GB2291800A - Toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

A toothbrush comprises a hollow handle (1) which defines a reservoir (4) for holding toothpaste. A piston and stopper (9, 10) are mounted to travel along a screw (6) upon rotating a knob or control (8). The screw (6) is mounted to turn freely on a stand (7). Advancement of the piston moves the toothpaste towards the bristle block, where it is expelled through hole (5). <IMAGE>

Description

TOOTHBRUSH SPECIFICATION OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a toothbrush that is particular because it is integrally provided with a reservoir containing several doses of toothpaste which can be supplied directly onto the bristles of the toothbrush merely by turning a knob or control lying at the rear end of the toothbrush handle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Teeth are usually cleaned using a toothbrush having a block with bristles upon which a dose of toothpaste is laid for the brushing of teeth.

Toothpaste is generally sold in tubes of varying size and it is obviously inconvenient when brushing teeth to have to apply such paste onto the brush, above all since this requires reaching out for the toothpaste tube, and then opening and closing it.

The use of these toothpaste tubes also poses family hygiene problems, for toothpaste is usually shared by the various family members and when applying toothpaste onto a particular toothbrush, if such is not as clean as one would wish, dirt or germs lying on it may be passed onto the tube and thereafter onto the next toothpaste user's toothbrush.

There are other additional problems such as how difficult it is to get toothpaste out when the tube is almost empty, the product that is always inevitably wasted, the need to make accessories available not only for toothbrushes but for toothpaste tubes or containers, and in particular the problems derived from the use by the various family members of different types or flavours of toothpaste, which problem is clearly all the greater when going on a trip or travelling both individually and as a whole family.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The toothbrush subject hereof has been devised to fully solve these problems, moreover providing a number of benefits and advantages heretofore unheard of with any type of toothbrush.

In particular, the toothbrush subject of the invention is characterised because it has a hollow handle that serves as a reservoir containing toothpaste, in particular multiple doses, said handle then leading through a hole or aperture onto the surface of the block where the bristles are fixed, in order for the toothpaste to get out through such hole and reach such bristles when the user so requires.

The inside of the hollow body making up the handle has to this end been provided with an axially arranged endless screw made of a suitable material, for instance plastic, the rear end of which is linked to a turning knob driven from the outside, lying as an extension to or projection from the rear end of the handle proper, and on driving the turning end knob or control, a piston and its stopper shall travel along the endless screw thereby to push the toothpaste contained in the reservoir, in such a way that the depending upon the extent to which the outer knob or control is turned, a greater or lesser quantity of toothpaste will be pushed, this being the dose that will reach the bristles fixed on the block through a hole in such block.

The toothbrush can be further provided with a window through which the quantity of toothpaste lying in the reservoir can be seen, thereby to know at all times how far or to what extent the toothpaste has been used up.

The toothbrush may altogether obviously have such shape, colour and characteristics as may be desired, in order for its appearance to be as the manufacturer shall see fittest at all times.

The toothbrush will be disposable when the toothpaste is used up.

The advantages the above toothbrush can be summed up as follows: - Each family member can have his or her own favourite flavoured toothpaste, as the case may be.

- It is ideal for frequent travellers for there is no need to purchase an extra toothpaste container or borrow the family one.

- It is entirely hygienic for not even the toothpaste is shared.

- The tube of toothpaste is no longer flattened, toilet cases are not soiled, the family child does not press the container overmuch, etc.

- The number of additional accessories and hence the amount of space required is reduced, and convenience lies in a single body or unit defining the toothbrush and toothpaste reservoir or container.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to provide a fuller description and contribute to the complete understanding of the characteristics of this invention, a set of drawings is attached to the specification which, while purely illustrative and not fully comprehensive, shows the following: Figure 1.- Is a plan view of the toothbrush subject of the invention.

Figure 2.- Is a side elevation view of the same toothbrush shown in the previous figure.

Figure 3.- Is a rear view of the same toothbrush.

Figure 4.- Is a longitudinal sectional view of the toothbrush handle showing the endless screw axially arranged inside the same, the piston and stopper moving the toothpaste and the externally driven turning knob or control.

Figure 5.- Is finally a sectional close-view of the block portion showing the communication between the reservoir constituted by the hollow toothbrush handle and the bristles fixed to the block.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The above figures show that the toothbrush of the invention comprises, as toothbrushes do conventionally, a handle (1) with a block (2) defined at one end where the relevant bristles (3) are fixed, being especially particular in that the handle (1) is hollow and defines an internal reservoir (4) the rear end of which is closed and the front end of which leads into a hole (5) lying on the surface of the block where the bristles (3) are mounted in order to communicate this reservoir (4) formed in the hollow handle (1) and the actual block, and in particular the bristles (3), for the said reservoir (4) will serve as a toothpaste container, in particular containing a number of doses which the user can push at will and directly onto the block, and in particular its bristles (3).

An endless screw (6) is arranged inside the reservoir (4) supported at one end on a sort of stand (7) whereas its opposite and rear end is linked to an outer drive knob or control (8) located on the rear end of the handle (1) proper, and when the knob or control (8) is turned a piston (9) carrying a stopper (10) will travel along the endless screw (6) and travel of the piston (9) and stopper (10) will cause the toothpaste lying in the reservoir (4) to be pushed forward and emerge through the hole (5) on the block and onto the bristles (3), thereby for the dose to be applied to be dependent on how far or the extent to which the knob (8) is turned, naturally as the user shall see fit.

The toothbrush can also have a window (11) in order that the quantity of toothpaste remaining inside the reservoir (4) can be seen and the rear end can even have an indication (12) pointing out the direction in which the knob or control (8)'should be turned.

The reservoir defined in the toothbrush handle has been designed to have rather sizeable in order that many doses can be extracted therefrom, i.e. in order for the useful life of the toothbrush to be long enough for it to be used and thrown away, i.e. for the toothbrush to be disposable when the toothpaste it carries has been used up without this ostensibly affecting its cost.

It will of course be understood that the present invention has been described above purely by way of example, and modifications of detail can be made within the scope of the invention.

Claims (5)

CLAIMS:

1. A toothbrush, being of the kind comprising a handle provided at one end with bristles used for brushing and cleaning teeth, wherein said toothbrush handle is hollow and defines a reservoir for toothpaste which communicates with the bristles through a hole, and wherein the rear end of the handle carries a drive turning knob or control for pushing and thereby dosing the toothpaste onto the bristles.

2. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 1, wherein an endless screw is axially arranged inside the reservoir supported at one end on an inner stand and linked at its other end to the said rear and outer drive knob or control, which endless screw is in turn fitted with a piston carrying a stopper and upon turning the outer knob or control the said piston-andstopper travel axially and hence push the toothpaste towards the hole.

3. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein a window is provided through which the inside of the reservoir can be seen and hence so can the quantity of toothpaste lying therein.

4. A toothbrush according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the bristles are supported in a block in which said hole is situated.

5. A toothbrush substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.