cluster hole so as to form clip projections formed on both longitudinal ends, and the clips having at least two wedges on at least one of two opposite longitudinal sides at least in the area of the clip projections, the wedges being disposed one above the other in the direction of the vertical axis and widening upward, the upper ends of the wedges forming catch shoulders extending in the longitudinal direction of the clip, wherein a press-in end of the clip is formed at a lower end of the lower wedge, a width b.sub.1 of the press-in end being reduced compared to a width b of the clip.

2. The brush according to claim 1, wherein the press-in end is formed by the lower end of the lower wedge.

3. The brush according to claim 1 wherein the press-in end is formed as an extension formed at the lower end of the lower wedge.

4. The brush according to claim 3, characterized in that wherein the width of the press-in end is 0.5 times to 1.5 times the width b.sub.2, b.sub.3, b.sub.4, b.sub.5 of a catch shoulder.

5. The brush according to claim 1, wherein the height h.sub.2 of the wedges is 4 to 8 times the width b.sub.1 of the press-in end.

6. The brush according to claim 1, wherein for forming catch grooves, adjacent wedges are spaced apart from each other by spacers which form a groove bottom in such a manner that a wedge surface of the upper wedge rising from the groove bottom forms a groove flank and the catch shoulder of the lower wedge forms an opposite groove flank.

7. The brush according to claim 6, wherein the groove bottom has a width b.sub.6 between 0.05 and 0.6 mm

8. The brush according to claim 6, characterized in that wherein the groove bottom has a width b.sub.6 between 0.2 and 0.4 mm.

9. The brush according to claim 6, wherein the catch grooves have a groove bottom which is parallel to the vertical axis.

10. The brush according to claim 6, wherein a transition formed between the wedge surface and the catch shoulder is formed as a convex transition edge.

11. The brush according to claim 1, wherein the upper one of each two wedges disposed one above the other has a catch shoulder having a greater width b.sub.3, b.sub.4, b.sub.5 than the catch shoulder formed by the lower wedge.

12. The brush according to claim 11, wherein the catch shoulder of the respective upper wedge has a width b.sub.3, b.sub.4, b.sub.5 which is greater than the catch shoulder of the respective lower wedge by between 5 and 15%.

13. The brush according to claim 1, wherein the clip is symmetrical to the vertical axis, which means that the wedges formed on opposite longitudinal sides form a symmetrical double wedge profile.

14. The brush according to claim 1, wherein the brush is a toothbrush.

15. A wire for forming clips for a brush according to claim 1, wherein the wire has wedges on at least one of two opposite longitudinal sides, the wedges being disposed one above the other in the direction of the vertical axis and widening upward, the upper ends of the wedges forming catch shoulders extending in the longitudinal direction of the wire, and a lower wire edge being formed at a lower end of the lower wedge, the lower wire edge having a reduced width b.sub.1 compared to wire width b.

16. The wire according to claim 15, wherein the lower wire edge is formed by the lower end of the lower wedge.

17. The wire according to claim 15, wherein the lower wire edge is formed as an extension formed at the lower end of the lower wedge.

18. The wire according to claim 15, wherein the width b.sub.1 of the wire edge is 0.5 times to 1.5 times the width b.sub.2, b.sub.3, b.sub.4, b.sub.5 of a catch shoulder.

19. The wire according to claim 15, wherein the height h.sub.1 of the wedges is 4 to 8 times the width b.sub.1 of the lower wire edge.

20. The wire according to claim 15, wherein for forming catch grooves, the adjacent wedges are spaced apart from each other by spacers which form a groove bottom in such a manner that a wedge surface of the upper wedge rising from the groove bottom forms a groove flank and the catch shoulder of the lower wedge forms an opposite groove flank.

21. The wire according to claim 20, wherein the groove bottom has a width b.sub.6 between 0.05 and 0.6 mm.

22. The wire according to claim 20, wherein the groove bottom has a width b.sub.6 between 0.2 and 0.4 mm.

23. The wire according to claim 20, wherein the catch grooves have a groove bottom which is parallel to the vertical axis of the wire.

24. The wire according to claim 15, wherein a transition formed between a wedge surface and a catch shoulder is formed as a convex transition edge.

25. The wire according to claim 15, wherein the upper one of each two wedges disposed one above the other has a catch shoulder having a greater width b.sub.3, b.sub.4, b.sub.5 than the catch shoulder formed by the lower wedge.

26. The wire according to claim 15, wherein the wire is symmetrical to a vertical axis, which means that the wedges formed on the opposite longitudinal sides form a symmetrical double wedge profile.

27. The wire according to claim 15, wherein the wire has a brass, nickel silver or aluminum alloy.

Description

[0034] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the brush using a preferred embodiment of the wire will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawing.

[0035] FIG. 1 is an isometric illustration of an embodiment in which the brush is a tooth brush;

[0036] FIG. 2 shows a brush head of the brush illustrated in FIG. 1 with clips pressed into cluster holes of a brush head;

[0037] FIG. 3 is an isometric illustration of a clip;

[0038] FIG. 4 is a sectional illustration of the clip illustrated in FIG. 3 according to line IV-IV in FIG. 3;

[0039] FIG. 5 is a partial sectional illustration of the brush head illustrated in FIG. 2 according to line V-V in FIG. 2;

[0040] FIG. 6 is a partial sectional illustration of the brush head illustrated in FIG. 2 according to line VI-VI in FIG. 2.

