U.S. patent application number 10/859705 was filed with the patent office on 2005-12-08 for toothbrush.
Invention is credited to Kim, Dougjohn.
Application Number | 20050268414 10/859705 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35446062 |
Filed Date | 2005-12-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050268414 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kim, Dougjohn |
December 8, 2005 |
Toothbrush
Abstract
The toothbrush has a triple cross array of tufts of bristles.
The tufts are disposed in rows which are disposed on a diagonal
relative to longitude and axis of the toothbrush. In addition,
alternating rows of the tufts have the tufts inclined at an acute
angle to the base of the toothbrush and in crisscrossing relation
to the tufts of the adjacent row.
Inventors: |
Kim, Dougjohn; (Caldwell,
NJ) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Francis C. Hand, Esq.
c/o Carella, Byrne, Bain,
Gilfillan, Cecchi, Stewart & Olstein
5 Becker Farm Road
Roseland
NJ
07068
US
|
Family ID: |
35446062 |
Appl. No.: |
10/859705 |
Filed: |
June 3, 2004 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/167.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A46B 9/04 20130101; A46B
2200/1066 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
015/167.1 |
International
Class: |
A46B 009/04 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A head for a tooth brush comprising a body having an elongated
shape along a longitudinal axis; and a plurality of rows of tufts
mounted on said body, at least some of said rows of tufts being
disposed at an acute angle to said longitudinal axis of said body,
said tufts in each of said some of said rows of tufts being
disposed at an acute angle to the plane of said body and in
criss-crossing relation to said tufts in an adjacent row of tufts
of said some of said rows of tufts.
2. A head for a tooth brush as set forth in claim 1 wherein said
some of said rows of tufts are disposed at an acute angle of
27.degree. to said longitudinal axis of said body.
3. A tooth brush comprising a body having an elongated shape along
a longitudinal axis; and a plurality of rows of tufts mounted on
said body, said rows of tufts being disposed at an acute angle to
said longitudinal axis of said body, said tufts in each of said
rows of tufts being disposed at an acute angle to the plane of said
body and in crisscrossing relation to said tufts in an adjacent row
of tufts.
4. A toothbrush as set forth in claim 3 wherein said rows of tufts
are disposed at an acute angle of 27.degree. to said longitudinal
axis of said body.
5. A tooth brush as set forth in claim 4 wherein said tufts in each
said row are parallel and at an acute angle of 18.degree. to said
plane of said body.
6. A tooth brush as set forth in claim 3 wherein said tufts in each
said row are parallel and at an acute angle of 18.degree. to said
plane of said body.
7. A toothbrush as set forth in claim 3 wherein each said tuft
includes a plurality of bristles.
8. A tooth brush as set forth in claim 7 further comprising a
retainer wall mounted on said body and located at one end of each
said row of tufts for restraining said bristles of said tufts
thereat from deforming during use.
9. A toothbrush as set forth in claim 8 wherein each said wall is
parallel and spaced from a rearmost tuft in a respective row of
tufts.
10. A toothbrush as set forth in claim 9 wherein each said wall is
one-half the height of an adjacent tuft.
11. A toothbrush as set forth in claim 3 wherein said body is of a
rectangular shape.
12. A tooth brush as set forth in claim 3 wherein each said tuft
has a predetermined diameter and said tufts in each said row are
spaced apart on a centerline-to-centerline distance of twice said
predetermined diameter.
13. A toothbrush as set forth in claim 12 wherein said rows of
tufts are spaced apart from each other.
Description
[0001] This invention relates to a toothbrush. More particularly,
this invention relates to a bristle arrangement for the head of a
toothbrush.
[0002] As is known, various types of toothbrushes and attachments
for electric toothbrushes have been provided with arrays of tufts
of bristles to accomplish the cleaning of teeth. In some cases, the
tufts of bristles have been skewed at an angle to the more
conventional perpendicular relationship to the head of a
toothbrush. Skewing of the tufts has been intended to facilitate
the cleaning of debris from the spaces between the teeth of a
user.
[0003] It is an object of this invention to provide an array of
tufts for a toothbrush head that will efficiently clean the teeth
of a user.
[0004] It is another object of the invention to provide a
toothbrush for efficiently cleaning the teeth of a user.
[0005] It is another object of the invention to provide a
toothbrush that is comfortable for a user to use.
