The present invention relates to a brush, especially a hairbrush. The most suitable kind of hairbrush for blow drying and general styling is one with bristles splayed out to give a rounded profile, but such brushes are bulky and cumbersome to carry around. There are brushes with parallel bristles which are more compact and therefore more easily fitted into, say, a handbag, but these are less effective for hair styling.

The object of the present invention is to provide a hairbrush which can be adapted to a compact shape for storage and a rounded shape for styling.

According to the present invention there is provided a brush, especially a hairbrush, comprising, bristles movable between a position in which they are disposed in a plane parallel, or substantially so, with a longitudinal axis of the brush and a position in which they are disposed at a transversely outward inclination relative to said longitudinal axis.

Preferably the brush has a head carrying the bristles arranged in parallel rows and extending into the head, a handle connected to said head, and a bristle-adjustment means normally located within the handle but movable into the head to ^" act on the bristles to cause the bristles to move fro their parallel disposition into the transversely outwardly inclined or splayed disposition.

Preferably, the bristle-adjustment means is a slide adapted to contact the ends of the bristles located within the head and configured to cause said transverse outward splaying. An embodiment of the present invention will now

be described, by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line II-II of Fig. 2 through the centre of a hairbrush according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the hairbrush;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line III-III of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line IV-IV of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line V-V of Fig. 1 with bristle-adjustment slide shown within the brush head; and

Fig. 6 is a side view of a bristle strip. Referring to the drawings, the hairbrush comprises a handle 10, a head 11 moulded integral with the handle 10, a bristle assembly 12 mounted on the head 11, and an adjustment device 13 carried within the handle 10 and movable into and out of the head 11 to move the bristles 14 of the bristle assembly 12 between a parallel disposition and a transverse outwardly splayed disposition.

The handle 10 and the head 11 are integral being moulded from a suitable plastics material. The handle 10, as best seen from Fig. 3, is of inverted U-shape and each wall or limb 10A has an internal seating ledge 10B.

The handle 10 is shaped to be attractive in appearance and comfortable to grip. The head 11 is of U-configuration with a slot 11A formed in the base of the ϋ. The U has two end walls 15 and 16 and is closed at its end remote from the handle 10 by the end wall 15 integral with the head 11, or detachable therefrom. The end wall 15 may, for example, be moulded with the handle 10 and

the head 11. It is to be noted that the wall 15 projects above the exposed lower ends of the bristles 14 as indicated at 15A. This wall 15 serves to assist retention of the bristle assembly 12 on the head 11.

The walls 11B of the U-shaped head 11 are thickened at their lower regions to define transversely-spaced ledges 11C which register or are aligned with ledges 10B. The end wall 16 of the head 11 at the handle 10 is open at its upper region to define a communicating passage 17 between the interior of the handle 10 and the interior of the head 11.

The bristle assembly 14 comprises a pre-shaped elastomeric plastics carrier 18 (see Figs. 4 and 5) having free ends with retention lugs or flanges 18A which, when the carrier 18 is disposed around the head 11, snap fit into the slot 11A to retain the carrier 18 in position around the head 11. The carrier 18 supports the bristles 14 and, for this purpose, is formed with parallel rows of holes arranged so that the bristles 14 in adjacent rows will be staggered.

The bristles 14 comprise moulded bristle strips 19 in which the bristles 14 are connected at their ends which are located in the U of the head 11 by a shaped strip 19A.

In the present example, there are four bristle strips 19 whereof the bristles 14 project through the carrier 18 outwardly of the head 11 with the shaped strips 19A disposed within the U of the head 11 below the carrier 18 (see Fig. 1).

The shaped strips 19A of the two outer bristle strips 19 have an angled bottom end 19B as can be seen in Figs. 4 and 5 while the shaped strips 19A of

the two inner bristle strips 19 have round bottoms 19C.

The bristle strips 19 normally lie in parallel disposition as shown in Fig. 4. Within the handle 10 is the bristle-adjustment device 13 in the form of a slide 20^ lying on the ledges 10A and movable through the passage 17 onto the ledges 11C under the bristle assembly 12. The slide 20, at its leading end, has a curved nose 20A, and, at its trailing end, a finger grip 20B to facilitate sliding movement of the slide 20 out of the handle 10 into the head 11, and vice versa.

The finger grip 20B is adapted either to abut against the side walls of the U of the handle 10 which are of more restricted spacing at the head-remote end of the handle 10 to provide a stop, or the wall 16, to restrict its movement.

It is to be noted, at 21, that the slide 20 and top wall of the inverted U handle 10 are in abutment so that there is a frictional interface at 21 whereby the slide 20 is restrained from freely and loosely sliding in and out of the head 11. _„

The slide 20 is V-notched as indicated at 20C, which V-notch blends into a square U configuration at the nose end 20A to effect a lead into the bristle strips 19.

When the slide 20 is pushed into the handle 11 the V-notch 20 engages the angle-faced ends 19B of the strips 19A of the two outer bristle strips 19 and, assisted by the resilient nature of the carrier 18, causes them to splay transversely outwards away from each other. This causes the angle faces 19B to register and as a result the strips 19A of the two outer bristle strips 19 contact the rounded ends 19C of the strips 19A of the two inner bristle strips 19

causing them to splay transversley outwards.

Thus the bristles 14 are moved from a parallel disposition to a rounded disposition thus rendering the brush suitable for styling. Withdrawal of the slide 20 back into the handle 10 causes the parallel disposition of the bristles 14 to be re-instated.

Withdrawal of the slide 20 from the handle 10 is positively resisted by the provision of an impediment or projection 22 (or a pair thereof) on the underside of the slide 20 at its inner end which, on attempted withdrawal of the slide 20 from the handle 10, contacts (or contact) the ledges 10B to prevent such withdrawal. Alternatively, or additionally, an impediment or projection 23 (or a pair thereof) may be provided on the inner surface (or surfaces) of the wall of the handle 10 outwardly of the slide 20 to resist movement of the slide 20 past same, again to prevent withdrawal of the slide from the handle 10.

The number of bristle strips can vary. If there is an odd number of bristle strips then, the central strip will tend to be positioned stationary.

It is envisaged that, these may be two banks of bristles at opposed sides of the head which when splayed define an annulus of bristles around the head, and a slide or camming member is provided to move the banks of bristle strips into the relatively splayed disposition for styling purposes. As an example, a brush according to the invention may, when closed i.e. bristles parallel, have a total width of 13mm., but, when opened i.e. bristles splayed, have a total width of about 43mm.

It is to be noted that the resilient carrier 18 retains the bristle strips 19 in position under its

own tension while permitting some bristle movement during use.

While the bristle-adjustment means is preferably a slide it may be a rotatable cam arrangement actuable by a rod or spindle housed within the handle, or a spreader device normally below the bristle ends but movable by upward pivoting or pushing into contact with the ends to cause spreading movement of the bristles, the spreader device being actuable by a spindle or rod housed within the handle.