Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Implements – Brush or broom
Patent
1998-04-01
2000-01-25
Till, Terrence R.
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Implements
Brush or broom
152052, A47L 904
Patent
active
060165871
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to devices for oral hygiene and, more particularly, to a toothbrush which can be cleaned more effectively than existing toothbrushes.
Conventional research and literature on dental hygiene has focused on the removal of dental plaque and food debris from teeth using a toothbrush, while relatively little attention has been given to the cleaning of toothbrushes after use.
Only in the era prior to the advent of the modern plastics bristle, where natural products were the only materials available, was special advice given. This concentrated on the importance of carefully drying the bristles after use, usually for about 24 hours for the natural bristle to regain its rigidity. Since the universal adoption of the modern toothbrush having multi-filament tufted plastic bristles, for example nylon, no specific advice for its cleaning has been given; any advice concentrating on toothbrush techniques in the mouth, and latterly the exact amounts of toothpaste to avoid overdosing with fluoride.
Some early proposals for synthetic brushes, before nylon bristles became available, did however give rise to their own specific cleaning problems. One such brush is described in GB 690422, which proposes a toothbrush having a base member, which may form part of or be attached to a handle, and brushing elements in the form of spines which are formed integrally with the base member by injection molding, the spines being arranged in concentric rings around a central aperture to facilitate cleaning. In practice, it is believed that such toothbrushes were never made on a commercial scale but, as described in GB 690422, the arrangement of the spines, which individually are of semicircular cross section and of necessity, in order to effect removal from the injection mold, would be thicker at the roots than at the tips, is such as to form a relatively dense or close-packed configuration which, without the aperture, would tend to resist cleaning. With the advent of tufted nylon bristles in the early 1950's, in which the individual bristles are formed from filamentary nylon or other plastics material of much smaller cross sectional area than the spines of GB 690422 and are arranged in tufts or clumps, the base or root ends of which are embedded in holes formed in the head portion of the brush, no cleaning problem was recognized in that the close-packed arrangement of the bristles in each tuft was considered, as was thought to be the case with natural bristles, to resist penetration by foreign matter, while sufficient free volume exists around and between the tufts to allow rinsing water to flush out any debris between or at the roots of the tufts.
It is now recognized that a cleaning problem exists with tufted toothbrushes in that the tufts tend to become splayed out in use, which makes it easier for residues of toothpaste, food and dental plaque to accumulate at the base of the bristles within the tufts and reduce the inter-tuft space, thereby reducing washing efficiency. It has been suggested that, particularly where the toothbrush is kept in a warm, humid environment such as a modern bathroom, microorganisms, particularly those associated with food debris or blood taint, can survive on the toothbrush for several days. Evidently, this is detrimental to oral hygiene particularly where the user already has gingivitis.
Moreover, when the user attempts to clean the brush under a running tap, the force of the water tends to drive the toothpaste residue and the like deeper into the tufts of bristles rather than away from the brush.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a safe, durable, economical toothbrush from which debris, such as the residues of toothpaste, food and dental plaque, can more easily be removed.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toothbrush with a handle portion and a working, head portion from which a plurality of bristles extend. The bristles are arranged in tufts and the head portion is provid
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Savitt Jonathan Alan
Taylor Charles Edward
Mariax Limited
McNeil Jennifer
Pollack Grant E.
Till Terrence R.
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