Toothbrush

• US 5,991,957 A
• Filed: 05/19/1998
• Issued: 11/30/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 05/23/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Dr Fresh LLC (HRB Winddown, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: McNeil-PPC Incorporated (Johnson & Johnson)
• Inventors: Watanabe, Takayuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Spisich, Mark
• Application Number:
  US09/081,375
• Time in Patent Office: 560 Days
• Field of Search: 15/167.1, 15/207.2, 15/DIG. 5, 15/DIG. 6
• US Class Current: 15/167.1
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 9/045 specially adapted for cleaning a plurality of tooth surfaces simultaneously
• CPC Class Codes: A46D 1/00 Bristles; Selection of materials for bristles making artificial bristles D01D, D01F
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 15/05 Varied length bristle
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 15/06 Varied composition bristle

Abstract

In the case of conventional toothbrushes whose bristles have all needlelike tapering tips, the bristles near the tips become too thin and too flexible. In the case of toothbrushes whose bristle ends are all round or hemispherical, it is difficult to get into the spaces between teeth or boundary spaces between teeth and gums.

Thus, it is difficult for conventional toothbrushes to clean up in every nook and corner in the mount. A toothbrush comprising a block head having brush portion, a handle and a neck portion connecting the block head with the handle, wherein a part of the tufts of the brush portion are made up of filament with polygonal cross section, and the rest of the tufts are made up of sheath-core structural filament whose core material is covered with sheath material such that the filaments are circular in cross-section, with the sheath material being concentric to the core material.

Claims

1. A toothbrush comprising a block head having a brush portion composed of tufts embedded on the block head, a handle and a neck portion connecting said block head with the handle, wherein a first group part of said tufts are made up of filaments with a polygonal cross section, and a second group of tufts are made up of sheath-core structural filaments whose core material is covered with sheath material so that the cross section thereof is concentric circles.

2. The toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein said tufts of polygonal filament are embedded in tuft holes which forms an outer line of tuft holes on said block head, and said tufts of the sheath-core structural filament are embedded in further tuft holes.

3. The toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein said tufts of polygonal filaments are embedded in tuft holes along the periphery of said block head and said tufts of the sheath-core structural filaments are embedded in further tuft holes so that the polygonal filament tufts surround the sheath-core structural filament tufts.

4. The toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein said polygon of the polygonal filament is selected from the group consisting of trigon, tetragon, pentagon, hexagon and octagon.

5. The toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein said polygon of the polygonal filament is hexagon.

6. The toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein said core part of the sheath-core structural filament is made of polyester resin and said sheath part thereof is polyamide resin.

7. The toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein the tips of the sheath-core structural filaments have a circular cone shape and the points thereof are made of polyester resin, and the tips of said polygonal filaments have a round shape.

8. The toothbrush according to claim 2 where the tufts comprise:

a) said tufts forming three to six lines along the width direction of the block head,

b) the bristle lengths of the outermost lines are shorter than those of the inner lines of tufts,

c) the bristles of said inner lines being cut so as to form at least six continuous cut surfaces along the longitudinal direction of the block head.

9. The toothbrush according to claim 1 where the tufts comprise:

a) said tufts forming three to five lines along the width direction of the block head,

b) the bristle lengths of the outermost lines are shorter than those of the inner lines of tufts,

c) the bristles of said inner lines being cut so as to form six continuous cut surfaces along the longitudinal direction of the block head,

d) in the cut surfaces, the bristles of the first cut surface nearest to the brush block head free end being cut so that the bristles adjacent the block head free end are shortest and the bristles lengthen toward the handle at an angle with respect to the block head surface of 20°

to 30°

adjacent the block head free end to the second cut surface which forms a first top horizontal cut surface at the third bristle row from the block head free end without difference in level,

e) the bristles of the third cut surface continuing from the second cut surface become short from the handle side of the second cut surface at an angle 20°

to 30°

to the block head surface to form the bottom,

f) the fourth, fifth and sixth cut surfaces are symmetrical to the first, second and third cut surfaces about a plane perpendicular to the block head surface and intersecting said bottom,

g) the ratio of the height of the top horizontal cut surface;

E to the height of the bottom;

F is;

E/F=1.05 to 1.2,

h) the ratio of the height of the top horizontal cut surface;

E to the height of lowest part of the first cut surface;

G is;

E/G=1.1 to 1.3 and,

i) the surface formed by the tips of the bristles of the outer rows is parallel to the block head surface and the bristle length thereof is about the same as that of the bottom.

10. The toothbrush according to claim 9 where the bristle lengths of the first and the second top horizontal cut surfaces are substantially the same.