Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to pet supplies, and more specifically to a pet grooming comb that can allow adjustment of the combing angle conveniently. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A conventional pet grooming comb generally includes a grip, a comb head fixed to the grip, and a plurality of teeth fixed to the comb head such that a user can hold the grip to force the teeth to comb a pet&#39;s hair. 
     Since the comb head is fixed to the grip and unrotatable, the teeth that are fixed to the comb head face a fixed direction. However, a pet has different characteristics of hair at different positions, and therefore a user needs to adjust a holding angle of the pet grooming comb or change a way of holding the grip to enable the teeth to approach the pet&#39;s skin for combing the pet&#39;s hair. Thus, it can be seen that the conventional pet grooming comb has the drawback of requiring strenuous efforts to operate, resulting in inconvenience of use. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above-noted circumstances. It is one objective of the present invention to provide a pet grooming comb, which can adjust its combing angle for a user&#39;s operation 
     To achieve this objective of the present invention, the pet grooming comb comprises a grip and a comb head. The grip has a plurality of first coupling portions circularly arranged around a longitudinal axis thereof. The comb head has a plurality of teeth and a second coupling portion selectively coupled to one of the first coupling portions. 
     Accordingly, a user can adjust a setting angle of the comb head relative to the grip by means of the engagement of one of the first coupling portions of the grip with the second coupling portion of the comb head for enabling the user to choose a laborsaving angle to operate the pet grooming comb, thereby enhancing the convenience of use. 
     Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view of a pet grooming comb according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the pet grooming comb according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view taken along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional view taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a top view of the grip of the pet grooming comb according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a bottom view of the grip of the pet grooming comb according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded bottom view of the comb bar and the comb plate of the pet grooming comb according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  is an assembled sectional view of the comb bar and the comb plate of the pet grooming comb according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the pet grooming comb according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the comb head is rotated by 90 degrees compared with the pet grooming comb shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 10  is a sectional view taken along line  10 - 10  of  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 11  is an exploded view of the comb head of the pet grooming comb according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing a comb plate that has different type of teeth is provided, and 
         FIG. 12  is similar to  FIG. 11 , but showing another comb plate that has different type of teeth is provided. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a pet grooming comb  10  in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a grip  20 , two decorative boards  30  and  32 , and a comb head  40 . 
     The grip  20  has a housing  50  and a shaft  60 . The housing  50  has a head portion  52 , a body portion  54 , a first concavity  522  at each of top and bottom sides of the head portion  52  for accommodation of a user&#39;s thumb or forefinger, a second concavity  542  at a top side of the body portion  54 , and a third concavity  544  at a bottom side of the body portion  54 . The housing  50  has an inner cambered surface  562  at an inner periphery thereof, and an inner plane  564  opposite to the inner cambered surface  562 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . Further, the body portion  54  has a first outer through hole  546  penetrating through top and bottom sides of the body portion  54  in communication with the second concavity  542  and the third concavity  544  and the shaft hole, and two second outer through holes  548  penetrating through the top side of the body portion  54  in communication with the second concavity  542  and the shaft hole and located at places corresponding to two opposite sides of the first outer through hole  546 . In addition, a junction of the head portion  52  and the body portion  54  is inwardly shrunken to form two opposite inwardly curved surfaces  56 , and a plurality of anti-slip blocks  58  are spacedly provided at each of the curved surfaces  56  and arranged in a straight manner from the head portion  52  to the body portion  54  for providing a skidproof effect. 
     The shaft  60  has an outer cambered surface  602 , an outer plane  604  opposite to the outer cambered surface  602 , an inner through hole  62  penetrating through top and bottom sides thereof, and two mounting holes  64  recessed from the top side thereof. The shaft  60  is inserted into the housing  50  in such a manner that the inner through hole  62  and the mounting holes  64  are respectively aligned with the first outer through hole  546  and the second outer through holes  548 , and the outer cambered surface  602  and the outer plane  604  are respectively abutted against the inner cambered surface  562  and the inner plane  564 , resulting in that the shaft  60  is not rotatable relative to the housing  50  randomly. Further, the shaft  60  has eight first coupling portions  66 , which are recesses in this embodiment, equiangularly, spacedly and circularly arranged at a periphery thereof around a longitudinal axis of the shaft  60 . 
