US20140359955A1

US20140359955A1 - Toothbrush

Info

Publication number: US20140359955A1
Application number: US13/910,196
Authority: US
Inventors: Shou-Jen Huang
Original assignee: Acumen Co Ltd
Current assignee: Acumen Co Ltd
Priority date: 2013-06-05
Filing date: 2013-06-05
Publication date: 2014-12-11

Abstract

Provided is a toothbrush that has a handle, a head assembly and a gel. The head assembly is formed at an end of the handle and has a head plate, a tuft plate and a linker member. The head plate and the tuft plate are correspondingly integrated. The tuft plate has an outer surface and multiple tufts of bristles mounted on the outer surface. The linker member is formed between the tuft plate and the head plate. A gap is formed between the head plate, the tuft plate and the linker member. The gel is mounted on the head assembly and has a cushion portion embedded in the gap of the head assembly.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toothbrush, especially to a toothbrush capable of slight bending and wobbling for applying an enhanced hygiene effect on a tooth surface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As an indispensible oral-hygiene task of everyday life, tooth brushing eliminates food residues and dental plaques and stimulates the gums so as to facilitate circulation and to strengthen the pathogen-resisting abilities of tissues. A toothbrush is an instrument for tooth brushing. The fact that using a well-designed toothbrush provides significant oral hygiene effects has indicated the importance of toothbrushes.
Teeth are solid objects whose surfaces are not flat, while the tufted bristles of a toothbrush head are also solid in terms of abutting against the teeth, even though individual filaments of the bristles are resilient. As a result, the bristle tufts, which are not able to perfectly match the surfaces of teeth, inevitably leave certain unreachable dead angle and fail to furbish all the surfaces of the teeth.
With reference to FIG. 5, a conventional toothbrush comprises a base 40 and a tuft plate 30 mounted on the base 40. The tuft plate 30 comprises two fixed blocks 31 and one actuating block 32. Each of the fixed blocks 31 is attached to the base 40. The two ends of the actuating block 32 are respectively linked to the fixed blocks 31. Each of the junctions between the ends of the actuating block 32 and the fixed blocks 31 forms a resilient portion 33. A gap 34 is defined between the actuating block 32 and the base 40 so as to allow the actuating block 32 to drift and wobble relative to the fixed blocks 31 and the base 40, which enables the actuating block 32 to adjust according to teeth surfaces in order to decrease dead angles and enlarge accessible area for furbishing.
However, the gap 34 defined between the actuating block 32 and the base 40 of the conventional toothbrush receives impurities or scraps which are not to be easily removed and tend to provide nourishment for bacterial growth. Thus the conventional toothbrush may instead jeopardize oral hygiene.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a toothbrush to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the invention is to provide a toothbrush capable of furbishing enlarged accessible area of teeth-surfaces that is easily to clean so as to prevent bacterial nourishment.
The toothbrush in accordance with the present invention has a handle, a head assembly and a gel. The head assembly is formed at an end of the handle and has a head plate, a tuft plate and a linker member. The head plate and the tuft plate are correspondingly integrated. The tuft plate has an outer surface and multiple bristle tufts mounted on the outer surface. The linker member is formed between the tuft plate and the head plate. A gap is formed between the head plate, the tuft plate and the linker member.
The gel is mounted on the head assembly and has a cushion portion embedded in the gap of the head assembly.
On one aspect, when the toothbrush in accordance with the present invention is used to brush teeth, the combined and cooperating actuation of the tuft plate, bristle tufts and the linker member of the head assembly, as well as the cushion portion of the gel, decrease dead angles of teeth brushing and enhance teeth cleansing effect. On another aspect, the gel fills up the gap between the head plate and the tuft plate so that room that might receive impurities and scraps is eliminated, which leads to improved oral hygiene.
In addition, the tuft plate of the head assembly further has a through hole and the head plate further has a positioning tube. The through hole communicates with the gap and the positioning tube is positioned in the through hole. The cushion portion of the gel further extends between the positioning tube and the through hole and fills the positioning tube.
The gel further has a furbishing gel rod. The furbishing gel rod extends from the cushion portion and protrudes out of the outer surface of the tuft plate of the head assembly.
Furthermore, the tuft plate has multiple tuft holes formed on the outer surface for respectively receiving bristle tufts.
In addition, the head plate of the head assembly has a gel inlet. The gel inlet communicates with the gap. The gel inlet has a stepped inner surface, whereby the outer diameter of an outer end of the inlet is larger than the inner diameter of an inner end of the inlet. Furthermore, the gel forms a stepped portion within the inlet.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toothbrush in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the toothbrush in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view in partial section of the toothbrush in FIG. 1 shown without the gel;

