AU562570B2 - Brush assembly - Google Patents

Description

BRUSH ASSEMBLY FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to toothbrushes and more particularly to toothbrushes having an associated toothpaste container.

BACKGROUND ART

Hitherto, there has been a number of proposals concerning dispensing toothbrushes but these have met with little, if any, commercial success because of various inherent disadvantages regarding difficulty of use and/or manufacture as well as cost. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an improved toothbrush and toothpaste container which will be simple to use and simple to manufacture. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

According to the invention there is provided a brush assembly comprising:- i) a bristle holder having an outwardly disposed bristle array and an internal supply flowpath from which toothpaste may be supplied through an opening in the holder into the bristle array, ii) a container for toothpaste coupled to the bristle holder and having a reservoir portion and an outlet portion in communication with the flowpath in the bristle holder, iii) piston means within the reservoir adapted to be

OMPI moved along the reservoir so as to force tooth¬ paste from the reservoir into the flowpath, and, iv) control means for moving the piston means.

Preferably, the piston is mounted on a threaded spindle that is supported by and rotated by a thumb roller mounted externally of the container. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:-

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a brush assembly according to one embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along lines II-II of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a view taken along lines III-III of Fig. 2, and. Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the brush assembly shown in Fig. 1. BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The brush assembly shown in the drawings has a bristle holder portion 10 and a container portion 11. In this instance, the bristle holder portion 10 and the container portion 11 are coupled together by means of a bayonet coupling 30 comprised of retainer members 31 on the bristle holder portion 10 and key members 32 on the container portion 11. When the coupling is made, the outlet 33 of the

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^s, WIPO ^SNAT container portion 11 is housed within a correspondingly shaped recess 34 in the bristle holder portion 10 as can be seen in Fig. 2. If desired, the container portion 11 could be a snap fit on to the bristle holder portion 10 or could be threaded thereto. A flowpath 12 formed in the interior of the bristle holder portion 10 communicates with the outlet 33.

At the free end of the bristle holder portion 10 there is an outwardly directed bristle display 13 and toothpaste within the flowpath 12 is forced into the bristle array through opening 14. The bristle holder portion 10 may be of any convenient shape or configuration.

The container portion 11 is, in this instance, of constant oval cross section (as indicated in Fig. 3) and has a cavity or reservoir 15 which constitutes the toothpaste reservoir. The free end of the container portion 11 is closed by an end cap 16 which is engaged in the free end of the container portion 11 by means of lugs 35 which lock into apertures 36 of the container portion 11. The end cap 16 has projections 17 which overlie a thumb roller 18 but which do not totally enclose the thumb roller 18 so that the roller 18 may be freely rotated by the user.

The thumb roller 18 has a stub portion 19 which projects through the end cap 16 and is held in position by the fingers 37 on the end cap 16 and a collar 38 on the stub portion 19. A threaded spindle 20 is supported by and rotated by the thumb roller 18 and has thereon a piston

OMP member 21. As mentioned above, the container portion 11 is oval in shape and the piston 21 is also oval in shape so that upon rotation of the thumb roller 18 the piston 21 will move along the threaded spindle 20. In use, the bristle holder 10 is removed from the container portion 11 by uncoupling the bayonet fitting 30. The thumb roller 18 is then rotated so as to move the piston member 21 to the inner end of the cavity 15. The toothpaste is introduced into the cavity 15 through the outlet 33 and air is able to escape through aperture 39. Rotation of the thumb roller 18 will move the piston 21 towards the bristle array 13 and toothpaste will be forced along the flowpath 12 through the openings 14 into the bristle array 13.

Various modifications may be made in details of design and construction without departing from the scope and ambit of the invention.

O P &? A

Claims (5)

1. A brush assembly comprising:- i) a bristle holder having an outwardly disposed bristle array and an internal supply flowpath from which toothpaste may be supplied through an opening in the holder into the bristle array, ii) a container for toothpaste coupled to the bristle holder and having a reservoir portion and an outlet portion in communication with the flowpath in the bristle holder, iii) piston means within the reservoir adapted to be moved along the reservoir so as to force tooth¬ paste from the reservoir into the flowpath, and, iv) control means for moving the piston means.

2. A brush assembly according to claim 1 wherein the piston is mounted on a threaded spindle that is supported by and rotataed by a thumb roller mounted externally of the container.

3. A brush assembly according to claim 1 wherein the container is coupled to the bristle holder by a bayonet coupling which includes retainer members on the bristle holder and key members on the container.

4. A brush assembly according to claim 1 wherein the container is of oval cross section and the piston is similarly shaped.

5. A brush assembly according to claim 1 wherein the end cap is mounted on the container by means of lugs integral - € -

with the end cap that engage in apertures in the container.