WO1998025500A1

WO1998025500A1 - Toothbrush

Info

Publication number: WO1998025500A1
Application number: PCT/BE1997/000111
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bravo Hipolito Llamas
Original assignee: Bravo Hipolito Llamas
Priority date: 1996-12-12
Filing date: 1997-09-30
Publication date: 1998-06-18
Also published as: BE1010799A6; AU4446597A

Abstract

The invention relates to a toothbrush comprising a plurality of bristle sheets forming, when juxtaposed to one another, a brush head mounted on an extremity of a handle, each of said bristle sheets comprising a plurality of bristles and being moulded in one piece. According to the invention, said bristle sheets extend in parallel according to the longitudinal handle axis.

Description

"Toothbrush"

The present invention relates to a toothbrush comprising a plurality of bristle sheets forming, when juxtaposed to one another, a brush head mounted on an extremity of a handle, each of said bristle sheets comprising a plurality of bristles and being moulded in one piece. Such a toothbrush is known from US patent 5,380,069 (Klinkhammer), wherein said handle presents a tubular shape and each of said bristle sheets extend transversally to the longitudinal handle axis. For this purpose, the bristle sheets comprise an opening provided to receive said handle upon mounting. An anchor piece is further provided for retaining the bristle sheets upon the handle. This known toothbrush provides a construction which is easy and economical to produce and enables steriiisation with ultraviolet sterilisation techniques.

A drawback of the known toothbrush is however that upon using the toothbrush, a movement according to the longitudinal handle axis is applied, causing an axial movement of the different sheets which may result in a displacement of the successive bristle sheets with respect to each other. This displacement may result in a separation of the bristle sheets, which would render the toothbrush useless. A further drawback is that an anchor piece is required at the handle extremity in order to avoid the brush head to displace along or out of the handle. Further, in order to form a toothbrush having a brushing surface comprising a sufficient length according to the longitudinal axis of the handle, a relatively large amount of bristle sheets must be juxtaposed, typically about 15 up to 20, which renders the toothbrush expensive. The object of the present invention is to provide a toothbrush having moulded bristle sheets which is less sensitive to the axial movement and less expensive.

To this object, the toothbrush according to the invention is characterised in that said bristle sheets extend in parallel according to the longitudinal handle axis.

By providing that the bristle sheets are juxtaposed and extend in parallel according to the longitudinal handle axis, a lateral movement applied by a user upon brushing his teeth will not result in a displacement of the brush head with respect to the handle as the movement is parallel with the alignment of the bristle sheets. Furthermore, the length of the brushing surface is now determined by the length of the bristle sheets, whereas in the prior art, the length is determined by the number of juxtaposed bristle sheets. According to the invention, the number of bristle sheets does not determine the length of the brushing surface, but the width. Typically, 10 sheets or even less are sufficient in order to provide a brushing surface having a sufficient width.

In a first preferred embodiment of the toothbrush according to the invention, each of said bristle sheets comprise at least one opening and said handle comprises at said extremity at least one pin, extending transversally to said longitudinal axis and provided to be introduced through said bristle sheet opening. This enables to mount easily the brush head onto the handle and enables further to provide bristles on two opposed sides from the bristle sheet, since the brush head is held by the pin(s) and both the upper and lower side of the brush head are free.

In a second preferred embodiment of the toothbrush according to the invention, at least one of said openings is circularly shaped and dimensioned for receiving an ultrasonic sealing unit. This type of assemblage enables to obtain a brush head consisting of juxtaposed bristle sheets linking well to one another.

In a third preferred embodiment of the toothbrush according to the invention, said handle further comprises locking means provided for locking said brush head into the handle. This enables to hold the bristle sheets firmly in the handle, when said handle is brought in said closed position. Preferably, said handle comprises a first leg and a second leg connected to one another at a further extremity, opposite to said extremity, and said locking means comprise a first locking member, located essentially in the middle of the handle, and a second locking member, located essentially at said extremity and provided for locking said brush head. This particular embodiment facilitates the user to bring the handle in the open position by pushing near said further extremity the two legs towards one another. According to an alternative, said locking means comprise an arm pivotally mounted on said extremity of said handle and provided for enclosing said bristle sheets in a closed position.

In a fourth preferred embodiment of the toothbrush according to the invention, each of said bristle sheets comprise a protrusion and said handle comprise at said extremity a housing having an aperture for receiving said protrusion. This forms an alternative for mounting the brush head onto a handle which is easy to manufacture. According to this embodiment, the brush head may readily be removed from the handle by pushing the protrusion away from the aperture. In a fifth preferred embodiment of the toothbrush according to the invention, said bristles present a corrugated shape. This renders the bristles more flexible and enables the bristles more easily to return to their rest position after a force has been applied.