[0006] Briefly, the invention provides a head for a toothbrush that
has a triple cross array of tufts of bristles. In particular, the
invention provides a head for a toothbrush comprised of a body
having an elongated shape along a longitudinal axis and a plurality
of rows of tufts of bristles mounted on the body with at least some
of these rows being disposed at an acute angle to the longitudinal
axis of the body. In addition, the tufts in these rows are disposed
at an acute angle to the plane of the body as well as in
criss-crossing relation to the tufts in an adjacent row.
[0007] In one embodiment, the triple cross arrangement of tufts is
used on a conventional toothbrush having a body of elongated shape
along a longitudinal axis of the toothbrush. The rows of tufts are
mounted on the head of the body with the rows being disposed at an
acute angle, for example of 27.degree., to the longitudinal axis of
the body. In addition, the tufts in each of the rows is disposed at
an acute angle, for example of 18.degree., to the plane of the body
and in criss-crossing relation to the tufts in an adjacent row.
[0008] In addition, a retainer wall is mounted on the body of the
toothbrush and is located at the rear-most tuft at the end of each
row of tufts for restraining the bristles of the rear-most tuft
from deforming during use. This retainer wall may be made of
plastic suitable for use on the toothbrush and is typically
one-half the height of the adjacent tuft and slightly wider than
the tuft in order to protect the bristles of the tuft from being
permanently deformed due to pressures exerted during use.
[0009] These and other objects and advantages of the invention
would become more apparent from the following detailed description
taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates a top plan view of a toothbrush head
employing a triple-cross array of tufts in accordance with the
invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of the toothbrush head of
FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 3 illustrates a view of one row of tufts taken along
line III-III of FIG. 1;
[0013] FIG. 4 illustrates a view of a second row of tufts taken
along line IV-IV of FIG. 1;
[0014] FIG. 5 illustrates a diagrammatic view of a first action of
the bristles of the toothbrush of FIG. 1 during a brushing action
on a pair of teeth in accordance with the invention;
[0015] FIG. 6 diagrammatically illustrates the action of the
bristles of the toothbrush of FIGS. 3 and 4 during cleaning of the
tooth crowns;
[0016] FIG. 7 diagrammatically illustrates the resultant action of
FIGS. 5 and 6 of the bristles of the toothbrush;
[0017] FIG. 8 diagrammatically illustrates the scrubbing and
agitating actions of the bristles of the toothbrush on the
teeth;
[0018] FIG. 9 diagrammatically illustrates the action of a
conventional toothbrush on teeth;
[0019] FIG. 10 diagrammatically illustrates the manner in which the
bristles of the toothbrush of FIG. 1 clean the crowns of teeth by
bending without a bridging effect in accordance with the
invention;
[0020] FIG. 11 illustrates the cleaning action of a conventional
single-cross bristle brush;
[0021] FIG. 12 diagrammatically illustrates the cleaning action of
a conventional straight bristle brush on the crowns of teeth;
[0022] FIG. 13 diagrammatically illustrates the coverage provided
by two adjacent rows of tufts employing the toothbrush of FIG. 1;
and
[0023] FIG. 14 diagrammatically illustrates the coverage provided
by a conventional single-cross brush.
[0024] Referring to FIG. 1, the toothbrush 1 has a body 2 of an
elongated rectangular shape disposed along a longitudinal axis X-X
and is otherwise of a conventional structure and material.
[0025] The toothbrush 1 also has a plurality of rows a, b of tufts
3, 4 that are mounted on the body 2 in a conventional fashion (not
shown). The rows a, b of tufts 3, 4 are disposed at an acute angle
A, for example 27.degree., to the longitudinal axis X-X of the body
2.
[0026] Referring to FIG. 4, the tufts 3 in each row b are disposed
in parallel to each other as well as to an acute angle B, for
example 18.degree. to the plane of the body 2.
[0027] Similarly, referring to FIG. 3, the tufts 4 in each row a
are disposed at the same angle B to the plane of the body 2 but in
an opposite direction from the tufts 3 of the adjacent rows b. As
indicated in FIG. 2, the tufts 3, 4 are disposed in crisscrossing
relation to each other in adjacent rows. In addition, the tufts 3,4
are disposed at a resultant angle C that is produced by the
component angles A and B to a vertical plane to the body 2 as
viewed in side view. For example, the angle C is 17.degree..
[0028] The tufts 3,4 are each formed of a plurality of bristles of
conventional material and need not be further described.