FIG. 4 is another side view in partial section of the toothbrush in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side view of a conventional toothbrush in accordance with the prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the toothbrush in accordance with the present invention has a handle 1, a head assembly 10 and a gel 20. With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, the head assembly 10 is formed at an end of the handle 1 and comprises a head plate 11, a tuft plate 12 and a linker member 13. The head plate 11 and the tuft plate 12 are correspondingly integrated. The tuft plate 12 has an outer surface and multiple bristle tufts 14 mounted on the outer surface. The linker member 13 is formed between the tuft plate 12 and the head plate 11. A gap 15 is formed between the head plate 11, the tuft plate 12 and the linker member 13. Preferably, the head plate 11, the tuft plate 12 and the linker member 13 are integrated as a unified module. More preferably, the tuft plate 12 has multiple tuft holes 121 recessed in the outer surface of the tuft plate 12. The bristle tufts 14 are respectively planted in the tuft holes 121. Most preferably, a through hole 122 is defined through the tuft plate 12, wherein the through hole 122 communicates with the gap 15. The head plate 11 further comprises an inner surface and a positioning tube 111 protruding from the inner surface. The positioning tube 111 is positioned in the through hole 122.
With reference to FIG. 4, the gel 20 is resilient and is mounted on the head assembly 10. The gel 20 has a cushion portion 21 embedded in the gap 15 of the head assembly 10. Preferably, the cushion portion 21 of the gel 20 further extends between the positioning tube 111 and the through hole 122 and fills the positioning tube 111. The gel 20 further has a furbishing gel rod 22. The furbishing gel rod 22 extends from the cushion portion 21 and protrudes out of the outer surface of the tuft plate 12 of the head assembly 10.
With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, when performing tooth brushing, the bristle tufts 14 of the head assembly 10 remove food residues and scraps attached to the surfaces of the teeth, during the removal of which each tuft 14 transfers a reaction force to the tuft plate 12. Since the tuft plate 12 of the head assembly 10 is integrated to the head plate 11 by means of the linker member 13, with the help of the resilient gel 20, the tuft plate 12 is able to respond to said reaction force by performing slight bending and drifting around the linker member 13, thereby functioning as a pivot, so as to decrease dead angles and better cleanse the teeth.
Due to the gel 20, there is no room between the head assembly 11 and the tuft plate 12, thus no scrap or food residue would be left between the head assembly 11 and the tuft plate 12, which allows the teeth cleansing task to be accomplished without nourishing bacteria and improves hygiene.
Furthermore, the ability of the tuft plate 12 to bend and drift owes to a tenacious nature of the tuft plate 12. In addition, the gel 20 between the tuft plate 12 and the head plate 11 is resilient and adapted to deform according to the motions of the tuft plate 12.
As described above, the present invention employs the tuft plate 12 of the head assembly 10, the bristle tufts 14, the linker member 13 and the cushion portion 21 of the gel 20 to cooperatively decrease dead angles and enlarge accessible area of teeth surfaces for cleansing. The gel 20 eliminates room between the head plate 11 and the tuft plate 12 that might receive scraps or food residues after tooth brushing for improved oral hygiene.
In addition, with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4, a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises the aforementioned positioning tube 111 of the head plate 11 and the through hole 122 of the tuft plate 12. The cushion portion 21 of the gel 20 further extends between the positioning tube 111 and the through hole 122 and fills the positioning tube 111, so that the gel 20 and the head assembly 10 firmly adhere to each other. Furthermore, the furbishing gel rod 22 of the gel 22 adds to enhanced furbishing and polishing of the surfaces of teeth and makes the teeth look brighter.
With reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, in another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the gel 20 is filled and formed in the gap 15 of the head assembly 10. The head plate 11 of the head assembly 10 has a gel inlet 16. The gel inlet 16 communicates with the gap 15 so as to allow a material of the gel 20 to be injected between the head plate 11 and the tuft plate 12 of the head assembly 10. Preferably, the gel inlet 16 has a stepped inner surface, whereby the outer diameter of an outer end 162 of the gel inlet 16 is larger than the inner diameter of an inner end 161 of the gel inlet 16. In addition, the gel 20 forms within the gel inlet 16 a stepped portion, which further strengthens the integration of the gel 20 and the head assembly 10. Furthermore, the gel inlet 16 may be designed to form a decorative shape including a heart shape, a square, or a round shape to improve visual aesthetics.
Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A toothbrush comprising:

