U.S. patent application number 14/160386 was filed with the patent office on 2016-10-06 for novelty toothbrush with light-up fiber optic bristles.
The applicant listed for this patent is Scott Amron. Invention is credited to Scott Amron.
Application Number | 20160286948 14/160386 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 57016910 |
Filed Date | 2016-10-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160286948 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Amron; Scott |
October 6, 2016 |
NOVELTY TOOTHBRUSH WITH LIGHT-UP FIBER OPTIC BRISTLES
Abstract
A low cost and manufacturable toothbrush with bristles that
light up at the tips is provided for brushing teeth and
entertaining children. The toothbrush includes a body with a handle
and a head. Bristles are attached to the head and include
transparent filaments fused to the head. A light source is disposed
in the body of the toothbrush and light emanating from the light
source is directed into the transparent filaments and is visible a
tips of the transparent filaments that face away from the head.
Inventors: |
Amron; Scott; (Smithtown,
NY) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Amron; Scott |
Smithtown |
NY |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
57016910 |
Appl. No.: |
14/160386 |
Filed: |
April 7, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A46B 2200/1066 20130101;
A46B 15/0036 20130101; A46B 9/04 20130101; A46D 1/0207
20130101 |
International
Class: |
A46B 15/00 20060101
A46B015/00; A46D 1/00 20060101 A46D001/00; A46B 9/04 20060101
A46B009/04 |
Claims
1.-9. (canceled)
10. A toothbrush, comprising: a toothbrush body having a head
portion and a handle portion; a light source disposed in the
toothbrush body; transparent bristles disposed in the head portion
of the toothbrush body, the transparent bristles being fused to the
head portion of the toothbrush body, the light source being
configured such that light emanating from the at least a portion of
the light source faces first ends of the bristles held by the
toothbrush body, and second free ends of the bristles face away
from the head portion of the toothbrush body; wherein light emitted
from the light source that enters the first ends is visible at the
second ends of the light source.
11. The toothbrush of claim 10, wherein the light source is wholly
located within the head portion of the toothbrush body.
12. The toothbrush of claim 10, further comprising a diffuser lens
disposed between the first end of the transparent bristles and the
light source.
13. The toothbrush of claim 10, wherein said light source includes
a light disposed in the handle portion of the toothbrush body and
includes a light pipe to direct light to the first ends of the
transparent bristles.
14. The toothbrush of claim 10, wherein said light source includes
a light disposed in the handle portion of the toothbrush body and
includes a reflector with a reflective surface redirecting light to
the first ends of the bristles.
15. The toothbrush of claim 10, wherein the transparent filaments
have square cut ends.
16. The toothbrush of claim 10, wherein the transparent bristles
include at least two different bristles having different diameters
from each other.
17. The toothbrush of claim 10, wherein the toothbrush body is
opaque.
18. The toothbrush of claim 10, wherein the bristles are arranged
in tufts and are thermowelded to eliminate spaces between the
bristles.
19. The toothbrush of claim 10, further comprising a switch for one
of switching the light source on, switching different colors, or
switching different lighting patterns.
20. The toothbrush of claim 10, further comprising a switch turning
the light source on and a controller automatically turning off the
light source after a predetermined period.
21. The toothbrush of claim 10, wherein the light source includes
at least two different color LEDs that are turned on and off in
sequence.
22. The toothbrush of claim 10, wherein a face of the head portion
is transparent.
23. The toothbrush of claim 10, wherein the light source is
disposed within the head of the toothbrush and comprises surface
mount LEDs with a wide viewing angle of greater than 100
degrees.
24. A toothbrush comprising: a toothbrush body having a handle
portion and a head; a plurality of toothbrush bristles connected at
a front face of the head and having distal ends facing away from
the head, wherein the bristles have varying diameters; a circuit
including a light source, wherein the light source is configured so
that light emitted from the light source is directed into the
bristles and is emitted from the bristles at the distal ends.
25. The toothbrush of claim 24, wherein the circuit includes a
switch operable to one of the turn the light sources on/off and
select a lighting color or a lighting pattern.
26. The toothbrush of claim 24, wherein the light source is
disposed within the head of the toothbrush.
27. The toothbrush of claim 26, wherein the light source comprises
surface mount LEDs with a wide viewing angle of greater than 100
degrees.
28. The toothbrush of claim 27, further comprising a diffuser
filter placed between the base of the bristles and the light
source.
29. The toothbrush of claim 24, wherein the bristles are
transparent filaments fused in place in through holes in the front
face of the head.
30. The toothbrush of claim 24, wherein the front face of the head
is opaque.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims the benefit of provisional
application No. 61/754,968, filed on Jan. 21, 2013.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a manual toothbrush for
brushing teeth having toothbrush bristles that light up at the
tips, designed to get kids excited about brushing their teeth by
creating an enchanting `Pixie Dust` effect.
