Oral hygiene kit
The invention relates to an oral hygiene kit, comprising a case having a cover and a storage compartment for housing any or all oral hygiene devices, the case having an aperture or a plurality of apertures to provide ventilation and an outlet for draining trapped liquid inside the case. The oral hygienic devices are restrained and secured at the storage compartment by several means and the kit is made compact for easy handling by making the oral hygiene devices smaller, especially the toothbrush, which minimizes the size of the case holding the kit. One method of making the toothbrush smaller thereby minimizing the size of the case is to provide a toothbrush with uncovered bristles having handles that can be shortened at will. Some examples of restraining and securing means for the oral hygiene devices are a pair of fence, a clip, a secure structure or a hook and loop fastener. The plurality of apertures in the case are in one location or evenly spread out on a bottom surface of the storage compartment or at a top surface of the cover. The case and the secure structure can be made of plastic, blended polymeric material, metal, natural leather, synthetic leather, and wood. The cover of the case can be partially or wholly transparent. A blade made of plastic, wood and metal is fastened into the case for cutting dental flosses.
The invention relates to an oral hygiene kit having a ventilated case securing all oral hygiene devices to prevent the formation of molds and growth of bacteria on the devices especially during storage.
It is important to maintain proper oral hygiene. Brushing one's teeth is one of the most important parts of a healthy hygiene. To have a healthy smile, the American Dental Association recommends that the teeth should be brushed at least twice daily, preferably after meals. Many who are away from home are unable to brush their teeth after lunch or immediately following an afternoon snack. The longer food particles remain in the mouth, the more susceptible the teeth become to the formation of cavities and decay. While there is a great desire to brush one's teeth after every meal, often times, people do not brush their teeth because of the bulkiness and inconvenience in always taking along at least a toothbrush and a toothpaste wherever one goes. Further, after brushing one's teeth, one has to wrap the toothbrush with a piece of absorbent napkin to dry the bristles. Drying the bristles is needed to prevent the growth of molds and bacteria. However, even with the wrapping of the bristles, the problem of mold and bacterial growth is not totally prevented because the napkin stays moist for a while because often times, these are placed in a closed bag for ladies or a closed attache for men. Also, the toothbrushes and the other oral hygiene devices get exposed to the other contents of the bag or attache and the like during storage which hopefully are not harmful to the body in case traces of these get into the bristles of the toothbrush or the tongue scraper, etc. There is no sufficient ventilation provided. Further, the oral hygiene devices, especially some toothbrushes are too long and some toothpastes are too bulky. Great improvements have been made by providing travel size toothbrushes, toothpastes and the like. However, what has been overlooked is the provision of an adequate case to house these devices. Some toothbrushes, especially those for travel have been provided with covers that can be converted to a handle and these covers often times have an aperture to allow the moistened bristles to dry after brushing. While this has solved some problem of portability and ventilation, this has proven to be inadequate because the container for the toothbrush even if they have apertures, still harbor moisture because either there are not enough apertures or they are in the wrong location. Further, the toothbrush will still be kept immediately after brushing in a closed container such as a bag, attache, luggage and the like where the environment is conducive to the formation of molds and bacterial growth. Also, the other oral hygiene devices are kept loose from each other. Toiletry bags have been provided to solve this problem but most of these bags are made of plastic or have been lined with plastic to prevent the moisture from getting out of the bag which worsens the problem of mold formation and bacterial growth instead of helping it.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an oral hygiene kit with a properly ventilated case that can be carried by both men and women alike.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a kit for all oral hygiene devices that is portable, compact and convenient to carry thereby providing means for people to practice good oral hygiene even when away from home.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a case that would secure the different oral hygiene devices in place.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a toothbrush that are more compact than the present travel toothbrushes to minimize the size of the case.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe invention relates to an oral hygiene kit, comprising a case having a cover and a storage compartment for housing any or all oral hygiene devices, the case having an aperture or a plurality of apertures to provide ventilation and an outlet for draining trapped liquid inside the case. The oral hygienic devices are restrained and secured at the storage compartment by several means and the kit is made compact for easy handling by making the oral hygiene devices smaller, especially the toothbrush, to minimize the size of the case holding the kit. One method of making the toothbrush smaller thereby minimizing the size of the case is to provide a toothbrush with uncovered bristles having handles that can be shortened at will. Other oral hygiene devices which have been miniaturized into a travel size are suitable as components of the oral hygiene kit herein without the need of further modification. Examples of handles that can be shortened at will are detachable handles, folding handles that unfold from and fold into the toothbrush head for storage and telescopic handles. Folding handles differ from the detachable handle in that the handle is attached to a connector section of a toothbrush head by hinges. Some examples of attaching means for both the detachable and folding handles to the toothbrush head are by a pair of clip on the connector section of the toothbrush head engaging with an opening on the handle and/or a pin at a front end of the connector section of the toothbrush head engaging with a matching opening at the handle. Some examples of restraining and securing means are a pair of fence, a clip, a hook and loop fastener or a secure structure residing inside the storage compartment having a concave surface or surfaces with the concave surface or surfaces shaped to snugly receive a particular oral hygiene device or devices. Some additional restraining and securing means may be added according to the design of the oral hygiene device such as a round hollow post with or without a detachable cap for holding an oral hygiene device rolled in a spool and waterproof and non-absorbent pouches for holding encased oral hygiene devices. The plurality of apertures in the case are in one location or evenly spread out on a bottom surface of the storage compartment or a top surface of the cover. The aperture can have different geometric shape. The case and the secure structure can be made of plastic, blended polymeric material, metal, natural leather, synthetic leather, and wood. The cover of the case can be partially or wholly transparent.
