U.S. patent application number 11/077170 was filed with the patent office on 2005-09-08 for toothbrush with transparent handle.
This patent application is currently assigned to Colgate-Palmolive Company. Invention is credited to Kemp, James Herbert.
Application Number | 20050193510 11/077170 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 31993987 |
Filed Date | 2005-09-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050193510 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kemp, James Herbert |
September 8, 2005 |
Toothbrush with transparent handle
Abstract
A toothbrush comprises an elongated handle and a head having
cleaning elements extending outwardly from the head. At least a
portion of the handle is made from a water clear material having
low durometer hardness. At least one object may be embedded within
the handle. The object would be visible through the outer surface
of the handle.
Inventors: |
Kemp, James Herbert;
(Somerset, NJ) |
Correspondence
Address: |
COLGATE-PALMOLIVE COMPANY
909 RIVER ROAD
PISCATAWAY
NJ
08855
US
|
Assignee: |
Colgate-Palmolive Company
|
Family ID: |
31993987 |
Appl. No.: |
11/077170 |
Filed: |
March 10, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11077170 |
Mar 10, 2005 |
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PCT/US03/28155 |
Sep 9, 2003 |
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60409650 |
Sep 10, 2002 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
15/143.1 ;
15/167.1; 15/22.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A46B 15/0089 20130101;
A46B 2200/1066 20130101; A61C 17/225 20130101; A46B 5/00
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
015/143.1 ;
015/167.1; 015/022.1 |
International
Class: |
A46B 009/04; A46B
005/02 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A toothbrush comprising an elongated handle, a head secured to
one end of said handle, cleaning elements extending outwardly from
an outer surface of said head, at least a portion of said handle
being made from a water clear material having an outer surface, at
least one object mounted within said handle, said object being
visible through said outer surface of said handle, and said water
clear material having low durometer hardness to enhance sensorial
tactility when a user grips said handle.
2. The toothbrush of claim 1 wherein all of said handle is made
from said water clear material.
3. The toothbrush of claim 1 wherein said water clear material is
an elastomer material having a durometer range of Shore A 1-15.
4. The toothbrush of claim 1 wherein said at least one object is a
plurality of speckles embedded within said water clear
material.
5. The toothbrush of claim 4 wherein said speckles are holographic
speckles.
6. The toothbrush of claim 1 wherein said at least one object are
colorants embedded within said water clear material.
7. The toothbrush of claim 6 wherein said colorants are
translucent.
8. The toothbrush of claim 6 wherein said colorants are
thermochromic colorants.
9. The toothbrush of claim 1 wherein said at least one object is a
figurine.
10. The toothbrush of claim 9 wherein said figurine is embedded
within said water clear material.
11. The toothbrush of claim 1 wherein said toothbrush is a power
operated toothbrush, and said head including at least one movable
section power driven by power operated structure in said
handle.
12. The toothbrush of claim 11 wherein said at least one object is
said power operated structure, and said power operated structure
includes batteries and a motor and a shaft driven by said
motor.
13. The toothbrush of claim 1 wherein said handle terminates in a
flat base.
14. The toothbrush of claim 1 wherein said head is made from an
opaque material.
15. The toothbrush of claim 14 wherein a neck portion connects said
head to said handle, and said neck portion being opaque.
16. The toothbrush of claim 14 wherein a neck portion connects said
head to said handle, and said neck portion being made from said
water clear material.
17. The toothbrush of claim 1 wherein said head is non-detachably
secured to said handle.
18. A toothbrush comprising an elongated handle, a head secured to
one head of said handle, cleaning elements extending outwardly from
an outer surface of said head, at least a portion of said handle
being made from a water clear elastomer material, and said water
clear elastomer material having a durometer range of Shore A 1-15
to enhance sensorial tactility when a user grips said handle.
19. The toothbrush of claim 18 wherein all of said handle is made
from said water clear material.