[0004] 2. Background
[0005] Current toothbrushes designed to get kids excited about
brushing their teeth include toothbrushes with handles that light
up and toothbrushes that play music. The toothbrush of the present
invention has bristles that light up at the tips and is arguably
more magical and thereby more exciting to children than current
toothbrushes. The present invention is directed toward overcoming
one or more of the problems identified above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The aforementioned deficiencies are addressed, and an
advance is made in the art, by a low cost manufacturable toothbrush
with bristles that light up at the tips to get children excited
about brushing.
[0007] Toothbrushes are bristled by either the Staple Set method or
the less common Fused Bristling method. In the Staple Set method a
small group of toothbrush filaments are folded over a nickel staple
and forced into a cylindrical hole in the brush head. This forms a
tuft. Placing a light source behind a Staple Set bristled tuft of
transparent toothbrush filaments will not result in a fiber optic
effect as both ends of each filament in the tuft are facing away
from the light source. The light source only shines on the folded
portion of the filament. However, in the Fused Bristling method,
the bristles are not folded. Instead, they are fused straight with
heat. The resulting tuft is placed into a molding machine with
others and the molding machine makes the toothbrush handle body
head and tufts into one. So, by placing a light source behind a
Fusion bristled tuft of transparent toothbrush filaments one can
achieve the desired fiber optic effect.
[0008] To get a clean visual effect, the face of the head must be
opaque to force the light to appear substantially at the tips of
the bristles. I found it very confusing if the head face is
transparent or even translucent--too much light noise to see the
desired effect. Toothbrush filaments of varying diameters are also
used to achieve lit bristle tips of varying sizes, creating the
visual effect of distance. The filaments should have square cut
ends for best lighting results. Different sized filaments can be
mixed together in a bushy pattern as opposed to the highly
structured and segmented bristle sections found on many of today's
toothbrushes for a more organic look and galactic aesthetic. The
goal is to create lit bristles tips that look like bright stars of
varying sizes with the illusion of being at varying distances all
mixed together. The bristles may be cut flat or with a topological
pattern designed for improved brushing.
[0009] To achieve a toothbrush having bristles with tips that light
up with the desired dynamic `pixie dust` effect, transparent nylon
toothbrush bristle filaments (such as the bristles filaments made
by Dupont) are attached to the toothbrush head using an anchorless
bristling process such the fusion process employed to form the
Eco-DenT replacement brush heads. The typical stapling method used
to bristle most toothbrushes does so by folding the filament in
half and stapling it into the bristle hole in the head of the body
with a steel wire. Even if you used transparent bristles with a
light source in the head you would not be able to achieve a fiber
optic effect as you would be aiming the light source at the fold
and not at the base of the bristle filaments. In the stapled
fold-over method used today, both ends of the filament are up.
Fusion anchorless bristling however is not folded over and can be
bristled straight into a thru-hole bristle hole. One can then place
a light source behind the bristles.
[0010] In accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the
present invention, the toothbrush is a manual toothbrush with
transparent (clear) toothbrush bristle filaments attached to an
opaque body by way of fusion bristling or other form of anchorless
bristling process. A light source is placed behind the bristles
that shines through the bristles to the tips of the bristles.
[0011] An object of the present invention is to provide a low cost
manufacturable toothbrush with bristles that light up at the
tips.
[0012] An further object of the present invention is to provide a
low cost manufacturable toothbrush with normal toothbrush filament
bristles that light up at the tips and that has a handle with a
thin head and neck so as not to detract from the toothbrushing
experience.
[0013] An object of the present invention is to provide a low cost
toothbrush with bristles that light up at the tips and with a thin
neck and head to allow for very easy access in the mouth and
increased comfort when brushing.
[0014] Another object of the present invention is to provide a
toothbrush that can display a lit starry pattern on the brush.
[0015] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a
toothbrush with dynamically lit bristle tips.
[0016] Another object of the present invention is to provide a
toothbrush with dynamically lit bristle tips of varying sizes.
[0017] Another object of the present invention is to provide a
toothbrush with dynamically lit bristle tips that has fused
bristles, which eliminates spaces between the bristles where
harmful bacteria hide and breed.
[0018] A further object of the present invention is to provide a
method of lighting up the bristle tips while still leaving room in
the handle to add a vibrating motor for a pulsating head power
toothbrush.
[0019] A still further object of the present invention is to
provide a method of lighting up the bristle tips while still
leaving room in the handle to add a power fountain such as that
found in the Rinser Toothbrush to creating a Pixie Rinser--a
toothbrush with light-up fiber optic bristles and built-in power
fountain for rinsing after brushing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] The various features, functions and advantages
characterizing the invention will be better understood by reference
to the detailed description which follows, taken in conjunction
with the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0021] FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional side view of a toothbrush
constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the
present invention.