[0041] FIG. 1 shows a brush 10, which is a toothbrush in the embodiment example illustrated and which has a support 11, which is a brush head in this case and is illustrated in plan view in FIG. 2 and comprises a plurality of cluster holes 12, which are disposed in the shape of a raster in this case and are each equipped with a bristle cluster 13, which is anchored in cluster hole 12 by means of a clip 14.

[0042] Clip 14 illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 is produced from a portion of a wire which, in the case of the embodiment example illustrated, has four wedges 18, 19, 20 and 21, which are disposed one above the other in the direction of a vertical axis 17, on both opposite longitudinal sides 15 and 16 symmetrically to vertical axis 17, wedges 18, 19, 20 and 21 having an identical height h.sub.2 in the case of the embodiment example at hand and forming catch shoulders 22, 23, 24 and 25, which extend in the longitudinal direction of clip 14.

[0043] As shown in FIG. 4 in particular, wedges 18, 19, 20 and 21 widen toward upper ends, which form catch shoulders 22, 23, 24 and 25, respective spacers 26 being formed between wedges 18 and 19, wedges 19 and 20, and wedges 20 and 21, which are adjacent in the direction of vertical axis 17, each spacer 26 having a width bi, which is defined by the lower tapered end of wedges 19, 20 and 21, and a height h.sub.1. A press-in end 27 is formed at a lower end of lower wedge 18, press-in end 27 having both the same width b.sub.1 and the same height h.sub.1 as spacer 26 in the embodiment example at hand.

[0044] Respective catch grooves 28 are formed between wedges 18 and 19, wedges 19 and 20 and wedges 20 and 21, which are adjacent in the direction of vertical axis 17, each spacer 26 forming a groove bottom 29, a groove flank 30, which rises from groove bottom 29, being formed by a wedge surface 30 of upper wedges 19, 20 and 21, respectively, and an opposite groove flank 31 being formed by catch shoulders 22, 23 and 24, respectively.

[0045] As further shown in FIG. 4 in particular, catch shoulders 22, 23, 24 and 25 of wedges 18, 19, 20 and 21, which are disposed one above the other in the direction of vertical axis 17, have increasing widths b.sub.2, b.sub.3, b.sub.4 and b.sub.5, the fact that wedges 18, 19, 20 and 21 are disposed symmetrically to vertical axis 17 having the effect that an upper wire edge 32, which is formed by the catch shoulders of uppermost wedge 21, has double width b.sub.5. Contrary to upper wire edge 32, which is formed by catch shoulders 25 and which simultaneously determines thickness b of the clip, press-in end 27, which is formed by a lower wire edge 41, has reduced thickness b.sub.1.

[0046] As illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, bristle clusters 13 are held in cluster holes 12 as bristle clusters 13 are molded to longitudinal sides 15 and 16 and press-in end 27 in a U-shape and are accommodated in cluster hole 12 together with clip 14 in such a manner that cluster strands 33 and 34, which extend parallel to each other, are each accommodated between a longitudinal side 15, 16 of clip 14 and a hole wall 35. In a pressing-in process, which is necessary for achieving this arrangement, bristle cluster 13, which is wrapped around press-in end 27, is inserted into cluster hole 12 in the direction of vertical axis 27, clip projections 38 and 39 (FIG. 2), which are formed by longitudinal ends 36 and 37 of clip 14 and protruding beyond diameter D of cluster hole 12, being simultaneously pressed into the bamboo material of support 11 limiting cluster hole 12 in the direction of vertical axis 17 in such a manner that an essentially flush arrangement of upper wire edge 32 in a support surface 40 is achieved, as illustrated in FIG. 6.

[0047] As is apparent from FIG. 6, catch grooves 28, which are formed between wedges 18 and 19, wedges 19 and 20 and wedges 20 and 21, which are adjacent in the direction of vertical axis 17, enable the formation of free spaces between catch shoulders 22, 23 and 24 of the respective lower wedges and the lower ends of the respective upper wedges, fiber strands F of the bamboo material, which are formed unidirectionally in the bamboo material and are essentially parallel to longitudinal sides 15 and 16 and are oriented in the direction of the longitudinal axis of clip 14, being able to fill a large portion of said free spaces owing to elastic restoring forces after a preceding spreading of fiber strands F in the course of the pressing-in process with the result that a form fit is established between clip 14 and the bamboo material.

[0048] As is also clearly visible in FIG. 6, the fact that wedges 18, 19, 20 and 21 are disposed one above the other in the direction of vertical axis 17 in combination with a width of catch shoulders 22, 23, 24 and 25 which increases from press-in end 27 toward upper wire edge 32 in the direction of vertical axis 17 enables the formation of an overall wedge-shaped clip cross section 42, which is indicated by the dashed line in FIG. 4. Clip 14 thus has a wedge-shaped total cross section which is composed of wedge-shaped portions.

[0049] As has been found in tests for measuring the pulling forces required for removing bristle clusters 13 which are fixed in cluster holes 12 by means of clip 14 according to the illustrations in FIGS. 5 and 6 from support 10, the formation of clip 14 with a wedge-shaped total cross section composed of wedge-shaped portions disposed one above the other in the direction of vertical axis 17 as illustrated in FIG. 4 enables a substantial increase in the pulling forces compared to a clip configured according to WO 98/05238.

[0050] With an identical wire alloy of CuZn37 used for clip production, identical dimensions of the clips with a height h=2 mm and a width b=0.3 mm, an increase in the pulling forces of more than 30% could be achieved. In addition to this increase in the pulling forces, the clip weight could be reduced by more than 7% owing to the wedge-shaped total cross section illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6.