U.S. patent number 3,646,628 [Application Number 05/004,568] was granted by the patent office on 1972-03-07 for combination toothbrush and pick.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Halbrand, Inc.. Invention is credited to George C. Halford.
United States Patent |
3,646,628 |
Halford |
March 7, 1972 |
COMBINATION TOOTHBRUSH AND PICK
Abstract
The disclosure herein is of a sanitized, disposable, tooth
cleaning article which includes a nonsplintering handle, having a
pick portion formed at one end, which portion is normally confined
within a foamed plastic scrub member, designed to scrub and clean
the teeth as a toothbrush, the handle being adhered to the member
in such manner as to facilitate projection of the pick portion
therefrom when the member is manipulated to cause the pick to enter
the interstices between teeth for particle removal whilst the scrub
member conforms to and moves over the surfaces of the teeth
adjacent such interstices simultaneously cleaning those
surfaces.
Inventors: |
Halford; George C. (Mentor,
OH) |
Assignee: |
Halbrand, Inc. (Willoughby,
OH)
|
Family
ID: |
21711423 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/004,568 |
Filed: |
January 21, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/118;
132/329 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61C
15/02 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61C
15/02 (20060101); A61C 15/00 (20060101); A47k
007/02 (); A61c 015/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;15/118,210 ;132/89,93
;32/40,50 ;134/6,9 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Machlin; Leon G.
Claims
I claim:
1. A dental pick, comprising
a. a rigid rodlike handle member (1) terminating at one end in a
reduced sharp tip portion (2) adapted for insertion in the
interstices between teeth to remove food particles therefrom;
and
b. a generally cylindrical scrub member (4) formed of a
compressible synthetic foam material adapted to conform to the
surfaces of teeth during the cleaning thereof, said scrub member
containing a central longitudinal cylindrical through bore the
diameter of which corresponds generally with that of said handle
member, said scrub member being mounted concentrically on said
handle member at a position in which the extremity (3) of said tip
portion is contained within said bore in axially inwardly spaced
relation relative to the end surface (6) of said scrub member, said
reduced sharp tip portion being spaced radially inwardly from the
adjacent wall surface of said bore to define a cylindrical recess
(R), whereby said tip portion is freely spaced about its
circumference from said bore wall and is normally concealed in an
inoperative position within said recess to prevent inadvertent
engagement of said tip portion with the mouth of the user, said
scrub member containing in its outer periphery a circumferential
groove (11) axially spaced from said end surface to define a
flexible annular end section (c) containing said recess, whereby
upon axial compression of said annular end section by the teeth,
said end section is caused to flex to cause said tip portion to
extend in an operative position axially beyond said end
surface.
2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said scrub member
contains on its outer periphery a plurality of circumferentially
arranged longitudinally extending flutes, and further wherein said
synthetic foam material comprises a polyester urethane derivative
having a density of about 2 pounds per cubic foot.
3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said handle member
comprises a stiff flexible roll of hard waxed paper, the end of
said handle member being squeezed to cause said tip portion to have
a spadelike configuration.
Description
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is a particular object of the instant invention to provide a
disposable article which is useful for cleaning teeth and
incorporates therein the equivalent of a toothpick, so that
particles which may be lodged between the teeth and in the
interstices thereof, may be removed without damaging the teeth, and
in fact without the necessity for a separate article for such
purposes.
A more particular object of the invention is to provide an article
of the class described, in which the pick for particle removal is
incorporated in the portion which effects the scrubbing action on
the teeth in such a manner as to be concealed substantially
therewithin so that in normal use of the article, usual
manipulation for cleaning most of the surfaces of the teeth may be
resorted to, but in specific instances where particles are present,
the pick portion may be projected outwardly from the scrubbing
portion of the article so that the particles may be removed in each
case, whilst the scrubbing article is in engagement with the
surfaces adjacent the area in which the articles may be lodged and
thereby effects a specific and local cleaning action during such
manipulation.
Another object of the invention is to provide an article of the
class described, in which a handle is provided, which handle
incorporates at one end thereof the pick portion, the handle being
formed of nonsplintering material such as rolled, hard-waxed paper,
and the pick portion being formed in any particular manner so as to
have a spadelike configuration which will effect the particle
removal as desired, but which is normally concealed within and
shielded by the special scrubbing portion of the article, but may
be extended or projected as required when necessary.
Other and further objects of the invention will be understood from
a consideration of the specification appended hereto, and disclosed
in the drawing, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the article of this invention,
showing the handle and scrub member thereon, with dotted lines
indicating the position of the pick portion within the scrub
member.
FIG. 2 is an end view from the right-hand end of FIG. 1, showing
the configuration of the scrub member.