20. The toothbrush of claim 18 wherein said head is non-detachably
secured to said handle.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] Various attempts have been made to provide toothbrushes
which would encourage children to brush their teeth. It is known,
for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,769 to provide a toothbrush
with a fillable hollow handle. As described in that patent the
handle is constructed from a transparent plastic material which
contains a decorative fluid within the hollow interior of the
handle component. The brush component and handle component are
releasably interconnected so that the user can collect various
handle components featuring different characters. The handle
components and brush components are interchangeable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0002] An object of this invention is to provide a toothbrush
having a transparent handle which encourages users, particularly
children, to use the toothbrush.
[0003] A further object of this invention is to provide such a
toothbrush which may contain an object within the handle visible
through the outer surface of the handle.
[0004] In accordance with this invention the toothbrush comprises
an elongated handle and a head secured to one end of the handle.
Cleaning elements extend outwardly from the outer surface of the
head. At least a portion of the handle is made from a water clear
material which has low durometer hardness to enhance sensorial
tactility when the user grips the handle.
[0005] In a preferred practice of the invention at least one object
is embedded within the water clear handle and the object is thereby
visible through the outer surface of the handle. The object could
be in the form of speckles such as holographic speckles or could be
a colorant or could be a figurine. Where the toothbrush is a power
toothbrush the object could be the inner workings of the power
drive, such as the batteries, the motor and the shaft.
THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a tooth-brush made in
accordance with this invention;
[0007] FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the handle of an
alternative toothbrush in accordance with this invention;
[0008] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken through FIG. 1 along
the line 3-3; and
[0009] FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of yet another toothbrush
in accordance with this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0010] As shown in FIG. 1 a toothbrush 10 includes an elongated
handle 12. A head 14 is secured to one end of the handle. Cleaning
elements 16 are provided on head 14 extending outwardly from the
outer surface of the head 14.
[0011] In accordance with this invention at least a part and
preferably all of the handle 12 is made of a water clear material
having low durometer hardness. Any suitable material may be used.
For example, such water clear material is available from Tecknor
Apex of Pawtucket, R.I. A preferred low durometer water clear
elastomer material has a durometer range of Shore A 1-15. Such low
durometer affords an increased sensorial tactility or "grip feel"
that is ideal for toothbrushes especially those used for children
and the elderly.
[0012] Because at least some of handle 12 is made from a water
clear material the invention is preferably practiced by embedding
at least one object within the water clear material so that the
object can be seen through the outer surface of that portion of
handle 12. Any suitable object could be incorporated within handle
12 in accordance with this invention. One example of a suitable
object would be variously shaped speckles such as holographic
speckles 18 which would be embedded throughout the handle 12 as
shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. Such holographic speckles may be obtained
from any suitable source, such as Spectra Teck from Los Angeles,
Calif. Other types of objects could include colorants of various
degrees of clarity and translucency. Other objects could be
thermochromic colorants or even small figurines such as figurine 20
shown in FIG. 2.
[0013] In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the toothbrushes
10 and 10A are manual toothbrushes which could be of otherwise
conventional construction. Preferably, the head 14 is permanently
or non-detachably secured to the handle 12. The invention could be
practiced, however, where the head 14 and handle 12 are detachably
connected from each other. Each toothbrush also includes a narrow
neck portion 22 between the head 14 and handle 12. Neck 22 could be
made of water clear material the same as handle 12 or could be made
of any other conventional material such as opaque polypropylene
used for making head 14.
[0014] FIG. 4 shows yet another embodiment of this invention
wherein the toothbrush 10B is a power toothbrush having a movable
section 24 which is illustrated as a circular disk that could be
moved in any suitable direction. As shown in FIG. 4 toothbrush 10B
includes the power assembly in the form of batteries 26 and motor
28 which drives a shaft 30. Shaft 30 extends through neck 22 and
causes disk 24 to move. Head 14 may also include static cleaning
elements 16 in addition to the cleaning elements that would be on
movable portion 24.
[0015] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 the water clear handle 14
permits the inner workings of the power drive to be visible. Thus,
the inner workings, such as batteries 26, motor 28 and a portion of
shaft 30 would be the objects visible through the outer surface of
handle 12.
[0016] As shown in FIG. 4 the outer surface of handle 12 could also
be utilized to obtain suitable identifying material such as a
company logo 32 to identify the source of the toothbrush. The logo
32 could be placed on the outer surface of the handle or could be
embedded within the handle to function as the visible object. The
logo also may be made of holographic material.
