Patent Publication Number: US-2007101530-A1

Title: Hair brush

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a hair brush.  
      2. Description of the Art  
      In general, as shown in  FIG. 18 , on a surface  21   a  of a hair brush, a plurality of depressions  22  (refer to  FIG. 19 ) are provided. The hair brush includes a brush base  21  on which a plurality of brush bristles  23  are implanted in each of the depressions  22  and a handle  24  extending continuously from the brush base  21 . The depressions  22  are circular when viewed from above. The brush bristles  23  are folded in two, pushed into each of the depressions  22  together with a small piece  25  (refer to  FIG. 19 ), and fixed in the depressions  22  (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-33072).  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      However, the above-described hair brush has the following problems. One problem is that, since the brush bristles  23  are fixed in the depressions  22  while the brush bristles  23  are closely in contact with the depressions  22 , hair is caught between the brush bristles  23 , causing split ends of the hair. Another problem is that, since the brush bristles  23  are fixed in the depressions  22  while the brush bristles  23  are closely in contact with the depressions  22 , friction is generated between the brush bristles  23  and hair. As a result, a strong force is required for brushing. Moreover, since it is difficult for the brush bristles  23  to pass through the hair, the brush bristles  23  do not easily reach the scalp. As a result, hair roots and pores are not sufficiently cleaned.  
      Accordingly, the present invention addresses the above-identified problems and provides a hair brush including brush bristles that do not cause hair to be easily caught between the brush bristles. Moreover, the hair brush according to the present invention can be used for brushing hair with a small amount of force, and the brush bristles of the hair brush can easily reach the scalp.  
      Accordingly, the present invention provides a hair brush including a grip and a brush base including a plurality of depressions on the upper surface and brush bristles fixed in each of the depressions, wherein each of the depressions has a longitudinal shape when viewed from above, each of the brush bristles is folded in two at a folding area that is positioned and fixed in one of the depressions, a pair of folded portions obtained by folding each of the brush bristles at the folding area are aligned along the longitudinal direction of the depressions with a gap provided between the pair of folded portions of the brush bristles and are fixed so that the brush bristles extend upwards.  
      More specifically, the hair brush according to the present invention includes a brush base having an upper surface on which depressions having a longitudinal shape when view from above are provided. In each of the depressions, a brush bristle including a pair of folded portions obtained by folding the brush bristle in two is positioned and fixed. The folded portions of each brush bristle are aligned along the longitudinal direction of the depression, are retained with a predetermined gap between the folded portions, and extend vertically upwards. Accordingly, since, the folded portions of each brush bristle included in the hair brush according to the present invention are aligned along the longitudinal direction of the depression and are retained with a predetermined gap between the folded portions, the brush bristles are not closely in contact. Therefore, hair is not easily caught between the brush bristles and, as a result, no damage, such as split ends, is imposed on the hair. Furthermore, friction is not generated between the hair being brushed and the brush bristles. As a result, brushing can be carried out with less force. Moreover, since the brush bristles easily pass through hair, the brush bristles easily reach the scalp. In this way, hair roots and pores can be thoroughly cleaned.  
      Formation of depressions having a longitudinal shape when viewed from above is easily achieved by forming oval depressions.  
      By providing spherical structures on the tips of the folded portions, the tips of the folded portions gently come into contact with the scalp, providing an excellent massage effect.  
      By providing one of the pair of folded portions longer in the vertical direction than the other folded portion, the longer folded portions are bent when they come into contact with the scalp. As a result, the spherical structures at the tips of the folded portions gently come into contact with the scalp, providing an excellent massage effect.  
