IE900462L

IE900462L - Brushing device, particularly for teeth, for single use,¹disposable after use

Info

Publication number: IE900462L
Application number: IE900462A
Authority: IE
Inventors: Jacques Saury
Original assignee: Univ Leicester
Priority date: 1989-02-09
Filing date: 1990-02-09
Publication date: 1990-08-09
Also published as: EP0419587A1; IE900462A1; DE69021971T2; CA2026988A1; PT90287A; GR1001113B; CN1053885A; YU26290A; DE69021971D1; AU4837890A; FR2642626A1; PT90287B; JPH03505054A; CA2026988C; IS3542A7; DD291920A5; ES2078334T3; ATE126980T1; WO1990009122A1; GR900100079A

Abstract

A single-use, throw-away brushing device, in particular for teeth. The single-use, throw-away brush comprises a flexible holder for toothpaste or other treating product (1) constituted by a gripping handle having a non-flexible paste-dispensing cannula (4) extending therefrom, provided with an inner longitudinal opening (8) connected, on the one hand, to the holder (1) and, on the other hand, to a nozzle (5) fixed on the end by means of which the toothpaste is dispensed onto a silk bristle brush head (2) located on the cannula and covering its nozzle, said head being provided with a hole (6) coming into contact with the nozzle. The device is essentially characterized in that: the cannula according to the end facing the holder comprises a rigid disk-shaped collar whose diameter is larger than that of the cannula; the holder is composed of a tubular flexible sheath, fixed by one of its ends to the collar; the length of said holder, whose capacity is limited to a single dose, is such that it can be pressed completely between the user's thumb and index finger. By using his thumb and index finger, the user causes the front part of the flexible sheath constituting the holder to be brought against the inner surface of the collar (7), such that the cannula is blocked axially in relation to the holder; and the brush head is fixed to the end of the cannula and is set aside from the collar (7) and hence from the holder at an interval sufficient so that it may be inserted between the jaw extremities without the holder being placed in the user's mouth.

Description

IE 90462 la BRUSHING DEVICE, PARTICULARLY FOR TEETH, FOR SINGLE USE, DISPOSABLE AFTER USE.

The invention relates to a brushing device, particularly for teeth, with a reservoir for toothpaste or other product, the 5 device being intended for a single use, thereafter to be thrown away.

U.S. Patent Specification No.2.766.472 relates to a toothbrush which incorporates a brush head mounted on a butt-cock distributor attached to the threaded nozzle of a reservoir 10 of toothpaste, which reservoir serves as a gripping handle, can take several measures of toothpaste, and can be formed by a commercial toothpaste tube. A conduit inside the dis-ributor connects the nose with the toothpaste reserve. The nose of the distributor connects with a hole bored 15 in the brush head opening on to its bristles.

The paste reservoir is of a flexible material, deformable by squeezing.

By squeezing the reservoir the user of the brush drives some toothpaste from the reservoir onto the brush bristles. 20 By reason of the fact that the reservoir is flexible and serves as a gripping handle, the brush head cannot stay in the axis of the reservoir during brushing. In other words a large part of the brushing action which the user imparts to the reservoir is absorbed by the bending of the reservoir 25 and cannot therefore be transmitted properly to the brush head.

IE 90462 2 This results in poor brushing of the teeth.

Moreover, by reason of the fact that the reservoir bends during brushing and must be kept squeezed by the user, several measures of toothpaste are expelled from the 5 reservoir during just one brushing.

Also, after several uses of the brush, a plug of hard, dry paste forms in the distributor which is difficult or impossible to extract, blocking any further expulsion of paste from the reservoir onto the brush bristles.

The distributors of this type of brush are of reduced length and completely covered by the brush head.

By reason of this configuration, the reservoir is located immediately beside the brush head, and tends to be pushed into the mouth of the user, risking damage to the gums and/ 15 or the inside of the cheeks as well as to the tooth enamel. This risk is increased by the fact that the brush head and the reservoir cannot stay in line.