[0022] FIG. 1B is a plan view of the back of the body of a
toothbrush constructed in accordance with the present invention.
Once the components are placed into the cavities in the head and
the handle and the wire is placed into the groove connecting the
two cavities, TPE is over-moulded to fill and seal.
[0023] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the inner components of the
toothbrush of FIG. 1A.
[0024] FIG. 3 is a detailed plan view of the secondary PCB located
behind the fused bristles in the head of the toothbrush of FIG. 1A,
illustrating the layout and placement of the LED's.
[0025] FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional side view of a toothbrush
constructed in accordance with the secondary embodiment of the
present invention.
[0026] FIG. 4B is a plan view of the inner components in the
toothbrush of FIG. 4A.
[0027] FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional side view of a toothbrush
constructed in accordance with the tertiary embodiment of the
present invention.
[0028] FIG. 5B is a plan view of the inner components in the
toothbrush of FIG. 5A.
[0029] FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional side view of a toothbrush
constructed in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present
invention.
[0030] FIG. 6B is a plan view of the inner electrical components in
the toothbrush of FIG. 6A.
[0031] FIG. 6C is a side view of the optical element 602 in the
toothbrush of FIG. 6A.
[0032] FIG. 6D is a plan view of the back of the optical element
602 in the toothbrush as constructed in accordance with a fourth
embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 6A and FIG.
6B.
[0033] FIG. 7 is a side view of a toothbrush constructed in
accordance with a fifth embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0034] FIG. 1A illustrates a toothbrush constructed in accordance
with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, shown
generally at 100. An opaque toothbrush body 101 houses three LR44
coin batteries 114, a main PCB (Printed Circuit Board) 110 and a
secondary PCB 103. The main PCB 110 holds a capacitor 113, a
tactile switch 111 and a uC 112. The secondary PCB 103 holds seven
0805 surface mount LED's 104 each with a wide viewing angle of
>100 degrees. Smaller SMD LED's can also be used such as the
0603 and 0402 size packages. Transparent toothbrush filaments 102
are attached the head of the toothbrush body 101 in thru holes by
way of fused anchorless bristling such as that used on the
TerrADent Replacement Heads sold under the Bradn Eco-Dent and
manufactured by Frisetta Gmbh (Schoenau, Germany) and distributed
by Lotus Brands, Inc. (P.O. Box 325, Twin Lakes, Wis. 53181
USA--1-888-ECO-DENT or www.eco-dent.com. In fusion bristling, the
bristles are fused with heat and the resulting tuft is placed into
a molding machine with other tufts and the molding machine makes
the handle, head and the tufts into one. This thermo-welding
process eliminates spaces between the bristles where harmful
bacteria hide and breed. In tests conducted at a leading Dental
School, Terr-A-Dent demonstrated the lowest bacterial load of all
brands tested.
[0035] FIG. 1B shows the back of the toothbrush body 101 and
illustrates the light path through the thru-hole bristle holes 180
of the body 101 into the transparent fused bristles. It also shows
the small step that supports and separates the secondary PCB 103
from the back of the head giving the light from the LED's 104 some
space to spread (0.5 mm to 1.5 mm has proven to be enough space). A
diffuser filter part or light spreader lens can placed between the
secondary PCB's 103 (with LED's 104) and the back of the head of
the body 101 to help the light to spread in a smaller space--to
make the head thinner.
[0036] FIG. 2 illustrates the internal components in the toothbrush
of FIG. 1A. A primary PCB 203 holds a tactile switch 206 to turn
the LED's ON/OFF, a uC 205 to control the timing of the different
color light patterns and to turn itself OFF after a pre-determined
time interval so that the device can't be left ON continuously, and
a capacitor 207. A positive spring battery contact 208 mounted to
the primary PCB 203 makes forcible contact with the cathode face of
the three LR44 coin batteries 204 placed in series. A negative leaf
battery contact 209 makes contact with the anode surface of the
three LR44 coin batteries 204 placed in series. A wire 210 connects
the anode battery contact 209 to the primary PCB 203. Four wires
connect the primary PCB 203 to the secondary PCB 201 thru the neck.
It is also within the scope of the present invention to include the
uC 205, and capacitor 207 on the secondary PCB 201.
