The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 23, 2002
Filed:
Oct. 15, 1999
Kent E. Lageson, Savage, MN (US);
Yvonne I. Lund, Cottage Grove, MN (US);
Brent D. Niccum, North St. Paul, MN (US);
Carole A. Tronnes, St. Paul, MN (US);
3M Innovative Properties Company, St. Paul, MN (US);
Abstract
An integrally molded brush. A preferred embodiment of the integrally molded brush includes a) a generally planar hub having an outer periphery, where the hub has a thickness of at least 0.05 inches; and b) a plurality of bristles extending from the outer periphery of the hub, where each of the bristles includes a bristle tip opposite the hub, where the bristle tip has a thickness up to 0.03 inches, and where the molded brush comprises a thermoplastic polymeric material. The present invention also provides a method of molding an integrally molded brush. A preferred embodiment of the method includes the steps of: a) heating a thermoplastic polymer to allow the thermoplastic polymer to be injected into a mold; b) injecting the thermoplastic polymer into a mold, wherein the mold includes a hub section and a plurality of bristle sections in fluid communication with the hub section, where the bristle tip section has a thickness up to 0.03 inches; c) injecting the thermoplastic polymer into the hub section of the mold, while maintaining the thermoplastic polymer at a high enough temperature to prevent solidification of the thermoplastic polymer; d) injecting the thermoplastic polymer into the plurality of bristle sections of the mold so as to substantially fill the plurality of bristle sections with the thermoplastic polymer; e) sufficiently cooling the thermoplastic; and f) thereafter removing the integrally molded brush from the mold.