Abstract:
A jewelry cleaning apparatus includes a handle portion and a head portion. The handle portion houses an electrical motor having a motor shaft extending there-from into the head portion. The motor shaft has an eccentric distal end. The head portion includes an oscillatable brush. The oscillatable brush rotatably engages a fixed brush shaft of the head portion disposed perpendicular to the motor shaft. The oscillatable brush has a recess for receiving the eccentric distal end such that rotational position of the oscillatable brush relative to the brush shaft is varied between five and ninety angular degrees by rotation of the motor shaft.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is a non-Provisional Continuation of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/167034 filed on 27-May-2015, the teachings of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The invention relates to jewelry cleaning apparatuses. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The invention relates more particularly to electrically driven jewelry cleaning brushes in which brush bristles are arranged to be mechanically driven relative to the jewelry cleaning brush handle. 
         [0004]    Prior art jewelry cleaning apparatuses and methods fail to provide a hand-holdable device have an oscillating brush wherein the shape of the device and relationship of the handle to the brush are arranged for maximizing comfort, reducing fatigue, and optimizing cleaning. Prior art jewelry cleaning apparatuses and methods fail to provide means for replacing and changing brush heads according to wear or the type of jewelry being cleaned. Prior art cleaning brushes of all types fail to achieve brush motion in a simple and effective manner. 
         [0005]    It is an object and advantage of the present invention to provide a hand-holdable device have an oscillating brush wherein the shape of the device and relationship of the handle to the brush are arranged for maximizing comfort, reducing fatigue, and optimizing cleaning. 
         [0006]    It is an object and advantage of the present invention to provide means for replacing and changing brush heads according to wear or the type of jewelry being cleaned. 
         [0007]    It is an object and advantage of the present invention to provide a cleaning brush in which relative motion is achieved in a simple and effective manner. 
         [0008]    Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated upon review of the drawings and description provided herein, 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present invention may be embodied in or practiced using a hand-holdable electrical apparatus having bristles which oscillate relative to a cleaning brush head to enhance the cleaning action of jewelry, to maximize comfort to the user, to reduce fatigue by the user, and to simplify brush replacement. 
         [0010]    According to the invention there is provided an electrical driven jewelry cleaning brush having a handle, a head, a rotatable shaft having a longitudinal central axis extending from the handle to the head, and a brush head pivotably mounted to the head and drivingly engaged by a remote end of the shaft which is off-center with respect to the central axis so that the brush holder oscillates about its pivot when the shaft rotates. 
         [0011]    The shaft is preferably integrally formed and its remote end is bent away from the central axis. The brush head may be connected to a pivoting disc having a slot into which the remote end of the shaft fits. The bristle holder may be mounted to rotate about an axis. 
         [0012]    The bristle holder may be arranged to oscillate through an angle between 5 degrees and 90 degrees; preferably the angle is approximately 30 degrees. 
         [0013]    The invention may be embodied by or practiced using a jewelry cleaning brush having a body having an elongate handle portion at a proximal end; a head portion at a distal end; and an oscillatable brush head removably attached to the head portion. The oscillatable brush head may have an axially disposed circular recess and the head portion may have a brush shaft disposed perpendicular to the handle portion, and attachment and removal of the brush head to and from, respectively, the head portion may require inserting the brush shaft into or removal of the brush shaft from, respectively, the circular recess. The oscillatable brush head may be rotatable about the brush shaft at least five angular degrees. 
         [0014]    The body may include a motor within and disposed rotationally parallel to the handle portion and having a rotatable motor shaft extending into the head portion, the motor shaft having an eccentric distal end. The oscillatable brush head may have an eccentric-receiving recess, arranged such that spinning of the eccentric distal end within the eccentric-receiving recess causes the oscillatable brush head to oscillate about the brush shaft between five and ninety angular degrees. 
         [0015]    The circular recess may include a detent receiver and the brush shaft may include a detent, and attachment and removal of the brush head to and from, respectively, the head portion may require overcoming a retaining force between the detent receiver and the detent. The jewelry cleaning brush may further have a switch button for energizing the motor, wherein the switch button is disposed longitudinally centrally on the handle portion. 
