Toilet – Toothpick
Patent
1994-05-13
1995-05-09
O'Connor, Cary E.
Toilet
Toothpick
A61D 500
Patent
active
054131278
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This application is a PCT application. This application claims the priority date of Feb. 14, 1990 for Great Britain Patent Application No. 9003292.1.
The present invention relates to dental floss or tape.
Dental floss or tape is usually a multi-filament, possibly continuous strand, material such as polyamide or polyester. Its elements are drawn and twisted to improve strength and resilience.
It is already known that dental floss or tape may be coated with a wax based coating using polyethylglycol (PEG) or hot wax. Furthermore it is not unusual to add flavouring flouride and/or abrasive to the floss or tape. Such flosses are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,838,702, 3,943,949 and 4,029,113. Un-waxed dental floss or tape is also available using an acrylic emulsion coating to seal and/or bind the floss or tape.
Prior flosses have not been found to be completely satisfactory by the user as the wax coating is usually scraped off when the floss is being used to clean inter-dental spaces depositing the wax on the teeth which thereafter feel sticky. Additionally the removal of the wax leads to an increased co-efficient of friction between the floss and teeth and gums and this, coupled to the deterioration of the floss when its wax binding coat is removed, means that the floss rapidly disintegrates and often breaks, rendering it useless, troublesome and annoying.
It has been proposed in the past to decrease the co-efficient of friction by incorporating powdered polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) in the wax binder, such a solution having been proposed in European Patent Application No. 0358363A but this proposal still suffers from the disadvantage of removal of the coating during use and the subsequent possible disintegration and destruction of the floss.
Prior patents, for example, European Patent Application 0335466A and U.S. Pat. No. 477,635A have recognized that PTFE has a relatively high tensile strength and will give the feature of reduced co-efficient of friction without the disadvantage of subsequent possible destruction if it is used in place of the polyamide or polyester formerly employed as the core of the floss or tape. Unfortunately, PTFE is a relatively expensive material, for example, it is six times more expensive than polyamide and consequently the considerable disadvantage of this proposal, bearing in mind that the product is a "throw away" product, is the high cost. A similar disadvantage is displayed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,226 which discloses the use of a PTFE coating on an elastic material which is used while in a stretched condition. In this proposal the elastic material and PTFE have widely differing moduli of elasticity so that stretching the core will disrupt the PTFE coating.
It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate these and other disadvantages.
According to the present invention there is provided a method of producing a fluorocarbon coated dental floss or tape comprising passing spun filamentary elements forming a multi-filament core through a dispersion including fluorocarbon particulate material such that fluorocarbon particles are deposited upon the multi-filament core and heating the deposited fluorocarbon particles such that they coalesce into a fluorocarbon coating on the core.
Preferably prior to passing the core through the dispersion its filaments are twisted.
Preferably the core is heated to evaporate the liquid component of the fluorocarbon dispersion and further heated to coalesce the fluorocarbon upon the core, preferably into a continuous layer.
Preferably a wax layer including any one or more of the group comprising flavouring fluoride, and abrasive is added to the core after the fluorocarbon coating is applied.
Preferably prior to passing the core through the fluorocarbon dispersion the core is dyed.
Preferably the fluorocarbon particles deposited on the core are subjected to a temperature within the range 355.degree. F. to 400.degree. C., for a short period to ensure the core does not melt appreciably as the particles coalesce into a continuo
REFERENCES:
patent: 3838702 (1974-10-01), Standish
patent: 3943949 (1976-03-01), Ashton et al.
patent: 4029113 (1977-06-01), Guyton
patent: 4776358 (1988-10-01), Lorch
patent: 4836226 (1989-06-01), Wolak
patent: 4996056 (1991-02-01), Blass
patent: 5033488 (1991-07-01), Curtis et al.
Adams, III W. Thad
Jordan A/S
O'Connor Cary E.
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