Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Implements – Brush or broom
Patent
1998-08-20
1999-09-07
Chin, Randall E.
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Implements
Brush or broom
15172, 15201, A46B 904
Patent
active
059467592
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to resiliently flexible brush heads, more particularly to toothbrush heads, having segmented faces with grooves between the segments, wherein the grooves on at least one face contain elastomer, so that the head durability is improved through repeated flexing. The invention further relates to toothbrushes comprising the brush heads.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The configuration of human teeth requires that the ideal bristle contour for toothbrushes for brushing the buccal or outside surfaces of teeth be concave and that the ideal bristle contour for brushing the lingual or inside surfaces of teeth be convex. Most brushes have a single piece head which is of comparable thickness to the handle and which is relatively rigid and of a fixed curvature or configuration.
A further drawback of conventional brushes is that pressing the brush sufficiently hard against the teeth to get good cleaning risks damaging or discomforting the softer, adjacent gums. To a certain extent this can be solved by modifying the configuration of the brush, or by varying bristle hardness or length, though again, a single configuration cannot be optimum for all circumstances.
Some brushes may, however, incorporate a means for allowing the head to flex relative to the handle, as described for example in EP-A-371,293. Even so, such brushes have limited effectiveness. Other brushes are known which are adjustable into several different but fixed configurations. Adjustable toothbrushes are often difficult to manipulate and may be unreliable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,267 discloses a convertible toothbrush comprising an S-shaped elongated handle of shape-retaining material having curved end regions of opposite curvature, a flexible brush block containing bristles, and a means for mounting the flexible brush block on the handle for longitudinal movement along the length of the handle. The curved portions of the handle bend the flexible block and bristles into a concave or convex configuration which corresponds to the curved configuration of the handle.
EP-A-454,625 describes an adjustable curvature toothbrush whose head is in the form of a loop. A cam or slide mechanism changes the curvature of the head between concave and convex configurations. In an alternative embodiment, the head is an integral part of the handle which is in the form of a compressible closed loop, the bristle surface being in a concave configuration when the handle is in its uncompressed state, becoming convex when the handle is compressed.
The brushes of the two aforementioned documents require the user to set the brush head to one configuration or another. The brush head remains in that configuration until reset. U.S. Pat. No. 2,445,657 on the other hand describes a toothbrush with a single material resilient head, e.g. of vulcanised rubber, jointed to a handle. The head is continuously flexible and its curvature can be adjusted by pressing against the teeth, gums or cheek. It is more difficult however, with such a brush head, to manufacture the brush to the required flexibility and the softer head material required presents additional problems of affixing the bristles, relative to conventional brush head materials.
WO 92/17093 discloses a toothbrush having a handle and at one end thereof a bristle-bearing head, wherein the head is in the form of two or more segments flexibly and resiliently linked to each other and/or to the handle, one or more of the segments being bristle bearing. In one embodiment this is achieved by the use of transverse, and optionally longitudinal, grooves on the opposite face of the head to the bristles. The grooves can be wholly or partially filled with an elastomer. In another embodiment the handle extends into a frame into whose interior the head is resiliently linked and voids between the head and the frame may be filled with an elastomer. In all embodiments the bristles are inserted into conventional brush head materials e.g. polyamides and polypropylenes.
While the above toothbrushes provide
REFERENCES:
patent: 2254365 (1941-09-01), Griffith et al.
patent: 3188672 (1965-06-01), Gary
patent: 5465450 (1995-11-01), Humphries
patent: 5651158 (1997-07-01), Halm
Andes William Scott
Chin Randall E.
Nichols Vanessa M.
The Procter & Gamble & Company
LandOfFree
Brush head does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Brush head, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Brush head will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1791497