         [0016]    The removable brush head may have a bristle portion and a connector portion, the bristle portion including a plurality of thin fiber bristles having first and second ends, cylindrically fused tightly together at the first ends by the melting together of the bristles to form a joined end that is then-after formed into a non-circular shape, the connector portion having a receiver for fixedly receiving the non-circular shape and having a shape mateable with the non-circular shape to prevent relative rotation between the connector portion and the bristle portion. 
         [0017]    The connector portion and the bristle portion may be permanently affixed together. The second end of the bristle portion may be trimmed to form a truncated cone of unjoined bristles. The bristles may be made of PBT. 
         [0018]    The jewelry cleaning brush may also include a removable cap for encasing the head portion while the brush is not in use. The removable cap may have a brush cover and a vent aperture. The jewelry cleaning brush may also have one or more batteries within the body to energize the motor, and a removable battery cover providing access thereto. 
         [0019]    The invention may also be embodied by or practiced using a jewelry cleaning apparatus having a handle portion and a head portion. The handle portion may include an electrical motor having a motor shaft extending there-from into the head portion and having an eccentric distal end. The head portion may include an oscillatable brush, the oscillatable brush rotatably engaging a fixed brush shaft of the head portion disposed perpendicular to the motor shaft, and the oscillatable brush having a recess for receiving the eccentric distal end such that rotational position of the oscillatable brush relative to the brush shaft is varied between five and ninety angular degrees by rotation of the motor shaft. 
         [0020]    The invention may also be embodied by or practiced using a brush head having a bundle of thin fibers having first and second ends, the fibers being melted together at the first end to form a fused portion that is formed into a non-circular shape, the fused portion being permanently connected to a connector having; a first recess adapted to receive and non-rotatably mate with the non-circular shape, a second circular recess adapted to receive and rotatably mate with a rotation shaft, and a third recess adapted to receive an eccentric such that spinning of the eccentric within the third recess causes the brush head to oscillate about the rotation shaft between five and ninety angular degrees. The bundle may be arranged in a cylinder, the cylinder being trimmed at the second end after the forming of the first end to one of a conical end, a truncated conical end, a spherical end, a bulleted end, or a flat end. The connector may further include a detent receiver adapted to receive a detent integral with the rotation shaft to prevent inadvertent removal of the connector from the rotation shaft. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0021]    A jewelry cleaning brush according to the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0022]      FIG. 1  is an isometric view of the jewelry cleaning brush, including a protective cap; 
           [0023]      FIG. 2  is an isometric view of the jewelry cleaning brush, with the protective cap removed; 
           [0024]      FIG. 3  is another isometric view of the jewelry cleaning brush, with the protective cap removed; 
           [0025]      FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view of the jewelry cleaning brush in  FIG. 1  along lines  4 - 4 ; 
           [0026]      FIGS. 5A-5C and 6A-6B  are various views of the brush head of the jewelry cleaning brush; and 
           [0027]      FIG. 7  is an exploded view of the brush head and the oscillating disc in relationship to the head section of the jewelry cleaning brush. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0028]    Referring to the drawings, in  FIGS. 1, 2 and 3  the jewelry cleaning brush  1  comprises a handle portion  10  at a first end of the jewelry cleaning brush, a head section  11  at a second end of the jewelry cleaning brush, an oscillating brush head  12  is removably attached to the head section  11  and a removable protective cap  13  encases the head section  11  while the brush is not in use. Cap  13  may be provided with a cover  13 A and a vent aperture  13 B. A switch button  14  is conveniently positioned at the mid-point of the handle portion  10 , and a second removable cap  15  providing access to a set of batteries is located at the distal end of handle portion  10 . The handle portion  10  may be produced from two mating parts  10 A and  10 B, or may be produced as a single shell. Also shown is a detent  16  for keeping the protective cap  13  firmly in place; and two diametrically opposed depressions  17  in the handle portion near the second cap  15 . The depressions facilitate the easy removal of the second cap by exposing a portion of the cap&#39;s rim so that axial pressure may be applied to the cap to be pushed away from the handle portion  10 . 