Moreover, since the reservoir has a considerable cross-section, penetration into the user's mouth is limited. It is 20 therefore difficult to reach the frontal regions of the jaws with the brush head.

Because of these drawbacks, this type of toothbrush has not experienced the expected commercial success.

For reasons of hygiene, the professionals thought it 25 would be useful to produce single-use, disposable toothbrushes, each with its own toothpaste reservoir designed to (E 90462 hold just one measure of toothpaste.

An attractive sale price is necessary for the effective marketing of such toothbrushes, so the manufacturing costs should be kept as low as possible.

The toothbrush of the type which incorporates a butt- cock distributor screwed to the nozzle of a tube of paste serving as a reservoir and gripping handle, with a brush head mounted on the distributor also has the drawback of a high cost. This drawback, together with those previously mentioned, has led the professionals to seek other ways of producing single-use toothbrushes.

Consequently, toothbrushes have been suggested which would have a rigid gripping handle, joined to a brush head with a cavity for a measure of toothpaste above the bristles.

This cavity is connected with the bristle region of the brush by a hole bored in the thickness of the head and covered by a flexible wall which can be deformed by pressure in the cavity in order to expel the toothpaste onto the bristles.

The toothbrush heads should preferably be as small as possible. The formation of a cavity in the brush to take a measure of paste leads inevitably to an increase in the size of brush head.

Also, such brushes demand specific production methods.

IE 90462 Moreover, with this type of brush there is no provision for sealing the hole for the paste, so it hardens in contact with the air inside the brush packaging.

It can be seen from this that the single-use disposable 5 toothbrushes implemented up to now still suffer from some drawbacks.

The applicant has observed that the production cost of the type of toothbrush which incorporates a toothpaste reservoir serving as a gripping handle could be sig-10 nificantly reduced.

The applicant has also observed that the problem of keeping the brush head and the distributor in the axis of the reservoir during brushing can largely be solved by the use of a reservoir of short length or small capacity. 15 According to the present invention there is provided a single- use disposable toothbrushing device incorporating a flexible reservoir, for toothpaste or another product, serving as a gripping handle extended by a butt-cock distributor; rigid, with a longitudinal aperture inside connecting the reservoir 20 and the nose of the distributor, the distributor being covered by a brush head mounted on it, which head has a hole bored in it, opening in the region of the bristles and connecting with the distributor nose in such a way that the paste in the reservoir can be delivered to the brush 25 bristles by squeezing the reservoir.

IE 90462 V — The device is characterised by the following: - the distributor incorporates a rigid disc-shaped flange, the flange diameter being bigger than the distributor diameter, - the reservoir is made from a flexible tubular sheath, 5 attached at one end to the flange, -the reservoir, which only has capacity for a single measure of toothpaste, is of such a length that it can be completely squeezed between the thumb and index finger of the user, in such a way that the front part of the flexible sheath making 10 up the reservoir is drawn back against the internal edge of the flange so ensuring axial locking of the distributor in relation to the reservoir, -the distributor is longer than the reservoir, -and the brush head is fitted on the end portion of the 15 distributor, far enough from the flange and hence the reservoir to allow it to reach the jaw extremities without the reservoir entering the user's mouth.

It will be seen that very little of the brushing action imparted by the user to the toothpaste reservoir is absorbed 20 by the bonding of the latter.

Moreover, because of the length of the distributor and the distance between the brush head and the distributor flange e IE 90462 - - . g the reservoir will not enter the user's mouth.

Other advantages and characteristics of the invention will become apparent by reading the description of a preferred implementation, given by way of a non-limiting 5 example, referring to the appended drawings : - Fig.l is a front view of a toothbrush which conforms to the invention - Fig.2 is a longitudinal section view of a toothbrush according to the invention, - Fig.3 and 4 are transverse section views, at the level of the brush head, of an initial implementation of the toothbrush .

- Fig.5 is a partial longitudinal section view of a toothbrush .

- Fig.6 is a section view of a protective cap for the head bristles.