[0029] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, a retainer wall 5 is mounted on
the body 2 of the toothbrush and is located at the end of each row
a,b of tufts 3,4 for restraining the bristles of the tufts thereat
from deforming during use. As shown in each of FIGS. 3 and 4, the
retainer wall 5 is parallel to and slightly spaced from the
rear-most tuft in each respective row a, b of tufts 3, 4. In
addition, the retainer wall 5 is one-half the height H of the
adjacent tuft and of slightly wider width. In addition, the
retainer wall 5 is spaced from the adjacent tuft 4 a distance of
0.5 millimeter and has a thickness of 1.2 millimeters.
[0030] Referring to FIG. 1, the tufts 3, 4 are arranged in a
uniform pattern relative to the longitudinal axis X-X and the
transverse axis Y-Y. Each tuft 3, 4 has a diameter D, for example
of 1.6 millimeters and a bristle height H of 11 millimeters.
[0031] The tufts 3, 4 in each row a, b are spaced apart on a
centerline-to-centerline distance G that is two and one-quarter
times the predetermined diameter (i.e. G=2.25 D). (See FIGS. 3 and
4)
[0032] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the rows a, b of tufts 3,4 are
spaced apart a distance that is a minor fraction of the diameter D
of the tufts 3, 4, e.g. the centerline-to-centerline distance J
between the rows a,b is J=11/3 D.
[0033] Referring to FIG. 1, the tufts 3,4 are located in rows
parallel to the transverse axis Y-Y that are spaced on a
centerline-to-centerline distance F of twice the diameter of a
tuft. The tufts 3, 4 as viewed along the longitudinal axis X-X are
transversely spaced apart a distance E that is on a
centerline-to-centerline spacing of 1{fraction (1/2)} times the
diameter of a tuft.
[0034] The tufts 3, 4 are skewed at a tangential ratio of 1 tuft
diameter in the transverse direction to two tuft diameters in the
longitudinal direction thereby providing a tangential ratio that
produces an angle A of 270 relative to the longitudinal axis
X-X.
[0035] Referring to FIG. 5, when the toothbrush 1 (not shown) is
put into use, for example moving back and forth across a user's
teeth, the horizontally skewed diagonal bristles of the tufts 3, 4
allow easy sliding of the brush along the valley lines 8 in order
to cover a wide area to scrub plaque away from the teeth. During
this time, as indicated in FIGS. 6 and 7, the vertically slanted
bristles of the tufts 3 slide and bend down into the valley 8
between the two adjacent teeth 7 thereby bending backward and
sweeping along the surfaces of the crown. This also allows the
bristles to be lowered to reach the bottom of the valley and
crevices as illustrated.
[0036] Referring to FIG. 8, the toothbrush may be used so that the
tufts 3, 4 act in an agitating circular motion in sequential back
and forth strokes in order to scratch the teeth over the distance
K. By contrast, as illustrated in FIG. 9, toothbrushes with a
single-cross bristle 9, 10, upon vertical tilting of the brush
during a brushing action indicated by the double arrow, create a
non-smooth saw blade action by moving into the valley between the
teeth and then jumping onto the next tooth due to a collision with
the wall of the valley at a right angle.
[0037] Referring to FIG. 10, the triple-cross angles of the array
of tufts allows the height of the bristles to yield from an
unstressed height M to a deformed height L. The lowered bristle
height N allows the bristles to reach deep into the valley between
the two teeth. In contradistinction, as illustrated in FIG. 11, a
conventional single-cross bristle brush does not allow the bristle
height M to shorten so as to reach down into the valley between the
teeth since the tuft of bristles 11 is supported on the upper
surface 15 of the crown of the teeth 7. The inclined tufts 9, 10
are backed strongly by retainer tufts 12, 13 which makes it
difficult if not impossible for the bristles of the tufts 9, 10 to
bend down to reach deep.
[0038] Further, as indicated in FIG. 12, for a conventional
straight bristle brush, the bristles of the tufts 14 cannot reach
down into the valley of the teeth since the brush is supported on
the upper surface of crowns of the teeth in a bridging
relationship.
[0039] Referring to FIG. 13, during use, each two adjacent rows of
tufts 3, 4 are spread evenly on the entire brushing width P.
However, in contradistinction, as indicated in FIG. 14, a
conventional single cross brush has only two bristle rows 9 moving
over the small hatched areas Q when moving forward while a pair of
other tufts of bristles 10 move over similarly spaced apart narrow
areas Q when moving backward.
[0040] The triple cross toothbrush provides for scrubbing of a
wider area during a back and forth movement of the brush as
contrasted to the single cross brush effect indicated in FIG.
14.
[0041] The invention thus provides a toothbrush that can
efficiently and comfortably clean the surface of teeth including
the cavities and valleys between the teeth sidewall and crowns.
* * * * *