Abstract:
A retractable nail brush for artificially enhancing nails is disclosed, comprising a body with a lengthwise oriented slot, a bristle mount operably configured to slide into and out of the body, a plurality of bristles secured to the bristle mount, and a slide retainer operably configured to slide in the slot and retain the bristle mount to the body. The retractable nail brush may be articulated using one hand to promote ease of use as well as to store bristles in the body to prevent their contamination.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     This invention relates generally to cosmetology instruments, and more particularly to nail brushes for artificial nail enhancement of a person&#39;s fingernails.  
         [0002]     Many cosmetic nail brushes have been developed to apply acrylic compounds for sculpting artificial nails to one&#39;s natural nail plate during artificial nail enhancement procedures. For example, cosmetic nail brushes having bristles fastened to generally straight and slender wooden handles have long been known. While these types of cosmetic nail brushes are useful for one-time or disposable uses, a continual need exists for novel approaches for multiple use nail brushes that enable a nail care professional, using only one hand, to easily prevent contamination of the nail brush bristles during use of the device.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     The present invention is directed to a retractable nail brush for artificially enhancing nails, comprising a body with a lengthwise oriented slot, a bristle mount operably configured to slide into and out of the body, a plurality of bristles secured to the bristle mount, and a slide retainer operably configured to slide in the slot and retain the bristle mount to the body. The retractable nail brush may be articulated using one hand to promote ease of use as well as to store bristles in the body to prevent their contamination.  
         [0004]     A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features, properties and relationships of the invention will be obtained from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which set forth illustrative embodiments that are indicative of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0005]     For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to preferred embodiments shown in the following drawings in which:  
         [0006]      FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of a prior art nail brush, shown assembled with a cover;  
         [0007]      FIG. 2  illustrates another perspective view of the prior art nail brush of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0008]      FIG. 3  illustrates an exploded perspective view of the prior art nail brush of  FIG. 1  showing the cover removed from the brush/handle combination;  
         [0009]      FIG. 4  illustrates a perspective view of a retractable nail brush embodying the present invention;  
         [0010]      FIG. 5  illustrates another perspective view of the retractable nail brush of  FIG. 4 ;  
         [0011]      FIG. 6  illustrates an exploded view of the retractable nail brush of  FIG. 4  showing the fully articulated brush;  
         [0012]      FIG. 7  illustrates another exploded view of the retractable nail brush of  FIG. 4  showing the fully retracted brush;  
         [0013]      FIG. 8  illustrates a top view of the retractable nail brush of  FIG. 4  shown with the brush fully articulated and without the cap;  
         [0014]      FIG. 9  illustrates a front elevational view of the retractable nail brush of  FIG. 8 ;  
         [0015]      FIG. 10  illustrates a bottom plan view of the retractable nail brush of  FIG. 8 ;  
         [0016]      FIG. 11  illustrates a left side elevational view of the retractable nail brush of  FIG. 8 ;  
         [0017]      FIG. 12  illustrates a right side elevational view of the retractable nail brush of  FIG. 8 ;  
         [0018]      FIG. 13  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the retractable nail brush along line  13 - 13  of  FIG. 11  and/or  FIG. 12 ; and  
         [0019]      FIG. 14  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the retractable nail brush along line  14 - 14  of  FIG. 9 .  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0020]     Turning now to the figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements, there is illustrated in  FIGS. 1-3  a prior art nail brush  1  of conventional design including cover  2 , ferrule  3 , handle  4 , and bristles  5 . In the closed configuration shown in  FIGS. 1-2 , a mild friction fit exists between cover  2  and handle  4  to maintain their unity. Cover  2  provides protection to bristles  5  from contamination when nail brush  1  is not being used by the nail care professional. As shown in  FIG. 1 , cover  2  may include hole  6  to enable trapped moisture to escape from bristles  5  when cover  2  is mounted onto handle  4 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , bristles  5  are secured in ferrule  3  using conventional means, such as by crimp  7  of ferrule  3 . Finally, ferrule  3  is conventionally secured to handle  4  via an interference fit between the two parts. As shown in the figures and described below, however, prior art nail brush  1  lacks a means for the nail care professional to easily protect bristles  5  from contamination of debris during use of the nail brush, without resorting to stopping work and installing cover  2  to accomplish this goal.  
         [0021]      FIGS. 4-14  illustrate retractable nail brush  10  embodying the present invention useful for applying acrylic monomers and the like to one&#39;s fingernails during the process of artificial nail enhancement. As will be shown and described below, the present invention provides the nail care professional with multiple options to prevent contamination of the bristles of retractable nail brush  10  during use of the device.  
         [0022]      FIGS. 4-5  illustrate retractable nail brush  10  in its fully assembled and closed condition. Although retractable nail brush  10  is shown having a generally round cross section, in practice, retractable nail brush  10  may comprise any one of a number of cross sectional shapes; preferably the overall length should be at least three times its cross sectional diameter to maintain overall instrument balance and ease of use. In addition, while retractable nail brush  10  is shown generally straight, in practice, nail brush  10  may alternatively be curved and/or ergonomically contoured.  
