Brush head and method of manufacturing such a brush head

• US 20010023516A1
• Filed: 03/21/2001
• Published: 09/27/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Braun GmbH (The Procter & Gamble Company)
• Original Assignee: Braun GmbH (The Procter & Gamble Company)
• Inventors: Fritsch, Thomas, Schwarz-Hartmann, Armin, Driesen, Georges
• Granted Patent: US 6,665,901 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 15/167.1
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 3/08 by clamping
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 17/222 Brush body details, e.g. the shape thereof or connection to handle

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a brush head, particularly a toothbrush head, and to a method of manufacturing such a brush head. The brush head includes a bristle carrier and bristles fixedly secured thereto, said bristle carrier having a slot-type recess in which a multiplicity of bristles is received forming an elongated tuft with a closed, smooth outer contour corresponding essentially to the contour of the slot-type recess. According to the invention the brush head is characterized in that the slot-type recess is divided by means of at least one transverse wall into several segments, a separate tuft is inserted and secured in each of the segments, and the at least one transverse wall is constructed so that the separate tufts converge, forming in combination the elongated tuft with a closed, smooth outer contour.

Claims

1. A brush head, particularly a toothbrush head, with a bristle carrier (2) and bristles (3) fixedly secured thereto, said bristle carrier (2) having at least one elongated recess (6) in which a multiplicity of bristles is received forming an elongated tuft (8) with an essentially closed and/or smooth outer contour corresponding essentially to the contour of the elongated recess (6), characterized in that said elongated recess (6) is divided by means of at least one transverse wall (9) into several segments (10), a separate tuft (13) is received in each of said segments (10), and said at least one transverse wall (9) is constructed so that the separate tufts (13) converge, forming in combination the elongated tuft (5) with a closed, smooth outer contour.

2. The brush head according to the preceding claim, wherein the bristles (3) of each separate tuft (13) are received in the respective segment (10) in a U-shaped configuration and are held by an in particular plate-shaped anchor anchored in the respective segment (10) and extending between the limbs of the U-bent bristles over their connecting sections.

3. The brush head according to the preceding claim, wherein the anchors extend in a direction essentially transverse to the longitudinal axis of the elongated recess (6), preferably forming an angle of less than 30 degrees with the respectively neighboring transverse wall (9).

4. The brush head according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a thin, separate transverse bar anchored to the bristle carrier (2) and preferably made of metal is provided to serve as the transverse wall (9), particularly an anchor (9) is anchored in opposing side walls (7) of the slot-type recess (6).

5. The brush head according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein an anchor wire, in particular an anchor plate, is inserted in the bristle carrier (2) to serve as the transverse wall.

6. The brush head according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said transverse wall (9) has a thickness of less than 0.5 mm, preferably less than 0.4 mm, in particular in the region of around 0.15 to 0.3 mm.

7. The brush head according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein an upper edge (15) of the transverse wall (9) is rounded off and/or the transverse wall (9) has an oval and/or elliptical cross-section.

8. The brush head according to any one of the

claims 1

to

3

, wherein said at least one transverse wall (9) is made in one integral piece with the bristle carrier (2), being preferably made together with the bristle carrier (2) of an injected-molded plastics material.

9. The brush head according to any one of the

claims 7

to

8

, wherein opposing sides of said at least one transverse wall (9) are inclined toward each other so that the tufts (13) sitting in neighboring segments (10) have their free ends (14) inclined toward each other.

10. The brush head according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein end walls (8) of the slot-type recess (6), preferably the associated outer lying segments (10) are on the whole inwardly inclined toward the center of the elongated recess (6).

11. The brush head according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the segments (10) have essentially the same base area.

12. The brush head according to any one of the

claims 1

to

12

, wherein the segments (10) have different base areas and are tufted in a cascade process.

13. The brush head according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein bristles of different properties are received in the various segments (10).

14. The brush head according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the segments (10) have a non-circular contour, in particular an essentially angular contour with at least two parallel sides.

15. A method of manufacturing a brush head (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, in which a bristle carrier (2) is provided having a multiplicity of bristles (3) fastened thereto, comprising the steps of providing in the bristle carrier at least one elongated recess (6) having at least one transverse wall (9) dividing said recess into several segments (10), inserting in each segment (10) a separate tuft (13), and forming said at least one transverse wall (9) in such a way that the separate tufts (13) converge, forming in combination an elongated tuft with a closed, smooth outer contour corresponding essentially to the contour of the elongated recess (6).

16. The method according to the preceding claim, comprising further the steps of bending the bristles (3) of each tuft (13) in a U-shaped configuration, inserting them in said U-shape in the respective segment and anchoring them there by means of an anchor, in particular positioning each tuft (13) in an essentially U-shaped configuration above the bristle carrier (2) and anchoring it in the respective segment (10) by means of the metal anchor.

17. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising the further steps of initially constructing the slot-type recess (6) without a transverse wall (9) and inserting said at least one transverse wall (9) subsequently, in particular anchoring it to opposing side walls (7) of the recess (6).

18. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising the further step of shooting or anchoring at least one metal plate (9) in a direction essentially transverse to the longitudinal axis of the slot-type recess (6) into opposing side walls (7) of the recess (6).

19. The method according to any one of the claims 15 or 16, comprising the further step of integrally molding said at least one transverse wall (9) on the bristle carrier (2), in particular injection molding it of a plastics material and/or suitably shaping the bristle carrier (2).

20. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising the further step of forming said at least one transverse wall (9) in such a way that opposing sides of said at least one transverse wall (9) are inclined toward each other, such that the tufts (13) received in neighboring segments (10) have their free ends inclined toward each other.

21. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising the further step of forming an end wall (8) of the slot-type recess (6) so that it is inwardly inclined toward the center of the slot-type recess.

22. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising the further step of inserting the tufts (13) with a tuft inserting machine adapted to insert essentially circular tufts in the respective segments (10).