WO2008125826A1

WO2008125826A1 - Toothbrush

Info

Publication number: WO2008125826A1
Application number: PCT/GB2008/001283
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rowena Mead
Original assignee: Rowena Mead
Priority date: 2007-04-12
Filing date: 2008-04-11
Publication date: 2008-10-23

Abstract

There is described a toothbrush comprising a flexible body and a plurality of cleaning elements, e.g. tufts of bristles, wherein the plurality of cleaning elements surround the whole of the body.

Description

TOOTHBRUSH

Field of the invention

This invention relates to a novel form of toothbrush and to an oral hygiene system related thereto.

Background to the invention

There has long been a desire to help babies, infants and children to brush their teeth more effectively. Babies or infants may often be given a teething ring to bite on, but this does not really have any effect on cleaning the teeth. A conventional toothbrush may be used, but there is no guarantee that the baby or infant will place the correct, bristled, end of the toothbrush in their mouth.

US Patent No. 5,850,659 describes an ergonomically designed conventional toothbrush having a generally cylindrical handle attached to a rotation means which may be selectively set in a variety of positions about the longitudinal axis of the handle. The toothbrush head is bendable and attached to the rotation means such that the user of the toothbrush may bend the head and set the orientation of the bristles on the head such that they are at a 45°, relative to the surface of the teeth if desirable. The toothbrush design of US '659 does not address the problem of, e.g. encouraging infants or young children to brush their teeth.

US Patent Application No. 2005/0177966 describes a child friendly toothbrush which has bristles arranged in a 360 degree pattern around the head of the toothbrush. Whilst the toothbrush attempts to encourage young children to brush their teeth, the toothbrush described in US '966 suffers from the disadvantage that infants may still place the non-bristled portion of the brush in their mouth therefore not gaining the benefit of having their teeth brushed. Furthermore, the elongate design of the brush may still present a choking hazard to very young children.

Japanese Patent Application No. JP2006034304 provides a toothbrush particularly designed to be used without the hands, which comprises three different kinds of bristles transplanted on the circumferential surface of a cylindrical base. A ring or hoop is material is provided, e.g. attached with a strap, so as to prevent swallowing in infants. The toothbrush described in JP '304, like US '966, suffers from the disadvantages that infants may still choose to place the non-bristled safety ring in their mouth, and not the bristled portion of the brush. Therefore, the users, e.g. infants, do not gain the benefit of having their teeth brushed. Furthermore, for an infant to use the product safely, the safety ring must be attached - displaying a need for a product which enables young children and toddlers to be able to independently and successfully clean their own teeth, which JP '304 still does not fulfil for the first disadvantage described above.

International Patent application No. WO03/090578 describes a single use, disposable tooth cleaning product which is designed to be deformable so that the user can shape the product in a way for it to be adapted by the tongue. However, notably, the product described by WO '578 is not a 360 degree bristle design because this would be disadvantageous in that, inter alia, it would render the product annoying or troublesome to engage the tooth cleaning device with the tongue. Furthermore, like JP '304, if the product were to be used by an infant, a string or cord would need to be attached to prevent accidental digestion, and for the reasons outlined in JP '304, the infant may chew upon the string and not utilize the bristles surface of the product as intended - therefore not gaining the benefit of having their teeth brushed.

Japanese patent application No. 11103709 describes a toothbrush toy for a pet. Which comprises a plurality of individual filaments which are spun around two pieces of wire. For a toothbrush to be an effective plaque remover in human teeth, the toothbrush filaments need to be arranged into individual separated tufts of filaments which provide an area of high density bristles. Clearly such an arrangement described in JP '709 is disadvantageous in that, inter alia, it is not suitable for human use.

Therefore, there remains a long held desire to provide a simple and safe toothbrush which can be used to encourage brushing of the teeth.

Statements of the invention

We have now found a novel design of toothbrush which overcomes or mitigates the disadvantages of prior art toothbrushes.

