U.S. patent application number 11/648800 was filed with the patent office on 2007-11-01 for toothbrush with separate toothpaste and battery compartments.
Invention is credited to Michael A. Meressa, Ellen Araya Michael.
Application Number | 20070251034 11/648800 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38646919 |
Filed Date | 2007-11-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070251034 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Meressa; Michael A. ; et
al. |
November 1, 2007 |
Toothbrush with separate toothpaste and battery compartments
Abstract
The electric toothbrush with separate toothpaste and battery
compartments is a device having an electric toothbrush with a
removable neck, independently removable rotary brush, and a housing
defining a handle. The electric toothbrush has separate toothpaste
and battery compartments in the handle. A forward compartment
houses a plurality of batteries provided for powering a DC motor
disposed in front of the forward compartment. Aft of the battery
compartment is a toothpaste compartment having space to store a
tube of toothpaste. Each compartment has a separate hinged door
with a snap lock for secure compartment closure. The removable neck
includes a drive shaft, housing engagement member and gear assembly
to provide torque to the rotary brush head when the neck is
attached to the handle body. When not in use, the toothbrush is
shielded from germs by a brush head cap with pocket clip for
attachment to a shirt pocket.
Inventors: |
Meressa; Michael A.;
(US) ; Michael; Ellen Araya; (San Diego,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Richard C. Litman;Litman Law Offices, Ltd.
Crystal City Station
P.O. Box 15035
Arlington
VA
22215-0035
US
|
Family ID: |
38646919 |
Appl. No.: |
11/648800 |
Filed: |
January 3, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60755076 |
Jan 3, 2006 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
15/23 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61C 17/225 20130101;
A61C 17/227 20130101; A46B 15/00 20130101; A46B 15/0061 20130101;
A46B 2200/1066 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
015/023 |
International
Class: |
A46B 13/00 20060101
A46B013/00 |
Claims
1. An electric toothbrush comprising: a housing having a hollow
interior provided for housing a DC motor and having two
compartments longitudinally in-line and to the rear of the DC
motor, the housing defining a handle, a first compartment of the
two compartments in the housing being at a longitudinally distal
end of the toothbrush and having sufficient space to contain a tube
of toothpaste, the first compartment having at least one hinge and
a first arcuate compartment door attached to the hinge, the first
arcuate compartment door having a snap latch disposed at an end
opposite the hinge for removably locking the first door over the
first compartment, a second compartment of the two compartments in
the housing being disposed longitudinally in-line to the first
compartment, the second compartment having at least one hinge and a
second arcuate compartment door attached to the door, the second
arcuate compartment door having a snap latch disposed at an end
opposite the hinge for removably locking the second door over the
second compartment; a DC motor having a rotor coupling disposed
along a longitudinal axis of the electric toothbrush, the rotor
coupling being operatively connected to the motor; a neck and brush
head assembly attached to the housing having a neck and a rotary
brush removably connected to the neck, the neck and brush head
assembly having a ring-like engagement member disposed about the
circumference of a longitudinally distal end of the neck, the
engagement member including a plurality of tabs extending radially
from the engagement member so that the handle may receive the tabs
thereby removably locking the neck and brush head assembly in
place; a drive shaft disposed inside the neck and head assembly and
connected to the rotor coupling so that the drive shaft is engaged
with the rotor coupling for torque transmission of the motor to the
drive shaft, the brush head having a 90.degree. torque converter
for converting the axial torque in the drive shaft to a
perpendicularly disposed rotational torque to drive the removable
rotary brush; batteries disposed in the second compartment; and a
power switch electrically connected between the batteries and the
DC motor for powering up the electric toothbrush, the power switch
being disposed along a side of the housing.
2. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, further comprising
a removably attachable protective brush head cap removably attached
over the neck and brush head assembly for shielding the toothbrush
from germs.
3. The electric toothbrush according to claim 2, wherein the brush
head cap includes a pocket clip capable of clipping the toothbrush
to a pocket in order to fasten the toothbrush to a shirt pocket for
easy transportation of the toothbrush.
4. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the drive
shaft has a notch defined therein fitting over the rotor coupling
to secure the drive shaft engagement with the rotor coupling.
5. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the
removable rotary brush is independently removable from the
removably locking neck.
6. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the
90.degree. torque converter comprises a worm gear and a rotary gear
engaging the worm gear.
7. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the first
compartment has at least one latch keeper releasably engaging the
snap latch of the first arcuate compartment door.
8. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the second
compartment has at least one latch keeper releasably engaging the
snap latch of the second arcuate compartment door.
9. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the
90.degree. torque converter comprises a worm gear and a rotary gear
engaging the worm gear, the neck assembly being angled away from
the longitudinal axis of the toothbrush housing.
10. The electric toothbrush according to claim 9, wherein the drive
shaft is canted from a longitudinal axis of the tooth brush housing
so that worm gear directly engages the rotary gear.
11. The electric toothbrush according to claim 10, wherein the
rotary brush is disposed substantially radially in-line with the
longitudinal axis of the toothbrush housing.
12. The electric toothbrush according to claim 11, wherein the
rotary brush has a platform, the rotary gear including an axle
connecting the rotary gear to the platform.
13. The electric toothbrush according to claim 12, wherein the
rotary brush platform has a plurality of holes defined therein, the
rotary brush having a brush head having prongs engaging the holes
in the platform for attaching the head to the platform.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application Ser. No. 60/755,076, filed Jan. 3, 2006.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to an electric motor driven
rotary toothbrush with separate toothpaste and battery compartments
in the handle.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] Numerous designs of electric and battery-powered
toothbrushes exist in the marketplace. Many electric toothbrushes
have rotary brush heads attached to a neck that is removable from
the handle, i.e., body of the toothbrush. However, to date, it is
difficult to find an electric toothbrush having separate
compartments to store toothpaste and batteries for operation.
