Tuft picker for a brush making machine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11058214-B2
Application number	US-201916449801-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 24, 2019
Priority date	Jan 24, 2017
Publication date	Jul 13, 2021
Grant date	Jul 13, 2021

Abstract

A tuft picker for a brush-making machine for automated production of brushes, such as toothbrushes, which is adapted to remove filaments from a filament container. The tuft picker comprises two parts. Each of the two parts comprises at least one picker eye for taking up a predefined number of loose filaments from the filament container. These picker eyes comprise an opening which can be opened and closed by moving the cover tool from a first position into a second position during one working stroke.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A tuft picker comprising:
a first part and a second part spaced by a distance, wherein each of the first part and the second part comprises a working surface including at least one picker eye having an opening in the working surface,
wherein the opening in the first part and the opening in the second part are located at identical positions at the working surfaces and are spaced by the distance, thereby forming a picker eye volume comprising the picker eye of the first part, the picker eye of the second part, and an interspace therebetween; and
a cover tool located between the first part and the second part, wherein the cover tool comprises a main body and a hook connected by a spacer to the main body, wherein the hook terminates with an end and has a first surface and a second surface, wherein the first surface corresponds to the working surfaces at the openings of the first and second parts;
wherein the cover tool is structured and configured to be movable relative to the picker eye volume from a first position to a second position, wherein the hook is located outside the picker eye volume in the first position of the cover tool, wherein the hook is located inside the picker eye volume in the second position of the cover tool thereby limiting the picker eye volume at the interspace at a common building line of the working surfaces, and wherein a part of the main body of the cover tool is located inside the picker eye volume when the cover tool is in the first position, thereby reducing the picker eye volume in the first position of the cover tool when the hook is located outside the picker eye volume.

2. The tuft picker of claim 1 , wherein the part of the cover tool's main body located inside the picker eye volume in the first position of the cover tool is at least partially removed from the picker eye volume when the cover tool moves from its first position into its second position.

3. The tuft picker of claim 2 , wherein a portion of the picker eye volume covered by the part of the cover tool's main body in the first position of the cover tool is identical to or larger than a portion of the picker eye volume covered by the hook in the second position of the cover tool.

4. The tuft picker of claim 1 , wherein the second surface of the hook is adapted to transfer objects to be located inside the picker eye volume deeper into the picker eye volume and away from the building lines of the working surfaces at the openings of the picker eyes.

5. The tuft picker of claim 4 , wherein a width of the hook increases from the end of the hook towards the spacer, wherein the width is from about 0.01 mm to about 0.1 mm at the end and from about 0.1 mm to about 5 mm at the spacer.

6. The tuft picker of claim 4 , wherein the end of the hook of the cover tool is rounded and the second surface of the cover tool is chamfered from the end to the spacer.

7. The tuft picker of claim 1 , wherein the second surface of the hook comprises a protuberance.

8. The tuft picker of claim 1 , wherein each of the working surfaces of the first part and the second part of the tuft picker comprises a circular arc having a curvature diameter of from 20 mm to 200 mm.

9. The tuft picker of claim 1 , wherein the openings of the picker eyes are smaller than a width of the picker eyes, wherein at least one protrusion protrudes into the openings at a side of the openings where the end of the hook is located in the second position of the cover tool.

10. The tuft picker of claim 9 , wherein a shape of the end of the hook corresponds to a shape of the at least one protrusion.

11. The tuft picker of claim 1 , wherein the picker eyes have a shape comprising a circle or an oval.

12. The tuft picker of claim 1 , wherein the picker eyes have a shape of an oval having a width of from about 1 mm to about 8 mm and a depth of from about 0.4 mm to about 4 mm.

13. The tuft picker of claim 1 , wherein the tuft picker is structured and configured to oscillate along a part of a circular arc from a starting position to a reversal point, wherein the cover tool moves from its first position into its second position before the tuft picker reaches the reversal point.

14. The tuft picker of claim 13 , wherein the cover tool stays in its second position when the tuft picker is oscillating back into its starting position.

Assignees

• Procter & Gamble

Inventors

• Alinski Jens

Classifications

• A46D1/0238

  Bristles with non-round cross-section · CPC title

• A46D1/0284

  Bristles having rounded ends · CPC title

• A46D3/082 Primary

  Magazines for bristles; Feeding bristles to magazines; Knot picking · CPC title

• A46D1/08 Primary

  Preparing uniform tufts of bristles · CPC title