Adjustable Hairbrush Assembly

Abstract

An adjustable hairbrush assembly includes a housing, a brush plate, and an adjustment mechanism. The housing includes a first panel, a second panel, and a perimeter wall connecting the panels, wherein the first panel has a plurality of orifices. The brush plate is in the housing and includes groups of bristles, each projecting through a corresponding orifice. The adjustment mechanism is positioned within the housing and is operatively connected to the brush plate to move the brush plate toward the first panel to thereby extend the groups of bristles such that the bristles in each group of bristles are permitted to fan out to form a more flexible group of bristles, and away from the first panel to thereby retract the groups of bristles such that the bristles in each group of bristles are compacted together in the orifices to form a less flexible group of bristles.

Claims

1. An adjustable hairbrush assembly comprising: a housing, the housing including a first panel, a second panel, and a perimeter wall connecting the first panel and the second panel, the first panel including a plurality of orifices; a brush plate, the brush plate being positioned within the housing; a plurality of groups of bristles, each of the groups of bristles being mounted on the brush plate, each of the groups of bristles being positioned to project through a respective one of the orifices in the first panel; and an adjustment mechanism, the adjustment mechanism being positioned within the housing, the adjustment mechanism being coupled to the brush plate, the adjustment mechanism being configured to move the brush plate toward the first panel to extend and fan out the groups of bristles to increase flexibility of the groups of bristles, the adjustment mechanism being configured to move the brush plate away from the first panel to retract and compact the groups of bristles to decrease flexibility of the groups of bristles.

2. The adjustable hairbrush assembly of claim 1, wherein the adjustment mechanism includes a cam assembly engaged with the brush plate and a manual actuation device connected to the cam assembly for selective movement of the brush plate to adjust the extension and flexibility of the groups of bristles.

3. The adjustable hairbrush assembly of claim 2, wherein the adjustment mechanism includes springs positioned between the first panel and the brush plate, the springs are configured to push the brush plate away from the first panel when the brush plate is not being displaced toward the first panel by the cam assembly.

4. The adjustable hairbrush assembly of claim 3, wherein the housing includes guide posts positioned between the first panel and the second panel, the guide posts are configured to support and guide the brush plate and the springs.

5. The adjustable hairbrush assembly of claim 2, wherein the cam assembly includes movable cam arms engaged with corresponding cam structures on a back side of the brush plate.

6. The adjustable hairbrush assembly of claim 5, wherein the cam assembly includes a rotatable slot cam gear coupled to the manual actuation device and coupled to each of the cam arms to move each of the cam arms.

7. The adjustable hairbrush assembly of claim 2, wherein: the housing includes a slot in the perimeter wall; and the manual actuation device includes a lever projecting out of the slot.

8. The adjustable hairbrush assembly of claim 7, wherein the slot includes a plurality of lock steps to selectively lock the lever in a position corresponding to a desired adjustment of the groups of bristles.

9. The adjustable hairbrush assembly of claim 4, wherein the cam assembly includes movable cam arms engaged with corresponding cam structures on a back side of the brush plate.

10. The adjustable hairbrush assembly of claim 9, wherein the cam assembly includes a rotatable slot cam gear coupled to the manual actuation device and coupled to each of the cam arms to move each of the cam arms.

11. The adjustable hairbrush assembly of claim 10, wherein: the housing includes a slot in the perimeter wall; and the manual actuation device includes a lever projecting out of the slot.

12. The adjustable hairbrush assembly of claim 11, wherein the slot includes a plurality of lock steps to selectively lock the lever in a position corresponding to a desired adjustment of the groups of bristles.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

[0012] The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

[0013] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an adjustable hairbrush assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0014] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0015] FIG. 3 is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure in use.

