Patent Abstract:
A rolling lint and pet and human hair remover will function in at least two different positions and with the option of extending the handle in order to reach hard to reach places for use in automobiles, homes, and other locations, as well as on a person&#39;s clothing. The handle is foldable against the lint roller portion for compact storage and for use in tight places. An air-freshener body may be incorporated into the lint roller portion. Air-freshener beads are placed inside the air-freshener body and give off an aromatic fragrance while the lint remover is in use due to the tumbling action of the air-freshener beads inside the lint roller as it is rolled. A plurality of holes in the air-freshener body allow the aromatic fragrance to flow out and away from the lint roller.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/861,005 filed on Nov. 27, 2006, titled “TWO POSITION EXTENDABLE LINT AND PET HAIR REMOVER” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all that is taught and disclosed therein. 

   BACKGROUND 
   The present invention relates to the general art of tools, and to the particular field of dust and lint removers. There are many previously known lint roller assemblies which typically comprise a handle secured to a cylindrical lint roller support. A tubular cylindrical adhesive lint roller is then removably mounted to the support such that the adhesive roller is rotatable relative to the handle. In use, the adhesive lint roller is rolled along a user&#39;s clothes or other surfaces to remove lint, hair and other debris. 
   SUMMARY 
   This Summary is provided to introduce in a simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. 
   The detailed description below describes a rolling lint and pet and human hair remover that will function in at least two different positions with the option of extending the handle to reach hard to reach areas for use in automobiles, homes, and other locations as well as on a person&#39;s clothing, and that also freshens the air around the immediate area of use. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows an elevation view of an embodiment of a lint remover with the handle extended and in a bent position. 
       FIG. 2  shows a partial perspective view of the lint remover of  FIG. 1  with the handle in a straight position. 
       FIG. 3  shows a perspective view of another embodiment of a lint remover in a straight position. 
       FIG. 4  shows an elevation view of the lint remover of  FIG. 3  in a straight position. 
       FIG. 5  shows a perspective view of the lint remover of  FIG. 3  in a bent position. 
       FIG. 6  shows a perspective view of the lint remover of  FIG. 3  in a folded position. 
       FIG. 7  shows a perspective view of another embodiment of a lint remover in a straight position. 
       FIG. 8  shows an elevation view of the lint remover of  FIG. 7  in a straight position. 
       FIGS. 9A and 9B  show an embodiment of an extendible handle in the non-extended and extended positions for use with any of the lint removers shown in  FIGS. 1-8 . 
       FIGS. 10A ,  10 B, and  10 C show an embodiment of an assembly for holding air-freshening beads for use with any of the lint removers shown in  FIGS. 1-8 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   Referring now to the Figures, in which like reference numerals and names refer to structurally and/or functionally similar elements thereof,  FIG. 1  shows an elevation view of an embodiment of a lint remover with the handle extended and in a bent position and  FIG. 2  shows a partial perspective view of the lint remover of  FIG. 1  with the handle in a straight position. Referring now to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , Lint Remover  10  includes Hand Grips  12  on one end of a Handle  14  which has a Pivot Connection  16  on the other end thereof. A Lint Roller  20  is rotatably mounted on a Support Bar  22  that is pivotally connected to Handle  14  by the Pivot Connection  16 . Pivot Connection  16  has a Release Button  24  so Lint Roller  20  can be positioned and oriented in a straight or bent position with respect to the Handle  14  by pushing in on Release Button  24 . Pressing Release Button  24  allows Handle  14  and Support Bar  22  to pivot about Pivot Connection  16 . When released, Release Button  24  locks Handle  14  in relation to Support Bar  22 . Release Button  24  may have two, three, four, or more predefined mechanical locked positions defining the angle between Handle  14  and Support Bar  22  such as 45°, 90°, 135°, or 180°. Release Button  24  may also be of a design that is friction based such that any angle desired between Handle  14  and Support Bar  22  may be fixed into place. Various locked angle relationships may thus be established between Handle  14  and Support Bar  22  via Pivot Connection  16  as desired. 
   Telescoping Members  18  allow Handle  14  to be extended. Hand Grips  12  are rotatable about Telescoping Members  18  to tighten and loosen their friction grip on Telescoping Members  18 . In a non-extended position, Hand Grips  12  butt up against each other, and Telescoping Members  18  are not visible, but are slidably retracted inside of each other. In other embodiments, there may be only one Hand Grip  12  and no Telescoping Members  18  as shown in  FIGS. 3-8 . 
   Lint Roller  20  contains a series of concentric sheets that are sticky on the outer facing surface that are wound around a hollow tube. The concentric sheets have at least one perforated portion running along a length of Lint Roller  20 . After use for a period of time, the outermost concentric sheet may lose its stickiness and no longer be able to pick up lint, hair, or other debris. When this occurs, the outermost concentric sheet may be torn along the perforation and discarded, revealing the next fresh concentric sheet underneath. This process is repeated until the last concentric sheet is used up. Another Lint Roller  20  may then be secured to Support Bar  22 . 
     FIG. 3  shows a perspective view of another embodiment of a lint remover in a straight position.  FIG. 4  shows an elevation view of the lint remover of  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 5  shows a perspective view of the lint remover of  FIG. 3  in a bent position.  FIG. 6  shows a perspective view of the lint remover of  FIG. 3  in a folded position. Referring now to  FIGS. 3 ,  4 ,  5 , and  6 , Lint Remover  10 ′ has a Support Bar  22 ′ that has an “S” shape. Pivot Connection  16 ′ is thus in a relationship with Support Bar  22 ′ and Hand Grip  12 ′ which allows Hand Grip  12 ′ to be rotated into a compact folded position (see  FIG. 6 ) which is useful when storing Lint Remover  10 ′ when it is not in use. Pivot Connection  16 ′ allows movement of Support Bar  22 ′ in relation to Hand Grip  12 ′ from 0° (see  FIG. 6 ) to 90° (see  FIG. 5 ) to 180° (see  FIG. 4 ). In this embodiment, Center Line  26  of Hand Grip  12 ′ is offset from Center Line  28  of Lint Roller  20 ′. 
