Patent Application
20240138965
The present specification relates generally to a dental flossing device, and more particularly to a biodegradable dental flossing device.
The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present disclosure. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art nor material to the presently described or claimed inventions, nor that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
The flossing of one's teeth is generally considered as a component of oral hygiene, along with brushing and rinsing with mouthwash or similar products. Traditional dental floss consists of nylon filaments, which may be coated in wax, with the floss dispensed from a roll and cut to a desired usable length (˜40 cm) using a blade on the container. The cut floss is then wrapped or held between the user's fingers and guided between the teeth to remove food particles caught between the teeth and in the gum line.
Some people, particularly children, may have difficulty with flossing using dental floss alone, so dental flossing devices have been developed, the most common know as floss picks. Floss picks have a strand of dental floss secured to a handle, and may be reusable or disposable, with the disposable type being more common.
However, disposable floss picks are generally made from plastic or plastic-coated materials, leading to extensive accumulating waste estimated at thousands of tons a year. Accordingly, it would be preferable for a dental floss device to be designed from a biodegradable material, while remaining rigid enough to use for dental flossing.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improvements in the art.
In accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided a biodegradable dental floss device.
According to an embodiment of the invention, there is provided a biodegradable dental floss device comprising a handle portion and a head portion. The head portion comprises a head piece of shaped biodegradable material, having a first end and a second end, with a gap defined between the first ends and the second ends; and a strand of dental floss secured between the first ends and second ends. The handle portion comprises a first handle piece of non-coated rigid biodegradable material and a second handle piece of non-coated rigid biodegradable material, each piece of rigid biodegradable material covering the head portion and extending from the first ends to define a handle for the dental floss device. The first handle piece of the handle portion is adhered to the head piece of the head portion, and the second handle piece of the handle portion is adhered to the opposite side of the head piece of the head portion, with a biodegradable adhesive applied to adhere all pieces together into the dental floss device.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, all pieces may be formed from the same biodegradable material, including cardboard. The dental floss may also be formed from a biodegradable material, such as bamboo.
The shape of the head portion may be one of: semi-circular, rectangular and trapezoidal.
The strand of dental floss may be secured between the first end of the head piece of the head portion and the second end of the head piece of the head portion with a biodegradable adhesive. The strand of dental floss may be further secured between the first end of the head piece of the head portion and the second end of the head piece of the head portion via wrapping the dental floss around the first end and around the second end to secure the dental floss under tension.
According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, there is provided a biodegradable dental floss device comprising a handle portion and a head portion. The head portion comprises a first head piece of shaped biodegradable material, and a second head piece of shaped biodegradable material, each head piece of shaped biodegradable material having a first end and a second end, with a gap defined between the first ends and the second ends; and a strand of dental floss secured between the two head pieces of shaped biodegradable material, the strand of dental floss spanning the gap between the first ends and second ends. The handle portion comprises a first handle piece of non-coated rigid biodegradable material and a second handle piece of non-coated rigid biodegradable material, each piece of rigid biodegradable material covering the head portion and extending from the first ends to define a handle for the dental floss device. The first handle piece of the handle portion is adhered to the first head piece of the head portion, the first head piece of the head portion adhered to the second head piece of the head portion, and the second head piece of the head portion adhered to the second handle piece of the handle portion, with a biodegradable adhesive applied to adhere all pieces into the dental floss device
In this alternative embodiment, the strand of dental floss may be secured between the first head piece of the head portion and the second head piece of the head portion with a biodegradable adhesive. The strand of dental floss may be further secured between the first head piece of the head portion and the second head piece of the head portion via wrapping the dental floss around each of the first ends and around each of the second ends to secure the dental floss under tension
For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings and detailed description.
Other aspects and features according to the present application will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which show, by way of example only, embodiments of the invention, and how they may be carried into effect, and in which:
Like reference numerals indicated like or corresponding elements in the drawings.
The present invention relates generally to a dental flossing device, and more particularly to a biodegradable dental flossing device.
According to an embodiment as shown in
Referring to the exploded view of
The handle portion 120 is formed from two handle pieces 310, 320 formed from a rigid non-coated biodegradable material, such as cardboard. Each handle piece 310, 320 covers the head portion 120 by covering all of the head portion 120 by covering all of head piece 210. The remainder of each handle piece 310, 320 extends from the first end 230 of head piece 210 to form the handle portion 120.
As set out above, the handle portion 120 is adjacent to head portion 110. As shown, the handle pieces 310, 320 of handle portion 120 extend to fully cover head piece 210 of head portion 110. Accordingly, the overall shape of handle pieces 310, 320 and head piece 210 is generally the same within manufacturing tolerances. The overall shape of the head portion 110 and handle portion 120 may be varied as desired, and may further depend on the material used.
As shown in
The handle pieces 310, 320 are adhered to each other with a biodegradable adhesive, such as a water-based glue, to form the handle portion 120. They are similarly adhered to opposite sides of head piece 210. When all pieces are adhered to each other, the dental floss device 100 is formed. The adhesion between the pieces results in an effect similar to lamination, such that the dental floss device 100 has sufficient rigidity to be used for flossing of the user's teeth, yet the pieces are formed from an uncoated material in order to enable biodegradation.
As the intended dental floss device 100 is a single-use device, it is understood that the combination of biodegradable materials and the biodegradable adhesive is durable enough for the intended single use, while remaining biodegradable within a reasonable time period. Further, while the strand 130 of dental floss is sufficiently small that standard nylon floss may be used, it is preferable that the strand 130 of dental floss is also formed from a biodegradable material, such as bamboo.
As illustrated in
In an alternative embodiment, referring to the
As shown in
The embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications, variations and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve substantially equivalent results, all of which are intended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application.
The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. Certain adaptations and modifications of the invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the presently discussed embodiments are considered to be illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.
