FAUCET BRUSH ADAPTOR AND FAUCET BRUSH SYSTEM

Abstract

The present invention relates to a faucet brush adaptor, faucet brush system, and faucet brush kit and assembly with related method of use. A brush end member includes a threaded interface that adaptively threads into a receiving threaded interface on a faucet head. The brush end member includes an inner region proximate the faucet dispensing regions allowing a ready pass-through of all faucet water flow without interference. The brush end member has an outer bristle region around said inner region allowing a user to use both the faucet and the brush simultaneously in a secure manner. The brush end member may be replaced and easily updated. Alternative brush end members include different types and locations of bristles while maintaining no interference with the faucet operation.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application relates to and claims priority from U.S. Provisional Ser. No. 63/232,022 filed Aug. 11, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIGURE SELECTED FOR PUBLICATION

FIG. 1

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a faucet brush adaptor; faucet brush system, and faucet brush kit and assembly with related method of use.

Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, faucets dispense water following a control activation (on or off). Recently, different types of water dispensing faucets using different types of faucet ports (spray, stream, clean-mode, vibration-mode etc.) in a fixed facet head or fixed faucet end-face have been employed to provide additional consumer choice for related applications.

Such different types of faucet ports are known in the consumer and industrial markets for food preparation and cleaning, in the bath-products fields, and in related fields.

Additionally known are various types of hand scrubbers, brushes, sponges and related physical hand-cleaning tools. These types of items are typically, retained in the user's hand, and vigorously scrubbed onto a food-coated surface such as in a pan, pot, or otherwise. One variation of a hand scrubber or hand brush, includes cleaning solution (soap) in an elongated hollow handle or in a hollow palm container depending upon various constructions.

It is known that the use of a mechanical dishwasher with stacked dirty, dishware etc., will use high-pressure water, on a unitary rotating wand to attempt to remove stuck on food items, and unfortunately this may lead to limited success. As a result, users of such mechanical dishwashers often pre-scrub with a hand brush using a high volume of water from a sink faucet. In sum, the use of such conventional washing processes and methods is both time consuming and requires the use of additional water, raising costs, often with only moderate success.

In view of the above, soap-chemical manufacturers have increasingly sought specialized soap-compositions used in mechanical dishwashers that are marketed to address these concerns, and these have only limited success. Hand washing remains a common practice.

ASPECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to addressing at least one of the aforementioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a faucet brush adaptor, faucet brush system, and faucet brush kit and assembly with related method of use and assembly and disassembly.

According to one alternative and adaptive aspect of the present invention, there is provided a faucet brush system, for a faucet having a faucet end member with at least one opening for fluid release, said faucet brush system, comprising: a faucet brush adaptor having a brush end member projecting on a first side thereof, a threaded engaging member on said faucet brush adaptor on a second side thereof opposite said first side, a bridge member spanning a central portion of said faucet brush adaptor between said first side and said second side, a plurality of bridge openings defined in said bridge member, said plurality of openings in said bridge member corresponding to said at least one opening for fluid release on said faucet end member, a seal element on said bridge member proximate said plurality of bridge openings on said central portion spanning between said bridge members and said at least one opening for fluid release during an assembly with said faucet end member, a plurality of bristle members extending outwardly from said brush end member and bounding said bridge member in a nonblocking arrangement relative to said bridge openings, and said threaded engagement member in said faucet brush adaptor threadably engaging said faucet end member to prevent an unintended separation of said faucet brush system from said faucet during a use.

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals designate the same elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a conventional faucet system now having a faucet brush installed according to one aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial illustration of the innovative faucet brush assembly in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a kit assembly of the faucet brush of the present invention installed in packaging in combination with the conventional faucet system of FIG. 1, with kit components for assembly in a product packaging casing.

FIG. 4 is an illustrative view of a front of an exemplary faucet brush assembly portion according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an illustrative view of a side of an exemplary faucet brush assembly portion according to FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of FIG. 4 noting the threaded interfit between the faucet brush and a faucet end.

