Toothbrush head
A toothbrush has a handle and a head part, on which bristle filaments and at least one flexible cleaning element are arranged. The at least one flexible cleaning element is arranged on a carrier element which consists of a hard material and is connected to the head part. A process for producing such a toothbrush is also disclosed.
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/389,448 filed Mar. 14, 2003, incorporated herein by reference. Cross-reference is also made to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/526,679 filed on Mar. 16, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,553,604, and Ser. No. 09/576,590 filed on May 22, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,416, both of which are assigned to Gillette Canada Company.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe invention relates generally to the field of oral care, and in particular to toothbrushes. More specifically, the invention relates to a toothbrush head having one or more pivoting tufts of bristles, the head having two portions that can move independent of each other.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A Japanese patent document having an application number of 3-312978 discloses a toothbrush having a multiplicity of tufts of nylon bristles. In a first embodiment shown in
As shown in
The Japanese reference also discloses that the brush head is made of a unitary structure. As such, water cannot flow through any central portion of the brush head, thereby inhibiting the cleanability of the brush. Further, the unitary head structure does not allow different portions of the head to move independently of each other. Accordingly, the bristle tufts extending from the tuft cannot accommodate the varying tooth surfaces as well as a brush in which the head has two or more portions that can move or flex independent of each other.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above. Briefly summarized, according to one aspect of the present invention, a toothbrush head has a tooth cleaning element extending from the head. The head is divided into at least two portions which can be moved independent of each other. The tooth cleaning element is rotatable relative to that portion of the head from which it extends.
According to another aspect of the invention, a tooth cleaning element includes one or more tooth cleaners, a base support, and an anchor pivot. One end of the one or more tooth cleaners is secured to a first end of the base support. One end of the anchor pivot is secured to a second end of the base support. The anchor portion has a larger section further from the base support than a smaller section of the anchor portion.
In accordance with a third aspect of the invention, a method of making a toothbrush head includes molding a plastic toothbrush head in a mold. The head has two distinct portions which are spaced a predetermined distance from each other. The head is removed from the mold. At least that part of the head where the two head portions connect is heated. The two head portions are moved towards each other. At least that part of the head where the two head portions connect is cooled such that the two head portions will now remain in positions where they will be spaced apart a distance which is less than the predetermined distance.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a method of making a toothbrush head includes molding a plastic toothbrush head in a mold. The head has at least one hole therein which extends all the way through the head. The head is removed from the mold. A tooth cleaning element is inserted into the hole
These and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood and appreciated from a review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and appended claims, and by reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 16A-C are sectional views of
Beginning with
Split 18 can also be defined as an opening in the head between head portions 20 and 22. This opening allows water to flow through the head, thereby enhancing cleaning of the top head surface which typically gets caked with toothpaste in spite of efforts to rinse the head clean.
Head portion 20 includes a projecting part 24 which fits (at least partially) into a recess 26 (see
Referring now to
A second group of tufts are pivoting tufts 30 (the only tufts on the head which are rotatable). There are four tufts 30 on each head portion 20, 22 which are located towards the outside of the head. Each tuft 30 can pivot up to about 15 degrees to either side of a vertical position on the head, more preferably being able to pivot up to about 8 degrees to either side of a vertical position on the head. The pivoting of tufts 30 is roughly towards or away from neck 14. Each tuft 30 includes a base support 32 made of polypropylene. The bristles are made of polyamid 6.12, have a diameter of 0.008 inches and extend 0.420 inches above the base support.
A third group of tufts 34 extend perpendicular to the head. There are four tufts 34 on each head portion 20, 22 which alternate with tufts 30. When viewed from the top (
A fourth group of tufts 36 are located towards the inside of the head. There are two such tufts on each head portion 20, 22. Each tuft 36 extends perpendicular to the head. The bristles of tuft 36 have a diameter of 0.006 inches, are made of polyamid 6.12 and rise about 0.360 inches above the head.
