Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Machines – Brushing
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-26
2003-03-25
Warden, Sr., Robert J. (Department: 1744)
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Machines
Brushing
C015S097100, C015S021100, C015S167100, C015S167300, C015S022200, C015S105000, C015S004000, C132S073500, C132S073600, C132S075800, C132S075300, C132S076400, C132S073000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06536065
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates primarily to personal cleaning apparatus and devices and more particularly to apparatus and devices for fingernail and hand cleaning, specifically to aid those home and commercial gardeners who frequently have their fingernails and hands covered with moist soil from garden beds.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Commercial gardening, in the form of retail nurseries and those who provide gardening services at private homes has become a large industry in the United States and other parts of the world today. As the global economy has developed and increased, more and more private home owners are relying upon professional gardening services to both supply them with shrubs and other provisions required for home gardening and to care for home gardens and lawns. Furthermore, notwithstanding the professional services used by private home owners per the foregoing, private home owners at least reserve or develop a small portion of their gardens for recreation and care. In either case, the professional nursery personnel and private home owners often find themselves having hands and fingernails caked with moist soil, which, particularly if ignored, becomes increasingly difficult to remove. Of course, standard soap and water provides a partially suitable solution to this problem, but nevertheless, the caking of moist soil on hands and fingernails is never quite totally removed by this process.
In order to increase the amount of such soil removal by such persons, there is always the small, hand-operated nail brush that might be found in many commercial and home rest rooms; but again, the amount of moist soil on hands and fingernails is never totally removed, even if soap and water is supplemented by the small, hand-operated nail brushes available.
Also, ultrasonically powered mechanisms for purposes quite different than the present invention have been developed. For instance, in Park U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,858, the inventor provided a power package to present an ultrasonic wave energy for both removing artifical fingernails and for cleaning under the nails. The ultrasonic energy produced waves in a liquid solution, but Park does not provide brushes for enhancing the treatment. Kim U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,131 shows an apparatus for imparting ultrasonic vibrations to a liquid solution to break down an adhesive in order to remove artificial nails; but Kim also does not have a brush package for his apparatus. Hoffman U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,249 does offer a brush package, moved by ultrasonic energy; but household cleaning is his target, rather than caked soil on hands and under fingernails. Accordingly, the brush configuration and mechanism of Hoffman is not suitable for the objectives of the present invention.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic energy linking mechanism to brush bristles for presenting a structure which removes substantially all of the moist soil from the hands and fingernails of the user. A further and more particular object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic energy linking mechanism to bristles on a base of a brush, both for dislodging caked moist soil from the hands and fingernails of the user, and for brushing away such soil after such soil is loosened by the ultrasonic energy.
These, and other objects of the present invention are provided in a structure which features a solid brush base of non-conductive material defining a cavity therein, a rechargeable battery within the cavity of the base, and with a single row of brush bristle clusters protruding from the brush base, on one surface thereof, and multiple rows of brush bristle clusters protruding from another surface of the brush base. A pair of electronic driving modules are within the brush base for converting energy supplied by the battery to an ultrasonic frequency DC current. The electronic driving modules are connected to a pair of piezoelectric transducers by connecting wires. As the piezoelectric transducer crystal resonates, expands and contracts volumetrically in tune with the frequency supplied by the electronic driving module, the electronic energy is thereby converted into sound wave energy. In this way, the bristle clusters conduct such sound wave energy to the caked moist soil on the user's hands or fingernails, depending upon with which bristles, the single row or the multiple row bristles, contact is made with the user's hands or fingernails. Alternatively, after dislodging by the above action of the caked moist soil, the sound waves continue to drive the brush bristles in a longitudinal back and forth motion to remove the dislodged soil.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the two sets of bristles (single row and multiple row) are operated by use of a two-way switch. The operated sets of bristles conduct the ultrasonic energy to loosen the caked moist soil, and then remove the loosened soil.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3512202 (1970-05-01), Taylor
patent: 5890249 (1999-04-01), Hoffman
patent: 5947131 (1999-09-01), Kim
patent: 6035858 (2000-03-01), Park
patent: 6334232 (2002-01-01), Sato
Balsis Shay L.
Warden, Sr. Robert J.
Yavner Stanley J.
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