   In the compact folded position, a Gap  30  between Center Line  26  and Center Line  28  allows a user of Lint Remover  10 ′ to grasp Hand Grip  12 ′ with clearance of the user&#39;s fingers in relation to Lint Roller  20 ′. Thus, the user can operate Lint Remover  10 ′ in tighter fitting places because Handle  14 ′ is not extended away from Lint Roller  20 ′. Based upon its design, Pivot Connection  16 ′, as described above, may have two, three, four, or more predefined mechanical locked positions defining the angle between Handle  14 ′ and Support Bar  22 ′, or may be friction based such that any angle desired between Handle  14 ′ and Support Bar  22 ′ may be fixed into place. 
     FIG. 7  shows a perspective view of another embodiment of a lint remover in a straight position.  FIG. 8  shows an elevation view of the lint remover of  FIG. 7  in a straight position. Referring now to  FIGS. 7 and 8 , in this embodiment of Lint Remover  10 ″ Center Line  28 ′ of Lint Roller  20 ″ is also the center line of Hand Grip  12 ″. The “S” shape of Support Bar  22 ″ is not as pronounced as that shown in  FIGS. 3-6 . In the folded compact position, Hand Grip  12 ″ will be in much closer proximity to Lint Roller  20 ″ such that a user would not be able to get their fingers between Hand Grip  12 ″ and Lint Roller  20 ″, but still could grasp Hand Grip  12 ″ more with the tips of their fingers in order to still utilize Lint Remover  10 ″ in the folded compact position. 
     FIGS. 9A and 9B  show an elevation view of an embodiment of an extendible handle in the non-extended and extended positions for use with any of the lint removers shown in  FIGS. 1-8 . Referring now to  FIGS. 9A and 9B , Extendible Handle  32  has Hand Grip  12 ′″ that has Telescoping Members  18 ′ which are releasably extendible through the action of Collars  34 . Collars  34  are rotatable about Telescoping Members  18 ′ to tighten and loosen their friction grip on Telescoping Members  18 ′. Thus, Telescoping Members  18 ′ may be partially or fully extended to achieve a variable length of Extendible Handle  32 . Extendible Handle  32  may also be of a design where there are only two locking positions, fully extended and fully retracted. Handle  14 ′ is retractable and extendible via the Collar  34  with which it contacts. Extendible Handle  32  may be substituted for the one shown in  FIG. 1 . In addition, Extendible Handle  32  may be substituted for Hand Grip  12 ′ ( FIGS. 3-6 ) or Hand Grip  12 ″ ( FIGS. 7-8 ) where the extant end of Handle  14 ′ is attached to Support Bar  22 ″ via Pivot Connection  16 ″. 
     FIGS. 10A ,  10 B, and  10 C show an embodiment of an assembly for holding air-freshening beads for use with any of the lint removers shown in  FIGS. 1-8 . Referring now to  FIGS. 10A ,  10 B, and  10 C, Lint Roller  20 ′″ receives an Air-Freshener Body  36  that has a removable End Cap  38 . The other end of Air-Freshener Body  36  has an opening for receiving Support Bar  22 ′″. Air-Freshener Beads  40  ( FIG. 10B ), which can be purchased separately in a Container  42 , are poured inside Air-Freshener Body  36 . End Cap  38 , which may snap on and snap off, is then snapped back on. 
   A cross-section view of Air-Freshener Body  36  is shown in  FIG. 10C . Within the interior of Air-Freshener Body  36  are a plurality of Fins  46  which run along the length of Air-Freshener Body  36 . When End Cap  38  is snapped back on, a plurality of Tines  44  located around the circumference of End Cap  38  insert themselves within the series of concentric sheets of Lint Roller  20 ′″. As a result, when Lint Roller  20 ′″ is rolled over a surface, Air-Freshener Body  36  rotates along with the rolling movement of Lint Roller  20 ′″ such that the Fins  46  help to agitate and tumble the Air-Freshener Beads  40  inside Air-Freshener Body  36 , helping to give off the aromatic fragrance of the Air-Freshener Beads  40 . A plurality of Holes  48  are located in End Cap  38  and Air-Freshener Body  36  which allow the fragrance to flow out and away from Lint Roller  20 ′″. 
   Other connecting structures besides Tines  44  may be utilized to enable Air-Freshener Body  36  to rotate along with the rolling movement of Lint Roller  20 ′″. In another embodiment, End Cap  38  may be sized so that the outer circumference fits frictionally snugly inside the inner circumference of the hollow tube of Lint Roller  20 ′″, eliminating the need for Tines  44 . In another embodiment, End Cap  38  may be sized to be approximately the same circumference as Air-Freshener Body  36  but with two or more protrusions that extend radially from the center of End Cap  38  that fit frictionally snugly inside the inner circumference of the hollow tube of Lint Roller  20 ′″, also eliminating the need for Tines  44 . The gaps between the protrusions of End Cap  38  allow additional avenues for air flow, besides Holes  48 , allowing the fragrance of the Air-Freshener Beads  40  to flow out and away from Lint Roller  20 ′″. Thus, when any of the lint removers shown in  FIGS. 1-8  are situated with Air-Freshener Body  36 , the lint roller will freshen the air while removing lint, hair, and other debris from various surfaces. 
   Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications will suggest themselves without departing from the scope of the disclosed subject matter.

Technology Classification (CPC): 0