TOOTHBRUSH USING UP-AND-DOWN MOVEMENT PATTERN

Abstract

Disclosed is a toothbrush using an up-and-down movement pattern, in which two brushes are attached in series to each of inner surfaces of parallel first and second heads having an obtusely bent shape to perform up-and-down brushing. The toothbrush enables simultaneous brushing of inner and outer portions and a cusp portion of a tooth and a cheek pouch and removal of a tongue coating. The toothbrush includes the first and second heads, brushes longitudinally attached to the first and second heads, holes perforated in opposite end positions of the first and second heads, a C-shaped loop pivotally rotatably fitted into the holes of the first and second heads, an elongated U-shaped guide fixed to both ends of the first head, a transfer member connected to the elongated U-shaped guide so as to reciprocate in a longitudinal direction of the first head, and a gripper extending downward from the transfer member.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a toothbrush using an up-and-down movement pattern, and particularly to a toothbrush whose two heads are each arranged in series on each facing inner side of the first and second heads which are formed side by side at obtuse angles so as to perform an up-and-down brushing operation, thereby enabling simultaneous brushing of inner and outer portions and a cusp portion of a tooth and a region inside the cheek (hereinafter, referred to as a “cheek pouch”) and also, enabling removal of a tongue coating and brushing of the roof of the mouth.

2. Description of the Related Art

As one example of technologies related to toothbrushes, Korean Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 20-1999-0020605 (published on Jun. 15, 1999, hereinafter, referred to as “prior art 1”) discloses an invention entitled “Toothbrush having improved tooth brushing functions”.

In prior art 1, the toothbrush includes a head, on the front surface of which a plurality of upright bristles is fixed, and a gripper integrally connected to a side surface of the head so as to be bent downward from the head, the head and the gripper together having an obtusely bent “L”-shape, and the gripper being provided at an appropriate position on an outer circumferential surface thereof with a protrusion to support the thumb. The disclosed toothbrush functions to guide the user to perform a correct up-and-down tooth brushing motion and also, remarkably reduce arm fatigue by minimizing a motional radius of the arm during up-and-down brushing. In particular, the toothbrush may improve brushing efficiency (e.g., removal of plaque).

The above-described prior art 1 has a feature in which the gripper is integrated to the side surface of the head to have an “L”-shape along with the head, in order to facilitate an up-and-down tooth brushing motion.

With this configuration, according to a direction in which the head extends angularly from the gripper, for example, as the head extends in a leftward angular direction from the gripper and the bristles are provided at the front surface of the head, outer portions of left upper and lower teeth may be brushed in a state in which the gripper is located below the head.

However, brushing right upper teeth is impossible in the state in which the gripper is located below the head, and therefore, the user must invert the toothbrush such that the head is located below the gripper.

In this case, even if the user grips the gripper to orient the head upward or downward, the head cannot reach inner portions of left upper teeth and inner portions of right lower teeth, making it impossible to brush the inner portions of the left upper teeth and the inner portions of the right lower teeth. Also, even if the user attempts to perform brushing while maximally pushing the mouth corner toward molars using the gripper, the bristles have difficulty reaching the molar located at a distal end.

As another example, Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0225409 (registered on Mar. 16, 2001, hereinafter referred to as “prior art 2”) discloses an invention entitled “Toothbrush”.

In prior art 2, the toothbrush is configured such that a head member, on which bristles are implanted, is integrally formed at a tip end of a toothbrush head and the toothbrush head includes a grip portion and a neck portion formed in a longitudinal direction thereof, to allow the user to clean his/her teeth while gripping the gripper. In the disclosed toothbrush, as the head member extends in a direction crossing the longitudinal direction of the toothbrush head, it is possible to maximize a possible contact area between the teeth and the bristles, thereby increasing food particle and plaque removal effects.

The toothbrush can also easily access molars located deep within the mouth so as to ensure that the molars can be easily cleaned. Also, upon cleaning the tongue or front teeth, or inner portions of the front teeth, the toothbrush ensures a posture which causes no strain because the fingers, wrist and arm gripping the toothbrush head are aligned in a straight line. Thus, the toothbrush allows even the elderly and infirm to easily clean their teeth.