A fifth and final group of tufts 38 are also located towards the inside of the head (away from a perimeter 21 of the head). There are 4 pairs of tufts 38. In each pair one tuft is closer to neck 14 than the other tuft. In each pair of tufts 38, (a) a base of one tuft is closer to a first side of the head and this one tuft leans towards a second side of the head, and (b) a base of the other tuft is closer to the second side of the head and this other tuft leans towards the first side of the head. As such, the tufts in each pair lean across each other. The angle of tilt towards the side of the head is about five degrees. Each tuft 38 bristles which are made of PBT, have a bristle diameter of about 0.007 inches and extend about 0.460 inches above head 16. Each tuft 38 has an oval cross-section with a long dimension of the oval being oriented in the direction of tilt.
The bristles used on the head can be crimped (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,541) or notched (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,018,840). Other types of tooth cleaners besides bristles can be used. For example, a tuft of bristles could be replaced by an elastomeric fin. The US patents listed in this paragraph are incorporated herein by reference.
Turning now to
Briefly, hot-tufting involves presenting ends of a multiplicity of groups of plastic filaments into a mold. Each group of filament ends inside the mold is optionally melted into a blob. Each filament group is cut to a desired length (either before or after being introduced into the mold) to form a tuft of bristles. The mold is closed and molten plastic is injected into the mold. When the plastic solidifies, it locks one end of the tufts of bristles into the head of the toothbrush.
It can be seen in
With reference to
Pressure 44 is then applied to head portions 20, 22 to move the portions towards each other. Once head portions 20, 22 are in the position shown in
In order to achieve short process times, the highest temperature heat source which will not damage the plastic should be used. If too hot a heat source is used and/or if the heat is applied for too long, the plastic can be damaged. If the heat source is not hot enough, the process will take too long and/or head portions 20, 22 will not remain in their final desired positions. If the head/neck are made of polypropylene and hot air is used to heat the neck, (a) the heated air should be at a temperature of about 170 degrees centigrade and should be applied to the neck for about 70 seconds, (b) the polypropylene should be raised to a temperature of about 140 degrees centigrade, and (c) a nozzle which applies the hot air to the neck should be about 10 mm from the neck.
If copolyester or polyurethane is used as the material for the head neck, (a) the heated air should be at a temperature of 250 degrees centigrade and should be applied to the neck for about 10 seconds, (b) the material should be raised to a temperature of preferably 95-100 degrees centigrade, and (c) a nozzle which applies the hot air to the neck should be about 15-20 mm from the neck.
Heating the respective materials above for the time indicated allows the material to be softened and mechanically bent into its final form. Exceeding the heating times above could cause the material to overheat and become damaged.
Turning to
Tuft 30 can also be made by a hot-tufting type process as described above. Instead of injecting plastic into the mold to form a toothbrush handle, neck and head, the plastic is injected into a mold to form base support 48 and anchor pivot 50, capturing bristles 46 when the injected plastic cools.
With reference to
Turning now to
Referring to
As shown in
Turning to
As shown in
The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment. However, it will be appreciated that variations and modifications can be effected by a person of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A toothbrush head, comprising:
- a bristle-carrying head part;
- bristle filaments and a cutout provided through the head part, the cutout including a bottom opening that is of a larger cross-section than an intermediate section of the cutout; and
- a flexible, non-bristle cleaning element arranged on a carrier element, the cleaning element being made of a first material and the carrier element being made of a second, harder material, the carrier element including a base and a resiliently configured extension, the base having a cross-section larger than the intermediate section of the cutout, and the extension having an intermediate portion and a bottom with a cross-section that is larger than the intermediate portion of the extension and the intermediate section of the cutout, the bottom of the extension being resiliently inserted through the intermediate section of the cutout and into the bottom opening to prevent ready release of the carrier element from the head part by a snap-fit connection.