[0006] Thus, an electric toothbrush with separate toothpaste and
battery compartments solving the aforementioned problems is
desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The electric toothbrush with separate toothpaste and battery
compartments is a device comprised of a housing defining a handle
with a hollow interior having space in the front for a DC motor and
two compartments disposed in-line and longitudinally to the rear of
the DC motor. The DC motor has a rotor coupling disposed along a
longitudinal axis of the electric toothbrush. The rotor coupling is
operatively connected to the motor to receive an axially rotatable
drive shaft disposed inside of a removable neck having an
independently removable rotary brush. The forward compartment
houses two batteries provided for powering the DC motor. The aft
compartment has sufficient space for, and is used to store a tube
of toothpaste. Each compartment has a separate hinged door with a
snap lock for secure compartment closure. The angled removable neck
includes a drive shaft, body engagement member, and gear assembly
to provide power to the rotary brush head when the neck is attached
to the handle body. When not in use, the toothbrush is shielded
from germs by a brush head cap with pocket clip for attachment to a
shirt pocket.
[0008] These and other features of the present invention will
become readily apparent upon further review of the following
specification and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is an environmental, perspective view of the electric
toothbrush with separate toothpaste and battery compartments
according to the present invention.
[0010] FIG. 2 is an exploded, perspective view of the electric
toothbrush with separate toothpaste and battery compartments
according to the present invention.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a side view of the electric toothbrush with
separate toothpaste and battery compartments according to the
present invention.
[0012] FIG. 4 is a partially exploded, perspective cutaway view of
the electric toothbrush according to the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the protective brush
head cap on the electric toothbrush with separate toothpaste and
battery compartments according to the present invention.
[0014] Similar reference characters denote corresponding features
consistently throughout the attached drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0015] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the present invention is an
electric toothbrush 5 comprised of a housing 15 defining a handle
with a hollow interior space having a front section 11 for a DC
motor 26 and two compartments 16 and 8 disposed longitudinally
in-line and to the rear of the DC motor 26. The DC motor 26 has a
rotor coupling 27 disposed along a longitudinal axis of the
electric toothbrush 5.
[0016] As shown in FIG. 2, the rotor coupling 27 is operatively
connected to the motor 26 to receive a rotatable drive shaft 30
disposed inside of a removable neck 19 having an independently
removable rotary brush head 21. Note that rotatable drive shaft 30
has a notch 32 at the end of the drive shaft provided for engaging
the blade shaped rotor coupling 27.
[0017] The forward compartment 16 houses a plurality of batteries
80 provided for powering the DC motor 26. As shown in FIGS. 2, 3
and 4, opposing forward compartment 16, and disposed on an outside
surface of housing 15 is a, preferably sliding, power switch 70
which is connected to the motor 26 and batteries 80 to control
power to the toothbrush 5.
[0018] The aft compartment 8, being disposed at a longitudinally
distal end 7 of the toothbrush 5, has sufficient space for, and is
used to store a tube of toothpaste T. Aft compartment 8 has a
separate, preferably arcuate, compartment door 10 that is pivotally
attached to the housing 15 by hinges 12. The door 10 has a snap
latch 14 that removably engages a latch keeper 25 for secure
compartment closure.
[0019] Similarly, forward battery compartment 16 has a separate,
preferably arcuate, compartment door 20, which is pivotally
attached to the housing 15 by hinges 22. The battery compartment
door 20 has a snap latch 24 that removably engages a latch keeper
25 for secure compartment closure.
[0020] As shown in FIG. 4, the preferably angled, removable neck 19
which includes the drive shaft 30, also includes a ring-like
housing engagement member 51 having a plurality of radially
extending engagement tabs 52, and gear assembly 40 and 50 to
provide power, i.e., torque transmission of the motor 26 to the
drive shaft 30 and to the rotary brush head 21 when the neck 19 is
attached to the handle body, i.e., housing 15.
[0021] The housing engagement member 51 is disposed about the
circumference of a longitudinally distal end of the neck 19. The
housing 15 has disposed within a front section 11 a plurality of
engagement slots 54 for receiving the engagement tabs 52 to
removably twist lock the neck 19 in place so that the drive shaft
30 is properly engaged with the rotor coupling 27.
[0022] Additionally, the drive shaft 30 is canted from the
longitudinal axis of the tooth brush housing 15 so that worm gear
40 may directly engage rotary gear 50 thereby converting torque
90.degree. to provide a perpendicularly disposed rotational torque
for driving the rotary brush head 21 without the use of an
intervening gear train. The canted drive shaft 30 advantageously
provides for a rotary bristle 21 disposition that is substantially
radially in-line with the longitudinal axis of the toothbrush
housing 15.
[0023] Rotary gear 50 includes an axle that connects the rotary
gear 50 to bristle platform 56. The bristle platform 56 has a
plurality of holes for receiving in a compression fitting, the
pronged toothbrush head 21.
[0024] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 5, it is shown that when not in
use, the toothbrush 5 may be shielded from germs by a removably
attachable protective pocket clip equipped brush head cap 60 that
additionally facilitates fastening of the toothbrush 5 to a shirt
pocket, pant pocket, or the like for easy transportation of the
toothbrush 5.
[0025] It is to be understood that the present invention is not
limited to the embodiment described above, but encompasses any and
all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.
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