Similar to that of prior art 1, the toothbrush of the prior art 2 has an approximately T-shaped configuration such that the head member is integrally formed with the neck portion of the toothbrush head for up-and-down brushing.

As compared to prior art 1, prior art 2 can provide smoother brushing with respect to inner portions of left upper teeth and inner portions of right lower teeth.

Brushing operations of the toothbrush of prior art 2 in detail may include:

a first brushing operation for outer portions of upper and lower teeth engaged with each other;

a second brushing operation for inner portions of upper teeth, which is performed with a gripping posture to orient bristles opposite to that in the first brushing operation;

a third brushing operation for engaging portions of upper molars (i.e. portions to be engaged with lower teeth, hereinafter, referred to as “cusp portions”), which is performed with a gripping posture to orient bristles upward;

a fourth brushing operation for engaging portions of lower molars, which is performed with a gripping posture to orient bristles downward;

a fifth brushing operation for inner portions of lower teeth, which is performed with a gripping posture to orient bristles outward;

a sixth brushing operation for a tongue, which is performed with a gripping posture to orient bristles downward;

a seventh brushing operation for the roof of the mouth, which is performed with a gripping posture to orient bristles upward; and

eighth and ninth brushing operations for left and right cheek pouches, which are performed with a gripping posture to orient bristles outward.

The above described various brushing operations, however, may cause serious fatigue in the user's arm in the same manner as a known toothbrush in which a head is formed in a longitudinal direction of a gripper and bristles are provided at a surface of the head. In particular, children have difficulty performing the above described brushing operations which may lead to poor brushing habits.

Although the prior art 1 and 2 achieve somewhat high teeth cleaning performance, “L”-shaped and “T”-shaped toothbrushes have no ability to conform to a set of teeth when the bristles come into contact with the teeth. Further, since contact portions of the bristles are not configured to completely cover the respective teeth, i.e. to come into close contact with the teeth, these toothbrushes may disadvantageously limit the removal performance of inter-dental food particles or plaque.

Thus, a separate removal tool, such as an inter-dental brush or dental floss, or a vibration generator producing, for example, sound or ultrasonic waves, is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a toothbrush using an up-and-down movement pattern, in which two brushes are attached in series to one of corresponding facing inner surfaces of parallel first and second heads each having an obtusely bent shape so as to perform an up-and-down brushing operation, thereby enabling simultaneous brushing of inner and outer portions and a cusp portion of a tooth and a cheek pouch and also, enabling removal of a tongue coating and brushing of the roof of the mouth.

In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a toothbrush using an up-and-down movement pattern including first and second heads provided in parallel to maintain a gap therebetween, brushes attached to facing inner sides of the first and second heads such that two brushes are arranged in series in a longitudinal direction of each of the first and second heads, holes perforated in opposite end positions of the first and second heads, a C-shaped loop, both ends of which are pivotally rotatably fitted into the holes perforated in the corresponding end positions of the first and second heads, an elongated U-shaped guide, both ends of which are suspended from and fixed to both ends of a lower end surface of the first head, a transfer member connected to an external position of a central linear portion of the elongated U-shaped guide so as to be reciprocally movable in a longitudinal direction of the first head, and a gripper extending from a lower end of the transfer member.

The toothbrush may further include gum brushes outwardly inclined from upper and lower root portions of the brushes and having the shorter length than that of the brushes.

The toothbrush may further include a bar-shaped protrusion protruding outward from throughout an upper end of the second head and centrally divided to enable removal of a tongue coating.

The first head may consist of two sectional bodies connected to each other by an elastic intermediate member, the two sectional bodies being respectively pushed on the basis of the intermediate member to conform to a set of teeth upon receiving press force and then, being returned to original positions thereof when the press force is released during up-and-down brushing in a state in which the brushes come into contact with the teeth.

The first and second heads may have an obtusely concave shape when viewed from the front side thereof.

Upper and lower ends of the first head may be made of rubber and may be provided with a plurality of valleys perpendicular to a longitudinal direction thereof to enable massage and cleaning of outer portions of the teeth during brushing.

The C-shaped loop may be a high strength member, both ends of which are fitted to the corresponding holes via torsion springs.

