Dispensing brush head

A fluid dispensing brush head includes bristles whose base portions engage apertures in a resilient member to create seal which is disrupted when the bristles are deflected as in use to selectively dispense a fluid. The bristles may be affixed to or form part of a unitary bristle carrier which, along with the resilient member, is removably secured to the body of the brush head so as to permit the brush head to be disassembled and thoroughly cleaned.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to fluid dispensing. More particularly the invention 
relates to a brush head having bristles which engage apertures formed in a 
resilient member to selectively dispense a fluid when the bristles are 
deflected, such as by brushing action when the brush head is in use. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Brush heads for dispensing fluid materials are useful in a variety of 
applications including but not limited to applying liquid and/or powdered 
materials to the hair and scalp in the grooming of persons or animals. 
Such materials may include for example insecticides, medicaments, 
cleansing agents, conditioners or the like. Various types of fluid 
dispensing brushes and/or combs intended for such use have been known in 
the prior art. 
An early example of such a brush is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 621,917 to 
Hippisley. That brush includes hollow bristles communicating directly with 
a refillable fluid reservoir. The fluid to be dispensed flows from the 
reservoir and passes through the bristles before being discharged. Similar 
hollow bristles or teeth are also shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,626,617 to 
Sullivan, French Patent No. 1,105,353 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,913 to 
Wilkeson. As the passageways through the bristles or comb teeth are 
necessarily quite small, they are difficult to form economically and are 
prone to clogging. Sanitation is also a problem since it is very difficult 
to thoroughly clean the entire fluid flow path in such devices. 
Controlling the flow of the material being dispensed in a simple and 
economical manner has been another problem not satisfactorily addressed by 
the prior art. Hippisley '917 appears to provide no flow control at all 
other than the possibility of selectively orienting the brush for either 
no flow or flow under the influence of gravity. British Patent No. 342,944 
to Crouch et al. discloses providing a valve between the fluid reservoir 
and the bristles. However, separate valve components like these entail 
additional components and assembly operations. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,913 to Wilkeson shows a liquid dispenser and grooming 
brush for animals in which only some of the teeth or bristles are formed 
with internal passages for carrying the fluid. Each of these has a free 
end provided with a "self-sealing slit" which opens to emit fluid only 
when downward force is applied to the dispenser, pressing the free ends in 
contact with the skin of the animal. This arrangement also suffers from a 
number of drawbacks. As noted above, arrangements involving small passages 
of significant length are difficult to clean and readily become clogged 
and unsanitary. While the aforementioned slits provide a degree of flow 
control, they are unfortunately located close to the tip of each bristle. 
As such, they are not only prone to clogging but are also subjected to 
substantial wear which may cause premature failure. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In view of the foregoing problems associated with the prior art, it is an 
object of the invention to provide a brush head for dispensing fluid 
material in which flow of the fluid is selectively initiated in response 
to the normal mechanical forces involved in using the brush head but which 
is not readily clogged and is easy to clean thoroughly. 
It is a further object of the invention to provide a dispensing brush head 
which fulfills the foregoing objectives without necessity of locating a 
separate valve assembly in the flow path between fluid reservoir and 
bristle. 
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a dispensing brush head 
which fulfills the above objectives while locating flow control components 
away from the free ends of the bristles to avoid undue wear. 
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be made clear 
to the person of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the detailed 
description below and the accompanying drawings wherein like reference 
numerals designate like items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
In FIG. 1 there is shown a brush 9 including a brush head 10 constructed 
according to the present invention. Brush 9 includes a hollow fluid 
reservoir 12 which serves conveniently as a brush handle and which 
includes a threaded inlet 15 for receiving a supply of fluid to be 
dispensed. Inlet 15 may be provided with a cap 17 as shown or connected to 
a hose or other conduit (not shown) coupled to a supply of the fluid. Cap 
17 can be loosened slightly to provide venting to increase the rate of 
flow if desired. Reservoir 12 includes an angled section 19 terminating in 
brush head 10. In the preferred embodiment brush head 10 includes a 
cylindrical body 22 provided with external male threads 25 terminating 
near its rim 26. A flat ring-shaped gasket 28 having an outside diameter 
corresponding to that of the threaded portion of body 22 is optionally but 
preferably captured between body 22 and a bristle carrier 30. 
Bristle carrier 30 may conveniently be injection molded or otherwise formed 
as a unitary assembly of polypropylene or other suitable material. In the 
preferred embodiment, bristle carrier 30 includes a peripheral ring 33 
having an outside diameter corresponding to that of gasket 28. A web of 
mutually spaced bristle supports 37 are connected to ring 33 at its inner 
diametrical surface 39. The separations between adjacent ones of bristle 
supports 37 define openings 42 through which the fluid being dispensed may 
pass. Each bristle support 37 carries an array 44 of tapered bristles 46. 
In the preferred embodiment, each bristle 46 generally takes the form of 
an elongated cone of circular cross section although other shapes may be 
used if desired. While bristles 46 are preferably flexible and capable of 
deforming somewhat under the forces expected to be encountered in use, 
bristles 46 and/or their respective bristle supports 37 should be 
resilient enough so that at least the base portion of each bristle 46 
lying adjacent bristle supports 37 returns substantially to its original 
position when brush head 10 is not subjected to external forces such as 
those encountered during use when the bristles 46 of brush head 10 may be 
deflected as they are drawn through hair or other material being brushed 
or are forced into contact with a surface being brushed. 
