Oral Care Implement

• US 20130318732A1
• Filed: 10/17/2011
• Published: 12/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Colgate-Palmolive Company
• Original Assignee: Colgate-Palmolive Company
• Inventors: Mintel, Thomas, Hohlbein, Douglas
• Granted Patent: US 9,445,660 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 15/167.1
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 3/06 by welding together bristles made of metal wires or plastic materials
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 9/04 Arranged like in or for toothbrushes
• CPC Class Codes: A46D 1/0238 Bristles with non-round cross-section
• CPC Class Codes: A46D 1/0276 Bristles having pointed ends

Abstract

An oral care implement comprising at least one tapered bristle. In one embodiment, the invention can be an oral care implement comprising: a handle; a head having a face; a tuft hole in the face, the tuft hole having a polygonal transverse cross-sectional profile; and a bristle tuft mounted in the first tuft hole and extending from the face of the head, the first bristle tuft comprising a plurality of tapered bristles.

Claims

1. An oral care implement comprising:

a handle;

a head having a face;

a first tuft hole in the face, the first tuft hole having a longitudinal axis and a transverse cross-sectional profile comprising a minor axis and a major axis, the major axis of the first tuft hole being longer than the minor axis of the first tuft hole; and

a first bristle tuft mounted in the first tuft hole and extending from the face of the head, the first bristle tuft comprising a first plurality of tapered bristles.

2. The oral care implement of claim 1 wherein each of the first plurality of tapered bristles comprises a longitudinal axis and a transverse cross-sectional profile having a minor axis and a major axis, the major axes of the first plurality of tapered bristles being longer than the minor axes of the first plurality of tapered bristles.

3. The oral care implement of claim 2 wherein the transverse cross-sectional profiles of the first plurality of tapered bristles is selected from a group consisting of a diamond, an elongated rectangle, and an elongated oval.

4. The oral care implement of claim 2 wherein the major axes of the first plurality of bristles are substantially parallel to the major axis of the first tuft hole.

5. The oral care implement of claim 2 wherein the major axes of the first plurality of tapered bristles are substantially perpendicular to the minor axes of the first plurality of tapered bristles.

6. The oral care implement of claim 5 wherein the major axes of the first plurality of tapered bristles and the minor axes of the first plurality of tapered bristles intersect at center points of the transverse cross-sectional profiles of the first plurality of tapered bristles.

7. The oral care implement of claim 6 wherein the major axes of the first plurality of tapered bristles extend between first pairs of opposing apexes of the transverse cross-sectional profiles of the first plurality of tapered bristles and the minor axes of the first plurality of tapered bristles extend between second pairs of opposing apexes of the transverse cross-sectional profiles of the first plurality of tapered bristles.

8. The oral care implement of claim 1 wherein each of the first plurality of tapered bristles comprises a tapered longitudinal section and a non-tapered longitudinal section.

9. The oral care implement of claim 8 wherein the non-tapered longitudinal sections of the first plurality of tapered bristles extend from the face of the head to transition points of the first plurality of tapered bristles and the tapered longitudinal sections of the first plurality of tapered bristles extend from the transition points to free ends of the first plurality of tapered bristles, the tapered longitudinal sections of the first plurality of tapered bristles extending at least one-third of the lengths of the first plurality of tapered bristles, the lengths of the first plurality of tapered bristles being measured from the face of the head to the free ends of the first plurality of bristles along the longitudinal axes of the first plurality of bristles.

11. The oral care implement of claim 1 further comprising:

a second tuft hole in the face, the second tuft hole having a longitudinal axis and a transverse cross-sectional profile comprising a minor axis and a major axis, the major axis of the second tuft hole being longer than the minor axis of the second tuft hole;

a second bristle tuft mounted in the second tuft hole and extending from the face of the head, the second bristle tuft comprising a second plurality of tapered bristles; and

wherein the major axis of the first tuft hole is non-parallel to the major axis of the second tuft hole.

12. The oral care implement of claim 1 wherein the tapered bristles of the first and second pluralities of tapered bristles are tapered along at least one third of their length.

13. The oral care implement of claim 11 wherein the major axis of the first tuft hole is substantially perpendicular to the major axis of the second tuft hole.

14. The oral care implement of claim 11 wherein each of the first and second pluralities of tapered bristles comprises a longitudinal axis and a transverse cross-sectional profile having a minor axis and a major axis, the major axes of the first and second pluralities of tapered bristles being longer than the minor axes of the first and second pluralities of tapered bristles.

15. The oral care implement of claim 14 wherein the major axes of the first plurality of tapered bristles are substantially parallel to the major axis of the first tuft hole and the major axes of the second plurality of tapered bristles are substantially parallel to the major axis of the second tuft hole.

16. The oral care implement of claim 1 wherein the major axes of a first subset of the first plurality of bristles are non-parallel to the major axes of a second subset of the first plurality of bristles.

17. The oral care implement of claim 1 wherein the head further comprises a tuft plate, the first tuft hole extending from an upper surface of the tuft plate to a lower surface of the tuft plate, the first bristle tuft mounted to the tuft plate by a melted portion of the first bristle tuft protruding from the lower surface of the tuft plate, the first bristle tuft extending from the upper surface of the tuft plate, and the tuft plate mounted to a body of the head.

18. The oral care implement of claim 1 wherein the first plurality of tapered bristle are formed of polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate, or nylon.

10. The oral care implement of claim it wherein the tapered longitudinal sections of the first plurality of tapered bristles extend at least one-half the lengths of the first plurality of tapered bristles.

19. An oral care implement comprising:

a handle;

a head having a face;

a tuft hole in the face, the tuft hole having a polygonal transverse cross-sectional profile; and

a bristle tuft mounted in the first tuft hole and extending from the face of the head, the first bristle tuft comprising a plurality of tapered bristles.

20. The oral care implement of claim 19 wherein the packing factor of the tuft hole is greater than 90%.

21. The oral care implement of claim 19 wherein the packing factor of the tuft hole is greater than 95%.

22. The oral care implement of claim 19 wherein the packing factor of the tuft hole is approximately 100%.

23. The oral care implement of claim 19 wherein the bristle tuft has a polygonal transverse cross-sectional profile that corresponds to the polygonal transverse cross-sectional profile of the tuft hole in size and shape.

24. The oral care implement of claim 23 wherein each of the plurality of tapered bristles has a polygonal transverse cross-sectional profile that corresponds to the polygonal transverse cross-sectional profile of the tuft hole in shape.

25. The oral care implement of claim 19 wherein each of the plurality of tapered bristles has a polygonal transverse cross-sectional profile that corresponds to the polygonal transverse cross-sectional profile of the tuft hole in shape.

26. The oral care implement of claim 19 wherein each of the plurality of tapered bristles comprises a tapered longitudinal section and a non-tapered longitudinal section.

27. The oral care implement of claim 26 wherein the non-tapered longitudinal section extends from the face of the head to a transition point of the tapered bristle and the tapered longitudinal section extends from the transition point to a free end of the tapered bristle, the tapered longitudinal section extending at least one-third of the length of the tapered bristle, the length of the tapered bristle measured from the face of the head to the free end of the tapered bristle along a longitudinal axis of the tapered bristle.

28. The oral care implement of claim 27 wherein the tapered longitudinal section of the tapered bristle extends at least one-half the length of the tapered bristle.

29. The oral care implement of claim 19 wherein the plurality of tapered bristle are formed of polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate, or nylon.