The elongated U-shaped guide may have a flat and wide central linear portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a toothbrush using an up-and-down movement pattern according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the toothbrush using the up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are views respectively illustrating first and second heads illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the toothbrush using the up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a left side view of the toothbrush using the up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 6A to 6C are front views illustrating different movements of the toothbrush using the up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 7A to 7C are views illustrating an elastic movement of the first and second heads illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 8A to 8B are views illustrating various examples of the toothbrush using the up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1 in use; and

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a further example of the toothbrush using the up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1 in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a toothbrush using an up-and-down movement pattern according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the toothbrush is composed of a gripper 10, first and second heads 20 and 24, a bar-shaped protrusion 26, a guide 28, brushes 30, and C-shaped loops 40. The gripper 10 includes a grip body 12, a grip portion 14, and a neck portion 16. The first head 20 consists of first and second sectional bodies 20a and 20b.

Now, operation and effects of the toothbrush according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 9.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the toothbrush using the up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are views respectively illustrating first and second heads illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the toothbrush using the up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a left side view of the toothbrush using the up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 6A to 6C are front views illustrating different movements of the toothbrush using the up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 7A to 7C are views illustrating an elastic movement of the first and second heads illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 8A to 8B are views illustrating various examples of the toothbrush using the up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1 in use.

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a further example of the toothbrush using the up-and-down movement pattern illustrated in FIG. 1 in use.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 9, when using the toothbrush, the user may brush his/her teeth by moving the toothbrush up and down while gripping the grip portion 14 of the gripper 10 as illustrated in FIGS. 7A to 7C or FIGS. 8A and 8B, or may scrape a surface of the tongue using the bar-shaped protrusion 26 protruding outward from throughout an upper end of the second head 24 so as to remove a tongue coating. In this case, the upper end of the bar-shaped protrusion 26 acts to automatically wipe even the cheek pouch and the roof of the mouth. The bar-shaped protrusion 26, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, is centrally divided to define space 27 as illustrated in FIG. 1, achieving further enhancement in elasticity. Reference numerals 21 and 25 of FIG. 1 and reference numerals 28a and 28b of FIG. 3B designate hinges, which may be separately provided, or may be integrally formed with corresponding elements.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, upper and lower root portions of the brushes 30 are separately provided with outwardly inclined gum brushes 30a and 30b having the shorter length. These gum brushes 30a and 30b act to brush the gums.

In this way, the transfer member 22 is inserted from outside into the central linear portion of the elongated U-shaped guide 28 and thus is able to perform reciprocal motion in the longitudinal direction of the first head 20. Also, gripper 10 extending to the lower part of the transfer member 22 is able to reciprocate as shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C during brushing. The central linear portion of the elongated U-shaped guide 28 has a wide and flat shape to more accurately guide the reciprocal motion of the transfer member 22.

Coupling portion 16a as illustrated in FIG. 5 is made of rubber and has high elasticity. That is, the coupling portion 16 is sufficiently flexible so as to be easily bent and be immediately restored when pressure is released.

The gripper 10 may be positioned as illustrated in FIG. 6A when the user brushes central teeth, or may be positioned as illustrated in FIG. 6B or 6C when the user brushes left or right molars. The gripper 10 is reciprocally movable leftward or rightward, and thus, allows the molars located deep within the mouth as well as end surfaces thereof to be easily brushed.

The first head 20 consists of first and second sectional bodies 20a and 20b connected to each other by an elastic intermediate member. During an up-and-down brushing operation in a state in which the brushes 30 come into contact with teeth upon receiving press force, the sectional bodies 20a and 20b are respectively pushed on the basis of the intermediate member to conform to a set of teeth and then, are returned to original positions thereof, enabling effective brushing. Similarly, the central portion of the second head 24 is defined by an elastic intermediate member.

The sectional bodies 20a and 20b of the first head 20 are centrally perforated with coupling holes 23a respectively. The brushes 30 to be coupled to the respective sectional bodies 20 and 20b are respectively provided at outer surfaces thereof with coupling bosses 23b to correspond to the coupling holes 23a. Thereby, as the coupling bosses 23b are inserted into the corresponding coupling holes 23a, the brushes 30 can be coupled to the respective sectional bodies 20a and 20b.