         [0029]    The internal details of the jewelry cleaning brush are shown in  FIG. 4 , which is a cross sectional view of the jewelry cleaning brush  1 . Shown in  FIG. 4  is an electric motor  20  with an upwardly extending shaft  20 A. Not shown are the electrical connections or the motor terminals that provide the electric power to the motor. Shown is a printed circuit board  21 , including various resistors, transistors, and a switch that is activated by protrusion  14 A, an integral part of the switch button  14 . The printed circuit board and its various components are used to control the motor operation in a manner known in the art. The motor shaft  20 A is fitted with one half of a coupling  26 A for transmitting torque from the motor through the second half of the coupling  26 B to a shaft  23  firmly connected to the second half of the coupling  26 B and terminating in a bent portion  23 A at its distal end. The shaft  23  is supported by bearing  24  to ensure its alignment and freedom to turn. The bent portion of the shaft  23 A functions as an eccentric driver by describing a circle about the axis of shaft  23  while drivingly engaging the V shaped opening  25 D of oscillating disc  25  ( FIG. 7 ) to cause the brush head  12  to oscillate about the axis of the brush shaft  18 . Also shown is a rotary seal  22  to ensure that no fluid enters the compartment housing the electrical components. 
         [0030]    Preferably, the motor  20  turns at around 6000 rpm. Where desired, the motor can run at other speeds or be arranged to run at two or more speeds selectable by the user. 
         [0031]      FIG. 4  also shows a set of two batteries  27  with their polarity reversed and connected electrically in series to each other through a contact plate  28  fixed to the cap  15 ; the other end of each of the batteries is connected electrically via spring contacts  29 A and  29 B and lead wires to the printed circuit board  21  for providing the electric power to the motor as needed. 
         [0032]    The head section  11  is shown permanently fixed to the handle section  10 ; however it may also be designed to be disengaged by the user. 
         [0033]    The brush head portion  12  is designed to be disengaged by the user from the head section for replacement when the brush&#39;s tufts or bristles are worn or if another type of brush is required for cleaning specific types of jewelry. 
         [0034]    Referring now to  FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, 6A, 6B, and 7 , the brush head  12  is shown to best understand the details pertaining to the brush head operation. The brush head  12  comprises three elements; the brush tufts  130 , the brush front ring  140 , and the brush rear ring  120 . The three components are permanently connected to each other to form the brush head  12  designed to be removable by the user from the head portion  11 . 
         [0035]    The brush tufts or bristles  130  comprise a plurality of thin fibers  132  preferably made of polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and defining a cylinder. The plurality of fibers  132  are fused tightly together at one end by the melting of that end of all the fibers to form a contiguous flat surface  131 , preferably about 1 mm thick. After being formed, the flat surface  131  may be trimmed to any shape, such as a square with rounded corners as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . The other end of the tufts may be trimmed, by high speed grinding for example, to any shape needed, for example forming a truncated cone as shown. 
         [0036]    The brush tufts or bristles  130  are permanently connected to the front ring  140  and rear ring  120  where the square flat surface fits into a recess  144  of the front ring  140  and the tufts protrude through aperture  141  of front ring  140 . The rear ring  120  butts against the rear surface of the flat surface  131  and the assembly is held together by, for example, the insertion of pins  142  into apertures  123  and the swaging of the tips of the pins for permanently securing the structure. 
         [0037]      FIG. 7  illustrates by example how the brush head  12  is held in place and how it may be removed for replacement. Brush head  12  incorporates a circular recess  122  contiguous with a V-shaped recess  125 , designed to tightly fit over a cylindrical mount  25 B and V-shaped wings  25 C being an integral part of oscillating disc  25 , which is designed to rotatably fit onto pin  18  and be secured against removal by detent  19 , engaging the open end of recess  25 E. Recess  25 E also serves for insertion of a sharp tool to be used for prying brush head  12  off oscillating disc  25 . 
         [0038]    Brush head  12  is prevented from accidentally coming off oscillating disc  25  by the engagement of detents  25 F with recesses  126 . 
         [0039]    While inventive aspects of the invention will be appreciated from the detailed description and drawings. It should be understood that although the invention have been demonstrated by reference to an exemplary embodiment, aspects of the invention are not limited to the embodiment described. Also, aspects of the invention may be used alone, or in any suitable combination with other aspects of the invention. Therefore, the invention should only be limited according to the following claims, including all equivalent interpretation entitled thereto.