Tongue Scraper

Abstract

A tongue scraper for the practice of cleaning the tongue by a scraping action consisting of a flexible ribbon formed of stainless steel or fiberglas and having a generally U-shape with the opposite legs of the U curving outwardly toward their free ends. The ribbon has a spring action to assist in grasping with the fingers. The bight of the U engages the tongue to perform the scraping action.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to tongue scrapers and particularly to a tongue scraper useful in oral hygiene in scraping deposits from the tongue.

2. Summary of the Invention

The present invention consist of a tongue scraper formed of a flat ribbon of stainless steel or plastic having the form of a U with the legs curving oppositely outwardly adjacent their free ends. The ribbon has a spring action to assist in the grasping of it with the hand when scraping the tongue.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a tongue scraper which can be grasped with the fingers for inserting in the mouth to scrape the tongue.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the following specification when considered in the light of the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a transverse cross section taken along the line 5--5 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures the reference numeral 10 indicates generally a tongue scraper constructed in accordance with the invention.

The tongue scraper 10 includes an elongate ribbon 11 formed of stainless steel or molded fiberglas reinforced plastic. The ribbon 11 has spring action sufficient to cause it to retain its shape and to return to shape when released after deformation.

The ribbon 11 is formed into a general U-shape having a bight 12 supporting a pair of oppositely disposed legs 13, 14. The leg 13 is arcuate in form curving outwardly away from the leg 14. The leg 14 is also arcuate in form and curves outwardly away from the leg 13.

In the use and operation of the invention the fingers of the user grasp the free ends of the legs 13, 14 which are retained against the grasp of the fingers by the spring action of the scraper 10 and the bight 12 is inserted in the mouth engaging the tongue so that as the scraper 10 is pulled forwardly by the grasp of the hands on the legs 13, 14 the surface of the tongue is scraped and foreign material thereon is removed. Obviously the edges of the ribbon 11 are sharp enough to permit efficient scraping of the tongue and yet not sharp enough to cut the tongue.

Having thus described the preferred embodiment of the invention it should be understood that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A tongue scraper comprising a generally permanently set U-shaped ribbon of generally rectangular cross section and having spaced parallel side edges, said ribbon including a pair of oppositely disposed outwardly curving legs integrally connected by a bight at one end of each leg, said ribbon having spring action resisting deflection to assist the fingers of one hand in grasping therebetween the free ends of the legs as one of the side edges of the bight engages the tongue in a scraping action.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the ribbon is formed of stainless steel.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the ribbon is formed of fiberglas reinforced plastic.