2. The toothbrush head according to claim 1, wherein the connection is sufficient to prevent detaching of the carrier element from the head part during use of the toothbrush.
3. The toothbrush head according to claim 1, wherein the connection is non-releasable.
4. The toothbrush head according to claim 1, wherein play between the carrier element and the head part at the cutout allows movement of the carrier element and the flexible cleaning element during use of the toothbrush.
5. The toothbrush head according to claim 1, wherein the flexible cleaning element is arranged to massage gums of the user.
6. The toothbrush head according to claim 1, wherein the flexible cleaning element is made from a thermoplastic elastomer.
7. The toothbrush head according to claim 1, wherein the flexible cleaning element includes rubber.
8. The toothbrush head according to claim 1, wherein the flexible cleaning element has a Shore A hardness of less than 90.
9. The toothbrush head according to claim 1, wherein the material of the carrier element is a polypropylene, styrene-acrylonitrile, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, polyurethane or polyester.
10. The toothbrush head according to claim 1, wherein the flexible cleaning element and the carrier element are produced by two-component or multi-component injection molding and mated with a non-releasable connection.
11. The toothbrush head according to claim 1, wherein the flexible cleaning element is inclined out of the vertical to come into contact with at least one of the bristle filaments.
12. The toothbrush head according to claim 1, wherein the flexible cleaning element crosses over at least one of the bristle filaments.
13. The toothbrush head according to claim 1, wherein the flexible cleaning element has a rod-like shape.
14. The toothbrush head according to claim 1, wherein the carrier element is harder than the flexible cleaning element.
15. The toothbrush head according to claim 1, wherein the cutout extends entirely through the head part.
16. The toothbrush head according to claim 1, wherein the head part includes a plurality of cutouts and a plurality of flexible cleaning elements and carrier elements.
17. The toothbrush head according to claim 1, further comprising a handle connected to the head part.
18. A toothbrush head, comprising:
- a bristle-carrying head part;
- bristle filaments and a cutout provided on the head part;
- a flexible, non-bristle cleaning element arranged on a carrier element, the carrier element being of a harder material than that of the flexible cleaning element, the carrier element including an extension that extends into the cutout and is connected to the head part by a not readily releasable snap-fit connection of the carrier element within the cutout; and
- play between the carrier element and the head part at the cutout allows pivoting movement of the carrier element about an axis.
19. The toothbrush head according to claim 18, wherein the axis is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the head part.
20. The toothbrush head according to claim 18, wherein the connection is sufficient to prevent detaching of the carrier element from the head part during use of the toothbrush.
21. The toothbrush head according to claim 18, wherein the flexible cleaning element is made from a thermoplastic elastomer.
22. The toothbrush head according to claim 18, wherein the flexible cleaning element includes rubber.
23. The toothbrush head according to claim 18, wherein the flexible cleaning element has a Shore A hardness of less than 90.
24. The toothbrush head according to claim 18, wherein the harder material of the carrier element is a polypropylene, styrene-acrylonitrile, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, polyurethane or polyester.
25. The toothbrush head according to claim 18, wherein the flexible cleaning element is inclined out of the vertical to come into contact with at least one of the bristle filaments.
26. The toothbrush head according to claim 18, wherein the flexible cleaning element has a rod-like shape.
27. The toothbrush head according to claim 18, wherein the cutout is provided through the head part and includes an end opening that is of a larger cross-section than an intermediate section of the cutout.
28. The toothbrush head according to claim 18, further comprising a handle connected to the head part.
29. The toothbrush head according to claim 18, wherein the head is also formed from a material that is harder than the flexible, non-bristle containing cleaning element so that a hard material to hard material snap-fit connection is formed.
30. The toothbrush head according to claim 18, wherein the carrier extension is a snap-fitting element, and the snap-fitting element and the carrier form a single-piece body of the harder material.
31. The toothbrush head according to claim 18, wherein the not-readily releaseable snap-fit connection is formed by one of the extension and the head part resiliently deforming.