As shown, the disposable single-use brushing device particularly for teeth consists of a flexible reservoir 1 of toothpaste, serving also as a gripping handle extended 20 axially by a rigid butt-cock paste distributor 4, with a longitudinal aperture 8 inside, connecting the reservoir 1 with a nose 5 bored radially in the end of the distributor, which is covered by a brush head 2 mounted on the distributor 4, the brush head having a hole 6 opening into the area J of the bristles 3 of the head 2, which hole connects with the nose 5 of the distributor 4 in such a way that by IE 90462 7 squeezing the reservoir the measure of paste therein contained is delivered to the bristles of the brush.

According to the preferred implementation, the constituent parts are made from any suitable synthetic material. 5 The distributor 4 incorporates a circular disc-shaped flange 7 at the reservoir end.

This circular disc-shaped flange expands perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the distributor.

The diameter of the flange 7 is bigger than that of the 10 distributor. Purely by way of an illustrative example, the flange diameter is equal to or in the region of two centi-centimetres, while the external diameter of the distributor is equal to or in the region of 0.6 centimetres.

The distributor has a straight ring-shaped section. 15 The reservoir is made from a tubular sheath, cylin drical for example, flexible, attached and sealed at one end to the flange 7 by any appropriate method.

After the sheath has been filled with toothpaste the other end will be sealed by brazing the sides together. 20 The capacity of the reservoir is such that it only takes a single measure of toothpaste.

By way of example, the reservoir capacity is between two and four cm^.

Also the length of the reservoir is such that it can be 25 squeezed completely between the thumb and index finger of the user's hand, in such a way that the front part of the IE 90462 v ^ 8 the flexible sheath serving as the reservoir is drawn back against the inside edge of the flange 7, which edge together with the inside edge of the sheath determines the volume of the reservoir.

In this way the thumb and the index finger of the user exert pressure on the flange 7 through the sheath.

The sheath is closely attached to the distributor, and acts as part of it, so the distributor stays in line with the reservoir and with the user's hand.

So very little, if any, of the brushing action imparted by the user to the toothbrush is absorbed by the bending of the reservoir.

In order to reinforce this, the flange 7 could have a suitably-shaped rigid leg 13 attached, extending into the reservoir, parallel with its axis, so that the sheath forming the reservoir would be squeezed against it by the user's fingers.

This leg could form part of the flange 7, attached at one end to its perimeter.

This leg 13 could advantageously be bent according to a circumferential arc of increasing radius from the attachment zone at the flange to its opposite end, by following the geometry of the reservoir 1.

The distributor 4 is longer than the reservoir 1, and brush head 2 is mounted on the end portion of the distri IE 90462 9 butor, i.e. the end away from the flange 7.

The head 2 is far enough away from the flange 7 and from the reservoir that it can reach the jaw extremities without the reservoir entering the user's mouth and causing 5 injury.

The distance is at least equal to or in the region of one and a half times the length of the head.

The end portion of the distributor is approximately one third of its total length.

By way of a purely illustrative example, the distance is at least equal to three centimetres, and the distributor is at least four centimetres long.

Still by way of illustration, the head will not be longer than two centimetres.

The brush head 2 incorporates along its longitudinal axis an internal cavity 10, shaped so as to take the end portion of the distributor.

According to the preferred implementation, the end portion of the distributor is narrower than the rest, so that the 20 section of the cavity 10, and hence the thickness of the brush head can be reduced.

Also according to the preferred implementation, the end of the distribitor is sealed, and the nose 5 is bored radially near the end.

According to one preferred implementation, the head incorporates an external flat surface to which the bristles are IE 90462 , 10 attached.

The hole 6 incorporated in the head is bored radially from the flat surface and opens into the internal cavity 10. The part of the head opposite this flat surface can be 5 shaped ergonometrically to allow better entry to the mouth.

In order to help distribution of the toothpaste over the bristles several radial holes 6 could be bored from the flat surface into the internal cavity, all connecting with the nose 5 of the distributor.

According to an initial implementation, the brush head is mounted on the distributor so as to allow movement along it, from a starting position where the distributor nose is sealed to a final position where the hole 6, opening at one end into the bristle region, connects at the other end with 15 the nose 5 of the distributor 4 to allow distribution of a measure of toothpaste by squeezing the reservoir.

