Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A46—BRUSHWARE
  • A46B—BRUSHES
  • A46B9/00—Arrangements of the bristles in the brush body
  • A46B9/005—Arrangements of the bristles in the brush body where the brushing material is not made of bristles, e.g. sponge, rubber or paper
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A46—BRUSHWARE
  • A46B—BRUSHES
  • A46B3/00—Brushes characterised by the way in which the bristles are fixed or joined in or on the brush body or carrier
  • A46B3/22—Brushes characterised by the way in which the bristles are fixed or joined in or on the brush body or carrier rubber bristles being fixed in or on brush bodies
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A46—BRUSHWARE
  • A46D—MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES
  • A46D1/00—Bristles; Selection of materials for bristles
  • A46D1/02—Bristles details
  • A46D1/0207—Bristles characterised by the choice of material, e.g. metal
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A46—BRUSHWARE
  • A46B—BRUSHES
  • A46B2200/00—Brushes characterized by their functions, uses or applications
  • A46B2200/10—For human or animal care
  • A46B2200/1066—Toothbrush for cleaning the teeth or dentures
  • A46B2200/108—Inter-dental toothbrush, i.e. for cleaning interdental spaces specifically
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A46—BRUSHWARE
  • A46B—BRUSHES
  • A46B3/00—Brushes characterised by the way in which the bristles are fixed or joined in or on the brush body or carrier
  • A46B3/04—Brushes characterised by the way in which the bristles are fixed or joined in or on the brush body or carrier by mouldable materials, e.g. metals, cellulose derivatives, plastics