Thus, according to the present invention we provide a toothbrush comprising a flexible body and a plurality of cleaning elements wherein the plurality of cleaning elements are gathered into individual tufts, and said tufts surround the whole of the body.

The flexible body of the toothbrush of the invention may comprise a flexible or bendable polymer, such as a plastics or rubber material, e.g. a natural or synthetic rubber. Alternatively, the flexible body may comprise a flexible rod or wire in a flexible sleeve, such as sleeve comprising a plastics or rubber material. Preferentially, the flexible sleeve will comprise a natural or synthetic rubberised material. A synthetic rubberised material is especially preferred, such as a block copolymer, e.g. a styrene/butadiene block copolymer. A preferred example of a styrene/butadiene block copolymer is Kraton, e.g. a Kraton elastomer. Thus, the body may comprise an elongate member which may be bent into any shape, e.g. into a hoop, a U shape or an L shape, etc. by the user.

The flexible body is generally provided with a plurality of tufts of cleaning elements in the form of bristles which enable the user, e.g. an infant, to clean their teeth when chewing on the brush. Preferentially the cleaning elements are profiled or contoured, such that some cleaning elements are longer than others. The number of filaments in a tuft may vary. Thus, the number of filaments in a tuft may be from 2 to 100 filaments, preferably from 15 to 80 filaments and more preferably from 20 to 40 filaments. Preferably the number of filaments in a tuft is uniform throughout the toothbrush, and the tuft sites are uniformally distributed. In one embodiment of the present invention the whole of the flexible body is covered with cleaning elements, e.g. bristles, or tufts of filaments. However, in an alternative embodiment a portion of the flexible body is substantially free from cleaning elements, e.g. bristles, so as to provide a region adapted to be gripped by hand. Preferentially, the hand grip portion is substantially central on the flexible body. When a portion of the stem, e.g. a substantially central portion, is free from bristles, the surface of the bristle free region may be contoured, e.g. a bobbled surface. The advantage of having a contoured, e.g. bobbled, surface is that young children, such as infants, may grip the portion more easily and, more importantly, for teething infants, will find the surface more soothing to chew upon and/or bite. Indeed, it is within the scope of the present invention to provide a contoured, e.g. hobbled, surface on the body even where bristles are present. For example, bobbles may be positioned in between tuft or bristle holes. This provides the same advantage, creating a surface which gums might find soothing.

The cleaning elements are preferably of high density. Generally, for a toothbrush of high density the distance between each of the tuft planting sites/holes is 0.6mm or less. However, it is within the scope of the present invention for the cleaning elements to be of variable density on the body of the toothbrush. When a portion of the toothbrush comprises a low density of cleaning elements, the distance between tuft planting sites/holes may be from 0.5mm to 15mm. Thus, for example, the tuft sites/holes may be from 0.5mm to 15mm apart, preferably from 0.5mm to 5mm, more preferably from 0.5mm to 3mm. Preferably the tuft sites are uniformally distributed. When the toothbrush of the invention comprises high and low density regions, the toothbrush may comprise from 10 to 40% of a high density region and from 60 to 90% of a low density region. Preferably, the density of the plurality of cleaning elements is substantially the same or similar to those of the head of a conventional toothbrush.

In a further aspect of the present invention, it is advantageous for use as a device for cleaning toddler's teeth for the plurality of cleaning elements to be coloured. Preferably, the elements may be in regions of different colours so as to form a pattern. According to a yet further aspect of the present invention we provide an oral hygiene system comprising a flexible body and a plurality of cleaning elements wherein the plurality of cleaning elements, e.g. tufts of bristles, surround the whole of the body.

We further provide a method of cleaning teeth which comprises the use of a toothbrush or an oral hygiene system as hereinbefore described.

