Application substance reservoir for toothbrushes and electric toothbrush

• US 8,256,979 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2006
• Issued: 09/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Braun GmbH (The Procter & Gamble Company)
• Original Assignee: Braun GmbH (The Procter & Gamble Company)
• Inventors: Neyer, Christian, Hilscher, Alexander
• Primary Examiner(s): Ganey, Steven J
• Application Number:
  US12/159,353
• Publication Number:
  US 20090031510A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,091 Days
• Field of Search: 401/187, 401/188.R, 401/270, 401/278, 401/279, 15/23, 15/24, 15/28, 15/29, 151/671, 433/84, 433/85, 433/89, 433/122, 433/131, 433/216
• US Class Current: 401/270
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 11/001 with integral reservoirs A46B11/0003, A46B11/0006 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 11/0065 Brushes where the reservoir is specifically intended for being replaced when empty
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 15/0002 Arrangements for enhancing monitoring or controlling the brushing process
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 15/0004 with a controlling means
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 2200/1066 Toothbrush for cleaning the teeth or dentures A61C17/16 takes precedence; bristles arrangements for toothbrushes A46B9/04
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 17/221 Control arrangements therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 17/227 with reservoirs, e.g. for toothpaste

Abstract

An application substance reservoir for a toothbrush is provided. The reservoir has a data carrier and may be filled with toothpaste or another application substance. An electric toothbrush is also provided. The data carrier of the application substance reservoir may contain, for example, information regarding the prevailing filling level of the application substance reservoir and the type of application substance. The electric toothbrush has a data receiver for reading the data stored in the data carrier, a data transmitter for writing to the data carrier, and a control unit which may display the filling level in the application substance reservoir or the particular application substance used.

Claims

1. An application substance reservoir for a toothbrush,

the reservoir comprising:

a body which may be filled with toothpaste or another application substance, and

a data carrier readable by the toothbrush and having a data memory that is writable by the toothbrush,

wherein the data carrier contains data for activation and/or control of at least one function of the toothbrush.

2. The application substance reservoir according to claim 1, wherein the data carrier comprises a transponder chip.

3. The application substance reservoir according to claim 1, wherein the data carrier has a magnet.

4. The application substance reservoir according to claim 1, wherein the data carrier contains data about the filling level of the application substance in the application substance reservoir.

5. The application substance reservoir according to claim 1, wherein the data carrier contains user-specific data.

6. The application substance reservoir according to claim 1, wherein the data carrier contains at least a part of a control program.

7. The application substance reservoir according to claim 6, wherein the control program comprises a software update for the operation of the toothbrush.

8. The application substance reservoir according to claim 1, wherein the data carrier is provided with a data transfer device.

9. An electric toothbrush comprising:

a body configured to receive a replaceable application substance reservoir;

a data receiver for reading data contained in a data carrier which is mounted on the replaceable application substance reservoir and

a data transmitter configured to write on the data carrier.

10. The electric toothbrush according to claim 9, further comprising a control unit which controls the toothbrush as a function of the data read.

11. The electric toothbrush according to claim 10, wherein the control unit is configured to control the operation of the toothbrush as a function of data read out of the data carrier and/or activates and/or alters at least one control function of the toothbrush.

12. The electric toothbrush according to claim 11, further comprising a conveyance device for delivering a substance from the reservoir to a user, wherein the control unit is configured to control the conveyance device as a function of data read out of the data carrier.

13. The electric toothbrush according to claim 11, further comprising a brush drive, wherein the control unit is configured to control the brush drive as a function of data read out of the data carrier.

14. The electric toothbrush according to claim 10, wherein an enable function is stored in the control unit, triggering or refusing to enable operation of the toothbrush and/or individual operating functions of the toothbrush as a function of the data received by the data carrier.

15. The electric toothbrush according to claim 10 wherein the control unit is configured to read at least part of a control program from the data carrier.

16. The electric toothbrush according to claim 10, wherein the control unit comprises a receiver configured to receive receiver data from multiple data carriers.

17. The electric toothbrush according to claim 16 wherein the receiver comprises multiple antennas.

18. The electric toothbrush according to claim 17, further comprising a switching device configured to selectively activate the antennas.

19. The electric toothbrush according to claim 10, wherein the control unit is configured to activate and/or alter at least one control function of the toothbrush.

20. The electric toothbrush according to claim 9, wherein at least one of the data receiver and the data transmitter is configured to transmit data in a noncontact manner.

21. The electric toothbrush according to claim 9, wherein the data receiver has a reed sensor for detecting a magnet.

22. The electric toothbrush according to claim 9, further comprising a display device which is controllable as a function of data stored in the data carrier.

23. The electric toothbrush according to claim 22 wherein the display device is configured to display the filling-level in the reservoir based on the data read out of the data carrier.

24. The electric toothbrush according to claim 9, wherein the data transmitter transmits the amount of application substance applied and/or the amount of application substance remaining in the application substance reservoir to the data carrier.

25. An application substance reservoir for a toothbrush,

the reservoir comprising:

a body which may be filled with toothpaste or another application substance, and

a data carrier readable by the toothbrush and having a data memory that is writable by the toothbrush,

wherein the data carrier contains user-specific data.