Abstract:
A method and device for cleaning paint from a paintbrush is provided. The method comprises compressing the bristles of a paintbrush between a first row of V-shaped teeth and a second row of V-shaped teeth, and pulling the paintbrush brush outwardly from between the rows of V-shaped teeth. The teeth in the first row of V-shaped teeth are interlockable with the teeth in the second row of V-shaped teeth. The interlocking teeth are affixed to two tooth plates rotatably connected together. The tooth plates “sandwich” the bristles of the paintbrush and pull paint from the brush.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 12/840,086, titled Paint Brush Cleaning Device and filed on Jul. 20, 2010, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/213,864 filed on Jul. 21, 2009, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/335,241 filed on Jan. 4, 2010, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Cleaning paint from paintbrushes has historically been a time consuming task, and failure to properly clean paintbrushes results in unnecessary waste in replacing brushes. A paint brush cleaning method and device according to the present disclosure separates the bristles of the brush and allows water and/or solvents to penetrate deep within the brush. The device further scrapes paint from the brush as it is being cleaned. Use of the device to clean paintbrushes reduces the amount of water and/or solvent that is required to clean brushes. 
         [0003]    The device comprises a pair of cleaning heads rotatably connected to a handle. Each cleaning head comprises a plurality of V-shaped teeth. The user operates the handle to compress the bristles of the paintbrush between cleaning heads, causing the teeth to enter the bristles and pull paint from them. The device further comprises squeegee bars disposed outwardly from the teeth. The squeegee bars scrape paint from the outside of the brush while the teeth remove paint within the brush bristles. 
         [0004]    The method comprises compressing the bristles of a paintbrush between a first row of V-shaped teeth and a second row of V-shaped teeth, and pulling the paintbrush brush outwardly from between the rows of V-shaped teeth. The teeth in the first row of V-shaped teeth are interlockable with the teeth in the second row of V-shaped teeth. The interlocking teeth are affixed to two tooth plates rotatably connected together. The tooth plates “sandwich” the bristles of the paintbrush and pull paint from the brush. 
         [0005]    For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    The disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The elements of the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure. Furthermore, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of an exemplary device in accordance with the present disclosure. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2   a  is a side view of the device of FIG. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2   b  is an enlarged side plan view of one of the cleaning heads of  FIG. 2   a.    
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the device of  FIG. 1 , with the device in its closed position. 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a front view of interlocking cleaning heads in accordance with the present disclosure. 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a rear plan view of a cleaning head of the device. 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a side view of the device in use in cleaning a paintbrush. 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a front perspective view of an alternative embodiment of an exemplary device in accordance with the present disclosure. 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is a side view of an alternative embodiment of an exemplary device in accordance with the present disclosure. 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  is a front view of an alternative embodiment of interlocking cleaning heads according to the present disclosure. 
           [0017]      FIG. 10  is a side view of an alternative embodiment of the device according to the present disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]      FIG. 1  is a side perspective view of a device  10  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The device  10  comprises a handle  11  comprising two arms  12  and  13  hingedly coupled together and biased with a spring  14 . The handle  11  may be formed from any suitably rigid material, such as aluminum, stainless steel, plastic, or composite material. 
         [0019]    The arms  12  and  13  each comprise a cleaning head  15  and  16 , respectively. The arms  12  and  13  form a general “V” shape when the handle  11  is in a fully open position, i.e., when the cleaning heads  15  and  16  are furthest from each other. 
         [0020]    The spring  14  applies a spring force to urge the arms  12  and  13  apart unless acted upon by an outside force, such as a user&#39;s hand (not shown). In use of the device  10 , the user&#39;s hand grasps the arms  12  and  13  and “closes” the handle  11  to cause the cleaning heads  15  and  16  to draw closer together, as further discussed herein and as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0021]    Each cleaning head  15  and  16  comprises a tooth plate  17  and  18 , respectively. The tooth plate  17  extends at an angle toward the tooth plate  18  in the illustrated embodiment. The tooth plates  17  and  18  each comprise a plurality of teeth  21  and  22  that protrude from the tooth plates  17  and  18 , respectively. The plurality of teeth  21  and  22  each comprise a row of V-shape extensions from the tooth plates  17  and  18 . In the illustrated embodiment, the teeth  21  and  22  are integrally formed with the tooth plates  17  and  18 . The teeth  21  on the tooth plate  17  interlock with the teeth  22  on the tooth plate  18  when the cleaning heads  15  and  16  contact, as discussed below and as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0022]    The tooth plates  17  and  18  comprise generally thin pieces of rigid material, such as metal. The tooth plates  17  and  18  are rigidly affixed to the cleaning heads  15  and  16 , respectively, via one or more fasteners  39 . In some embodiments, the tooth plates  17  and  18  are removable and replaceable by the user (not shown) when worn or damaged, as discussed below and with respect to  FIG. 9 . 
         [0023]    In the illustrated embodiment, the cleaning heads  15  and  16  each further comprise a squeegee bar  19  and  20 , respectively. The squeegee bars  19  and  20  are disposed outwardly with respect to the plurality of teeth  21  and  22 , as further discussed herein. 