      A rod-like or plate-like fixing member having a predetermined thickness in the longitudinal direction of the depression is suspended across the lower area of each of the depressions of the brush bristle in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of each of the depressions. The fixing member is interposed between the folded portions of each of the folded brush bristles. Accordingly, by changing the thickness of each fixing member in the longitudinal direction of the depression, the length of the gap between the pair of folded portions can be adjusted.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a hair brush according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a side view of the hair brush;  
       FIG. 3  is a plan view of a brush base;  
       FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the brush base;  
       FIG. 5  is a plan view of a depression;  
       FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the depression;  
       FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the depression;  
       FIG. 8  illustrates a brush bristle;  
       FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of a brush bristle implanted in the depression;  
       FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional view of a brush bristle implanted in the depression;  
       FIG. 11  is a side view of the main part of the hair brush;  
       FIG. 12  is a plan view of a modification of a depression;  
       FIG. 13  is a cross-sectional view of the depression;  
       FIG. 14  is a cross-sectional view of a brush bristle implanted in the depression;  
       FIG. 15  is a plan view of another modification of a depression;  
       FIG. 16  is a cross-sectional view of the depression;  
       FIG. 17  is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the depression;  
       FIG. 18  is a plan view of a known hair brush; and  
       FIG. 19  is illustrates brush bristles pushed into a depression. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.  
       FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate a hair brush according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIGS. 1 and 2  show a synthetic resin brush base  1  having a plurality of depressions  2  (refer to  FIGS. 3 and 4 ) formed on a surface (upper surface)  1   a . A brush bristle  3  is implanted in each of the depressions  2  of the brush base  1  (the brush base  1  according to this embodiment is shaped substantially as a rectangle wherein the longitudinal direction of the rectangle is parallel to the front to rear direction). The brush bristle  3  is composed of a bristle that has spherical structures  3   a  provided at both ends (refer to  FIG. 8 ) and is folded in two. The folded brush bristle  3  includes a pair of folded portions  3   b  in which one piece is longer than the other (refer to  FIGS. 9 and 10 ). According to this embodiment, the folded portions  3   b  are fixed in the depressions  2  in a manner such that the longer folded portion  3   b  is aligned behind the shorter folded portion  3   b . The folded portions  3   b  are disposed with a predetermined gap between each other in the longitudinal direction. A synthetic resin handle (grip)  4  extends continuously in the longitudinal direction from the rear side of the brush base  1 . The brush base  1  (not including the brush bristles  3  being implanted in the depressions  2 ) and the handle  4  are formed as a single piece by using a metal mold.  
      The surface  1   a  of the brush base  1  is formed as a surface curving downwards from the longitudinal center line of the hair brush toward left and right in the lateral direction (i.e., the left and right sides of the curved surface are substantially the same shape). As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , six to nine rows of 22 to 24 depressions  2  aligned in the longitudinal direction in equal intervals are provided along the lateral direction in equal intervals (in this embodiment, a total of eight rows (four rows on the right side of the hair brush and four rows on the left side of the hair brush) are provided). The left and right sidewalls of the depressions  2  are provided substantially orthogonal to the surface  1   a  of the brush base  1  so that the depressions  2  are provided at an angle (i.e., slanted slightly inward).  
      As shown in FIGS.  5  to  7 , each of the depressions  2  are formed as an oval when viewed from above (i.e., longitudinal when viewed from above) and includes a center portion  11  having left and right sidewalls parallel to each other and front to rear side portions  12  and  13  (front side portion  12  and rear side portion  13 ) formed as semicircular arcs on the front and rear sides of the center portion  11 . The depressions  2  are disposed so that the longitudinal direction of the depressions  2  is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the brush base  1 . The bottom area  11   a  of the center portion  11  has a cross-section of a semicircular arc along the lateral direction (refer to  FIG. 6 ). Bottom areas  12   a  and  13   a  of the front to rear side portions  12  and  13  are curved (substantially a ¼ sphere) (refer to  FIG. 7 ).  
      According to the above-described structure, first, a plurality of the brush bristles  3  having spherical structures  3   a  on both ends (refer to  FIG. 8  showing one brush bristle  3 ) and a plurality of aluminum fixing pieces  5  that are rectangular rods having a predetermined longitudinal length (refer to  FIGS. 9 and 10 ) are provided. Then, each of the brush bristle  3  folded in two (wherein the folded portions  3   b  of the folded brush bristle  3  have different lengths and the longer folded portion  3   b  is disposed behind the shorter folded portion  3   b ) is pushed into each of the depressions  2  in a manner such that one of the fixing pieces  5  is disposed and fixed at a folding area  3   c  of the brush bristle  3  (refer to  FIGS. 9 and 10 ). The pushing and fixing of the fixing piece  5  are carried out for each of the depressions  2  or are carried out simultaneously for a plurality of depressions  2  so that one brush bristle  3  folded in two is implanted in each of the depressions  2 . In this state, the folding area  3   c  of each of the folded brush bristles  3  is aligned with the bottom areas  11   a ,  12   a , and  13   a  of each of the depressions  2  and is retained and fixed by the fixing piece  5  by caulking (or pressing) against the left and right sidewalls of the center portion  11  of the depression  2 . The folded portions  3   b  of the folded brush bristle  3  are disposed so that they extend vertically upwards from the depression  2  and a predetermined gap is provided in the longitudinal direction between the folded portions  3   b  (refer to  FIG. 10 ).  
