Toothbrush and method of manufacturing it

• US 8,434,190 B2
• Filed: 08/10/2010
• Issued: 05/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Braun GmbH (The Procter & Gamble Company)
• Original Assignee: Braun GmbH (The Procter & Gamble Company)
• Inventors: Stief, Christian, Stich, Florian, Pfeifer, Ulrich, Stoerkel, Jens, Haas, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): Chapman, Jeanette E.
• Application Number:
  US12/853,576
• Publication Number:
  US 20100313373A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,001 Days
• Field of Search: 15/211, 151/671, 151/672, 15110-111, 15185-188, 15201-203, 151/94, 15/221, 151/911, 152/072, 151/90, 151/69, 300/21, D4104-105
• US Class Current: 15/191.1
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 3/16 by wires or other anchoring means, specially for U-shaped bristle tufts
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 9/04 Arranged like in or for toothbrushes
• CPC Class Codes: A46D 1/00 Bristles; Selection of materials for bristles making artificial bristles D01D, D01F

Abstract

A toothbrush having a handle portion and a neck portion connecting the handle portion with a head. The head has a brushing side and a rear side. The brushing side includes a plurality of bristle tufts for cleaning the teeth. The tufts are attachable in the head through tufting apertures, with each tufting aperture being assigned a blind-end hole having sidewalls and a bottom. The cross-sectional area of the head between a first bottom and the rear side differing from a cross-sectional area of the head between a second bottom and the rear side. The first bottom and the second bottom are arranged in the head in such a way that the minimum distance between the first bottom and the rear side as well as the minimum distance between the second bottom and the rear side are each in the range of between about 0.5 and about 2.5 mm.

Claims

1. A toothbrush having a handle portion and a neck portion connecting the handle portion with a head, said head having a brushing side and a rear side opposite thereto, said brushing side including a plurality of bristle tufts for cleaning the teeth, said tufts being attachable in the head through tufting apertures using an anchor, with each tufting aperture being assigned a blind-end hole having sidewalls and a bottom, wherein provision is made for a chamfer or radius in the transition area between the bottom and the sidewalls, with a cross-sectional area of the head between a first bottom and the rear side differing from a cross-sectional area of the head between a second bottom and the rear side, and said first bottom and said second bottom being arranged in the head in such a way that the minimum distance y between the first bottom and the rear side as well as the minimum distance x between the second bottom and the rear side are each in the range of between about 0.5 and about 2.5 mm.

2. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the first and the second bottom are arranged in the head in such a way that the minimum distance x and y amounts to between about 0.8 and about 2 mm each.

3. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the head includes third and fourth blind-end holes which can be tufted with bristle tufts to the same depth, said third and fourth blind-end holes being constructed such that their bottoms extend to different depths.

4. The toothbrush according to claim 3, wherein the fourth blind-end hole the chamfer or radius is followed by a constriction and an adjoining further radius or chamfer and thereafter by the adjoining bottom.

5. The toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein the head has a first interior region and a second interior region, said first interior region being made of hard plastic and said second interior region including an electrically operable function element or part thereof.

6. The toothbrush according to claim 5, wherein an injection point for the hard plastic of the head is provided on the neck or on the handle portion and that the blind-end holes are spaced at different relative axial distances to the injection point on the head, and that in the hard plastic of the head a free space is provided for the function element between said blind-end holes spaced at different relative distances.

7. The toothbrush of claim 1, wherein the head includes at least one fifth blind-end hole which is arranged adjacent to and above the function element and is shorter than the third and fourth blind-end holes.

8. The toothbrush of claim 1, wherein the rear side of the head is made at least in part of the same hard plastic as the brushing side.

9. The toothbrush of claim 1, wherein the head is formed of a hard plastic material which exhibits more than 1% material shrinkage after an injection-molding operation.

10. The toothbrush of claim 1, wherein the head is formed of polypropylene hard plastic.

11. The toothbrush of claim 1, wherein the head is formed of polyethylene, POM, SAN or copolyester hard plastic.

12. A toothbrush having a handle portion and a neck portion connecting the handle portion with a head, said head having a brushing side and a rear side opposite thereto, said brushing side including a plurality of bristle tufts for cleaning the teeth, said tufts being attachable in the head through tufting apertures using an anchor, with each tufting aperture being assigned a blind-end hole having sidewalls and comprising a first portion having a first bottom and a second portion having a second bottom, wherein the first portion is longer and wider than the second portion, and wherein provision is made for a chamfer or radius in the transition area between the first bottom and the sidewalls, with a cross-sectional area of the head between the first bottom and the rear side differing from a cross-sectional area of the head between the second bottom and the rear side, and said first bottom and said second bottom being arranged in the head in such a way that the minimum distance y between the first bottom and the rear side as well as the minimum distance x between the second bottom and the rear side are each in the range of between about 0.5 and about 2.5 mm.