US2629890A - Holder for steel wool - Google Patents

Description

March 3, 1953 T. c. D] GIOVANNA 2,629,890

HOLDER FOR STEEL WOOL Filed June 21, 1951 I N V EN TOR. 12M 621w fizmwm Patented Mar. 3, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HOLDER FOR. STEEL WOOL Tigellia Cisco Di Giovanna, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application June 21, 1951, Serial No. 232,726

This invention relates to holders and devices for holding scouring and polishing means, and particularly to a holder for artificial metal wool such as steel wool.

, The main object of my invention is to provide a manually gripped holder for such scouring and polishing means that is especially adapted to fit the hand and be firmly held thereby.

Another object of the invention is to have such a manual holder capable of holding steel wool in pad form, as for example, that form of steel wool known on the market as Brillo.

A further object is to have a steel wool holder of the character indicated which is provided with means for releasably holding a pad of steel wool in effective position for use.

It is also an object to have a holder such as mentioned that is flexible to allow the steel Wool held thereby to conform to the surface upon which the steel wool is applied.

A practical object of this invention is, of course, to have a steel wool holder that is reasonable in cost and simple to make and use.

Other objects and the advantages of my invention will appear more fully in detail as the specification proceeds.

In order to facilitate ready comprehension of the invention for a proper appreciation of the salient features thereof, the invention is illustrated on the accompanying drawing forming part hereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a holder for steel wool and the like made according to this invention and embodying the same in a practical form;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the same holder;

Figure 3 is an exploded view of the holder disclosing the detail of the retaining means for holding the steel wool in place;

Figure 4 is a side view of the holder in use upon a curved object to illustrate how the holder conforms itself to the shape of an object to which it is applied;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a modification; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary section taken on line 6-6 in Figure 5.

Throughout the views, the same reference numerals indicate the same or like parts.

When scouring and polishing pots, pans, bowls and the like, it is often inconvenient to use a wad of metal wool to scour the same, as it is a matter of practice and dexterity to hold the wool effectively to perform good work. In addition, such work always entails a hazard, for it 1 Claim. (01. -209) occurs all too frequently that pieces of the wool cuts into the fingers and begin to cause festersand boils or other serious conditions.

Upon considering this problem, it has occurred both to provide a good hold on the metal wool and also to protect the hand from the wool. As

' a result of such cogitation, I have succeeded in producing a special holder for steel wool and the like, as will now be particularly set forth in.

detail.

Hence, in the practice of my invention, and. referring also again to the drawing, a resilient.

and substantially flat holder body I is preferably made of natural or artificial rubber or plastic: and may be of round or oval outline, as shown in.

Figures 1 to 4. Upon two opposite side edges and at one end, this holder body is provided with retaining fingers 8, 8, 9 directed inwardly beneath the body and made of a stiffer and less yielding form of rubber or plastic. It is to be noted that at the remaining end Ill of the body no retaining finger is located, but instead, this end is clear and unobstructed in order to allow a pad H of steel wool or the like to be slid inward beneath the holder body so as to become engaged by fingers 8, 8, and 9. When slipping the pad into position, these retaining fingers may be pried outward by the operator until the pad is seated in final positiomwhen the pad will conform in outline with the outline of the holder body and be ready for use.

In order to manipulate the mentioned holder and apply the steel wool to the utensils to be scoured or polished, the holder body 1 is provided upon its upper surface with a hand grip l2 of elongated and generally upstanding form. However, in order to cause this hand grip to conform to the palm and the fingers of the hand 13, this grip is formed with a pitch like a propeller blade, so that toward one end hi it bends toward the left to fit the palm and toward the other end it veers off to the right at IE to be gripped by the fingers. Being of the same material as the holder body, this hand grip, located as it is upon the intermediate portion of the mentioned holder body, the hand obtains a firm grip on member l2, and thus provides a good hold on the device as a whole without the hand coming into direct contact with the steel wool.

Inasmuch as the entire holder is of resilient material, it is easily possible to scour and polish concave and convex objects such as the concave bowl l6 partly shown in Figure 4, the steel pad ll naturally also conforming to the shape of the object to which it is applied. The material of the holder may be, as already mentioned of rubber or plastic, and the material among the plastics that is suitable is any one of the vinyl series and the like.

While I have described the holder body as of round or oval outline, such a profile is merely one of convenience, for as shown in Figure 5, the body I! may be of square or recta'ngular'outline. This form of holder has the two side retaining fingers l8, l8 and one end retaining finger I8, for example, is: normally biased upward and inward toward the underslde of the holder body H, but when the pad 22'is introduced between the finger l8 and body I], the finger is separated from the body asindicated at*23; The retaining: fingers are preferably made of a less resilient rubber or plasticthan that of the holder body I or H, and they may even be internally reinforced by a metal or plastic clip or finger, and this is such an obvious expedient as to seem unnecessary to illustrate.

In any event, it is evident from the foregoing:

that a pad of steel wool mayv be held in useful manner without danger'tc the hand and manipulated conveniently. to scour and polish various utensils of difierent shapesin effective manner;

It has been shown, also that the form ofthe holder as a whole may be selected for convenience, so that it may be round. oval, square, rectangular or of any other outline desired, so long. as'one end or side is free from retaining-fingers- The upper surface of the 4 to allow for replacement of a steel wool pad. In any form of the holder, the hand grip is also substantially the same in form, being formed with a twist to facilitate gripping the same.

Manifestly, variations may be resorted to and parts and features may be modified or used without others Within the scope of the appended claim.

Having now fully described my invention, I

claim:

A steel wool holder adapted tohold a pad of steel wool in effective position for use, including a holder body of resilient material having a predetermined outline, a plurality of inwardly directed retaining fingers extending integrally from the e'dges'b'eneath said holder body for retaining a pad of steel wool against the underside of said body, and a grip member fixed upon the upper surface of the holder body, the said grip member being formed with a pitch long its length, thereby bending the said grip member in one direction at one end and in the opposite dlrec tion at its other end in order to facilitate'conforming to the palm and fingers of" the" hand when gripping the said holder,"and the said retaining fingers being-less resilient than the said holder body.

TIGELLIA crsco m GIOVANNA;

REFERENCES error) The following references areofreco rd-in the fileof this patent: U

UNITED STATES PA'I'ENTS Date

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