The present invention further relates to the use of a bristle sheet according to claim 10. The invention will now be described further in detail referring to the annexed drawings, wherein :

Figures 1 to 5 illustrate five preferred embodiments of juxtaposed bristle sheets to be used in a toothbrush according to the invention;

Figures 6 and 7 is a partial view of a toothbrush using bristle sheets according to Figure 1 and a handle according to a first preferred embodiment.

Figures 8 to 10 illustrate a toothbrush using bristle sheets according to Figure 3 and a handle according to a first preferred embodiment.

Figures 11 to 13 illustrate a second preferred embodiment of a handle according to the invention.

Figures 14 to 16 illustrate a third preferred embodiment of a handle according to the invention.

Figures 17 and 18 illustrate the effect of a force applied on a bristle sheet according to Figures 2 and 5, respectively.

Referring now to Figures 1 to 5, the brush heads according to the invention are formed by juxtaposition of a series of bristle sheets 10,20,30,40,50, respectively. The bristle sheets may easily be moulded in one piece. Such a moulding technique is known as such and will not be described further in detail. Each of the bristle sheets have a length corresponding to the length of the desired brush head, since according to the invention, the sheets extend in parallel according to the longitudinal handle axis, as illustrated in the Figures 6 to 16.

According to Figure 1 , the brush head is formed by 8 juxtaposed bristle sheets. The sheets may have different hardnesses, for example three sheets of relatively soft bristles, two middle sheets of relatively hard bristles and again two relatively soft bristles. This configuration enables to form a toothbrush whereby the bristles in contact with user's gums is softer than the bristles provided in a middle portion of the toothbrush, parallel to the longitudinal handle axis. In the toothbrush according to the prior art described in the introduction, different hardnesses can not be obtained according to the longitudinal handle axis since the bristle sheets extend transversally to the longitudinal handle axis; thus obtaining a toothbrush with softer portions parallel to the longitudinal handle axis for contact with the user's gums may not be obtained.

Each of the bristle sheets comprise a plurality of bristles 11 ,21 ,31 ,41 ,51. The bristles may be provided on one side of the bristle sheet, such as illustrated in Figures 1 , 2, 3 of 5. According to an alternative, bristles 41 are provided on two opposite sides of a bristle sheet, as illustrated in Figure 4. The bristles may further have the same length as illustrated in Figures 1 , 2, 3 and 5 or may have different lengths in such a manner to form an inclined surface, such as illustrated in Figure 4. Other configurations of different lengths are also conceivable, for example for forming a curved surface.

According to Figure 1 , the bristle sheets comprise an opening 12, providing a good flexibility to the formed brush head. This flexibility is required upon mounting the brush head on the handle, as will be explained further referring to Figures 6 to 10. The bristle sheets further comprise optionally a protrusion 13 enabling to dispose readily the brush head out of the handle (see further).

As an alternative for the opening 12, there are provided a series of openings. In particular, as illustrated in Figures 2 to 5, the series of openings comprise two circular shaped openings 22a, 32a, 42a and 52a, respectively and one oblong opening 22b,32b,42b and 52b, respectively. The circular shaped openings are preferably provided for receiving an ultrasonic sealing unit, for linking the assembled bristle sheets to one another. For this purpose, a sealing unit having a circular cross section with a diameter slightly higher that the diameter of the circular shaped openings is used. The oblong opening provides flexibility to the bristle sheet.

The bristle sheets 30 illustrated in Figure 3 comprise, as illustrated in Figure 1 , a protrusion 33 for mounting on a handle according to the Figures 6 to 10.

The shape of the bristles shows preferably essentially a triangular vertical cross section, ensuring sufficient strength at the basis for hitching well to the bristle sheet basis and a thin free extremity providing a pleasant feeling to the user of the toothbrush. The bristles 51 may further show a corrugated configuration, as illustrated in Figure 5, for flexibility reasons, as will be explained further when referring to Figures 17 and 18.

Referring now to Figures 6 to 10, there is shown a handle 16,36 according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention. This handle comprises at an extremity a housing 15, 35 having a shape corresponding essentially to the outer shape of the basis of the bristle sheets according to Figures 1 and 3 and comprise for this purpose an aperture 14, 34 for receiving the bristle sheet protrusion 13, 33. Upon mounting the brush head on the handle according to