      As described above, according to this embodiment, the folded portions  3   b  of one brush bristle  3  are held in each of the depressions  2  with a predetermined gap provided in the longitudinal direction between the folded portions  3   b . In this way, hair is not caught between the folded portions  3   b  and does not undergo damages that might cause split ends. Further, since friction is not generated between the hair being brushed and the brush bristles  3 , brushing can be carried out with less force. Furthermore, since the folded portions  3   b  easily pass through hair, the brush bristles  3  easily reach the scalp, enabling thorough cleaning of the hair roots and pores. Moreover, since the spherical structures  3   a  are provided at the tips of the folded portions  3   b , the spherical structures  3   a  gently come into contact with the scalp, providing an excellent massage effect. Moreover, since one of the folded portions  3   b  is longer than the other folded portion  3   b , the longer folded portion  3   b  is slightly bent when it come into contact with the scalp. In this way, the spherical structures  3   a  come into contact with the scalp even more gently, increasing the massage effect. Moreover, by changing the length of the fixing pieces  5  in the longitudinal direction of the depression  2 , the gap between the folded portions  3   b  can be adjusted.  
       FIGS. 12 and 13  show a modification of the depression  2 . According to this modification, the bottom areas  11   a ,  12   a , and  13   a  include a groove  15  extending in the longitudinal direction of the hair brush and a tapered portion  16  sloping upwards and outwards from the left and right sidewalls at the upper opening of the groove  15 . The folding area  3   c  of the brush bristle  3  is disposed at the tapered portion  16 , and the lower edge of the folding area  3   c  is embedded in the groove  15  (refer to  FIG. 14 ). The other components are the same as those of the depressions  2  according to the above-described embodiment and are represented by the same reference numerals. When the depressions  2  according to this modification are used, the same advantages can be achieved as those of the first embodiment.  
      FIGS.  15  to  17  show another modification of the depression  2 . The depression  2  according to this modification is the same as the depression  2  shown in  FIGS. 12 and 13  except for a circular depression  18  including an upper cylindrical column portion  18   a  and a lower tapered portion  18   b  sloping downwards towards and inwards from the left and right sidewalls of the lower-edge opening of the upper cylindrical column portion  18   a . The other components are the same as those of the depression  2  shown in  FIGS. 12 and 13  and are represented by the same reference numerals as those in  FIGS. 12 and 13 . When the depressions  2  according to this modification are used, the same advantages can be achieved as those of the first embodiment. Moreover, according to this modification, since the circular depressions  18  are provided on the upper end of the depressions  2 , the same metal mold used for forming a known hair brush including circular depressions when viewed from above can be used for forming the hair brush according to this modification of the present invention by modifying the depressions of the metal mold for a known hair brush.  
      According to the above-described embodiment, the longer folded portion  3   b  is disposed behind the shorter folded portion  3   b . However, the arrangement is not limited thereto. In other words, the longer folded portion  3   b  does not necessarily have to be disposed behind the shorter folded portion  3   b , and thus the longer folded portion  3   b  may be disposed before the shorter folded portion  3   b . Further, the folded portions  3   b  of the brush bristles  3  may be arranged in any way with respect to the longitudinal positions of the folded portions  3 . Furthermore, the folded portions  3   b  may be provided at same lengths. Moreover, the spherical structures  3   a  may be provided on only one of the folded portions  3   b , or the spherical structures  3   a  do not have to be provided at all.  
      According to the above-described embodiment, the fixing pieces  5  are rod-like structures. However, the fixing pieces  5  may be provided as flat structures. The shape of the depressions  2  does not necessarily have to be oval when viewed from above. The shape of the depressions  2  is not limited and may be any shape so long as the shape is longitudinal when viewed from above.