[0018] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 7 is a view of an embodiment of the disclosure in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0020] With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 7 thereof, a new adjustable hairbrush assembly embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

[0021] As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 7, the adjustable hairbrush assembly 10 generally comprises a housing 12, a brush plate 14, and an adjustment mechanism 16. The housing 12 includes a first panel 18, a second panel 20, and a perimeter wall 22 connecting the first panel 18 and the second panel 20, wherein the first panel 18 has a plurality of orifices 24 therein. The brush plate 14 is positioned within the housing 12 and includes a plurality of groups of bristles 26, each projecting through a corresponding one of the orifices 24. The adjustment mechanism 16 is positioned within the housing 12 and is operatively connected to the brush plate 14 to move the brush plate 14 toward the first panel 18 to thereby extend the groups of bristles 26 such that the bristles 26 in each group of bristles 26 are permitted to fan out to form a more flexible group of bristles 26 (see FIG. 6), and away from the first panel 18 to thereby retract the groups of bristles 26 such that the bristles 26 in each group of bristles 26 are compacted together in the orifices 24 to form a less flexible group of bristles 26 (see FIG. 1).

[0022] The adjustment mechanism 16 can be designed in various forms using cams, lever 42s, steps, arms, gears, rams, screws, belts, and essentially any other kind of mechanical adjustment or linkage device to move the brush plate 14 back and forth. The adjustment mechanism 16 could also be powered by electricity and use a drive system. The adjustment mechanism 16 could also use a magnetic system. FIGS. 2 and 5 show an exemplary embodiment of the adjustment mechanism 16, which includes a cam assembly 28 engaged with the brush plate 14 and a manual actuation device 30 connected to the cam assembly 28 to permit a user to selectively move the brush plate 14 to adjust the extension and flexibility of the groups of bristles 26. As seen in FIG. 5, the adjustment mechanism 16 further includes springs 32 positioned between the first panel 18 and the brush plate 14 and designed to push the brush plate 14 away from the first panel 18 when the brush plate 14 is not being displaced toward the first panel 18 by the cam assembly 28. In other words, the cam assembly 28 can be adjusted to move the brush plate 14 toward the first panel 18 against the pressing force of the springs 32. When the cam assembly 28 is adjusted in the other direction, the springs 32 push the brush plate 14 away from the first panel 18. The housing 12 includes guide posts 34 positioned between the first panel 18 and the second panel 20 and designed to support and guide the brush plate 14 and the springs 32.

[0023] The cam assembly 28 includes movable cam arms 36 engaged with corresponding cam structures 38 on a back side of the brush plate 14. The cam assembly 28 also includes a rotatable slot cam gear 40 connected to the manual actuation device 30 and operatively connected to each of the cam arms 36 to move each of the cam arms 36.

[0024] The manual actuation device 30 is essentially in the form of a lever 42 projecting out of a slot in the perimeter wall 22 of the housing 12. The slot includes a plurality of lock steps 44 to permit a user to selectively lock the lever 42 in a position corresponding to a desired adjustment of the groups of bristles 26. Instead of a lever 42, a thumb wheel or gear could be used.

[0025] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, to use the adjustable hairbrush assembly 10, the user can move the lever 42 to rotate the slot cam gear 40, extend the slot cam arms 36, and thus move the brush plate 14 toward the first panel 18 and extend the groups of bristles 26 to a desired extension corresponding to a desired flexibility. The user can then lock the lever 42 in that position. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the user can adjust the lever 42 to the end of the slot and thus cause maximum extension and projection of the groups of bristles 26 out of their orifices 24. Since most of the length of each of the bristles 26 is projecting out of the orifices 24, the individual bristles 26 are permitted to fan out and move without restriction, which results in a set of soft or very flexible bristles 26 for use in hair styling or brushing procedures that utilize soft bristles. In contrast, FIG. 1 shows the lever 42 having been adjusted completely to the other end of the slot and thus caused maximum retraction and minimized projection of the groups of bristles 26 out of their orifices 24. Since much less of the length of each of the bristles 26 is projecting out of the orifices 24, the individual bristles 26 do not fan out, but rather are compacted together and generally resist movement, which results in a set of hard or rather stiff bristles 26 for use in hair styling or brushing procedures that utilize hard bristles. In other words, the longer the exposed length of bristles 26, the more flexible the bristles 26 are, and the shorter the exposed length of bristles 26, the less flexible the bristles 26 are.

[0026] With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

[0027] Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word comprising is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article a does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.