US20100101031A1

US20100101031A1 - Toothbrush

Info

Publication number: US20100101031A1
Application number: US12/227,998
Authority: US
Inventors: Anthony John Hodgkison
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-06-08
Filing date: 2007-06-07
Publication date: 2010-04-29
Also published as: WO2007141531A1; GB0611397D0; EP2028968A1

Abstract

A toothbrush is disclosed which in contrast to presently available toothbrushes on the market can be operated solely by finger and thumb movement and pressure. By these means all brushing movements or strokes be they horizontal, vertical or rotational are more easily executed by the user than with presently known toothbrushes with which, due to their design, horizontal scrubbing becomes the normal method of cleaning the teeth.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to toothbrushes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The predominant type of toothbrush on the market today and which has been used over many years since the late 1930s when the advent of nylon bristles and plastic handles made toothbrushes more affordable, have employed the use of a brush head attached to a long handle for operating the toothbrush.
In the majority of cases, the body of the toothbrush head is arranged longitudinally of the handle so that whereas of course such designs permit users to clean their teeth with a mixture of vertical, horizontal and rotational movement of the brush head around the teeth particularly the generally recommended vertical brushing by dentists to facilitate removal of debris between the teeth, the presence of the long handle requires a large amount of wrist movement and does not encourage the user to manipulate the brush head vertically. Thus horizontal scrubbing by a toothbrush user with conventional long handled toothbrushes often becomes the norm.
Electrical toothbrushes nowadays have above 50% of the market and are probably more effective for cleaning, utilising a rotating or oscillating action.
They have disadvantages however since they are not conveniently portable and function less efficiently if not charged regularly and adequately. They also employ long handles as with the manual type of toothbrush.
In prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,768 there is described a toothbrush designed to dissuade users from habitually brushing their teeth with horizontal push and pull movements and in a direction parallel to the rows of teeth from the incisors to the molars.
The toothbrush disclosed in this prior document has a specially designed long handle which when held in the hand and used promotes a certain arm and wrist movement so as to cause the bristle head of the toothbrush naturally to brush the teeth with transverse vertical movements while not of course precluding horizontally directed strokes.
This is in comparison to other long handled toothbrushes well known in the prior art which again require a certain amount of wrist and arm action but which by so doing and as a result of the handle design naturally facilitates horizontal brushing rather than vertical up and down application of the bristles which is now recommended by dentists.
While the aim of the cited patent is essentially to achieve the same results as that of the present invention, it still requires the same amount of wrist and arm manipulations to achieve the results required when brushing teeth as is the case with all prior conventional toothbrushes which is an aspect of such conventional toothbrushes which the present invention aims to avoid.
It is to meet the problems and deficiencies of the prior art that the toothbrush of the present invention has been conceived. In particular it is an object of the invention to provide a toothbrush which can be readily operated by finger and thumb movement and pressure so that all the required brushing movements or stokes be they horizontal, vertical or rotational are more easily achievable by the user than with the prior art and to the extent that horizontal scrubbing does not become the normal method of cleaning.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a toothbrush comprising a bristled head, a shaft attached at one end to the head and provided is at the other end with a formation having a rearward part which defines the end . of the toothbrush, and means on a forward part of the formation which, with the rearward part held within the hand, can be engaged by the fingers and thumb of the hand to manipulate the orientation and movement of the bristle head in the users mouth thereby to execute vertical, horizontal and rotational strokes to clean the users teeth.
An advantage of the invention as above defined in that in use, whereas in the prior art a large amount of wrist movement is necessary to clean the teeth with attendant difficulty in manipulating the brush vertically, the amount of wrist movement is minimalised in that the orientation and manipulation of the brush is done by finger and thumb action with the enlarged or bulbous formation within the hand acting to give stability to the brushing movement as a whole to achieve vertical as well as rotational cleaning of the teeth, and so as not to limit cleaning to horizontal scrubbing which can damage the teeth.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment taken with reference to the drawings accompanying this application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein;