[0017] Although FIG. 4 illustrates only a single movable section 24
the invention could be practiced where the head 14 includes more
than one power or electrically operated movable sections carrying
cleaning elements. Such movable section may oscillate in a
rotational manner or may oscillate linearly in a longitudinal
direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the head or may
oscillate linearly in a lateral or transverse direction with
respect to the longitudinal axis of the head. The movable section
may oscillate in and out in a direction toward and away from the
outer surface of the head. The movable section may rock back and
forth with respect to the outer surface of the head. The movable
section may rotate continuously in the same direction, rather than
oscillate. Any suitable drive mechanism may be used for imparting
the desired motion to the movable section. Where plural movable
sections are used, all of the movable sections may have the same
type and direction of movement, or combinations of different
movements may be used. The movable section 24 could be oscillated
rotationally such as by using the type of drive mechanism shown in
U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,916, or could move in and out using the type of
drive mechanism shown in U.S. Pat. No. Re35,941, all of the details
of both patents are incorporated herein by reference thereto.
Alternatively, the other types of drives referred to above could
move section 24 in other manners and directions. Although FIG. 4
shows movable section 24 to be at the distal end of the head, the
movable section(s) could be located at any desired location on the
head.
[0018] Any suitable form of cleaning elements may be used for the
fixed section having cleaning elements 16 and for movable section
24. The term "cleaning elements" is intended to be used in a
generic sense which could include conventional fiber bristles or
massage elements or other forms of cleaning elements such as
elastomeric fingers or walls arranged in a circular cross-sectional
shape or any type of desired shape including straight portions or
sinusoidal portions. Where bristles are used, the bristles could be
mounted to tuft blocks or sections by extending through suitable
openings in the tuft blocks so that the base of the bristles is
mounted within or below the tuft block.
[0019] The invention can be practiced with various combinations of
the same or different cleaning element configurations (such as
stapled or in-molded technology bristles, etc.) and/or with the
same bristle or cleaning element materials (such as nylon bristles,
spiral bristles, rubber bristles, etc.) The cleaning elements could
be generally perpendicular to the outer surface of head 14. Some or
all of the cleaning elements may be angled at various angles with
respect to the outer surface of head 14. It is thereby possible to
select the combination of cleaning element configurations,
materials and orientations to achieve specific intended results to
deliver additional oral health benefits, like enhanced cleaning
tooth polishing, tooth whitening and/or massaging of the gums.
[0020] The handle 12 could take any suitable form such as having a
rounded end 34 such as illustrated in FIG. 1 for toothbrush 10 or
could have a flat base 36 at its end as shown in FIG. 2 which would
permit the toothbrush 10A to stand on end during non-use.
[0021] In the preferred illustrated practice of this invention the
handle 12 and head 14 are permanently or non-detachably connected
together. The invention, however, could be practiced where the
handle and head are detachably secured together such as shown by
the dividing line 38 in FIG. 4 between the neck 22 and the handle
12. Although FIG. 4 is an illustration of a power operated
toothbrush such detachable connection could also be used in a
manually operated toothbrush. The detachable connection would
permit the manufacturer to make the head and neck as separate
components which could then be attached together and/or permit the
user to mix and match different head components with different
handle components.
[0022] Although the various figures individually show different
types of objects embedded within the handle, the invention could be
practiced with combinations of objects. Thus, for example, the same
water clear handle may include speckles such as holographic
speckles and/or a figurine which could be made of holographic
material and/or could include different colorants throughout or in
selected portions of the water clear handle. Such combinations of
objects may be included in the power operated toothbrush in
addition to the drive mechanism.
[0023] The invention could be practiced where the object is
embedded in the transparent material such as shown in FIGS. 1-3 or
where the object is in a hollow cavity in the handle such as shown
in FIG. 4. Some object(s) may be embedded in the material with
objects in a hollow cavity.
[0024] The various embodiments thus provide a toothbrush which
would have an appearance to attract interest in and encourage use
of the toothbrush.
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