a handle;

a head assembly formed at an end of the handle and comprising:

a head plate;

a tuft plate correspondingly integrated with the head plate and comprising:

multiple bristle tufts planted on an outer surface of the tuft plate;

a linker member formed between the tuft plate and the head plate; and

a gap formed between the head plate, the tuft plate and the linker member; and

a gel mounted on the head assembly and comprising:

a cushion portion embedded in the gap of the head assembly.

2. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 1, wherein

a through hole is defined through the tuft plate and communicates with the gap;

the head plate further comprises:

a positioning tube protruding from an inner surface of the head plate and positioned in the through hole; and

the cushion portion of the gel further extends between the positioning tube and the through hole and fills the positioning tube.

3. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 2, wherein

the gel further comprises:

a furbishing gel rod extending from the cushion portion and protruding out of the outer surface of the tuft plate of the head assembly.

4. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the tuft plate comprises:

multiple tuft holes recessed in the outer surface of the tuft plate; and

the bristle tufts are respectively planted in the tuft holes.

5. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 2, wherein

the tuft plate comprises:

multiple tuft holes recessed in the outer surface of the tuft plate; and

the bristle tufts are respectively planted in the tuft holes.

6. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 3, wherein

the tuft plate comprises:

multiple tuft holes recessed in the outer surface of the tuft plate; and

the bristle tufts are respectively planted in the tuft holes.

7. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the head plate of the head assembly comprises:

a gel inlet communicating with the gap.

8. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 2, wherein

the head plate of the head assembly comprises:

a gel inlet communicating with the gap.

9. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 3, wherein

the head plate of the head assembly comprises:

a gel inlet communicating with the gap.

10. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 4, wherein

the head plate of the head assembly comprises:

a gel inlet communicating with the gap.

11. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 5, wherein

the head plate of the head assembly comprises:

a gel inlet communicating with the gap.

12. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 6, wherein

the head plate of the head assembly comprises:

a gel inlet communicating with the gap.

13. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 10, wherein

the gel inlet comprises:

a stepped inner surface; and

the gel forms within the gel inlet a stepped portion.

14. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 11, wherein

the gel inlet comprises:

a stepped inner surface; and

the gel forms within the gel inlet a stepped portion.

15. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 12, wherein

the gel inlet comprises:

a stepped inner surface; and

the gel forms within the gel inlet a stepped portion.

16. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 13, wherein

an outer diameter of an outer end of the gel inlet is larger than an inner diameter of an inner end of the gel inlet.

17. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 14, wherein

18. The toothbrush as claimed in claim 15, wherein