Definitions

• the present disclosure relates to an interdental cleaner for cleaning an interdental space between adjacent teeth.
• the interdental cleaner comprises a handle part and an elongated cleaning part, where a cleaning element is arranged circumferentially around the cleaning part
• JP-H-06304218 discloses a device for massaging gums and having a vibration motor
• US5123841 discloses an apparatus for removal of dental plaque from in between adjacent teeth.
• the apparatus includes a hand piece for mechanically moving a dental brush having a conical shape.
• the apparatus further comprises vibrating means in said hand piece adapted for mechanically vibrating the dental brush.
• Interdental brushes are small-headed brushes available in different widths to match the space between teeth for interdental treatment. They can be cone shaped or cylindrical, and they play an important role in the improvement of oral health.
• interdental brushes are commonly recommended aids for cleaning between the teeth. Even though the interdental brushes have improved oral health significantly, problems persist particularly relative to the ability to efficiently remove film of bacteria in the narrow space between adjacent teeth.
• One problem relates to the ability of the brushes to efficiently enter the interdental space.
• Another problem relates to the ability of the brushes to efficiently remove the film of bacteria, so called dental plaque.
• the disclosure provides an interdental cleaner comprising a handle part and an elongated cleaning part, the cleaning part extending in a first direction from the handle part and terminating in a free end, wherein the handle part and the elongated cleaning part are formed by a first material, and wherein a cleaning element is arranged circumferentially around the cleaning part and forms a helical pattern, the helical pattern extending continuously along at least a part of the cleaning part and forming a substantially triangular cross-section transverse to the first direction, the cleaning element being formed by a second material, where the second material is more flexible than the first material.
• the handle part and the elongated cleaning part may be formed in one piece, e.g., by moulding the handle part and the elongated cleaning part by use of the first material.
• the handle part and the elongated cleaning part may be formed as two separate elements which may subsequently be joint.
• the cleaning part extends in first direction from the handle part and terminates in a free end which free end is to be inserted between two adjacent teeth during use of the interdental cleaner.
• the first direction may correspond to an insert direction during use.
• the length of the cleaning part i.e., the size of the cleaning part along the first direction may be in the range of 15-50 mm.
• a cleaning element of a second material being more flexible than the first element is arranged circumferentially around the cleaning part.
• the cleaning part may be fully covered by the cleaning elements, whereas the cleaning element in an alternative embodiment may be arranged circumferentially around the cleaning part to cover only a part hereof.
• first material and/or the second material may be a material which comprises more than one ingredient.
• first material and second material are not limiting the material to pure materials with no additives or combination of materials.
• first material and second material specify that the cleaning element is made of another material than the handle part and the cleaning part.
• first and second material may comprise the same ingredients, however in different ratios.
• the first material may be polypropylene with an additive to make it less flexible
• the second material may likewise be polypropylene, e.g., without the additive or with a smaller amount of the additive or with a different additive to make the second material more flexible than the first material.
• the cleaning element forms a helical pattern around the cleaning part.
• the helical pattern may extend at least around a part of the cleaning part.
• the helical pattern extends continuously along at least a part of the cleaning part to form an un-interrupted pattern.
• the helical pattern may extend uniformly or non-uniformly along at least a part of the cleaning part to form an un-interrupted pattern being uniform or non- uniform.
• the helical pattern may be uniform along one part of the cleaning part and non- uniform along another part of the cleaning part.
• the helical pattern forms a substantially triangular cross-section transverse to the first direction.
• the cleaning part may form a substantially triangular cross-section transverse to the first direction. This may further facilitate arrangement of the cleaning element around the cleaning part.
• the cleaning element may extend non-uniformly from the cleaning part, e.g., by providing triangular cross-sections, where at least some are of different size and/or shape.
• the helical pattern may be formed by a plurality of interconnected triangular elements.
• the interconnected triangular elements may be integrally formed, e.g., by moulding the interconnected triangular elements in the same process step(s).
• each triangular element may constitute a winding in the helical pattern.
• the number of interconnected triangular elements/windings may as an example be in the rage of 15-25, such as in the range of 17-22.
• the cross-sectional shape of at least some of the triangular elements may be different than a triangular cross-section of the cleaning part, whereby at one or more positions along the cleaning part, the cross-sectional shape of a triangular element forming part of the cleaning element may be different than the cross-sectional shape of the cleaning part at the same position.
• the plurality of interconnected triangular elements may comprise at least one bending section, whereby the plurality of triangular elements may extend in at least two planes to thereby facilitate connection of two adjacent triangular elements.
• each of the plurality of triangular elements may be flat element extending in only one plane.
