Toothbrush
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A toothbrush comprising:
- a handle;
a head coupled to the handle and including a base surface, and a pair of opposite side edges; and
a plurality of tooth cleaning elements extending from the base surface of the head, the tooth cleaning elements including;
a first plurality of elastomeric walls that collectively define a first substantially closed loop, each elastomeric wall having a concave surface and separated from an adjacent elastomeric wall in the first plurality of elastomeric walls by a gap, the first substantially closed loop having a first center generally equidistant from the concave surface of each of the elastomeric walls of the first plurality of elastomeric walls;
a first central cleaning element of bristles disposed within the first substantially closed loop;
a plurality of arcuate-shaped cleaning elements of bristles that collectively define an outer loop, each arcuate-shaped cleaning element having an inner concave surface defining at least an inner portion of the outer loop and an outer convex surface defining at least an outer portion of the outer loop, each arcuate-shaped cleaning element separated from an adjacent arcuate-shaped cleaning element by a gap, the outer loop having a second center generally equidistant from each of the concave surfaces of each of the arcuate-shaped cleaning elements, wherein the first center and the second center are generally concentric.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A toothbrush includes a head and a plurality of tooth cleaning elements for enhanced cleaning of the teeth. The tooth cleaning elements include cleaning elements that define a loop arrangement for better retention of the dentifrice, a central cleaning element disposed within the loop, two opposing arcuate cleaning elements disposed on opposite sides of the loop, peripheral cleaning element with a stepped and tapered construction, elongate distal cleaning elements, and proximal cleaning elements.
-
Citations
33 Claims
-
1. A toothbrush comprising:
-
a handle; a head coupled to the handle and including a base surface, and a pair of opposite side edges; and a plurality of tooth cleaning elements extending from the base surface of the head, the tooth cleaning elements including; a first plurality of elastomeric walls that collectively define a first substantially closed loop, each elastomeric wall having a concave surface and separated from an adjacent elastomeric wall in the first plurality of elastomeric walls by a gap, the first substantially closed loop having a first center generally equidistant from the concave surface of each of the elastomeric walls of the first plurality of elastomeric walls; a first central cleaning element of bristles disposed within the first substantially closed loop; a plurality of arcuate-shaped cleaning elements of bristles that collectively define an outer loop, each arcuate-shaped cleaning element having an inner concave surface defining at least an inner portion of the outer loop and an outer convex surface defining at least an outer portion of the outer loop, each arcuate-shaped cleaning element separated from an adjacent arcuate-shaped cleaning element by a gap, the outer loop having a second center generally equidistant from each of the concave surfaces of each of the arcuate-shaped cleaning elements, wherein the first center and the second center are generally concentric. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A toothbrush comprising:
-
a handle; a head coupled to the handle; and a plurality of tooth cleaning elements extending from the head, the tooth cleaning elements including a first set of cleaning elements and a second set of cleaning elements, each of said sets including a plurality of arcuate cleaning elements arranged with generally opposing concave surfaces facing each other, said sets being generally concentric to each other and a central cleaning element disposed in about the center of the arcuate cleaning elements. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A toothbrush comprising:
-
a handle; a head coupled to the handle, the head including a base surface; and a plurality of tooth cleaning elements extending from the base surface of the head, the tooth cleaning elements including; an outer loop comprising a plurality of arcuate-shaped bristle tufts, each arcuate-shaped bristle tuft having a concave surface defining an internal side of the outer loop and a convex surface defining an external side of the outer loop, and separated from an adjacent arcuate-shaped bristle tuft of the plurality of arcuate-shaped bristle tufts by an outer loop gap; a first substantially closed loop being disposed within the outer loop, the first substantially closed loop including a first plurality of elastomeric arc segments, each elastomeric arc segment having a convex surface and being separated from an adjacent elastomeric arc segment of the first plurality of elastomeric arc segments by a first loop gap, in which at least one first loop gap faces the concave surface of an arcuate-shaped bristle tuft of the outer loop; and a fluid pathway being defined between the convex surface of the first substantially closed loop and the concave surface of the outer loop for allowing a fluid to flow therein. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
-
Specification