U.S. patent application number 11/280471 was filed with the patent office on 2006-05-25 for toothbrush.
This patent application is currently assigned to Firma G.B. Boucherie N.V.. Invention is credited to Bart Gerard Boucherie.
Application Number | 20060107478 11/280471 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35639871 |
Filed Date | 2006-05-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060107478 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Boucherie; Bart Gerard |
May 25, 2006 |
Toothbrush
Abstract
A toothbrush comprises a brush body with a brush head and a
carrier platelet attached to the brush head. A plurality of bristle
bundles consisting of a thermoplastic material are attached
anchor-less to the platelet. The brush head in addition has: bores,
recesses or holes which have bristle bundles inserted and affixed
with anchors or loops; and/or bores, recesses or holes which have
knobs, pegs, pointed bristles or pointed cones inserted therein;
and/or knobs, pegs, pointed bristles or pointed cones attached to
the brush head.
Inventors: |
Boucherie; Bart Gerard;
(Izegem, BE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
LAW OFFICES OF STUART J. FRIEDMAN
28930 RIDGE ROAD
MT. AIRY
MD
21771
US
|
Assignee: |
Firma G.B. Boucherie N.V.
Izegem
BE
|
Family ID: |
35639871 |
Appl. No.: |
11/280471 |
Filed: |
November 16, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/167.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A46B 3/08 20130101; A46D
1/00 20130101; A46B 3/06 20130101; A46B 7/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
015/167.1 |
International
Class: |
A46B 9/04 20060101
A46B009/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 19, 2004 |
DE |
20 2004 017 997.0 |
Dec 1, 2004 |
DE |
20 2004 018 612.8 |
Claims
1. A toothbrush comprising a brush body with a brush head and at
least one carrier platelet attached to said brush head, a plurality
of bristle bundles consisting of a thermoplastic material being
attached anchor-less to said platelet, the brush head in addition
having at least one of bores, recesses or holes which have bristle
bundles inserted and affixed with anchors or loops, bores, recesses
or holes which have knobs, pegs, pointed bristles or pointed cones
inserted therein, and knobs, pegs, pointed bristles or pointed
cones attached to said brush head.
2. The toothbrush according to claim 1, in which the bristle
bundles, knobs, pegs or pointed cones consist of a material that is
not fusible.
3. The toothbrush according to claim 1, in which the cones or
bristles each have an elongate body with such a low inherent
stiffness that the pointed end prevents an introduction into a hole
by bending or yielding transversely to the elongate body.
4. The toothbrush according to claim 1, in which the bores or holes
have bundles of natural bristles inserted therein.
5. The toothbrush according to claim 1, in which the bores or holes
have knobs, pegs or pointed cones made of an elastomer material
inserted therein.
6. The toothbrush according to claim 1, in which the knobs, pegs or
pointed cones are molded from an elastomer material, the brush body
is molded from a relatively hard plastics material and the brush
body is molded with the knobs, pegs or pointed cones in a
two-component injection molding process.
7. The toothbrush according to claim 1, in which the carrier
platelet has bristle bundles consisting of pre-pointed bristles
attached to the platelet.
8. The toothbrush according to claim 7, wherein the pre-pointed
bristles after attachment to the platelet are given a completed
pointed shape by means of a post-treatment.
9. A toothbrush comprising a brush body including a brush head
having a plurality of recesses or deepened or raised mounting
surfaces which each have one carrier platelet inserted therein or
applied thereto and attached thereto, the carrier platelet having
bristle bundles made of a thermoplastic material anchor-less
attached thereto, the bristle bundles of different carrier
platelets jointly constituting an array of bristles.
10. The toothbrush according to claim 9, in which at least two of
the carrier platelets have different shapes.
11. A toothbrush comprising a brush body including a brush head
having at least one recess or a deepened or raised mounting surface
having a carrier platelet inserted therein or applied thereto and
attached thereto, the carrier platelet having bristle bundles made
up of pre-pointed bristles made of a thermoplastic material
anchor-less attached thereto, the bristles, following their
attachment, being given a completed pointed shape by means of a
post-treatment.
