Abstract:
A brush having an ergonomic handle is utilized in conjunction with a body in different orientations as a result of rotation of the handle. Suitable handles are readily removed from the body by the user by operating a spade shaped clip or other quick release mechanism. It is especially desirable to provide a collection of interchangeable brushes and handles that provide numerous permutations for different uses. It is further contemplated that the advantages of such a system of brushes could benefit from advertising that directs potential consumers to usefulness with respect to automotive care.

Description:
[0001]     This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/868,548 filed on Jun. 14, 2004, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     Automobile dusters are known to have a handle that is either formed integrally with the duster body, or is screwed into the body using mating threads. The mating threads are disposed on an end of the handle, and in a cavity in the body. As with most common household dusters, the handle of the duster is substantially linear, and radially symmetrical. This linear, radially symmetrical handle works well for most common household tasks because the surfaces being dusted are all generally within close reach of the person doing the dusting.  
         [0003]     Automobiles, however, present unique problems that common household dusters are not equipped to address. For one thing, there may be surfaces on a car that are hard for a person to reach with a common household duster. This is true not only because of the length of the handle on the duster but additionally because of the linear nature to the handle. A handle may be long enough, for instance, to reach a truck roof but because the handle is not angled or curved sufficiently, it will be difficult to dust the roof of the automobile. Even if a person is able to hold the duster high enough to dust the roof with a linear handled duster, the person&#39;s arm is likely to quickly fatigue.  
         [0004]     While a curved handle may be desirable, a fixed arrangement between the body and curved handle can be undesirable, in that the handle/body orientation cannot be adapted to different uses. For example, a user cannot switch a fixed handle from a concave down handle orientation to a concave up handle orientation, while maintaining the dusting surface in a down orientation.  
         [0005]     The present applicant does not know of any automobile dusters with curved handles, but even if those products do exist, they do not address a need for re-orientation of the curvature by rotation of the handle.  
         [0006]     Thus, there is still a need for a duster having a curved handle, in which the orientation of the curvature can be changed by rotation of the handle.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The present invention is directed toward a dusting system having a base, a dusting surface, and a curved handle that is releasably coupled to the base such that orientation of the handle to the dusting surface is altered by rotating the handle with respect to the base.  
         [0008]     In another aspect, the present invention is directed toward methods that include the steps of: providing a plurality of interchangeable duster surfaces and handles of different sizes, shapes, or curvatures; and advertising the plurality of interchangeable bases and handles as being adapted to clean different parts of an automotive vehicle. It is especially desirable to provide a collection of interchangeable duster surfaces and handles, because a relatively small number of parts would provide numerous permutations that are well adapted to different uses. Thus, a system having 5 different duster surfaces and 3 different handles would have 30 different permutations, including orientation changes as different permutations. It is further contemplated that the advantages of such a system of dusters could benefit from advertising that directs potential consumers to usefulness with respect to automotive care. One combination of duster and handle may be especially advantageous for cleaning the roof of the automobile, while another combination may be especially advantageous for cleaning the bumber.  
         [0009]     In preferred embodiments, the handle is readily removable from the body by the user, without the use of any tools. Release of the handle can be achieved in numerous ways, including the use of a spade shaped clip or other quick release mechanism. In especially preferred embodiments the handle has a terminal clip with two or more arms, each of which has a ridge or other detent that cooperates with a shoulder or other latching type of member in the receiving cavity. Contemplated bases have a mating mechanism, such as a round, oval, rectangular, slot shaped, or other receiving cavity.  
         [0010]     In another aspect the handle is ergonomic in having a curvature that fits in the palm of a user&#39;s hand, and/or an indentation for the user&#39;s thumb or one of his/her fingers.  
         [0011]     Duster bases contemplated to be used in the inventive subject matter include numerous different shapes, with horizontal cross-sections being rectangular, round, oval, and so forth. The handle can be disposed with respect to the base in any suitable configuration, including where the handle is disposed substantially perpendicular to the longest dimension.  
         [0012]     Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0013]      FIG. 1  is a top down view of a duster.  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a side view of the duster of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0015]      FIG. 3  is rear side view of the duster of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0016]      FIG. 4  is a side view of the duster of  FIG. 1  with a concave up handle.  
         [0017]      FIG. 5  is a side view of the duster of  FIG. 1  with a concave down handle.  
         [0018]      FIG. 6  is a side view of a long handle.  
         [0019]      FIG. 7  is a top down view of the long handle of  FIG. 6 .  
         [0020]      FIG. 8  is a top down view of a long handle duster.  
         [0021]      FIG. 9  is a side view of a long handle duster.  
         [0022]      FIG. 10  is a side view of a short handle having a quick release mechanism.  
         [0023]      FIG. 11  is a top down view of an alternative quick release mechanism. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0024]      FIGS. 1 and 2  depict a duster  100  having a base  110  coupled to a dusting component  120 .  