FIGS. 3 and 4 are top and side views respectively, of the spadelike
portion of the handle in enlarged detail, being fragmentary
views,
FIG. 5 is a somewhat diagrammatic view, indicating a member of use
of the article in effecting particle removal as related to the
teeth in a lower jaw, for example.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to FIG. 1, the article hereof consists of an
elongated handle 1, which is preferably for the purposes hereof,
formed of hard-waxed, rolled paper, providing a stiff yet somewhat
flexible handle and one which does not have any potential splinters
such as a wooden handle might have, and which further may be of
generally sanitary nature, the end of said handle 1 being indicated
in FIGS. 3 and 4, having a formed portion indicated at 2, which is
of spadelike nature, provided by grinding the end of the handle 1,
so that it is in side elevation as shown in FIG. 4, and tapered to
a substantially fine tip indicated at 3 which is relatively wide as
suggested at 3 in FIG. 3.
After this is formed as indicated, suitable plastic is placed
thereon and by pressure thereby creates the form portion indicated
which will hold its shape and be effective for particle removal as
is to be described hereinafter.
Suitably arranged on the same end of the handle 1, is a scrub
member 4, which is comprised of a polyester-urethane derivative
selected for firm, crisp compression. One of the bases for
establishing the compression as firm and crisp is the density of
the material, and in this instance the density of the material
measured in weight per cubic foot is indicated as being
approximately 2 lbs. per cubic foot.
Such a material has a large area of windows against nonwindows so
called, although the description might might be said to be open
spaces and closed areas.
As indicated in FIG. 2, this scrub member 4 is an elongated fluted
body having the 7 apices as suggested at 5, this having been found
to provide the most suitable type of surface to present to the
teeth for effecting a cleansing action thereon.
This polyester-urethane derivative is sanitized so as to resist
bacterial development and thereby provides for a unitary article
which might be packaged for one-time use and disposed of
thereafter.
As indicated in FIG. 1, the handle 1 is positioned within the scrub
member 4 so that the end 3 of the spadelike formed portion 2 is
contained in a recess R and terminates very close to the end
surface 6 of the brush member 4; but nevertheless is spaced
sufficiently far from such surface that during normal use the pick
portion or spadelike portion 2 will not usually (except under
extreme conditions) contact any portion of the interior of the
mouth, unless specifically intended so to do.
In other words, the material of which the scrub member 4 is formed
is sufficiently resistant to deformation as to normally prevent
this, but at the same time resilient enough so that when desired,
the spadelike portion 2 of the handle 1 may be manipulated as
indicated in FIG. 5 so as to extend into the interstices of the
teeth such as 7 and 8, being teeth in the lower jaw and represented
somewhat schematically.
As indicated in this FIG. 5, the spadelike portion 2 and
particularly the end 3 thereof, has been inserted between the teeth
7 and 8, and in so doing caused to project from the scrub member 4
in view of the resilience thereof and the fact that there is a
suitable opening usually such as R in such scrub member for this
purpose.
It will be further apparent that the end 6 of the scrub member 4 is
thereby brought into close and cleaning contact with the surfaces
of the teeth 7 and 8 between which the pick portion 2 has been
inserted.
From this, it will be noted that suitable manipulation to remove
any particle such as would be effected by this manipulation, at the
same time provides for the movement of the end surface 6 over the
face of the teeth so as to clean them at the same time in a
particular manner.
In order to provide additional flexibility over that inherently
involved in the provision of the material from which the article
hereof is formed, and specifically the scrub member 4 of such
article, a pair of peripheral grooves 10 and 11 are provided as
indicated in FIG. 1, so that when the scrub member 4 is at repose,
there is a slight spacing between the sections a, b, and c,
although the member is in fact integral, since the grooves do not
extend all the way to the handle 1 thereof.
The advantage of these grooves 10 and 11 is to enable the flexing
of the respective section a, b, and c, and as illustrated
particularly in FIG. 5 when the section c is in engagement with the
teeth such as 7 and 8, and in this case particularly it is noted in
respect to the tooth 8,--the section c will be permitted to flex
over and extend farther into engagement with the surface of the
tooth 8. There is thus tended to be formed a sort of V-shaped
opening indicated at 12 in FIG. 5, although necessarily somewhat
exaggerated in extent, provided by the flexing of the section
c.
On the opposite side of the section and in engagement with the
tooth 7, the portion of the section c which is in engagement with
said tooth, is permitted to flex similarly and extend around the
surface of the tooth 7 because the groove 11 permits additional
compression and movement of this portion of the section c.
The groove 10 will likewise provide additional flexiblity without
at the same time depriving the entire scrub member 4 of its desired
action in cleaning the teeth when it is used as a conventional
toothbrush so that fluted body and particularly the apices thereof
may be used in longitudinal contact with the teeth or otherwise
manipulated so as to effect cleaning thereof.
It is of course clear that the scrub member 4 is suitably adhered
to the handle 1 so as to be maintained in the condition indicated
under use, and of course by suitable material which is in itself
sanitized or sufficiently so as to prevent bacterial
development.
In view of the foregoing, it will be clear that the article set
forth herein may be manipulated in many different ways so as to
remove particles between teeth irrespective of location thereof,
and in so doing provide for cleansing the surfaces of the teeth
adjacent the interstices in which the particles may be lodged.
* * * * *