One would thing there would be little left to invent, at least as far as shaving brushes goes. One would be wrong. Over in Japan, Mrs 由美子 井上 – or Yumiko Inoue for those of us who don’t read Japanese – recently got a patent for a shaving brush with a notch.

We have looked at a lot of brushes before. And I do mean a lot; folding, telescoping, collapsible, self-feeding, fountain style, antiseptic, disposable, self destructing, hygienic, sanitary, and many, many more. But Yumiko’s idea is the first notched brush that I can recall seeing.

Yet the idea is delightfully useful. The notch will let you rest the brush on the edge of a shelf (if the shelf has a lip of a certain size, that is). Or, perhaps more interesting, the notch lets the brush rest on the lid of a box. A box that is also a combined soap holder and ‘roughing bowl’. Or, as I would put it, a lather bowl.

The notch is sized so the brush can also rest on the size of the lather bowl.

And while the patent uses a lot of words to describe the brush with a notch, as well as the nesting bowls, the claims summarise it nicely:

A brush characterized by having a recess or a notch that fits into a locked body at the center of the handle in the longitudinal direction.

When the locked body is one or more of the handles provided on the protrusion, the protrusion, the edge of the container, and the lid, and the recess or the notch is fitted into the locked body, the handle is fitted. The brush according to claim 1, wherein the brush is held horizontally or with the hair bundle facing diagonally downward.

A whisk comprising the brush according to claim 1 or 2, and a whisk container for whipping a cleaning agent or soap.

The whipping container includes a razoring bowl for whipping shaving soap, a soap dish on which the shaving soap can be stored, and a removable cover having a handle on the upper surface, which covers the soap dish. The whipping device according to claim 3, further comprising, the recess or the notch being fitted into the handle of the cover or the edge of the roughing bowl, and the brush can be held.

I know, auto-translate makes somewhat of a dogs breakfast out of the text. But luckily the drawings are very clear.

I find myself almost wanting Yumiko’s brush with notch – and the nested soap-cup and lathering bowl too. It would make an excellent addition to my shave gear. Perhaps as my at work shave set.

You can read the whole translated patent at Google Patents, or over at Espacenet.