         [0024]      FIG. 2   a  is a side view of the device  10  of  FIG. 1 . The arm  12  is rotatably connected to the arm  13  via a fastener  24 , which is a rivet in one embodiment. The spring  14  is retained by the fastener  24 . The arms  12  and  13  terminate at their free ends at the cleaning heads  15  and  16 . The hinged ends  25  and  26  of the arms  12  and  13 , respectively, are hingedly connected together by the fastener  24 . A handle lock  23  extends from the ends  25  and  26  of the arms  12  and  13 . Operation of the handle lock  23  is discussed further below and with respect to  FIG. 3 . 
         [0025]    The arm  12  is disposed at an acute angle θ to the arm.  13 , and in one embodiment the acute angle θ is generally 45 degrees or less when the device  10  is in its fully open position. The acute angle θ is prevented from increasing beyond 45 degrees by the hinged ends  25  and  26  contacting the handle lock  23 . 
         [0026]      FIG. 2   b  is an enlarged side plan view of the cleaning head  16  of  FIG. 2   a . The tooth plate  18  extends from the arm  13  at an angle α. In the illustrated embodiment, the angle α is an obtuse angle of about 135 degrees. In other embodiments, other angles may be employed. 
         [0027]    The squeegee bar  20  extends from the cleaning head  16  and an angle β with respect to the tooth plate  18 . The angle β sets a gap “g” between the tooth plate  18  and the outermost edge  27  of the squeegee bar  20 . The gap g allows the squeegee bar  20  to remove paint (not shown) from the outside of a paintbrush (not shown) while the teeth  22  remove paint from within the paintbrush, as further discussed herein. Thus the gap g (and the angle β) would necessarily be smaller on devices  10  designed to clean paint (not shown) from smaller paintbrushes (not shown) and larger on devices  10  designed to clean paint from larger paintbrushes. 
         [0028]    The preceding paragraph discusses the cleaning head  16  of the arm  13 . The cleaning head  15  of the arm  12  is substantially similar to the cleaning head  16  of the arm  13  in one embodiment, except that the plurality of teeth  22  on the cleaning head  16  are positioned to interlock with the plurality of teeth  21  on the cleaning head  15 , as further discussed herein and as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0029]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the device  10  when the device  10  is in its fully closed position, i.e., when the cleaning heads  15  and  16  contact. The handle lock  23  extends from the hinged ends  25  and  26  of the arms  12  and  13 . When the handle is in its fully closed position (i.e., when the arms  12  and  13  are pulled together until the cleaning heads  15  and  16  contact), the handle  11  can be locked by pulling the handle lock  23  outwardly. In this regard, a lock plate  30  is rigidly affixed to the handle lock  23  and disposed within the handle  11 . The lock plate comprises a slot  31  that is received by the fastener  24 , which slideably retains the lock plate  30  within the handle  11 . When the handle lock  23  is pulled outwardly (i.e., in the direction indicated by directional arrow  66 ), outer edges  32  of the lock plate  30  contact inner walls (not shown) of the arms  12  and  13  and prevent the arms  12  and  13  from opening further. To open the handle, the user simply pushes the handle lock  23  in the opposite direction. 
         [0030]      FIG. 4  depicts the device  10  in its fully closed position with the cleaning heads  15  and  16  contacting each other. In this position, the plurality of teeth  21  of the cleaning head  15  may interlock with the plurality of teeth  22  of the cleaning head  16 . 
         [0031]      FIG. 5  is a rear plan view of the cleaning head  16  of  FIG. 4  illustrating the relationship between the tooth plate  18  and the squeegee bar  20 . In this embodiment, the outermost edge  27  of the squeegee bar  20  extends generally midway between the tips  35  of the teeth  22  and the lowermost points  34  of the teeth  22 . Thus the outermost edge  27  of the squeegee bar  20  extends beyond the lowermost points  34  of the teeth  22  in this embodiment. The cleaning head  15  is substantially similar to the cleaning head  16 , as discussed above. The squeegee bar  20  extends across the width of the tooth plate  18 . The tooth plate  18  and squeegee bar  20  are generally wider than the paintbrush (not shown) being cleaned. 
         [0032]      FIG. 6  is a side view of the device  10  shown in the position of use in cleaning a paintbrush  33 . When the device  10  is in use, the user (not shown) places the paintbrush  33  between the cleaning heads  15  and  16  and closes the handle  11 . The user closes the handle  11  by pressing the arms  12  and  13  together. In this manner the tooth plates  17  and  18  “sandwich” the bristles  36  of the paintbrush  33  near the handle end  37  of the bristles  36 . The plurality of teeth  21  and  22  extend into the bristles  36 , separating the bristles  36  and stripping paint from them as the user pulls the brush  33  outwardly, i.e., in the direction indicated by directional arrow  67 . 
