Patent Application
20160255948
The present invention relates generally to a type of toothbrush appliance and, more particularly, to a fingerbrush for use with infants, toddlers and children for simultaneously cleaning and/or burnishing multiple teeth and/or gum line surfaces.
Personal oral hygiene has been a challenge throughout the ages and may present even greater challenges to infants, toddlers and children who have not learned how to use a regular toothbrush. Various toothbrush structures and devices have been suggested for simplifying tooth and/or gum brushing procedures for these children. The aforementioned toothbrushes are sometimes designed to simultaneously clean multiple teeth and/or gum line surfaces. Typical examples are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,390, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 605,406, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 595,508, and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 617,563. The prior art toothbrushes provide multiple cleansing surfaces for simultaneous contacts with the labial, lingual, and occlusal tooth surfaces. As a result, the brushing procedures are greatly simplified and only require longitudinal reciprocal motion to cleanse the multiple tooth surfaces. As such, the example brushes are particularly well-suited for use by toddlers and children who have not yet mastered the use of the toothbrush.
The aforementioned toothbrushes and fingerbrushes do however have some important limitations. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,390 includes a handle. It can be difficult for children or adults brushing children's teeth and/or gums to properly use a handle when cleaning a child's teeth. Children may lack the motor skills to operate a toothbrush, and adults may not be able to use a handled toothbrush with the precision required to clean thoroughly. The other example brushes lack any type of means for massaging the gum line and/or protecting the finger of an adult user against biting while the brush is inserted into the oral cavity of a child to clean a child's teeth and/or gums. New teeth break through the gums frequently throughout infancy. As a result of the teething process, gums often become sore and should be massaged to soothe any pain. Also, when new teeth are forming, infants, toddlers and children may have a propensity for biting down to ease the pain, and thus it is important that the fingerbrush protect a wearer's finger from injury during biting.
Thus, there is a need, especially in connection with promoting oral hygiene in young children, to provide a fingerbrush able to simultaneously clean and burnish multiple teeth and/or gum line surfaces while, at the same time, also providing comfort to a teething child or infant and to provide protection against biting during teething to the person using the fingerbrush.
The present invention relates generally to a toothbrush type appliance and, more particularly, to a fingerbrush for cleaning and/or burnishing multiple teeth and/or gum line surfaces of an infant or child. The fingerbrush may be made of a pliable plastic such as a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). Other materials may be used for the fingerbrush so long as the fingerbrush is flexible enough to fit over a finger and also durable enough to withstand normal wear and tear including biting by an infant or child. The present fingerbrush may be fabricated in an injection molding process as understood in the art.
The present fingerbrush generally includes a sleeve type body member having front side, a rear side and a cavity for receiving a person's finger. A brush head is positioned and located on the front side of the body member. The brush head includes two side panels that are substantially parallel to one another and are approximately the same size and shape. A plurality of bristle members are positioned and located on and between the side panels. A plurality of vertically extending ribs are positioned and located on the rear side of the body member along with a plurality of raised projections. Both the ribs and projections can take on a wide variety of different shapes and sizes and can be used to massage the gums of an infant or child.
Once a user has placed his/her forefinger into the cavity of the fingerbrush, a user should make sure that the back portion of the finger is generally aligned with the bristle members positioned and located on the front side of the fingerbrush. The user may then place his or her finger that includes the fingerbrush into the oral cavity of the infant to begin cleaning. The brush head should be placed over the teeth and/or gum line such that one side panel engages a lingual tooth surface, one side panel engages a labial tooth surface, and the plurality of bristle members between the side panels engage an occlusal tooth surface. The brush head is then moved in a reciprocal motion such that the side panels and bristle members engage the various teeth and/or gum line surfaces in rubbing contact in order to clean and burnish the various teeth and/or gum line surfaces within the oral cavity. The user can also use the plurality of projections to massage the gum line of the infant or child.
In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith in which like reference numerals are used to indicate like or similar parts in the various views:
Body member 2 includes an annular base ring or flange 15 which circumscribes the base portion of fingerbrush 1 and thus provides additional support to fingerbrush 1 such that it stays on a user's finger when in use. The front side portion 5 of fingerbrush 1 includes a brush head 20. Brush head 20 includes a variety of components that may help a user in the cleaning and/or burnishing process, namely, components that allow the labial, occlusal, and lingual teeth and/or gum line surfaces to be cleaned simultaneously. More specifically, brush head 20 includes a pair of side panels 25 which are positioned and located substantially parallel to one another in spaced apart relationship and are approximately the same size and shape as illustrated in
A plurality of bristle members 30 are positioned on and between side panels 25 as best illustrated in
The rear side portion 10 of body member 2 as best illustrated in
The cavity 35, as best illustrated in
To use fingerbrush 1, a user simply places his or her finger into cavity 35 and aligns the fingerbrush with bristle members 30 positioned on the back side of the finger and the ribs 45 and/or projections 50 positioned on the front side of the finger. The fingerbrush 1 may, now be inserted into the oral cavity of a child to begin cleaning. When using the present fingerbrush 1, brush head 20 should be placed over the teeth and/or gum line such that one side panel 25 engages at least one labial tooth surface, the other side panel 25 engages at least one lingual tooth surface, and the plurality of bristle members 30 therebetween engage at least one occlusal tooth surface. The brush head 20 is then moved in a reciprocal motion back and forth with side panels 25 and bristle members 30 engaging the teeth and/or gum line surfaces in rubbing contact in order to clean and burnish the various teeth and/or gum line surfaces.
If a user is going to use the vertical ribbing 45 and/or raised projections 50 to massage a child's gums, the user may realign his or her finger in cavity 35 such that the front side portion of the finger is substantially aligned with rear side portion 10 of the fingerbrush 1 which includes the vertical ribbing 45 and raised projections 50. Alternatively, a user may simply use the back side of his or her finger to massage a child's gums thereby obviating the need to realign the fingerbrush 1.
Fingerbrush 1 may be made of a material that is formed during an injection molding process. In one preferred embodiment, the material may be a monoprene thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) material. A wide variety of other materials may also be used so long as fingerbrush 1 is sufficiently flexible to fit over a finger yet also sufficiently durable to withstand wear and tear such as biting by an infant.
The constructions described above and illustrated in the drawings are presented by way of example only and are not intended to limit the concepts and principles of the present invention. Thus, there has been shown and described several embodiments of a novel fingerbrush. As is evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited by the particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it is therefore contemplated that other modifications and applications, or equivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. The terms “having” and “including” and similar terms as used in the foregoing specification are used in the sense of “optional” or “may include” and not as “required”. Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications of the present construction will, however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and the accompanying drawings. All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims which follow.
