U.S. patent number 3,853,412 [Application Number 05/373,804] was granted by the patent office on 1974-12-10 for tooth cleaning ball.
Invention is credited to Gerald D. Griffin.
United States Patent |
3,853,412 |
Griffin |
December 10, 1974 |
TOOTH CLEANING BALL
Abstract
This device is for the purpose of cleaning ones teeth and
includes primarily, a resilient plastic or rubber ball which is
chewed so as to clean the teeth. The device is provided with a
plurality of groups of bristles along its outer periphery which
serves the purpose of cleaning a person's teeth when they chew upon
the device, the device having a hollow interior in which is carried
a suitable dentifrice which is forced out of apetures through the
wall of the device when it is chewed.
Inventors: |
Griffin; Gerald D. (Benidzi,
MN) |
Family
ID: |
23473943 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/373,804 |
Filed: |
June 26, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
401/183;
15/104.93; 401/268; 601/139; 601/131; 15/104.061; 15/167.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A46B
11/0041 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A46B
11/00 (20060101); A46b 011/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;18/210,244,167,110,244R
;132/84,93 ;128/62A ;15/104.93,104.94 ;401/132 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Feldman; Peter
Claims
What I now claim is:
1. A tooth cleaning ball device comprising a spherical and
resilient body which is chewable and disposable, said body carrying
bristles for use in conjunction with a self-contained and
self-dispensed dentifrice within said body, said bristles being
grouped in an equally spaced apart arrangement, said groups of
bristles being imbedded within said resilient body, said bristles
being radially spaced apart so as to effectively clean a person's
teeth when said device is chewed upon within the oral cavity,
wherein said body of said device is provided with a plurality of
spaced apart openings, said spaced apart openings being alternate
with said groups of bristles radially carried by said body of said
device, and said openings provide a means for automatically
dispensing of the dentifrice from the interior of said body, said
dentifrice being urged out of said openings by the chewing action
placing pressure upon said body of said device when it is
chewed.
2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said bristle
groups of said body of said device are spaced apart and are
resilient independently of said body of said device and the
combination of said bristles and said dentifrice in contact with
each other and said teeth, serve to effectively apply the necessary
abrasiveness for dislodging food from a person's teeth when said
device is chewed upon with said teeth.
Description
This invention relates to dental devices for cleaning teeth.
It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a
tooth cleaning ball which will effectively clean a person's teeth
when it is chewed upon within the person's oral cavity.
Another object of this invention is to provide a resilient tooth
cleaning ball which will be hollow in its interior and will
automatically dispense a suitable dentifrice from within which will
effectively clean a person's teeth with the aid of the
bristles.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a tooth
cleaning ball of the type described which will have a plurality of
spaced apart openings spaced between groups of bristles, the
bristles extending outwards from the outer periphery of the ball in
a radial fashion.
Other objects of the invention are to provide a tooth cleaning ball
which is simple in design, inexpensive to manufacture, rugged in
construction, easy to use and efficient in operation.
These and other objects will become readily evident upon a study of
the following specification together with the accompanying drawing
wherein:
FIG. 1 is an enlarged plan view of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a further enlarged fragmentary view of FIG. 1, shown in
section;
FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a modified shape of the device;
FIG. 4 is a side view showing another modified form of FIG. 3,
showing bristles on one side thereof;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of still another modified form of
the invention.
According to this invention, a tooth cleaning ball 10 is shown to
consist of a hollow plastic or rubber ball 11 which is resilient
enough so as to be easily chewed upon when placed in a person's
oral cavity.
A plurality of groups or clusters of bristles 12 are spaced apart
and embedded within the ball 11 so as to act as cleaning elements
between and over the teeth surfaces of the user.
On the interior 13 of device 10 is carried a suitable dentifrice
with or without fluoride, the dentifrice being urged out of the
plurality of spaced apart openings 14 when device 10 is chewed
upon.
It will be noted that after a tooth cleaning operation, device 10
is disposible.
Referring now to FIG. 3 of the drawing, a modified device 15 of
rectangular configuration includes sides 16 having a plurality of
spaced apart clusters of bristles 17 which are intermittently
spaced with openings 18 from which the dentifrice from the inside
is dispensed when device 15 is chewed upon.
Referring now to FIG. 4 of the drawing, a modified rectangular body
20 includes bristle groups 21, the device 19 serving the same
purpose as heretofore described of the main embodiment of the
present invention.
Referring to FIG. 5 of the drawing, one will see another modified
form of hollow resilient body 23 with rounded ends 24. Device 22
includes a plurality of spaced apart openings 25 for dispensing a
dentifrice from the interior of device 22 in the same manner as
heretofore described. The body 23 of device 22 includes a plurality
of clusters of bristles 26 which serve as cleaning element means
for device 22.
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