• some of the triangular elements may comprise at least one bending section, while other triangular elements may be substantially flat elements.
• At least a plurality of the triangular elements may be formed as isosceles triangular elements. This may facilitate insertion of the cleaning part with the helical pattern into a cavity between two adjacent teeth.
• the two legs of triangle having substantially the same length may be arranged to slide along the two adjacent teeth, whereas the leg having another length may be arranged to slide along the gum.
• the two legs of substantially the same length may be longer than the third leg of the triangle as this may provide a better fit into the cavity.
• the length of the third leg may be in the range of 50-80% of length of the two legs of substantially the same length.
• the distance between an outer edge of two neighbouring threads of the helical pattern arranged circumferentially around the cleaning part; i.e. pitch of the helical pattern may decrease at least along a part of the cleaning part towards the free end.
• the pitch may be constant.
• the pitch may decrease along the full length of the helical pattern.
• the decrease of the pitch may be uniform along the length of the part of the cleaning part.
• the pitch may decrease non-uniformly along the length of the part of the cleaning part.
• the pitch may decrease uniformly along at least one part and non-uniformly at least along another part.
• a material thickness of the cleaning element may decrease at least along a part of the cleaning part towards the free end.
• the cleaning element may be more flexible towards the free end. This may facilitate insertion and/or movement of the cleaning part in a cavity between adjacent teeth.
• the decrease may as an example be achieved by providing a number of neighbouring threads of the helical pattern with the same material thickness, and providing a number of subsequent neighbouring threads of the helical pattern of a material thickness being smaller, where the subsequent neighbouring threads are closer to the free end.
• a material thickness of the cleaning element may decrease from the cleaning part towards an edge portion of the cleaning element; i.e., the cleaning element may be thicker in the area around the cleaning part than at the edge portion.
• triangular elements being connected to form the helical pattern may have a centre area being thicker than the edge portion of the triangular elements.
• a decreasing thickness towards the edge portion may facilitate insertion and/or movement of the cleaning part in a cavity between adjacent teeth.
• the material thickness of the cleaning element may be in the range of 0.05-0.35 mm.
• a cross-sectional area of the cleaning element may decrease at least along a part of the cleaning part towards the free end.
• triangular elements being connected to form the helical pattern may have a cross-sectional area where a triangular element positioned closer to the free end is smaller than a triangular element being positioned closer to the handle part.
• a decreasing cross-sectional area towards the edge portion may facilitate insertion and/or movement of the cleaning part in a cavity between adjacent teeth.
• the cross-sectional area may decrease stepwise, whereby two neighbouring triangular elements may be of the same size.
• the cross-sectional area may be uniform along a part or along parts of the cleaning part, whereas it may decrease along another or along other parts of the cleaning element.
• a height of the cleaning element may decrease at least along a part of the cleaning part towards the free end, where the height is defined as a dimension of the cleaning element transverse to the first direction.
• the height may be uniform along a part or along parts of the cleaning part, whereas it may decrease along another or along other parts of the cleaning part towards the free end hereof.
• the height of the cleaning element may be in the range of 1.5-4.0 mm.
• a dimension of the cleaning part transverse to the first direction may decrease at least along a part of the cleaning part towards the free end.
• the triangular cross-section of the cleaning part may thus taper down at least along a part of the cleaning part towards the free end.
• the dimension may decrease uniformly, whereby tapering may be uniform along the length of the cleaning part.
• the dimension may decrease along a first part of the cleaning part, and may be uniform or may increase along a second part of the cleaning part, where the second part is closer to the free end than the first part.
• the free end forms a tip part which may not be covered by the second material.
• the cross-section of the cleaning part may taper down towards the position at which the tip part starts. At this position the cross-sectional area of the cleaning part may increase to a size which correspond to the cleaning part covered with the second material to thereby ensure that the cross-sectional area does not decrease from the tip part to the part of the cleaning part covered by the second material.
• the tip part may have a surface roughness Ra above 0.65 pm, such as above 0.80.
• the first material may be selected from a group consisting of polypropylene, polypropylene copolymer blend with high density polyethylene (HDPE), such as a biobased HDPE, or other suitable materials with similar characteristics.
• HDPE high density polyethylene
• the second material may be selected from a group consisting of different thermoplastic elastomers, or other materials with similar characteristics.
• the free end may form three curved tip edges, where the tip edges converge towards the free end to thereby round off the free end.
• the handle part may be formed as a substantially flat element defining two opposite gripping surfaces. A user may grab the handle part by two fingers, one on each opposite sides of the handle part.
• the second material may at least partly cover an edge portion along the handle part.
• the two opposite gripping surfaces may not be covered, as the second material may only be provided along the edge portion of the handle part or at least a part hereof.