         [0023]     Referring to  FIGS. 4-5 , retractable nail brush  10  may include cap  20  and body  30 . Cap  20  is optionally designed to be slidably retained by body  30  via a mild friction fit between cap  20  and body  30 . Cap  20  may be placed on either end of body  30 , such as, for example, on open end  28  of body  30  for maximum protection of bristles  50 , or on closed end  29  of body  30  to insure that cap  20  does not become lost during use of retractable nail brush  10 . Cap  20  may include vent  22  to enable air to escape from inside cap  20  during the process of installing cap  20  onto body  30 . Vent  22  may also allow trapped moisture to escape from inside retractable nail brush  10  when retractable nail brush  10  is in its closed condition. Allowing moisture to escape minimizes the potential for corrosion on internal surfaces of retractable nail brush  10  if retractable nail brush  10  is made from materials susceptible to corrosion.  
         [0024]      FIG. 6-7  illustrates exploded views of the retractable nail brush  10  of the present invention shown in its fully articulated and fully retracted positions, respectively. As shown in  FIG. 6 , retractable nail brush may include cap  20 , body  30 , bristle mount  40 , and bristles  50 . Bristles  50  may comprise a plurality of natural or synthetic filaments  51  that are compatible with the chemicals that are typically used in the artificial nail enhancement industry, such as acrylic monomers. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, bristles  50  may be secured to bristle mount  40  using any number of known means, such as by inserting filaments  51  through bristle mount  40  and crimping bristle mount  40 , as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 9  at crimp  39 .  
         [0025]     Retractable nail brush  10  may also include slide retainer  34  and slot  32  for extending and retracting bristle mount  40  and bristles  50  out from and into body  30 . The length of slot  32  generally determines the maximum displacement of bristle mount  40 , and ultimately, bristles  50 . Slide retainer  34  may be affixed to bristle mount  40 , or as described below, may instead be affixed to bristle mount adapter  44 . Slide retainer  34  may slide longitudinally along body  30  within slot  32 .  
         [0026]      FIGS. 8-10  illustrate top plan, front elevational, and bottom plan views, respectively, of the retractable nail brush  10  of the present invention in its fully articulated position. While many users of the present invention may wish to use the device in its fully articulated position as shown in  FIGS. 8-10 , retractable nail brush  10  may also be used with slide retainer  34  extended to any position along the length of slot  32  so long as bristles  50  are still at least partially extended past open end  28  of body  30 .  
         [0027]     As illustrated in  FIG. 13 , retractable nail brush  10  may also include bristle mount adapter  44 , which is mountable to bristle mount  40 . An interference fit between bristle mount adapter  44  and bristle mount  40  insures that bristle mount  40  does not separate from bristle mount adapter  44  during use. Of course, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, retractable nail brush  10  need not include bristle mount adapter  44  if slide retainer  34  is instead secured directly to bristle mount  40 . In addition, while bristle mount adapter  44  is shown in  FIGS. 13-14  as being a tube, bristle mount adapter  44  may instead be a solid cylinder, or any configuration that performs a similar function.  
         [0028]     Finally, as shown in  FIGS. 13-14 , for ease of articulation of retractable nail brush  10 , a loose fit may exist between outer diameter  41  of bristle mount  40  and inner diameter  31  of body  30 . However, a slip fit or even a mild friction fit may alternatively be desirable to assist the user in maintaining the position of slide retainer  34  relative to body  30 , and ultimately bristles  50 . If outer diameter  41  of bristle mount  40  is too small relative to inner diameter  31  of body, then an undesirable wobble may result. Therefore, proper fitting parts help promote smooth operation of the articulation feature of retractable nail brush  10  while also promoting good overall handling characteristics of the device.  
         [0029]     As will be understood by those of skill in the art, and as particularly illustrated in  FIGS. 8-14 , a user of retractable nail brush  10  may, with one hand, apply slight pressure from one&#39;s finger or thumb to slide retainer  34  to articulate retractable nail brush  10 . In this way, a user of retractable nail brush  10 , with one hand, may extend bristle mount  40  to use bristles  50  to apply an acrylic monomer to a person&#39;s fingernails. Likewise, using one hand, a user may then retract bristle mount  40  so bristles  50  lie partially or completely protected from debris contamination within body  30  without resorting to using the other hand to affix cap  20  to body  30  to accomplish the same goal.  
         [0030]     As mentioned above, during use of retractable nail brush  10 , cap may be placed on closed end  29  of body  30  to help insure that cap  20  does not become lost during use of retractable nail brush  10 . In addition, when installing cap  20  over open end  28  of body  30  to close retractable nail brush  10 , cap  20  may be designed to push on slide retainer  34  so as to partially or completely retract brush  50  in one step.  
         [0031]     While specific embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those details could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the particular arrangement disclosed is meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any equivalents thereof.