         [0025]     Base  110  is ergonomically shaped as can better be observed from  FIG. 3 . The ergonomic shape of the base makes it easy to grip and use as a “hand duster”, if desired. It should be recognized that other base shapes are suitable so long as the base has a relatively flat surface that couples to the dusting component. Base  110  is shown to be less than one half of the elongated length of the dusting component. It is contemplated that a relatively short base relative to the length of the dusting component will give the duster more flexibility than one that has a long base. This is so because the base is relatively stiff while the dusting component is very flexible allowing it to adapt to the contour of the item being dusted.  
         [0026]     A base is preferably releasably coupled to a dusting component so that the dusting component can be readily replaced, however, the inventive subject matter is not limited to embodiments in which the base is releasably coupled to the dusting component.  
         [0027]     Dusting component  120  is preferably has a dusting surface  125  that is comprised of relatively soft material that is not likely to scratch a car finish. Especially preferable materials include cottons, polyesters, and other polymers. Upper surface  127  of dusting component  120  may have a backing or other substantially rigid material, however, preferred embodiments allow for extreme flexibility of the dusting component.  
         [0028]      FIG. 3  generally consists of base  110 , dusting component  120  and receiving cavity  130 . Receiving cavity  130  is sized and dimensioned to receive a handle (not shown here). It is generally contemplated that a receiving cavity will have interior components that enable quick coupling and decoupling of a handle. Any suitable quick release mechanisms will suffice in this regard. For example, a receiving cavity may have a shoulder formed within it&#39;s inner walls and such shoulder may prohibit a handle from slipping out during use. Other embodiments that utilize a quick release mechanism may include indentations that receive and temporarily hold an outwardly biased portion of a handle.  
         [0029]      FIGS. 4 and 5  show a duster  400  having a short handle  410 . In  FIG. 4 , the handle has it&#39;s concave side  420  facing up. In the orientation shown in  FIG. 5 , the concave side  520  of the handle is facing down. It should be appreciated that the embodiment shown in  FIG. 4  is more likely to be used when dusting a surface that is below the user&#39;s shoulder while the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5  is more likely to be used when dusting a surface that is above the user&#39;s shoulder. Note that the curve of the handle facilitates contact of the dusting surface  430  with the object being dusted.  
         [0030]     Handle  410  operates the same with respect to the base  440  of the duster regardless of rotation of the handle; it makes no difference which “side” of the handle is facing up, and which “side” is facing down. The term “side” is used here in quotes because in theory a radially symmetrical handle has only one side. Nevertheless, there will always be slight differences in any physical embodiment of a handle, and the term “side” or “sides” in that context refers to a hypothetical longitudinal division of the handle into upper and lower portions.  
         [0031]     A quick release mechanism generally has a male portion and a female portion. In  FIGS. 6 and 7 , a male portion  610  of a quick release mechanism can be observed on a long handle  620 . Here, the male portion  610  has tabs  612  which are normally outwardly biased by a spring (not shown). Tabs (e.g. balls) can be received within a slot or other indentation in the female portion of the quick release mechanism (e.g. the receiving cavity). It is contemplated that handle  620  can be coupled to a base in either of two orientations—with the concave side  625  facing down or with the concave side  625  facing up.  
         [0032]      FIGS. 8 and 9  depict a duster  800  in which a long handle  810  is coupled in mesial relation with the base which is also coupled in mesial relation to the dusting component  830 . In this configuration, there is relatively little flexibility in the dusting component because the base provides generally inhibits flexible movement of the dusting component.  
         [0033]      FIG. 10  shows a handle  1000  having a male portion  1010 . The curvature of the handle can be easily observed by reference to line  1020  which shows the line of insertion for inserting the handle into a receiving cavity.  
         [0034]      FIG. 11  shows an alternative handle  1100  and male portion  1110  of a quick release mechanism. Note that male portion  1110  has two outwardly biased tapered cams  1120 . As handle  1100  is inserted into receiving cavity, cams  1120  are forced inward toward the middle of the male portion. The cams  1120  are received within indentations in the inner wall of the receiving cavity thereby holding the handle to the base. Shoulders  1130  generally abut up against a portion of the base surrounding the receiving cavity. In order to remove handle  1100 , it is contemplated that pressure upon the sides of the handle at numerals  1140  will force the cams inward and enable removal of the handle.  
         [0035]     In use, a user simply selects an appropriate handle, positions the handle either upside up or upside down, and then inserts the quick connect end of the handle into the receiving slot or other mechanism of the duster base. To remove, the user pushes in on the sides of the connection fork, or otherwise operates the quick-release mechanism, then pulls the handle away from the base. To place the duster in an alternate configuration, the user rotates the handle 180° along its long axis, and then re-inserts the connection end of the handle into the duster body.  
         [0036]     Those skilled in the art will appreciate that instead of or in addition to removing a handle from a duster base, rotating the handle or base relative to one another, and then reinserting the handle, there are other ways to rotate the handle to achieve the same effect. For example, there may be a rotatable joint in the handle near its connection with the duster base. Such a joint could be locked in a given position using any suitable mechanism. In all such instances it is still contemplated that a duster having an ergonomic handle would have different orientations as a result of rotation of the handle, as those terms are used in this application.  
         [0037]     Thus, specific embodiments and applications of a duster with rotating reversible handles have been disclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims. Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced.