Buffer brush for stenciling

A buffer brush for stenciling with which the user's hand will not get tired even if it taps the handle for a long time to stencil ink, and the close contact of the ink absorbing part and the stencil will be good. The buffer brush comprises an ink absorbing part on a handle which is made of buffer material. The buffer brush can also comprise an orifice into which the user can insert a finger, retaining the buffer brush to the finger and further allowing the user to relax the hand.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention pertains to stencil brushes, particularly brushes for 
stenciling that are less tiring for the user because the brushes have 
buffer characteristics, are fitted over the user's fingertip, or both. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Conventionally, stenciling is done as follows: Stencils with letters, 
figures, or designs cut out are laid over a sheet of paper. Watercolors 
(water-soluble paint), or ink from a stamp pad is transferred to a stencil 
brush, then the artist colors by slightly tapping the stencil brush on the 
top of the stencil. Then, afterward, the stencil is removed and the 
letters, figures, or designs are copied. 
Stencil brushes used for conventional stencils can have, as illustrated in 
FIG. 1, a brush 13 of animal hair, etc., attached to the tip of a wooden 
or bamboo handle 11, or as illustrated in FIG. 2, an ink absorbing part 12 
of polyurethane sponge, etc., attached to the tip of a handle 11 of wood, 
bamboo, or hard plastic. The artist can hold the handle 11 with his or her 
fingers in the same manner as a pencil, and color with ink by slightly 
tapping the brush 13 on top of the stencil. 
However, such conventional stencil brushes have the following problem: 
Because the handle 11 is made of hard material such as wood, bamboo, or 
hard plastic, when the user taps the handle 11 to dispense the ink, the 
impact of the tapping force returns to the fingers through the handle 11, 
because the force is not absorbed by the hard handle 11, stencil, or 
paper. Thus, the user receives an impact on the fingers all the time, and 
the fingers get tired if tapping is continued for a long time period. 
Also, because the impact of the force, which taps the stencil brush 13, 
returns through the handle 11, the handle 11 bounces, and disrupts the 
close contact between the brush 13 or ink absorbing part 12, the stencil 
and the paper. Thus, the quantity of ink released from the brush 13 by one 
time of tapping is small, resulting in the need for more tapping on the 
stencil brush. The fingers therefore receive impact more frequently, and 
the hand gets tired. 
A need therefore exists for an improved stencil brush. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved 
stencil brush. 
In a first embodiment, the handle of the stencil brush is constructed from 
a buffer material which provides buffering characteristics. Thus, the 
impact of the tapping force generated when the stencil brush is used to 
stencil ink can be absorbed by the buffer material of the handle. 
Consequently, the hand will not be tired even if the stencil brush is 
tapped for a long time period. Also, because buffer characteristics are 
provided by constructing the handle of the stencil brush of a buffer 
material so the tapping force on the handle is relieved by the buffer 
material, there will be closer contact between the ink absorbing part, the 
stencil, and the paper. The quantity of ink applied by one tap increases, 
and thus the user will need to tap less often. 
In another embodiment, the buffer handle is constructed to be held between 
the user's thumb and middle finger, and is short enough that the user's 
index finger can comfortably press on the top end of the handle. Thus, the 
brush can be held comfortably between the user's three fingers, allowing 
the user to stencil with more control and for long periods of time. 
In another embodiment, the buffer handle is constructed to slip over the 
tip of the user's finger. The buffer handle is bored from the top end 
along its length to a depth great enough to be retained on the user's 
finger by the force of friction. By varying the diameter of the bore 
and/or the elasticity of the buffer material, handles can be made that can 
be retained on any one of the user's fingers. Selection of brushes with 
different bores can allow the user to hold more than one brush at a time. 
The user can stencil more efficiently either by using multiple brushes of 
a single color, or by having a different colored brush on each finger, 
eliminating the need to switch brushes for every color change. 
In yet another embodiment, the hollow handle is constructed from a rigid 
material. In this embodiment, the brush can be used as discussed 
immediately above; however, the rigid material is more durable than the 
buffer material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention will be explained in concrete terms based on the 
figures. 
FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the buffer brush 10 for stenciling of the 
present invention. As illustrated in this FIG. 3, the buffer brush 10 of 
the present invention is characterized by the fact that it is constructed 
by providing an ink absorbing part 2 on a handle 1 made of buffer 
material. 
The handle 1 is made of buffer material. The buffer material is preferably 
resilient and has buffering characteristics, while at the same time being 
hard or firm enough to transmit the tapping force to the ink absorbing 
part 2. Plastic foaming substances, rubber foaming substances, other 
foaming substances, or sponges are preferable handle materials. Concrete 
examples include a plastic foaming substance or sponge of 
polyethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer ("EVA") and a rubber foaming 
substance or sponge such as styrene butadiene rubber ("SBR"), nitrile 
butadiene rubber ("NBR"). 
There is no specific limit in terms of the cross-sectional shape of the 
handle 1. The shape of its cross section may be a circle, oval, triangle, 
quadrangle, hexagon, or other polygon. 
The ink absorbing part 2 may be one which is used for conventional stencil 
brushes. A polyurethane plastic sponge is preferable. Animal hair may also 
be used. 
The buffer brush 10 of the present invention can be easily prepared by 
gluing the ink absorbing part 2 with an adhesive 4 to the tip of the 
handle 1 made of buffer material. 
In FIG. 3, the ink absorbing part 2 is provided at one end of the handle 1. 
For the buffer brush 10 of the present design, an ink absorbing part 2a 
may also be provided at the opposite end of the handle 1, as illustrated 
in FIG. 4. In such a case, with one buffer brush 10, two colors of ink can 
be used. 
The length of the handle 1 of the buffer brush 10 of the embodiment shown 
in FIG. 3 can vary. For instance, the handle 1 may be long enough for the 
user to hold with two fingers while tapping it on the stencil in the same 
manner as holding a pencil. The handle having a handle axis along its 
length and the handle having an unstressed shape aligned with the handle 
axis such that the user can hold the handle without first manipulating it. 
As illustrated in FIGS. 5-7, a third embodiment of the present invention is 
constructed such that the handle 101 is short enough for the user to 
support a first and second handle walls, 106 and 108 respectively, at a 
position not too distant from the ink absorbing part 102 between the thumb 
and middle fingers, respectively, and to simultaneously press the top end 
114 of the handle 101 with the index finger. In this embodiment, the 
handle 101 is preferably 20-30 mm long, although the handle may be 
shortened or lengthened to satisfy user demands. The preferable length is 
one where the user can comfortably tap the brush in a stable manner using 
three fingers, preventing the user's hand from getting tired even if the 
brush is tapped for a long time period. 
FIG. 7 shows a sectional view of the buffer brush 110 according to the 
section defined in FIG. 6. In the exemplary embodiment, the handle 101 is 
constructed from solid, synthetic foam or a similar material of the type 
discussed above. The ink absorbing part 102 is attached to the handle 101, 
such as by an adhesive 104. 
FIGS. 8 and 9 show a buffer brush 210 according to a fourth embodiment of 
the present invention. In this embodiment, the handle 201 includes an 
orifice 216 into which a user's finger 218 can be inserted. The orifice is 
preferably approximately 15 mm in diameter, but can vary to accommodate 
fingers of different size and shape. The handle 201 is constructed of a 
resilient, buffer material such that, when the user's finger 218 is 
inserted into the orifice 216, the buffer material of handle 201 
resiliently expands. The buffer brush 210 is thereby retained on the 
user's finger 218 by the restoring force in the walls of the handle 201 
gripping the user's finger 218. Various orifice 216 sizes and various 
materials can be used to allow the buffer brush 210 to accommodate various 
finger sizes and shapes. 
FIG. 10 shows a buffer brush 310 according to a filth embodiment of the 
present invention. In this embodiment, the shape of the handle 301 is 
similar to that shown and described in FIGS. 8 and 9, however, the handle 
is constructed from a rigid material, such as plastic. Because the walls 
of the handle 301 are rigid, the orifice 316 does not expand to receive a 
finger (not shown). Instead, the orifice 316 is specifically sized to 
captively receive a small range of finger sizes. Upon insertion, the 
finger is at least partially distorted to conform to the shape of the 
orifice 316. The buffer brush 310 is thus held onto the finger by 
friction. The orifice is preferably circular, although an oval or other 
shapes will also work. 
From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific 
embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of 
illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the 
spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not 
limited except as by the appended claims. 
APPLICATION EXAMPLE 
The present design will be explained below in concrete terms in reference 
to application examples. 
APPLICATION EXAMPLE 1 
A buffer brush 110 for stenciling such as illustrated in FIG. 6 was 
prepared. 
For the buffer material, polyethylene foaming sheet, which is 25 mm thick, 
was punched with a punching blade, and a handle 101 composed of 
cylindrical polyethylene foaming substance, which is 25 mm long with the 
diameter of 10-20 mm, was prepared. At the tip of this polyethylene 
foaming substance handle 101, an ink absorbing part 102 of polyurethane 
sponge with a round bottom face of 10-20 mm, which forms a spherical shape 
upward, was glued to the handle with an adhesive 104. 
Stenciling was performed using this buffer brush 110. A stencil with flower 
designs punched out was fixed onto a sheet of paper, the ink from the 
stamp pad was applied to the ink absorbing part 102 of the buffer brush 
110, and the stenciling was performed by tapping the buffer brush 110 on 
top of the stencil. By the buffer action of the polyethylene foaming 
substance of the handle 101, the impact of the tapping force was absorbed, 
and it did not affect the user's hand. Thus, the user's hand did not get 
tired even after tapping for a long time period. The tapping force was 
relieved by the polyethylene foaming substance, and there was close 
contact between the ink absorbing part 102, the stencil, and the paper. 
As explained above, because the handle of the buffer brush for stenciling 
of several embodiments of the present design is made of buffer material, 
the impact of the force of tapping the brush is absorbed by the buffer 
material of the handle, and the hand will not get tired even if the brush 
is tapped for a long time. 
Because the handle was made of buffer material with buffering 
characteristics, the force of tapping the handle is relieved by the buffer 
material. Thus, there will be close contact with the ink absorbing part, 
stencil, and paper, the quantity of ink which is applied by tapping once 
will be great, and thus, the number of tappings can be reduced. 
From the foregoing it will be appreciated that, although specific 
embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of 
illustration, various modifications may be made without deviating from the 
spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not 
limited except as by the appended claims.