Similarly, the brushes 30 to be coupled to the second head 24 is provided respectively at outer surfaces thereof with coupling bosses 23c and the second head 24 is perforated with coupling holes at positions corresponding to the respective coupling bosses 23c, whereby the brushes 30 can be coupled to the second head 24.

With this configuration, the user may semi-permanently use the toothbrush via replacement of the brushes 30. In the toothbrush according to the present invention, the aforementioned constituent elements are selected to have high durability in consideration of the semi-permanent use of the toothbrush.

Upper and lower ends of the first head 20 are made of rubber and are provided with a plurality of valleys, i.e. consecutive ridges 21a, 21b and 21c perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the first head 20, whereby massage and cleaning of outer portions of teeth are possible during brushing.

The C-shaped loop 40 is a pivotally rotatable high strength member and thus, serves to assist smooth and efficient brushing as the bristles 30 naturally press the C-shaped loop 40. Both ends of the C-shaped loop 40 are respectively coupled to corresponding holes of the first and second heads 20 and 24 with torsion springs 42 interposed therebetween, such that the C-shaped loop 40 is located midway in a rotatable range in an unused state thereof.

By use of the toothbrush having the above described configuration, any user can easily brush all teeth evenly and in a single manner, i.e. by repeating a simple brushing pattern to brush teeth up and down while gripping the grip portion 14 below the jaw without arm fatigue. Therefore, when using the toothbrush of the present invention, it is possible to prevent dental caries, or partial abrasion of teeth, such as dental cervical abrasion.

In conventional brushing involving 10 or more complex motions, an end of a toothbrush head may cause injury to the gums if the teeth are brushed rapidly. However, the present invention has the effect of preventing this problem and protecting the gums.

The C-shaped loop 40, which integrally connects the first and second heads 20 and 24 to each other, is installed in a pivotally rotatable manner, and thus, allows the brushes 30 to brush only teeth during up-and-down movement thereof while restricting upward and downward movement above and below the teeth as illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B, thereby preventing gum injury due to the corresponding constituent elements of the toothbrush. Furthermore, the brushes 30 act to brush a cusp portion of tooth 54 close to gum 50 and even an end surface 56 of a molar. In FIG. 8A, reference numeral 52 designates a coupling portion between the brush 30 and the corresponding head of the toothbrush.

The brushes 30 include bi-directional bristles to be bent in use, and a restoration force of the bristles acts to compress the teeth. As vibration force applied by the center elastic intermediate member between the first and second sectional bodies 20a and 20b is added to the restoration force of the bristles, accurate and rapid removal of food particles trapped between teeth and cleaning of the teeth can be realized. Thus, when using the toothbrush of the present invention, it is unnecessary to use a separate tool, such as an inter-dental brush or dental floss, or a sound wave or ultrasonic generator to apply vibration to the toothbrush.

Considering arrangement of the brushes 30, two of the brushes 30 are attached in series to one of corresponding facing inner surfaces of the parallel first and second heads 20 and 24 each having an obtusely bent shape. This arrangement provides an advantage in that inner and outer portions and a cusp portion of a hexahedral tooth and the cheek pouch may be brushed simultaneously by up-and-down brushing using the brushes 30.

A cusp portion of a tooth can be primarily brushed as the tooth penetrates the two brushes 30 provided at the facing inner surfaces of the first and second heads 20 and 24 and then, be secondarily brushed as extra bristles of the brushes 30 moved leftward or rightward naturally come into close contact with each other. During this brushing, the bristles of the brushes 30 fluctuate in all directions, thereby acting to brush the entire portion of the tooth.

The bar-shaped protrusion 26, which is made of rubber and protrudes outward from throughout the upper end of the second head 24, enables not only easy and rapid removal of a tongue coating, but also cleaning of the roof of the mouth owing to a flat wide surface thereof.

In the meantime, due to the fact that the gripper 10, from which the transfer member 22 extends, is reciprocally movable along the guide 28, extra bristles of the brushes 30 may easily brush even molars located deep within the mouth and end surfaces of the molars.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a toothbrush is configured such that two brushes are attached in series to one of corresponding facing inner surfaces of parallel first and second heads each having an obtusely bent shape so as to perform an up-and-down brushing operation, thereby enabling simultaneous brushing of inner and outer portions and a cusp portion of a tooth and the cheek pouch.