Brief description of the drawings

The accompanying drawings are as follows:

Figure 1 is a representation of the toothbrush of the invention in longitudinal form;

Figure 2 is a representation of the toothbrush of the invention in twisted form;

Figure 3 a representation of the toothbrush of the invention in an L-shape;

Figure 4 is a representation of the toothbrush of the invention in a U-shape;

Figure 5 a representation of the toothbrush of the invention in a ring shape;

Figure 6 a representation of the toothbrush of the invention provided with a hand grip region in longitudinal form;

Figure 7 is a representation of the toothbrush of the invention provided with a hand grip region in twisted form; Figure 8 a representation of the toothbrush of the invention provided with a hand grip region in an L-shape;

Figure 9 is a representation of the toothbrush of the invention provided with a hand grip region in a U-shape; and

Figure 10 a representation of the toothbrush of the invention provided with a hand grip region in a ring shape.

Detailed description of the invention

The invention will now be described, by way of example only and with reference to the accompany drawings.

Referring to Figure 1 a toothbrush (1) comprises a longitudinal cylindrical body (2) covered with cleaning elements in the form of tufts of bristles (3). The covering of tufts of bristles (3) is contoured such that the tufts consist of long tufts (3a) and shorter tufts (3b). Optionally, each tuft may include long and shorter bristles.

Referring to Figures 2 to 5 the toothbrush (1) comprises a longitudinal cylindrical body (2) which is flexible or bendable. Therefore, Figure 2 illustrates the toothbrush in a twisted format, Figure 3 illustrates the toothbrush in a bent L-shaped format, Figure 4, the toothbrush bent to a U shape, and Figure 5, bent to a substantially circular shape. Referring to Figure 6 a toothbrush (4) comprises a longitudinal cylindrical body (5) covered with cleaning elements in the form of tufts of bristles (6). A portion (7) of the cylindrical body (5) is not provided with tufts of bristles (6) and therefore acts as a hand grip region (8).

Referring to Figures 7 to 10 the toothbrush (4) comprises a longitudinal cylindrical body (5) which is flexible or bendable. Therefore, Figure 7 illustrates the toothbrush in a twisted format; Figure 8 illustrates the toothbrush bent to an L-shape; Figure 9, the toothbrush bent to a U shape; and Figure 10, bent to a substantially circular shape.

Claims

1. A toothbrush comprising a flexible body and a plurality of cleaning elements wherein the plurality of cleaning elements are gathered into individual tufts, and said tufts surround the whole of the body.

2. A toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein the body is an elongate member.

3. A toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein the individual tufts of cleaning elements are profiled.

4. A toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein each of the tufts comprises from 2 to 100 numbers of filaments.

5. A toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein each of the tuft sites/holes is spaced from 0.5mm to 15mm apart.

6. A toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein the individual tufts of cleaning elements are coloured to form a pattern.

7. A toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein the cleaning elements surround most of the body and a portion of the body is exposed as a hand grip.

8. A toothbrush according to claim 7 wherein the hand grip portion is substantially central.

9. A toothbrush according to claim 7 wherein the exposed body is contoured.

10. A toothbrush according to claim 9 wherein the contoured body is bobbled.

11. A toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein the body is provided with a contoured surface in between the tuft or bristle holes.

12. A toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of cleaning elements are of high density. >

13. A toothbrush according to claim 12 wherein the density of the plurality of cleaning elements is substantially the same or similar to those of the head of a conventional toothbrush.

14. A toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of cleaning elements are coloured.

15. A toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein the flexible body comprises a flexible rod or wire in a flexible sleeve.

16. A toothbrush according to claim 15 wherein the flexible sleeve body comprises a natural or synthetic rubberised material.

17. A toothbrush according to claim 16 wherein the rubberised material comprises a styrene/butadiene block copolymer

18. An oral hygiene system comprising a flexible body and a plurality of cleaning elements wherein the plurality of cleaning elements is gathered into individual tufts and said tufts surround the whole of the body.

19. A method of cleaning teeth which comprises the use of a toothbrush or an oral hygiene system comprising a flexible body and a plurality of cleaning elements gathered into individual tufts and wherein the plurality of said tufts surround the whole of the body.

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