It can be seen from this that while the head is in its starting position the distributor is sealed, and the product contained in the reservoir cannot dry up.

According to the preferred implementation, the cavity in the head and the distributor are cylindrical, and the brush head can rotate on the distributor.

Thus the hole in the head and the nose of the distributor move towards or away from each other by an angular movement 25 of the head.

IE 90462 11 In the starting position the nose 5 will be sealed by the surface of the internal cavity 10.

According to this implementation, the head 2 cannot move along the distributor.

According to an initial implementation this movement is prevented by adhesion.

To this end, the internal cavity could have at least one rib which would exert pressure on the cylindrical face of the end portion of the distributor.

According to an initial variation, this rib extends into the cavity 10 in the form of a helix.

According to another variation, the cavity has several ribs, regularly spaced, each extending in the form of a circle. It should be noted that thanks to this/these rib(s) and the 15 pressure exerted on the distributor there is no fear of untimely pivoting of the head.

Thus the head stays in its starting position as long as the user does not move it to the final position.

According to a second implementation, an obstacle 20 prevents the head from moving along the distributor.

To this end, a lug on the surface of the distributor fits into a groove formed in the cavity of the head.

There is preferably an annular stanch joint between the head and the distributor, and at the back of the nose.

IE 90462 12 By way of example, this stanch joint could be fitted in a groove formed in the distributor.

According to another implementation, this stanch joint is advantageously formed by one of the circular ribs. 5 According to the preferred implementation, the head and the distributor can be fitted with means for marking their relative positions.

By way of example, two pointers 11 and 12 arranged on the head and the distributor respectively could come into line 10 when the head is in the brushing position, i.e. the final position.

In order to keep the brush head 2 in position in relation to the distributor, whether in the starting position or in the final position, a locking mechanism would 15 be incorporated, consisting of an elastic element jutting out from the external surface of the distributor and two holes bored in the cavity of the head.

The elastic mechanism penetrates one of these holes when the head is in its starting position, and the other hole when 20 the head is in its final position.

A toothbrush has previously been described in which the head can move in relation to the distributor.

According to another implementation, the brush head is closely attached to the distributor, and cannot move in 25 relation to it, either in translation or rotation, or is even moulded to the end of the distributor.

IE 90462 ' 13 Any toothbrush implemented as previously described would benefit from a protective cap 4 clipping on to the brush head and covering the bristles.

This cap would advantageously have an internal spigot 5 15 which would seal the hole 6 in the brush head while in place, in order to prevent the drying up of the product in the reservoir and the distributor and to guarantee that the brushing device has not already been used.

In the case where the brush head is rigidly attached to 10 distributor, the spigot 15 can seal the nose 5 of the distributor .

Such an arrangement could also be applied to a toothbrush mounted in rotation on the distributor.

For the case where the brush head is rigidly attached 15 to the distributor or even mounted in rotation, a sealing membrane could be fitted, whether for the hole in the head or for the nose, to prevent drying up of the product before the brushing device is used.

This membrane could be pierced by the spigot when the cap is 20 driven towards the brush head.

The brushing device particularly for teeth as depicted can be made up from a tube of paste, incorporating a distributor with a flange, the brush head being the sealing plug for the tube.

The major advantage of such a configuration is the limited cost of manufacture.

IE 90462 It should be noted that the combination of the sealing of the distributor, which maintains the physiological characteristics of the toothpaste inside, the single use of the brushing device because there is only one measure of 5 toothpaste, and the disposable and hence non-transferable nature of the brush after use, ensures maximum hygiene, which can be reinforced by appropriate sealed packaging.

It stands to reason that many adjustments and variations are possible within the scope of this patent.