         [0033]    If the device  10  and paintbrush  33  are placed under running water (not shown), the teeth  21  and  22  separating the bristles  36  exposes the bristles  36  deep within the paintbrush  33  to water, which cleans the bristles. While the teeth  21  and  22  are extending into the bristles  36  to clean deep within the paintbrush  33 , the squeegee bars  19  and  20  scrape paint from the outer surface  38  of the bristles  36 . 
         [0034]    To finish cleaning the bristles  36  of the paintbrush  33 , the user slowly pulls the brush  33  outwardly in the direction indicated by directional arrow  67  until the bristles  36  are freed from the device  10 . Then the user may open the handle  11  and repeat the process by closing the cleaning heads  15  and  16  again on the bristles  36  near the handle end  37  of the paintbrush  33  and pulling the paintbrush  33  through the device  10 . Repeatedly drawing the bristles  36  through the cleaning heads  15  and  16  under running water (not shown) or a solvent (not shown) will thoroughly clean the brush  33 . 
         [0035]    The cleaning process as described herein may be performed without water or a solvent to scrape paint from the paintbrush  33  for reuse. Further, in one embodiment the device includes a paint catching reservoir (not shown) affixed to the handle  11  to receive paint pulled from the brush  33 , as further discussed below and with respect to  FIG. 0 . 
         [0036]    The illustrated embodiment includes squeegee bars  19  and  20  ( FIG. 1 ) disposed on the cleaning heads  15  and  16 . In other embodiments, the cleaning heads  15  and  16  may not include squeegee bars  19  and  20 , and in such embodiments, the cleaning is done by the plurality of teeth  21  and  22 . 
         [0037]      FIG. 7  is a front perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a paintbrush cleaning device  70  according to the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the device  10  comprises cleaning heads  75  and  76  that are similar to the cleaning heads  15  and  16  of the device of  FIG. 1 . However, in this embodiment, a paint roller scraper  71  is disposed on the cleaning head  75 , and a paint scraper  73  is disposed on the cleaning head  76 . The paint roller scraper  71  comprises a semi-circular extension  72  that the user (not shown) can utilize to scrape paint from a traditional paint roller (not shown) by drawing the paint roller through the semi-circular extension  72 . The paint scraper  73  is an angled extension from the cleaning head  76  that may be used to scrape paint (not shown) from flat surfaces (not shown). 
         [0038]      FIG. 8  is a side view of a device  80  with an alternative handle  89 . In this embodiment, the handle  89  comprises an arm  83  rotatably connected to an arm  84  via a fastener  85 . The arms  83  and  84  comprise cleaning heads  81  and  82 , respectfully, that are substantially similar to the cleaning heads  15  and  16  ( FIG. 1 ). 
         [0039]    The arm  83  is rigidly affixed to a handle grip  87  and the arm  84  is rigidly affixed to a handle grip  86 . The fastener is disposed between the arm  83  and its handle grip  87  and between the arm  84  and its handle grip  86 , in a scissor-like fashion. No spring  14  ( FIG. 1 ) is required in this embodiment. 
         [0040]    In operation of the device  80 , the user grasps the handle grips  86  and  87  and separates them to separate the cleaning head  81  from the cleaning head  82 . The user then closes the cleaning heads  81  and  82  on the paintbrush (not shown) by compressing the handle grips  86  and  87  together. The user then pulls the brush slowly from the cleaning heads  81  and  82  in the manner discussed above with respect to  FIG. 6 . 
         [0041]      FIG. 9  is a front plan view of an alternative embodiment of the disclosure showing cleaning heads  90  and  91 . Tooth bars  94  and  95  each comprise a plurality of interlockable teeth  96  and  97 , respectively. The tooth bars  94  and  95  are removably affixed to the cleaning heads  90  and  91 . In this regard, the tooth bars  94  and  95  are sandwiched between backing plates  92  and  93 , respectively, and retaining bars  100  and  101 , respectively. The retaining bars  100  and  101  are secured to the backing plates  92  and  93 , respectively, by fasteners  90  and  99 , respectively. The tooth bars  94  and  95  are removable and replaceable by removing the fasteners  98  and  99  which connect the tooth bars  94  and  95  to the backing plates  92  and  93 , respectively. Note that there are no squeegee bars  19  and  20  ( FIG. 1 ) in this embodiment. 
         [0042]      FIG. 10  is a side view of an alternative embodiment of a device  110  according to the present disclosure. The device comprises a handle  111  comprised of anus  112  and  113 . Cleaning heads  114  and  115  disposed on the arms  112  and  113 , respectively, are substantially similar to the cleaning heads  15  and  16  discussed above with respect to  FIG. 1 . In this embodiment, the device HO further comprises a paint collection reservoir  116  for collecting paint (not shown) removed from paintbrushes (not shown). The paint collection reservoir  116  comprises an open reservoir that may collect and retain paint as paint is removed from the paintbrush, so that the paint may be reused. 
         [0043]    The reservoir  116  is affixed to the arm  112  in the illustrated embodiment. The reservoir  116  comprises a fluid-retaining cavity  117  bounded by sidewalls  118  and a bottom wall  119 . Although the sidewalls  118  illustrated in  FIG. 10  are shown as straight-sided, the sidewalls may be curved in other embodiments.