Toilet – Toothpick – Having thread holder
Patent
1998-12-16
2000-06-27
Manahan, Todd E.
Toilet
Toothpick
Having thread holder
132327, A61C 1500
Patent
active
060794240
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a method as claimed in the preamble of claim 1.
The invention further relates to a tensioning means according to such a method, set forth in the preamble of claim 4.
The method and tensioning means of the invention are applied in dental floss holding devices according to the preambles of claims 11 and 15.
An important part of taking care of dental hygiene is to clean the spaces between teeth. Such personal hygiene may be taken care of with toothpicks and, moreover, with dental floss. When employing dental floss, the user has available several options. The dental floss may be held and guided by fingers, but it may also be secured to various kinds of holders which seek to facilitate the use of the dental floss. Various types of such holders exist; devices are known in which a piece of dental floss cut from a supply thereof is inserted to dental floss holders. Most commonly, though, the dental floss is secured to dental floss holders of a holding device so that the dental floss is wound around mounting slots in which e.g. ridges have been provided to keep the dental floss tight between the floss holders. Such devices are disclosed e.g. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,376,876 and 3,871,393.
There are also devices, such as those disclosed in the patent publications FI 82 806, GB 2 040 686, U.S. Pat. No. 2,274,390 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,498, in which the dental floss is incorporated in the device itself. The floss is guided to the floss holders of the device and is locked between the holders with different kinds of locking mechanisms provided in the device.
It is especially noteworthy to mention the device according to U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,114, into whose handle has been arranged a means that tightens the dental floss. In such a device, the dental floss is arranged to squeeze between the outer shell of the tightening device and the inner wall of the cavity-like space which receives the means.
The known devices share the drawback that when cleaning the spaces between teeth, the dental floss will none the less move in the device, and consequently loosen between its holders. If the floss loosens, the cleaning of teeth becomes difficult and the floss will have to be tightened over and over again. On the other hand, the floss is sometimes in a number of such devices unintentionally tightened too much, which results in that the cleaning of the spaces between teeth becomes truly unpleasant. If the floss is too tight, the cleaning will become impossible as the floss does not yield and is consequently unable to follow the tooth surface being cleaned.
The prior art devices further have the drawback that the elements guiding the floss will easily become affected by saliva, washing water or other impurities. This, in turn, causes the dental floss stored within the device to get dirty.
Additionally, the placement of dental floss in holders in many of the known devices is difficult. As the device and the floss holders therein must be small to fit in the mouth, it is difficult to discern where in the device and how to fit and secure the floss.
It is common practice with the known devices to provide them with various kinds of gripping means which in use cause the dental floss to fray, thus quickly spoiling it.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to remove the prior art drawbacks and to provide a new type of solution by means of which it is ensured that the dental floss is kept tight and undamaged between the dental floss holders. Further, it is an aim of the invention to obtain a device which is hygienic and easy to use.
This object can be obtained by a tensioning element which is rotatable within the device body, with a tensioning passage and a guide passage located at opposite ends of the tensioning element. The tensioning passage and the guide passage are offset by an angle which allows the floss to be secured when the tensioning element is rotated, without introducing excessive tension in the floss strand. The angular offset between the guide passage and the tensioning pa
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Manahan Todd #E.
Xylifloss Oy Ltd
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