Other embodiments of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein it shows and describes only certain embodiments of the invention by way of illustration. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments and its several details are capable of modification in various other respects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Many toothbrushes with a cover 33 often times uses the cover to fit into a connector located below the bristles to serve as a handle for the hands to grip on while brushing as shown in
While all of the different oral hygiene devices were not specifically mentioned or described, it is understood that all of these devices can be accommodated inside the case 20 and can be secured inside the case by different fastening means. Consequently, the size of the case and the number of fasteners will cater to the intended number of oral hygiene devices to be housed. A non-comprehensive list of oral hygiene devices includes toothbrush, toothpaste, tongue scraper, dental floss, dental mirror, dental pick, toothpick and mouthwash. The case 20 and the secure structure 53 can be made of plastic, blended polymeric material, natural leather, synthetic leather or metal. Even wood can be used. The cover or portions thereof may be transparent or clear to allow one to view the interior of the case. The storage compartment 22 have lateral walls 51 having a height taller than the height of the lateral walls 52 of the cover 21 to house more pieces of the devices. The shape of the case, although shown as rectangular, may be shaped differently so long as the aspects of the invention are maintained, namely the apertures for ventilation and the restraining means.
While the embodiments of the present invention have been described, it should be understood that various changes, adaptations, and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims.
Claims
1. An oral hygiene kit, comprising:
- a case having a cover and a storage compartment for housing any or all oral hygiene devices, the case having an aperture or a plurality of apertures to provide ventilation and an outlet for draining trapped liquid inside the case;
- means for restraining and securing the oral hygiene devices in the storage compartment; and,
- means for compacting the kit of oral hygiene devices to minimize the size of the case.
2. The oral hygiene kit of claim 1 wherein the means for restraining and securing the oral hygiene device is a pair of fence.
3. The oral hygiene kit of claim 2 wherein the fence is made of a rigid material.
4. The oral hygiene kit of claim 1 wherein the means for restraining and securing the oral hygiene device is a clip.
5. The oral hygiene kit of claim 4 wherein the clip is made of a resilient material.
6. The oral hygiene kit of claim 1 wherein the means for restraining and securing the oral hygiene device is a waterproof and non-absorbent hook and loop fastener.
7. The oral hygiene kit of claim 1 further comprising a round hollow post for holding an oral hygiene device rolled in a spool.
8. The oral hygiene kit of claim 1 further comprising a round hollow post having a detachable cap for holding an oral hygiene device rolled in a spool.
9. The oral hygiene kit of claim 1 further comprising waterproof and non-absorbent pouches for holding encased oral hygiene devices.
10. The oral hygiene kit of claim 1 wherein the plurality of apertures are in one location or evenly spread out on a bottom surface of the storage compartment.
11. The oral hygiene kit of claim 1 wherein the plurality of apertures are in one location or evenly spread out at a top surface of the cover.
12. The oral hygiene kit of claim 1 wherein the aperture is of different geometric shape.
13. The oral hygiene kit of claim 1 wherein the means for compacting the kit of oral hygiene devices to minimize the size of the case is providing a toothbrush with uncovered bristles having handles that can be shortened at will.
14. The oral hygiene kit of claim 13 wherein the handle of the toothbrush is detachable.
15. The oral hygiene kit of claim 14 wherein the handle is attached to a toothbrush head by a pair of clip on a connector section of the toothbrush head engaging with an opening on the handle.
16. The oral hygiene kit of claim 14 wherein the handle is attached to a toothbrush head by a pin at a front end of a connector section of the toothbrush head engaging with a matching opening at the handle.
17. The oral hygiene kit of claim 13 wherein the handle of the toothbrush is attached to a connector section of the toothbrush by a hinge to allow the handle to unfold from and fold into a toothbrush head for storage.
18. The oral hygiene of kit claim 13 wherein the handle of the toothbrush is telescopic.
19. The oral hygiene kit of claim 18 wherein the handle of the toothbrush inserts into a hollow interior connector section below the bristles of a toothbrush head when not in use.
20. The oral hygiene kit of claim 1 wherein the case is made of a material selected from the group consisting of plastic, blended polymeric material, metal, natural leather, synthetic leather, and wood.
21. The oral hygiene kit of claim 1 wherein the cover is partially or wholly transparent.
22. The oral hygiene kit of claim 1 wherein the means for restraining and securing the oral hygiene device is a secure structure further comprising a concave surface or surfaces shaped to snugly receive an oral hygiene device or devices.
23. The oral hygiene kit of claim 22 wherein the secure structure further comprises at least two legs; the legs having top ends and bottom ends; the top ends being connected vertically to two opposite edges of the secure structure in such a manner that the bottom ends residing on the bottom surface of the storage compartment when placed inside the storage compartment.
24. The oral hygiene kit of claim 22 wherein the secure structure having four edges attached to four lateral walls of the storage compartment at or about mid points of the four lateral walls in such a manner that the secure structure is parallel or substantially parallel to the bottom surface of the storage compartment.
25. The oral hygiene kit of claim 22 wherein the secure structure is made of a material selected from the group consisting of plastic, blended polymeric material, metal, natural leather, synthetic leather, and wood.
26. The oral hygiene kit in claim 1 further comprising a blade for cutting dental flosses.
27. The oral hygiene kit in claim 26, wherein the blade is made of a material selected from the group consisting of plastic, wood and metal.
Type: Application
Filed: May 17, 2005
Publication Date: Dec 28, 2006
Inventor: Quan Pho (Alhambra, CA)
Application Number: 11/131,948
International Classification: A45D 44/18 (20060101);