SPECIFICATION

This invention relates to hair brushes, and is particularly concerned with hair brushes intended for personal grooming.

Conventionally, a hair brush consists of a handle and a brush head which carries quills, for example of bristle or nylon arranged in a designated pattern. The brush head and handle may be made separately and secured together in a final stage of the manufacturing process, or alternatively they may be made as one integral item. It is the object of the present invention to provide a hair brush designed for greater ease of handling in use.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a hair brush comprising a head portion and a handle portion with gripping means provided in the area between the head portion and the handle portion.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the gripping means comprises a ring having an external surface shaped to improve grip by the fingers. Preferably, the gripping means comprises a ring member having external surface indentations and/or protrusions, for example ribs and grooves, in the case of ribs and grooves extending lengthwise of the brush, to aid the gripping of the ring by the fingers. By the provision of such gripping means it is thus more easily possible to rotate the brush in use. In other words, with the handle portion resting in and supported by the palm of the hand, the fingers can take hold of the gripping means and more easily rotate the brush than if such gripping means is absent. The brush

can thus be used more comfortably and efficiently, irrespective of its shape.

In embodiments where the gripping means is formed as a gripping ring, the ring may be set into a recess in the handle portion or on a spigot of reduced diameter extending forwardly from the handle portion or rearwardly from the head portion. Alternatively, the gripping ring need not be recessed into the brush but can be mounted on the external surface of the handle portion.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, a number of embodiments of hair brush in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a first embodiment of hair brush in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of a second embodiment of hair brush in accordance with the invention; Fig. 3 is a detail view of the gripping ring of the brushes of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a side view of a further embodiment; and

Fig. 5 is a side view of yet another embodiment.

As shown in Fig. 1 , the hair brush comprises a head portion 10 which comprises a cylindrical shaft 12 fitted with rows of quills 14 in an appropriately spaced array. The brush also comprises a cylindrical handle 16. In the zone between the handle 16 and the head 10 there is provided a fixed-position gripping ring 18, for example of rubber. The ring 18 is shown as having a plurality of circumferentially spaced grooves

20 extending longitudinally of the ring and defining ribs therebetween. As shown in the drawing, the ring

18 is slightly concave, to assist the location of the fingers on the ribbed and grooved area. As shown in

Fig. 3, the ring 18 is recessed into the body of the brush so that it cannot slip forwards or backwards along the length of the brush. As indicated, the ring 18 is held within a recess of 2mm depth and protrudes above the surface of the handle 16 to a maximum of 4mm at each end of the ring. However, this is an example only. In this embodiment the shaft 12 of the brush head is provided with a spigot 22 which is secured into a cylindrical bore in the handle 16. The ring 18 is set on a portion of this reduced diameter spigot 22. Alternatively, one could provide the spigot as part of the handle 16 and fit it into a bore in the brush head shaft 12. Yet again, one could provide the ring 18 on a peg projecting outwardly from each side of the ring and fit that peg into corresponding bores in both the handle 16 and in the head shaft 12. As a yet further alternative, the ring 18 can be fitted to a brush which is a one-part item, i.e. integral brush head and handle, either being recessed into the body of the brush or being fixed in place on the surface thereof.

It should be understood that the grip of the present invention can be used with any design of handle and with any design of brush head. It can also be used with hair brushes such as shown in Fig. 2 which have a head portion which is not based upon a central shaft but uses twisted wires 21 set into a base 22. In this case the grip 18 is provided immediately to the rear of the base 22 in which the wire ends are secured.

Fig. 4 shows a further embodiment in which the gripping ring 18, e.g. of rubber, is fitted to a brush body 24 which is a one-piece item, e.g. of wood, fitted with quills 14. The one-piece brush body is provided with a circumferential groove, indicated by the broken line 26, and the gripping ring 18 is set into this groove. It may be secured therein by an adhesive for

example. Here, the ring 18 is provided with hemispherical protuberances 28 for grip.

It should also be understood that although it is preferred to recess the grip into the brush in order to prevent it from slipping, the invention does also include hair brushes having gripping means which are provided on the external surface of the brush handle. The invention also includes a hair brush, as shown in Fig. 5, where a finger-gripping area is shaped or moulded into the brush at this zone between the handle and the head, rather than being a separate component. Here the brush has a plurality of longitudinally extending ribs 30 prominent from the brush surface. This is particularly appropriate if the brush is moulded as one piece from plastics material.

The grip may be made of any suitable material, for example rubber. It should also be understood that the ribbed and grooved surface shown in Figs. 1 to 3 or the protuberant surface of Fig. 4 could be replaced by other designs intended to provide sufficient grip for the fingers. The surface of the ring need not necessarily have a prominent configuration. It could be a roughened surface to provide greater grip than the adjacent smooth brush body. Also, the grip need not be concave as in Figs. 1 to 3; it could alternatively be cylindrical or even convex. The nub of the invention is the actual provision of gripping means at a point along the length of the hair brush in order to facilitate its practical use.