Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Implements – Brush or broom
Patent
1998-03-02
2000-08-29
Snider, Theresa T.
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Implements
Brush or broom
151764, 15DIG5, A46B 904
Patent
active
061088498
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a toothbrush comprising a plastic brush body having a head, a neck and a handle, as well as bristle bundles fixed to the head.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Toothbrushes are mainly used for cleaning teeth and interdental spaces, but frequently also exert a massaging action on the gingiva or the marginal area thereof. These two sought effects of a toothbrush run counter to one another. Whereas the cleaning of the teeth requires a strong brushing action, particularly in order to remove plaque or free the interdental spaces from food residues, the massaging of the gingiva must take place with restraint to avoid injuries (lesions).
Further contrary demands result from the fact that the bundles or bristles must be stiff enough to penetrate adequately deep into the interdental spaces when pressed on the tooth surfaces, but the gingiva is particularly sensitive in the interdental space. In addition, in certain cases dental neck sensitivity problems arise.
It is known that the cleaning action of a toothbrush can be increased by the ends of the bundle not being in one plane and instead arranged in stepped manner (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,446,940 and 5,419,001), so as to ensure that all the bristles are in cleaning engagement with the tooth surfaces and interdental spaces and also penetrate all depressions when brushing the masticatory surfaces. This leads to a very complicated bristle facing topography and the manufacture of such toothbrushes is expensive. They are completely unsuitable for massaging the gingiva, because only few bundles have an action when brushing.
In addition, toothbrushes with V-shaped bundles are known, as are those with bundles having the free ends of the bristles on a conical surface (DE 37 44 630). This in particular aids the penetration of the bundle tips in the interdental spaces, but at the same time the abrasion on the tooth and the dental neck and the injury risk on the gingiva (lesions) are increased. Knowing this disadvantage, in the known toothbrush only a centrally bristle bundle is made conical and also by means of a spring is mounted in a bore on the head of the brush body. Such a construction in no way satisfies modern hygienic requirements, because oral hygiene agent and other dirt residues are deposited in the bore. An effective cleaning of the toothbrush is impossible, so that after a short time the spring action is lost due to deposits.
It is finally known (EP 613 636) to make the neck of a toothbrush resilient, so as to avoid an excessive pressing force on the part of the bristles, namely independently of the contouring of the bristle bundle. At the same time it must be ensured that the bristle head gives way on reaching a given pressing force limit. The same aim is to be achieved in another toothbrush (DE 42 11 811) in that the head and neck of the toothbrush on the brush body are mounted about the longitudinal axis thereof and on exceeding the limit turn round the longitudinal axis, so that the bristles are disengaged. However, here again no account is taken of the effectiveness of cleaning and the massaging action.
The problem solved by the invention is the construction of a toothbrush so that in the case of a completely satisfactory cleaning action on all the tooth surfaces and in the interdental spaces, it is also possible to bring about a restrained massaging of the gingiva and avoid abrasions on the tooth and dental neck and lesions on the gingiva.
This solution is provided by a toothbrush comprising a plastic brush body having a head, a neck and a handle, as well as bristle bundles fixed to the head, in that the free ends of the bristles of at least part of the bundles are located on an approximately conical envelope surface with a cone angle .alpha.=30 to 90.degree. and the neck of the brush body in the case of an application force K-500 to 1200 grams acting on the bristles gives way in resilient manner, and the application force being the greater the smaller the cone angle .alpha. is.
On app
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patent: 2317485 (1943-04-01), Rider
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patent: 5315732 (1994-05-01), Huefner et al.
patent: 5323504 (1994-06-01), McCusker
patent: 5396679 (1995-03-01), Brown et al.
patent: 5398367 (1995-03-01), Lu
patent: 5511275 (1996-04-01), Volpenhein et al.
Coronet-Werke GmbH
Snider Theresa T.
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