[0037] The secondary PCB 201 holds seven 0805 SMD LED's with wide
viewing angles greater than 100 degrees and is placed in the head
of the toothbrush body behind the thru-hole fused transparent
toothbrush filament bristles. With reference to FIG. 3 one can see
the layout of the seven LED's to provide the best light exposure
for a standard shaped toothbrush bristle pattern. It is preferred
to have Red, Blue and Green LED's for best visual effect. One Red
LED 301 is positioned at the tip. Two Blue LED's 302 and 305 are
position below the Red LED 301. Four Green LED's 303, 306, 304 and
307 are placed below the two Blue LED's 302 and 305. Two Green
LED's can be used instead of four Green LED's for a total of 5
LED's. Four wires connect this secondary PCB 201 to the primary PCB
203; one common wire 214, one wire 213 for the red LED 301, one
wire 212 for the two Blue LEDs 302 and 305, and one wire 211 for
the four Green LEDs 303, 306, 304 and 307. By turning the red,
green and blue LED's on and off in a smooth fade sequence, one can
create the enchanting illusion of `pixie dust`. This dynamic Pixie
Dust effect has proven extremely exciting to children. The sequence
is as follows. Red fades ON, then Green fades ON, then blue Fades
ON, Then Red fades OFF, then Green fades OFF then Red fades ON then
Blue Fades OFF, then Green Fades ON, then Blue Fades ON, repeating
this sequence,
[0038] FIG. 4A illustrates a toothbrush constructed in accordance
with a second embodiment of the present invention, shown generally
at 400. In this version there is no secondary PCB. Instead, three
LED's 420 (one Red, one Blue and one Green) are attached to the
edge of the primary PCB 203. The three LED's can be replaced by one
single bi or tri colored LED to save on waste. Transparent
toothbrush filaments 490 run through the holes in the head section
of the front half of toothbrush body 401a and down the neck into a
collector 403. All of the electronic components are located in the
lower handle. The collector 403 can be a piece of tape holding the
strands together or a plastic donut part. The collector 403 is just
meant to hold all of the filaments together so that each of their
ends is facing the LED light source. The light runs up through the
filaments like a fiber optic wand and lights up the tips of the
bristles. TPE rubber or the like can be placed in the inside of the
bristle thru-holes in the head 401a to keep the filaments from
sliding. The bristle holes can also be angled to help keep the
bristles perpendicular to the toothbrush head face. The LED(s) 420
in this version should have a small viewing angle to have most of
the light aimed at the collected filaments above. FIG. 4B is
included to illustrate the internal light source components. The
front toothbrush body 401a does not need to be opaque for best
visual effect on this version.
[0039] FIG. 5A illustrates a toothbrush constructed in accordance
with a third embodiment of the present invention, shown generally
at 500. This version shares the internal light source components of
the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B. Transparent
toothbrush filaments are attached to the head of the toothbrush
body 501a in thru holes by way of fused bristling as in the
preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. The light is
redirected into the transparent toothbrush bristle filaments 503 by
an angled mirror surface 502 located on the inside of the rear
toothbrush body housing 501b. The mirrored surface can either be
painted directly onto the surface of the inside of the rear
toothbrush body housing 501b, or it can be a discrete mirror
surface part secured in place at that location. FIG. 5B is included
to illustrate the internal light source components. The toothbrush
body front half 501a is opaque for best visual effect. The three
LED's can be replaced by a single bi or tri color LED to save on
waste.
[0040] FIG. 6A illustrates a toothbrush constructed in accordance
with a fourth embodiment of the present invention, shown generally
at 600. This version shares the internal light source components of
the second and third embodiment shown in FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B, FIG. 5A
and FIG. 5B and the straight fused transparent toothbrush filaments
of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1A. In this the fourth
embodiment of the present invention, the light is redirected into
the base of the transparent toothbrush bristle filaments by an
transparent optical part 602 sandwiched between the front 601a and
rear 601b toothbrush body housings. With reference to FIG. 6C and
FIG. 6D one can see that the optic part is nothing more that a
block of transparent plastic with an angled face 602 at the top.
The light travels up the optical part and is reflected off of the
inside of the angled face and into the fused transparent toothbrush
filaments. This optical part can be refined to have a thinner base
and to make it easier to manufacture and offer a smaller neck. FIG.
6B is included to illustrate the internal light source components.
The toothbrush body 601a is opaque for best visual effect of light
up bristles. The three LED's can be replaced with a single bi or
tri color LED to save on waste.
[0041] FIG. 7 is included to illustrate how a toothbrush can be
formed entirely from a group of long transparent toothbrush
filaments. The group of long strands of toothbrush filaments can be
over-molded with clear PP or clear ABS to help strengthen and form
a comfortable toothbrush handle shape and keep the bristles
perpendicular to the toothbrush handle. The bristle filaments can
extend the entire length of the toothbrush. If placed over a light
source in the upright position, the tips of the bristles would
light up. If the filaments were to run the length of half of the
toothbrush, a light source can be included in the lower half of the
toothbrush handle. In this case, as was the case in the second
embodiment, the face of the head of the toothbrush body can be
transparent for best visual effect.
* * * * *
References