32. The toothbrush head according to claim 18, wherein the cleaning element is non-releasably attached to the carrier element through two component or multi-component injection molding.
33. The toothbrush head according to claim 18, wherein the head involves a plurality of cutouts and a plurality of snap-fit carrier elements.
34. A process for producing a toothbrush head comprising:
- providing a head part with a cutout and with bristle filaments, the-cutout having a bottom end opening that is of a larger cross-section than an intermediate section of the cutout;
- providing a flexible, non-bristle cleaning element coupled to a carrier element, the cleaning element being made of first material and the carrier being made of a second, harder material;
- providing the carrier element with a base having a cross-section larger than the intermediate section of the cutout and an extension having an intermediate portion and a resiliently configured bottom with a cross-section that is larger than the intermediate section of the extension and the intermediate section of the cutout;
- inserting the bottom of the extension through the intermediate section of the cutout and into the bottom end opening; and
- connecting the carrier element to the cutout of the head part in a not-readily releasable snap-fit connection.
35. The process as claimed in claim 34, wherein the connecting occurs after the toothbrush head is provided with the bristle filaments.
36. The process as claimed in claim 34, wherein the bristle filaments provided on the head part are processed prior to connecting the carrier element to the cutout of the head part.
37. The process as claimed in claim 34, wherein the processing includes at least one of rounding, cutting and machining processing operations.
38. The process as claimed in claim 34, wherein the flexible cleaning element and the carrier element are produced by two-component or multi-component injection molding.
39. The process as claimed in claim 34, further comprising: providing the toothbrush head part with a handle.
40. The process according to claim 34, further comprising inserting the carrier element into the cutout from a bristle bearing front face of the head part.
41. A process for producing a toothbrush head of a toothbrush comprising:
- providing a head part with a cutout and bristle filaments;
- providing a non-bristle cleaning element of a first material coupled to a carrier element of a second, harder material, the carrier element being formed with an extension;
- inserting the extension into the cutout;
- connecting the carrier element to the cutout of the head part by a not readily releasable snap-fit connection of the carrier element within the cutout; and
- providing play between the carrier element and the head part at the cutout that allows pivoting movement of the carrier element about an axis.
42. The process as claimed in claim 41, wherein the connecting occurs after the toothbrush head is provided with the bristle filaments.
43. The process as claimed in claim 42, wherein the bristle filaments provided on the head part are processed prior to connecting the carrier element to the head part.
44. The process as claimed in claim 43, wherein the processing includes at least one of rounding, cutting and machining processing operations.
45. The process as claimed in claim 41, wherein the flexible cleaning element and the carrier element are produced by a two-component or multi-component injection molding.
46. The process as claimed in claim 45, wherein the flexible cleaning element is produced from a thermoplastic elastomer or rubber and the carrier element is produced from a polypropylene, styrene-acrylonitrile, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, polyurethane or polyester.
47. The process as claimed in claim 45, wherein the material of the flexible, non-bristle containing cleaning element and the harder material of the carrier are chosen to be compatible with each other to produce a non-releasable connection in the two component or multi-component injection molding process.
48. The process according to claim 41, further comprising: providing the toothbrush head part with a handle.
49. The process according to claim 41, further comprising inserting the carrier element into the cutout from a bristle bearing front face of the head part.
Type: Application
Filed: May 2, 2007
Publication Date: Mar 13, 2008
Inventors: Phillip Braun (Exeter, RI), William Brown (Peabody, MA), Thomas Christman (Lexington, MA), Karen Claire-Zimmet (Waltham, MA), Joanna Deng (Brookline, MA), Ronald Duff (Shrewsbury, MA), Edward Mangan (Southborough, MA)
Application Number: 11/799,733
International Classification: A46B 15/00 (20060101); A46B 9/04 (20060101); A46D 3/00 (20060101);