     The decorative board  30  has a first post  302  inserted in the first outer through hole  546  of the housing  50  and the inner through hole  62  of the shaft  60 , and two second posts  304  respectively inserted in the second outer through holes  548  of the housing  50 , and the mounting holes  64  of the shaft  60  such that the decorative board  30  is accommodated in the second concavity  542 , as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 5 . The decorative board  32  has a third post  322  inserted in the first post  302  of the decorative board  30  through the first outer through hole  546  and the inner through hole  62  such that the decorative board  32  is accommodated in the third concavity  544 , as shown in  FIG. 6 . As a result, the shaft  60  can not move along an axial direction of the housing  50  due to the engagement of the decorative boards  30  and  32 , and patterns or trademarks can be designed on the decorative boards  30  and  32  according to the user&#39;s need. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 , the comb head  40  has a comb bar  42  and a comb plate  44 . The comb bar  42  has a first end  422  of a tubular form provided at an inner periphery thereof with a second coupling portion  46 , which is a protrusion in this embodiment and selectively insertable into one of the first coupling portions  66 , i.e., recesses, of the shaft  60  such that the comb bar  42  can be set to one of eight angles relative to the grip  20 , as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 10 , a second end  424 , and an insertion groove  426  extending from the second end  424  toward the first end  422 . The comb plate  44  has a base portion  441 , a block  48  at a distal end of the base portion  441 , two dots  482  respectively provided at two opposite sides of the base portion  441  and adjacent to the block  48 , and a plurality of teeth  443  rotatably mounted on the base portion  441 . The comb plate  44  is fitted to the comb bar  42  in such a way that the base portion  441  is inserted into the insertion groove  426  until the block  48  is abutted against the second end  424  of the comb bar  42 , and the dots  482  are stopped against a periphery of the insertion groove  426 . 
     By the aforesaid design, when the user would like to adjust the angle of the comb head  40  relative to the grip  20 , the user can draw the comb bar  42  away from the shaft  60  of the grip  20  to make the second coupling portion  46 , i.e. protrusion, leave away from one of the first coupling portions  66 , i.e. recesses, and then reinsert the second coupling portion  46 , i.e. protrusion, of the comb bar  42  into another first coupling portion  66 , i.e. recess, of the shaft  60  of the grip  20  according to the user&#39;s need, as shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10 . As a result, the comb head  40  is rotatable and fixable to a specific angle relative to the grip  20  to enable the user to comb the pet&#39;s hair effortlessly. Further, when holding the grip  20 , the user can hold the body portion  54  of the housing  50  to exert a force or place a thumb or forefinger on either of the concavities  522  of the top and bottom sides of the head portion  52  of the housing  50  for enabling the user to operate the grip  20  more comfortably and effortlessly due to its ergonomic design. 
     In addition, because of the 360-degree rotatable teeth  443 , the pet&#39;s hair won&#39;t be knotted; moreover, when the user would like to change different type of teeth  443 , the user can draw the base portion  441  of the comb plate  44  away from the insertion groove  426  of the comb bar  42  to detach the comb plate  44  from the comb bar  42 , and then insert a new comb plate, such as the comb plate denoted by reference numeral  70  in  FIG. 11 , that has different kind of teeth into the insertion groove  426  of the comb bar  42 . As shown in  FIG. 11 , the teeth  72  of the comb plate  70  each have a sphere  74  at a distal end thereof to increase the contact area between each one of the teeth  72  and the pet&#39;s hair.  FIG. 12  shows another comb plate  90  that has double rows of tapered teeth  92  to prevent the pet&#39;s hair from knotting. 
     Certainly, the pet grooming comb of the present invention can be made with various kinds of design on the basis of the spirit of the present invention. For example, the first concavity is not necessary to be formed on each of the top and bottom sides of the head portion. It can be formed on either of the top and bottom sides of the head portion. Further, the body portion of the housing and the shaft can be respectively provided with one or more second outer through holes and mounting holes, or even the arrangement of the second outer through holes and the mounting holes can be eliminated. Besides, the first coupling portions of the grip and the second coupling portion of the comb head can be exchanged but not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. In other words, the first coupling portions can be designed to be provided at the comb bar of the comb head, and the second coupling portion can be designed to be provided at the shaft of the grip. Further, the shaft can be eliminated if the recesses are directly formed on the periphery of the shaft hole of the housing. 
     The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.

Technology Category: 1