• a surface pattern may be formed on at least one of the gripping surfaces.
• the surface pattern may fully cover one or both gripping surfaces. However, in an alternative embodiment, only a part of one or both gripping surfaces may be covered.
• the surface pattern may increase the grip.
• the surface pattern may comprise a plurality of protrusions and/or indentations.
• the disclosure provides a method of using an interdental cleaner according to the first aspect of the disclosure, the method comprising the steps of:
• the interdental cleaner according to the first aspect of the disclosure is very suitable for performing the method steps according to the second aspect of the disclosure.
• the remarks set forth above in relation to the interdental cleaner are therefore equally applicable in relation to the method.
• the disclosure provides a method of manufacturing an interdental cleaner according to the first aspect of the disclosure, the method comprising :
• Fig. 3 illustrates a side-view of an embodiment of an interdental cleaner
• Fig. 5 illustrates a view from below of an embodiment of an interdental cleaner
• Fig. 6 illustrates a view from above of an embodiment of an interdental cleaner
• Fig. 7 illustrates an embodiment of an interdental cleaner 1 inserted into a cavity between two adjacent teeth.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment of an interdental cleaner 1 which comprises a handle part 2 and an elongated cleaning part 3.
• the cleaning part 3 extends in a first direction (indicated by the arrow A) from the handle part 2 and terminates in a free end 4.
• the handle part 2 and the elongated cleaning part 3 are formed by a first material.
• a cleaning element 5 is arranged circumferentially around the cleaning part 3 and forms a helical pattern 5A.
• the helical pattern forms a substantially triangular cross-section transverse to the first direction A.
• the cleaning element 5 is formed by a second material being more flexible than the first material.
• the helical pattern 5A extend around a part of the cleaning part 2 leaving the tip end 6 uncovered by the cleaning element 5.
• the cleaning part 2 additionally forms a substantially triangular cross-section transverse to the first direction A.
• the helical pattern 5A is formed by a plurality of interconnected triangular elements 7 being integrally formed, e.g., by moulding the interconnected triangular elements in the same process step(s), whereby each triangular element 7 constitutes a winding in the helical pattern 5A.
• the plurality of interconnected triangular elements 7 each comprises at least one bending section 8 (see Figs. 4 and 6), whereby the plurality of triangular elements 7 extend in at least two planes to thereby facilitate connection of two adjacent triangular elements 7.
• two neighbouring triangular element 7 positioned in the area of the tip end 6 are arranged with a smaller distance between them than two neighbouring triangular element 7 positioned in the area further away from the tip end 6.
• the free end 4 forms a tip end 6 which is not covered by the second material.
• the cross-section of the cleaning part 3 taper down towards the position P at which the tip end 6 starts (see Fig. 2 for more details).
• the cross- sectional area of the cleaning part 2 increases to a size which correspond to the cleaning part 2 covered with the second material to thereby ensure that the cross-sectional area does not decrease from the tip part to the part of the cleaning part covered by the second material.
• Fig. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a part of an embodiment of an interdental cleaner 1.
• the cleaning element 5 of the second material has been omitted from Fig. 2 to illustrate more details of the cleaning part 3.
• Protrusions 9 are arranged on an outer surface 10 of the cleaning part 3 to facilitate arrangement of the cleaning element 5 in a helical pattern circumferentially around the cleaning part 3.
• Fig. 2 additionally illustrates the increased cross-sectional area of the cleaning part 2 at the position P.
• Fig. 3 illustrates a side-view
• Fig. 4 illustrates a side-view of the cleaning part of the interdental cleaner 1 also illustrated in Fig. 1 and 2.
• Fig. 5 illustrates a view from below of an embodiment of an interdental cleaner 1
• Fig. 6 illustrates a view from above of an embodiment of an interdental cleaner 1.
• Protrusions 9 are additionally arranged on an outer surface of the handling part 2 to facilitate arrangement of a coating by the second material along a part of the handling part 2.
• the plurality of interconnected triangular elements 7 in the illustrated embodiment each comprises at least one bending section 8, whereby the plurality of triangular elements 7 extend in at least two planes to thereby facilitate connection of two adjacent triangular elements 7.
• Fig. 7 illustrates a cross-section of the interdental cleaner 1 inserted into a cavity 11 between two adjacent teeth 12.
• the triangular elements 7 are formed as isosceles triangular elements to facilitate insertion of the cleaning part 2 with the helical pattern 5A into the cavity between two adjacent teeth.
• the two legs 13 of triangular element 7 having substantially the same length are arranged to slide along the two adjacent teeth 12, whereas the leg 14 having another length is arranged to slide along the gum 15.
• the two legs 13 of substantially the same length are longer than the third leg 14 of the triangle to provide a better fit into the cavity 11.
• the length of the third leg 14 may be in the range of 50-80% of length of the two legs 13 of substantially the same length.

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• Brushes (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (3)

Family

ID=81975254

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Family Cites Families (7)

• 2023
  • 2023-06-07 WO PCT/EP2023/065180 patent/WO2023237582A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2023-06-07 EP EP23731257.4A patent/EP4536035B1/de active Active
  • 2023-06-07 ES ES23731257T patent/ES3060410T3/es active Active

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