12. A method of making a toothbrush comprising a brush body
including a brush head having at least one recess or a deepened or
raised mounting surface having a carrier platelet inserted therein
or applied thereto and attached thereto, comprising the steps of:
a) anchor-less attaching to the carrier platelet bristle bundles
made up of prepointed bristles made of a thermoplastic material;
and b) following attachment, post-treating the pre-pointed bristles
to give them a completed pointed shape.
13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the post-treatment is
grinding.
14. A method according to claim 12, wherein the pre-pointed
bristles are not so pointed that they bend, due to insufficient
inherent stiffness, when inserted into a carrier platelet.
15. A method according to claim 12, wherein the pre-pointed
bristles are pre-pointed by chemical or mechanical pre-treatment.
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to a toothbrush.
[0002] Several methods of making brushes are known. Conventionally,
a brush body is provided with an array of holes corresponding to
the desired array of bristles. Bundles or tufts of bristles are
then inserted into the holes of the brush body and anchored therein
by means of pressed-in small metallic anchors or by means of
loops.
[0003] In an alternative method of making brushes, which has gained
acceptance within just a few years and is referred to as AFT method
(Anchor Free Tufting), the tufts of bristles are attached to a
carrier platelet without loops or anchors, and the carrier platelet
is then installed in or attached to a brush body. The carrier
platelet may be connected with the brush body by injection molding
or welding. The carrier platelet is provided with holes
corresponding to the desired hole pattern. The tufts of bristles
are inserted into the holes, with the bristle tufts projecting from
a surface of the carrier. The bristles have attachment ends that
slightly project on the opposite surface of the carrier. A heated
stamp is pressed against the projecting attachment ends of the
bristle tufts, the stamp causing the ends of the bristle tufts to
be fused together and shaped to form a thickened knob, if desired.
The ends of the bristles on the useful side may be pre-rounded or
chemically provided with a point in advance. A suitable device for
the attachment of tufts of bristles to carrier platelets for making
brushes using the AFT method is disclosed in particular in EP 1 136
017 B1.
[0004] However, not all types of bristles can be processed using
the AFT method. It is not possible to process, e.g., natural
bristles or bristles made of or coated with TPE, specially
structured bodies such as knobs or pegs, pointed cones made of TPE
and the like, since these are not fusible.
[0005] The AFT method is also practically not suitable for
processing chemically pointed bristles since the points of these
bristles are so thin that because of their low inherent stiffness
they tend to bend or buckle when they are inserted into the holes
of the carrier platelet.
[0006] The present invention allows to make use of the advantages
of the AFT method while nevertheless allowing to process natural
bristles or specially structured bodies such as knobs, pegs or
pointed cones as well as pointed bristles.
[0007] According to a first approach, the invention provides a
toothbrush which comprises a brush body with a brush head and a
carrier platelet attached to the brush head. A plurality of bristle
bundles consisting of a thermoplastic material are attached
anchor-less to the platelet. The brush head in addition has: bores,
recesses or holes which have bristle bundles inserted and affixed
with anchors or loops; and/or bores, recesses or holes which have
knobs, pegs, pointed bristles or pointed cones inserted therein;
and/or knobs, pegs, pointed bristles or pointed cones attached to
the brush head.
[0008] According to a second approach, the invention provides a
toothbrush comprising a brush body including a brush head having a
plurality of recesses or deepened or raised mounting surfaces which
each have one carrier platelet inserted therein or applied thereto
and attached thereto, the carrier platelet having bristle bundles
made of a thermoplastic material attached thereto without anchor,
the bristle bundles of the different carrier platelets jointly
constituting an array of bristles.
[0009] According to a third approach, the invention provides a
toothbrush comprising a brush body including a brush head having at
least one recess or a deepened or raised mounting surface having a
carrier platelet inserted therein or applied thereto and attached
thereto, the carrier platelet having bristle bundles made up of
pre-pointed bristles made of a thermoplastic material attached
thereto without anchor, which, following their attachment, having
been given a completed pointed shape by means of a
post-treatment.