Further, with a bar-shaped protrusion protruding outward from throughout an upper end of the second head, the toothbrush of the present invention has the effect of enabling easy removal of a tongue coating and cleaning of the roof of the mouth.

Furthermore, as the gripper is reciprocally movable along a guide of the first head owing to a transfer member connected between the gripper and the guide, the toothbrush of the present invention has the effect of brushing molars located deep within the mouth and end surfaces of the molars that are difficult to access with a conventional toothbrush and thus, frequently suffer from considerable plaque buildup.

In addition, as upper and lower ends of the first head are made of rubber and are provided with a plurality of valleys perpendicular to a longitudinal direction thereof, the toothbrush of the present invention has the effect of enabling massage and cleaning of outer portions of teeth.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A toothbrush using an up-and-down movement pattern comprising:

first and second heads provided in parallel to maintain a gap therebetween, wherein the first and the second head are formed in substantially curved surface;

a first brush provided with two brushes being arranged at intervals in a longitudinal direction of the first head, inside the first head facing the second head;

a second brush provided with two brushes being arranged at intervals in a longitudinal direction of the second head, inside the second head facing the first head;

holes respectively perforated at both end positions of a longitudinal direction of the first and second heads;

two C-shaped loops whose both ends are pivotally rotatably fitted into the holes respectively perforated in both end positions of the first and second heads;

an elongated U-shaped guide whose both ends are suspended from and fixed to both ends of outside lower surface of a longitudinal direction of the first head, wherein a bottom between both ends of the elongated U-shaped guide is elongated and formed in the longitudinal direction of the first head;

a transfer member connected to an external position of the bottom of the elongated U-shaped guide so as to be reciprocally movable along a longitudinal direction of the first head; and

a gripper being connected to a lower end of the transfer member, and extended from the lower end of the transfer member along an orthogonal direction against the longitudinal direction of the first head.

2. The toothbrush according to claim 1, further comprising gum brushes outwardly inclined from upper and lower root portions of the brushes and having the shorter length than that of the brushes.

3. The toothbrush according to claim 1, further comprising a bar-shaped protrusion protruding outward from throughout an upper end of the second head and centrally divided to enable removal of a tongue coating.

4. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the first head consists of two sectional bodies connected to each other by an elastic intermediate member, the two sectional bodies being respectively pushed on the basis of the intermediate member to conform to a set of teeth upon receiving press force and then, being returned to original positions thereof when the press force is released during up-and-down brushing in a state in which the brushes come into contact with the teeth.

5. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the first and second heads have an obtusely concave shape when viewed from the front side thereof.

6. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein upper and lower ends of the first head are made of rubber and are provided with a plurality of valleys perpendicular to a longitudinal direction thereof to enable massage and cleaning of outer portions of the teeth during brushing.

7. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the C-shaped loop is a high strength member, both ends of which are fitted to the corresponding holes via torsion springs.

8. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the elongated U-shaped guide has a flat and wide central linear portion.

9. A toothbrush for use in an up-and-down brushing motion, the toothbrush comprising:

a head member extending along a longitudinal direction, the head member comprising a first head and a second head, maintained in a parallel, spaced apart relation by two C-shaped loops; each C-shaped loop having two ends, with one end being pivotally connected to a longitudinal end of the first head and the other end being pivotally connected to a longitudinal end of the second head;

the first head including two brushes, spaced apart along the longitudinal direction and the second head including two brushes, spaced apart along the longitudinal direction, wherein the brushes of the first head face the brushes of the second head;

an elongated U-shaped guide extending along the longitudinal direction from a first end to a second end, the first end being fixed to the first head at a position adjacent a first longitudinal end of the first head and the send end being fixed to the first head at a position adjacent a second longitudinal end of the first head;

a transfer member coupled to the elongated U-shaped guide between the first end and the second end and being moveable in the longitudinal direction along the elongated U-shaped guide between the first end and the second end; and

a gripper extending from the transfer member in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of the head member.