In accordance with the invention, brush head 10 includes a resilient member 
50 in the form of a membrane or plate molded, perforated or otherwise 
formed to include an array of apertures 53. These apertures are arranged 
in a pattern corresponding to that of the array 44 of bristles 46 
extending from bristle support 37. Member 50 is of a size and overall 
shape corresponding to those of gasket 28 and bristle support 37 and 
preferably includes an uninterrupted perimeter region 55. Perimeter region 
55 is capable of forming a fluid-tight seal between the ring 33 of bristle 
support 37 and a radially inwardly protruding rim 59 of a releasable 
collar 61. 
To facilitate rapid and easy disassembly and thorough cleaning of the 
various components of brush head 10, collar 61 is conveniently provided 
with female threads 64 engageable with the male threads 25 carried by body 
22. Alternatively, a bayonet locking arrangement, a releasable snap fit or 
other releasable fastening mechanism be provided in lieu of threads 25 and 
64 in order to releasably secure collar 61 to body 22. If desired, collar 
61 may also be provided about its perimeter with additional bristles 46'. 
Bristles 46' may be of the same or a different material, shape, mutual 
spacing and/or length as the bristles 46 making up bristle array 44 
according to the demands of a particular application and the preferences 
of the user. 
Referring additionally now to FIG. 2, the components of brush head 10 are 
shown in their normal assembled configuration wherein option gasket 28 as 
well as bristle carrier 30 and member 50 are securely captured between 
body 22 and collar 61. The combined thickness of gasket 28, ring 33 and 
the perimeter region 55 of member 50 are selected such that when collar 61 
is fully engaged with body 22, gasket 28, ring 33 and perimeter region 55 
are sufficiently compressed between the rim 26 of body 22 and the radially 
inwardly projecting rim 59 of collar 61 to form a fluid-tight seal about 
the circumference of rim 59. 
In their normal, undeflected positions as shown in FIG. 2, the base portion 
of each bristle 46 is sealingly engaged by the peripheral surface of each 
aligned aperture 53 through which that bristle 46 passes when brush head 
10 is assembled as shown. This may conveniently be achieved by forming 
member 50 of a synthetic rubber or other elastomeric material and by 
sizing the base portions of bristles 46 to be slightly larger than the 
apertures 53 which receive them. Thus, when bristles 46 are in their 
normal, undeflected positions as shown in FIG. 2, apertures 53 are sealed 
by bristles 46 so that fluid from reservoir 12 remains within reservoir 12 
and/or within the interior confines of body 22 and is prevented from being 
dispensed from brush head 10. 
In use as illustrated in FIG. 3, bristles 46 are deflected as they engage 
hair and/or a surface 70 being brushed. Bristles 46 are sufficiently stiff 
that when so deflected, they cause member 50 to elastically deform in the 
vicinity of apertures 53. As a consequence, the seal previously existing 
between the base portions of bristles 46 boundaries of apertures 53 is 
momentarily disrupted as to permit fluid to be dispensed from brush head 
10. In cases where the fluid being dispensed is a liquid, the surface 
tension of liquid will ordinarily cause the liquid to flow along the 
outside surface of bristles 46 for distribution onto the hair and/or scalp 
or other surface being brushed. Powders or other fluid materials will be 
dispensed from apertures 53 near the base of bristles 46, thus providing 
bristles 46 with a maximum opportunity to work the powder into the hair or 
other material being brushed before any excess powder can be carried off 
by ambient air currents and be wasted. When the externally applied 
brushing force action on bristles 46 is momentarily removed or 
significantly reduced, the compliant character of member 50 as well as 
that of bristles 46 and/or their respective bristle supports 37 restores 
the sealing relationship between the base portions of bristles 46 and the 
boundaries of apertures 53 in order to terminate the dispensing of fluid 
from brush head 10 until bristles 46 are subsequently deflected to a 
degree sufficient to permit flow to resume. 
In view of the foregoing, it can be appreciated that flow of the fluid 
being dispensed is selectively initiated and terminated in response to the 
mechanical forces encountered while brush head 10 is in use. It can 
further be appreciated that since bristles 46 themselves cooperate with 
apertures 53 to control the flow of fluid, it is not necessary to provide 
a separate valve assembly in the fluid flow path between reservoir 12 and 
bristles 46. Because the fluid is discharged from brush head 10 near the 
base of bristles 46 rather than near their tips, clogging is less likely. 
Moreover, the compliant nature of the seal between apertures 53 and 
bristles 46 and the mechanical movement between those components which 
occurs when brush head 10 is in use makes foreign matter less likely to 
accumulate there. A further advantage of the brush head of the invention 
is that, as illustrated in FIG. 1 it can readily be disassembled to permit 
thorough cleaning and sanitizing of all components. 
Brush head 10 as described above constitutes a preferred embodiment of the 
invention, according to the best mode presently contemplated by the 
inventors of making and carrying out the invention. However, it is to be 
understood that the invention is not limited to the particulars of the 
embodiment which has been described. In light of the present disclosure, 
various alternative embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the 
art. Accordingly, it is to be recognized that changes can be made without 
departing from the scope of the invention as particularly pointed out and 
distinctly claimed in the appended claims as interpreted literally or 
expanded to include all legal equivalents.