Figures 6 to 10, the brush head is pushed into the housing (Figures 6 and 8), preferably by bending slightly the sheet extremities upwardly. Since the bristle sheets are flexible, it can easily be deformed and enters without difficulty into the housing 15, 35. The brush head may easily be removed from the handle, for example for replacing said brush head by a new one, by pushing the protrusion 13,33 out of the aperture 14,34, as illustrated by the arrow in Figures 7 and 9. Removable brush heads contribute to the protection of the environment, since the handle may each time be reused with a new brush head, a technique which is commonly known for razors. Figures 11 to 13 illustrate a second preferred embodiment of a toothbrush handle according to the invention. According to this embodiment, the handle comprises two legs 58 and 59 hingedly connected to one another at extremity 49. The handle further comprises locking means 43, 44 provided for locking the handle in a closed position, as illustrated in Figure 12. In particular, the locking means comprise a first locking member 43, located essentially in the middle of the handle and a second locking member 44, located essentially at said extremity. When a user wishes to bring the handle from a closed

(Figure 12) to an open (Figure 11 ) position, he pushes the two legs 58 and 59 towards each other as indicated by the arrows in Figure 12. As a result, the bulges 45 and 47 from the snap connections will be separated from their respective notches 46 and 48. Figure 13, illustrating a side view from the handle, shows clearly that the shape at the extremity 62 is provided for receiving the bristle sheets illustrated in Figures 2 to 5, i.e. pins 63 for receiving the openings 22a,32a,42a,52a and the snap connection 44 for receiving the oblong opening 22b,32b,42b,52b. It is however also conceivable to use the bristle sheet illustrated in Figure 1 in this embodiment, since opening 12 encloses both the pins 63 and snap connection 44. This embodiment enables to firmly hold the brush head in its position when locking means are closed.

Figures 14 to 16 illustrates an alternative for locking the handle in a closed position. An arm 52, pivotally mounted on handle extremity 55, comprises a hook 53 provided for clicking in a corresponding opening 54 as illustrated in Figure 15. For bringing the handle from the closed (Figure 15) to the open (Figure 14) position, a user simply applies a force in a direction illustrated by the arrow in Figure 15. As a result, the arm 52 may be brought in the open position of Figure 14 and the bristle sheets may be removed. The handle comprises here first pins 56 for receiving the circular shaped openings, and second pins 57 for receiving the oblong opening. It will be clear that the second circular shaped pins 57 may be replaced by an oblong pin corresponding to the oblong opening of the bristle sheets.

The handle embodiments according to Figures 11 to 16 present the advantage, comparing to the embodiment according to Figures 6 to 10, that they are provided for receiving bristle sheets having bristles on both opposite sides of the basis. An example of such bristle sheets is illustrated in Figure 4. It is also conceivable in the embodiment according to Figures 11 to 13 to use bristle sheets having bristles at one lateral side (not shown), since the free end 62 from the handle has an open configuration.

Figures 17 and 18 illustrate the difference when a same force is applied on the free end of a bristle having a linear shape (Figure 17) and a bristle having a corrugated shape (Figure 18). As clearly illustrated, corrugated bristles are more flexible that linear bristles, since a force applied on the corrugated bristles is distributed over the entire length of the bristle. The force applied on a corrugated bristle is decomposed in deformation due to elongation and angular modification of the corrugations. It has also be found that corrugated bristles return more easily to their rest position 60 than the linear bristles, where the force is transferred to the basis 61 and not distributed such as for the corrugated bristles.

Claims

1. A toothbrush comprising a plurality of bristle sheets forming, when juxtaposed to one another, a brush head mounted on an extremity of a handle, each of said bristle sheets comprising a plurality of bristles and being moulded in one piece, characterised in that said bristle sheets extend in parallel according to the longitudinal handle axis.

2. A toothbrush according to claim 1 , wherein each of said bristle sheets comprise at least one opening and wherein said handle comprises at said extremity at least one pin, extending transversally to said longitudinal axis and provided to be introduced through said bristle sheet opening.

3. A toothbrush according to claim 2, wherein at least one of said openings is circularly shaped and dimensioned for receiving an ultrasonic sealing unit.

4. A toothbrush according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein said handle further comprises locking means provided for locking said brush head into the handle.

5. A toothbrush according to claim 4, wherein said handle comprises a first leg and a second leg connected to one another at a further extremity, opposite to said extremity, and wherein said locking means comprise a first locking member, located essentially in the middle of the handle, and a second locking member, located essentially at said extremity and provided for locking said brush head.

6. A toothbrush according to claim 5, wherein said second locking member extends transversally to said longitudinal axis and is provided to be introduced through a further corresponding opening provided in each of said bristle sheets.

7. A toothbrush according to claim 4, wherein said locking means comprise an arm pivotally mounted on said extremity of said handle and provided for enclosing said bristle sheets in a closed position.

8. A toothbrush according to claim 1 , wherein each of said bristle sheets comprise a protrusion and said handle comprise at said extremity a housing having an aperture for receiving said protrusion.

9. A toothbrush according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein said bristles present a corrugated shape.

10. Use of a bristle sheet in a toothbrush according to anyone of the preceding claims