Coating implements with material supply – Including means to apply material-moving force – Including means to flex diaphragm within rigid reservoir
Patent
1996-03-19
1998-10-27
DeMille, Danton D.
Coating implements with material supply
Including means to apply material-moving force
Including means to flex diaphragm within rigid reservoir
401156, 401169, 401176, 401184, 401280, A45D 4000, A46B 1102
Patent
active
058270019
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to brushes, and has particular, though not exclusive, application to toothbrushes.
BACKGROUND ART
Current toothbrushes are commonly one of two different types. The first type requires the user to dispense a quantity of toothpaste from a tube or container onto the bristles of the toothbrush. Such an arrangement requires the provision of separate containers and toothbrushes, and the step of charging the toothbrush with toothpaste from the container prior to use, which can be a messy and time-consuming operation.
The second type of toothbrush incorporates its own container of toothpaste, usually in or as the handle of the toothbrush. The container, once empty, can either be refilled or replaced. However, such arrangements suffer from a number of disadvantages, not the least of which is that the overall toothbrush is of relatively complex construction and is therefore expensive to manufacture, operation of the toothbrush requiring the actuation and/or manipulation of several different elements within the system.
For example, it is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,635 to provide a toothbrush incorporating a flow control mechanism for the toothpaste and which includes a head having an opening feeding into the bristles, and a slide member movable longitudinally of the brush relative to the head and carrying on its end a plug which can open or close the opening in the head whereby paste from a container connected to the head can be manually squeezed from an associated flexible container through the opening when open and onto the bristles.
However, the provision of a single opening of this nature within the head of the brush does not result in an even distribution of the paste along the bristles, while the plug, being of a bulbous shape and located above the opening, constitutes an uneven surface within the bristles that can be uncomfortable to the user. Additionally, the requirement to squeeze the container makes the brush itself uncomfortable to hold and use.
Further, use of the toothbrush involves the separate actions of moving the slide member to release the opening, and thereafter manually extruding the paste onto the bristles.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
It would be desirable to be able to provide a toothbrush which overcame the aforementioned disadvantages, and in particular which was of relatively compact construction, simple to operate and hygienic in use.
According to the present invention there is provided a brush comprising a head including a plurality of bristles thereon, at least one opening in the head feeding to said bristles, a container of paste connected to said head, and a control member within the brush movable between a first position in which the or each opening in the head is closed thereby and a second position in which the or each opening is open, characterised in that movement of the control member from the first position to the second position results in the extrusion of paste from the container through the or each opening in the head and onto the bristles of the brush.
Thus it will be appreciated that such an arrangement eliminates the necessity for the user manually to squeeze the paste from the container onto the bristles after the opening in the head has been opened, the single movement of the control member serving the dual purpose of releasing the opening from its closed condition and charging the bristles with paste.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the head of the brush comprises a base plate upstanding from which are said bristles, a plurality of openings being formed in said base plate, the control member including a first end extent positioned below said base plate of the head and having a corresponding plurality of apertures therethrough for alignment with said openings in the head on sliding movement of the control member from its first position to its second position.
Conveniently, the other end extent of the control member co-operates with the container in such a manner that said sliding movement thereof releases paste
REFERENCES:
patent: 1615999 (1927-02-01), Perelman
patent: 2823401 (1958-02-01), O'Higgins
patent: 3864047 (1975-02-01), Sherrod
patent: 5158383 (1992-10-01), Glover et al.
patent: 5346324 (1994-09-01), Kuo
patent: 5382106 (1995-01-01), Voigt
DeMille Danton D.
Veresk Biosystems Ltd.
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