[0010] Further features and advantages of the invention will be
apparent from the description below and from the accompanying
drawings to which reference is made and in which:
[0011] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a head of a toothbrush in
accordance with a first embodiment;
[0012] FIG. 2 shows the head of a brush body with a bristle carrier
platelet to be attached thereto,
[0013] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a head of a toothbrush in
accordance with a second embodiment;
[0014] FIGS. 4a and 4b each show one single chemically or
mechanically pointed bristle in the AFT method; and
[0015] FIGS. 5a and 5b each show one single chemically or
mechanically pre-pointed bristle in the AFT method.
[0016] In the first embodiment of a toothbrush, shown in FIGS. 1
and 2, the array of bristles of the toothbrush consists of
different types of bristles. The head of the brush body generally
denoted by 10 has a recess 12 in which a carrier platelet 14 is
inserted, with bristles attached to it. The bristles are bundled to
form oblong groups 16a, 16b, 16c . . . These bristles consist of a
thermoplastic material and are attached to the carrier platelet 14
using the AFT method described at the outset. In addition, the head
of the brush body 10 includes two groups of holes 18a, 18b for
bundles, which have bristle bundles 20a, 20b inserted therein and
attached by means of anchors or loops in a conventional manner. The
bristle bundles 20a, 20b consist of a material that can not be
processed using the AFT method because it is not fusible. This is
the case with natural bristles, for example. Chemically or
mechanically pointed bristles are another example: owing to the
fineness of their pointed ends on the useful side, these bristles
have such a low inherent stiffness that they would tend to bend or
deflect transversely to the longitudinal direction of the elongate
bristle body when they are inserted into holes of a carrier
platelet.
[0017] Applying the same principle, structured bodies, in
particular made of an elastomer material, in the form of knobs,
pegs or pointed cones may be attached in holes or recesses of the
brush body 10. In this way, it is possible to make use of the
advantages of the AFT method while at the same time arranging
natural bristles or structured bodies having any desired shape in
the space for the bristles, which do not lend themselves to
processing using the AFT method.
[0018] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, three carrier platelets,
each with one group 32, 34, 36 of bristle bundles attached thereto,
are arranged on the head of a brush body 30. The groups 32, 34, 36
of bristle bundles together constitute the array of bristles of the
toothbrush. The groups 34, 36 are of an approximately
mirror-symmetrical shape, while the group 32 is more or less
complementary to the groups 34, 36. In this embodiment, the bristle
bundles are attached to the respective carrier platelets using the
AFT method. Each of the carrier platelets is inserted into a
corresponding recess in the head of the brush body 30 and attached
therein. As an alternative, the head of the brush body is provided
with deepened or raised mounting surfaces, with carrier platelets
being applied to or placed on and attached to the mounting
surfaces.
[0019] FIGS. 4a and 4b illustrate the problems involved in the AFT
method in the case of chemically or mechanically pointed bristles.
FIG. 4a shows a single bristle, pointed in this manner, from a
bundle of bristles. The bristle has an elongate bristle body. When
the bristle is axially inserted into a carrier platelet, its tip
will bend due to its lack of inherent stiffness (FIG. 4b), which is
the reason why the bristle bundles are anchored in bundle holes in
a conventional fashion. It has now been found, however, that
bristles made of a fusible material which are only pre-pointed
chemically or mechanically, may be attached to a carrier platelet
using the AFT method. In that case, the bristles have been
subjected to a mechanical or chemical pre-treatment so as to give
them a pointed shape at the end on the useful side thereof. This
pointed shape is not so pronounced as to prevent the bristles from
being processed using the AFT method due to their insufficient
inherent stiffness. FIG. 5a illustrates the axial insertion of an
only pre-pointed bristle and indicates the fusion with the carrier
platelet. FIG. 5b indicates a post-treatment, e.g. by means of
grinding, to complete the process of pointing the bristle ends
following the fusion. In this way, it is possible to use the AFT
method to produce a complete toothbrush whose array of bristles
consists in full or in part of pre-pointed and post-treated
bristles.
* * * * *