IE 90462 v

Claims

1. Brushing device, particularly for teeth, for single use, disposable thereafter, incorporating a flexible reservoir (1), for toothpaste or other product, serving as 5 a gripping handle extended by a rigid butt-cock paste distributor (4), with an internal longitudinal aperture (8) connecting the reservoir (1) with a nose (5) bored in the end, by which the toothpaste is delivered to a brush head (2) with bristles (3) fitted on the distributor, covering 10 its nose, the head having a hole (6) connecting with the nose, characterised by the following : - the distributor incorporates a rigid disc-shaped flange (7), the flange diameter being bigger than the distributor diameter, 15 - the reservoir is made from a flexible tubular sheath, attached at one end to the flange, - the reservoir, which only has capacity for a single measure of toothpaste, is of such a length that it can be completely squeezed between the thumb and index finger of 20 the user, in such a way that the front part of the flexible sheath making up the reservoir is drawn back against the internal edge of the flange (7) so ensuring axial locking of the distributor in relation to the reservoir, IE 90462 16 - the distributor is longer than the reservoir, - and the brush head is fitted on the end portion of the distributor, far enough from the flange (7) and hence the reservoir to allow it to reach the jaw extremities without 5 the reservoir entering the user's mouth.

2. Brushing device as claimed in 1., characterised by the distributor (4) being longer than the reservoir (2), the distance between the head (2) and the flange (7) being at least one and a half times the length of the head, and the 10 end portion of the distributor being approximately one third the length of the distributor.

3. Brushing device as claimed in 1., characterised by a rigid leg (13) attached to the flange (7), extending into the reservoir parallel to the axis of the reservoir. 15

4. Brushing device as claimed in 1. characterised by the head being mounted on the distributor in such a way that it can move from a starting position, where the nose of the distributor is blocked, to a final position, where the hole (6) in the head, opening at one end into the bristle area, 20 connects at its other end with the nose (5) of the distributor (4), to allow delivery of a measure of toothpaste to the brush bristles by squeezing the reservoir. 17

5. Brushing device as claimed in 1., characterised by the nose (5) being bored radially in the end portion of the distributor.

6. Brushing device as claimed in 1., characterised by the head (2) covering the entire end portion of the distributor, and having a blind cavity (10) in its longitudinal axis to take the end portion of the distributor.

7. Brushing device as claimed in 1., characterised by the head (2) incorporating a flat surface (9) in which the bristles (3) are embedded.

8. Brushing device as claimed in 1., 6., and 7., characterised by the hole (6) incorporated in the head being cut from the flat surface (9) to open into the internal cavity (10).

9. Brushing device as claimed in 4., characterised by the head being fitted to the distributor so as to allow rotational movement, with the starting position of the head ensuring that the internal surface of the cavity (10) blocks the nose (5 ) . IE 90462 18

10. Brushing device as claimed in 4. and 9., characterised by the translational movement of the head on the distributor being locked.

11. Brushing device as claimed in 10., characterised by 5 the translational locking being effected by adhesion.

12. Brushing device as claimed in 11., characterised by the translational locking by adhesion being effected by one or more ribs jutting into the internal cavity, which rib(s) exerts pressure on the cylindrical face of the end portion 10 of the distributor.

13. Brushing device as claimed in 10., characterised by the translational locking being effected by an obstacle.

14. Brushing device as claimed in 4., characterised by the head (2) and the distributor (4) having some means of 15 marking their relative positions.

15. Brushing device as claimed in 1., characterised by the brush head being locked in translation and rotation on the distributor.

16. Brushing device as claimed in 1., 4. and 15., 20 characterised by having a protective cap 14 clipping onto IE 90462 19 the brush head and covering the bristles (3).

17. Brushing device as claimed in 1., 4., 15. and 16., characterised by the cap (14) having a spigot (15) inside which seals the hole in the head while the cap is in place.

18. Brushing device as claimed in 1., 4., 15. and 16., characterised by the hole in the head and/or the nose being sealed by a membrane which can be pierced by the spigot when the cap is driven towards the head.

19. A brushing device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings. Dated this 9th day of February 1990 CRUICKSHANK & CO. (jfxaobj" Agentsfor Vhe Appl i dsmt\ 1, Holies street, Dublin 2.