FIG. 7 is an illustrative bottom view of a faucet brush according to the present invention wherein outer brush members provide an inner region where water-spray pass-through is accommodated in different faucet system modes (e.g., power-wash, regular-flow, or other arrangement (within the center region of the faucet brush member so as to maintain full faucet function when assembled).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the invention. Wherever possible, same or similar reference numerals are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts or steps. The drawings are in simplified form and are not to precise scale. The word ‘couple’, ‘link’, ‘connect’, and similar terms do not necessarily denote direct and immediate connections, but also include connections through intermediate elements or devices. For purposes of convenience and clarity only, directional (up/down, etc.) or motional (forward/back, etc.) terms may be used with respect to the drawings. These and similar directional terms should not be construed to limit the scope in any manner. It will also be understood that other embodiments may be utilized without departing from the scope of the present invention, and that the detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and that elements may be differently positioned, or otherwise noted as in the appended claims without requirements of the written description being required thereto.

Various operations may be described as multiple discrete operations in turn, in a manner that may be helpful in understanding embodiments of the present invention; however, the order of description should not be construed to imply that these operations are order dependent.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 7, a faucet brush assembly 100 includes a conventional faucet portion 200 and a faucet brush adaptor 10. Faucet portion 200 includes, in the version shown, a sink mounting portion 201, an on-off main switch 202, a flexible wand arm 203 and a support brace 204. A faucet end 205 has a supplemental control 206, in this exemplary and non-limiting example a water pause- and power wash-button.

The faucet end 205 includes internal threads 205A (FIG. 6) for meeting with a faucet brush adaptor 10. The faucet brush adaptor 10 includes engagement threads 11 that threadably engage with internal threads 205A and provide a releasable fitment between faucet end 205 and faucet brush adaptor 10.

It will be understood that faucet end 205 at a side facing flexible arm 203 includes further threads 220 (FIG. 4) for threaded engagement with flexible arm 203, and replacement for repair.

Faucet brush adaptor 10 includes a connection section 12 having an internal bridge 13 that is pierced with a plurality of openings shaped corresponding to the main opening of any water exits in the faucet end 205 so as to allow unimpeded volume through flow during a use and without distortion. It is additionally conceived that a seal element is positioned on internal bridge 13 bounding the respective plurality of openings corresponding to the water exits in the faucet end 205 so as to prevent unintended scattering of water and spray e.g., to guide and direct water flow from faucet end 205 through bridge 13 and outwardly within bristles 14.

About an outer periphery of connection section 12 is the plurality of bristles 14 extending away from engagement threads 11 and surrounding the plurality of openings in internal bridge 13.

As will be understood from those having studied the present disclosure, faucet brush adaptor 10 may be in various shapes and have alternative bridge-hole-patterns corresponding to a related faucet end 205.

As will be further understood faucet brush adaptor 10 may be provided in a multipackage of one or more, or may be provided within a faucet kit 300 (FIG. 3) assembly and sold together with the entire assembly based upon commercial convenience, cost, and consumer desire.

In this manner, the present invention may be provided with a method of assembly of a faucet brush assembly 100, as well as a method for replacing a faucet brush adaptor 10 for repeated use (for example after bristle damage). It will be further understood that the present construction allows easy removal of faucet brush adaptor 10 for comprehensive washing and sterilization between uses.

Having described at least one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be apparent to those skills that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various modifications and variations can be made in the presently disclosed system without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A faucet brush system, for a faucet having a faucet end member with at least one opening for a fluid release, said faucet brush system, comprising:

a faucet brush adaptor having a brush end member projecting on a first side thereof away from said faucet;

a threaded engaging member on said faucet brush adaptor on a second side thereof opposite said first side;

a bridge member spanning a central portion of said faucet brush adaptor between said first side and said second side;

a plurality of bridge openings defined in said bridge member to allow a passage therethrough of said fluid release;

said plurality of openings in said bridge member corresponding to said at least one opening for fluid release on said faucet end member;

a seal element on said bridge member proximate said plurality of bridge openings on said central portion spanning between said bridge members and said at least one opening for fluid release during an assembly with said faucet end member;

a plurality of bristle members extending outwardly from said brush end member and bounding said bridge member in a nonblocking arrangement relative to said bridge openings; and

said threaded engagement member in said faucet brush adaptor threadably engaging said faucet end member to prevent an unintended separation of said faucet brush system from said faucet during a use.