FIG. 1 is a side view of the toothbrush according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an end view of the toothbrush along the direction A-A in FIG. 1.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The toothbrush shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a rectilinear shaft 1 within the range 5-6 cm in length.
A circular brush head 2 is attached to one end of the shaft 1 as shown. Although not shown in the drawings the circular brush head could be rotatably mounted to the shaft. The axis of the brush head 2 is at right angles to the axis of the shaft 1. The circular form of the bristles 3 of the brush head 2 is preferred. Other types such as of squareish form would be just as useful. As shown the brush head 2 may be more rounded off or reduced in size along the dotted line 2 ¹.
Although not illustrated, the brush head 2, as well as being rotatable could be freely mounted for short up and down movements along the length of the shaft 1. These movements could be operated electrically by means known to one skilled in the art.
The shaft 1 has an increasing cross section to the point 4 where it is joined to an enlarged or bulbous base 5 forming the end of the toothbrush. Although not shown in detail in the drawings the shaft 1 is replaceably mounted to the bulbous base 5 as by push-fit engagement or other suitable means understandable to one skilled in the art. The extent of the bulbous base 5 from point 4 is with the range is 5-6 cm in length giving a total length of toothbrush of around 11 cm. The maximum cross section of the bulbous based 5 is around 31 mm. It will be apparent therefore that the overall size of the toothbrush is small compared to conventional toothbrushes, which provides the toothbrush with increased versatility in use not provided for in the prior art.
The bulbous formation 5 has a collar 6 around the shaft 1 forming a circumferential transverse ledge 7.
The cross-section of the collar 6 is triangular forming three individual perpendicular wall parts 8. Each wall part 8 is serrated at 9 as shown.
The bulbous formation 5 has an end section 10 of greater cross-sectional area than the collar 6 and is joined to the collar by a waisted portion 11 the most reduced cross-section 12 of which is smaller than that of the collar 6.
The end of the bulbous formation 5 is rounded at 13 as shown.
In a preferred embodiment, although not shown in the illustration, the rounded portion 13 could be flattened off and internally weighted to allow the toothbrush to be rested on a flat surface when not in use.
The outer size and shape of the end-section 10 of the bulbous formation 5 is so determined that in use it can be positioned within the hand with the thumb and fingers, say the fore and middle fingers for example, engaging the serrated walls 8 of the collar 6 with the middle finger in the waisted portion 11.
In use the brush head is inserted in the mouth and orientated by means of the fingers and thumb of the hand engaging the wall parts 8 and waisted position 11 so as to perform vertical, horizontal and rotational movements of the brush head 2 within the mouth. By means of the design of the bulbous formation as so described, ease and stability of rotation and twirling of the bulbous handle within the palm of the hand is facilitated to access upper and lower teeth on inside and outside surfaces using vertical and rotational strokes with biting surfaces cleaned by horizontal movement.
The increased circumference above the neck of the bulbous handle 5 formed by the ledge 7 so described, acts further to prevent and discourage horizontal scrubbing of outer tooth surfaces, since it contacts the users mouth during use as a result of the chosen length of the shaft 1 thus acting as a form of blocking mechanism to the too vigorous use of the toothbrush in the horizontal direction.
As alluded to earlier, the tooth brush according to the invention and as described above as a preferred embodiment thereof, represents a whole new radical approach to the cleaning of teeth. Its small size and more user-friendly construction in relation to the bulky and sometimes cumbersome conventional designs presently available, is striking, as well as the fact that it provides the important attribute of being easier to manipulate the toothbrush in a users mouth and execute those cleaning movements which are the most beneficial from the standpoint of oral hygiene.

Claims

1. A toothbrush comprising a bristled head, a shaft attached at one end to the head and provided at the other end with a formation having a rearward part which defines the end of the toothbrush, and means on a forward part of the formation which, with the rearward part held within the hand, can be engaged by the fingers and thumb of the hand to manipulate the orientation and movement of the bristle head in the users mouth thereby to execute vertical, horizontal and rotational strokes to clean the users teeth.

2. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 1 wherein the formation is provided with an abutment in the form of a circumferential ledge around the shaft.

3. A toothbrush comprising a bristled head, a shaft attached to the head, a bulbous formation at the base of the shaft shaped to be held within the hand, means on the bulbous formation which, with the formation held within the hand, can be engaged by the fingers and thumb of the hand to manipulate the orientation and movement of the bristle head in the users mouth, and an abutment on said formation positioned at a spacing from said bristled head so as to engage the users mouth during brushing thereby to discourage brush strokes in a direction along the line of the teeth whilst facilitating those In a direction transverse thereto.

4. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 3 wherein the abutment is a circumferential ledge around the shaft.

5. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 2 or 3 wherein said means on the formation to be engaged by the fingers and thumb of the hand includes a perpendicular wall section depending from said ledge.

6. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 5 wherein a waisted portion extends between the ledge and wall section which form a collar around the shaft and the rearward part of the formation in which it is possible to position the middle finger of the band when operating the toothbrush with the forefinger and thumb around the wall section.

7. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 6 wherein the rearward part is of larger cross section than the collar formed by said ledge and said depending wall section.

8. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 7 wherein said depending wall section around said shaft is triangular in cross-section forming three individual wall parts.

9. A toothbrush as claimed in the claim 8 wherein each wall part is serrated.

10. A toothbrush as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the axis of the bristled head is at right-angles to the axis of the shaft.

11. A tooth brush as claimed in claim 10 wherein the bristled head is of circumferential cross-section.