The present invention relates to oral hygiene tools and in particular device for flossing and relating oral hygiene attachments for a toothbrush.
It has been recognized in the art of oral hygiene devices that it would be convenient to provide multiple functionality in a single hand tool, that is a means to brush clean the exposed tooth surfaces as well as another tool, such as tensioned dental floss, to remove debris and/or plaque from below the portions of the gum line that are not reached by a brush.
Prior methods of providing dental floss and a tooth brush in a single device attempt to dispose the toothbrush and the dental floss at the opposite sides of a an elongated stick like handle than the brush. Exemplary design includes those disclosed in US Patent application Nos.'s: US2003188761; US2003005544; and US2006260635, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,429. A shortcoming of this design is that it is inconvenient to grip the tool on the brush side when flossing
In an alternative approach, spooled dental floss is disposed on the same side of the handle as the brush, but on the back, opposite the brush. Such concepts are disclosed in U.S Pat. Nos. 6,772,770 and 6,095,157, as well as U.S Pat. Appl. No. US2002121283. The dental floss is generally tensioned on supports being threaded from a spool. However, in this design the spool and floss device can interfere with normal use of the tooth brush. Moreover, the bristles of the brush portion can interfere with the use of the dental floss. Such designs also present the problem that the spooled floss stored with or proximate the handle may be contaminated during use.
Another attempt to combine two oral hygiene devices is disclosed in U.S Pat. Appl. No. US20070100360 for a combination flossing device and tongue scraper. The device is essentially a pairs of tines that support tensioned dental floss. The tongue scraper is blade disposed opposite the tines and floss. In contrast, U.S Pat. Appl. NO. US200400237995 discloses a toothbrush having a hollow handle that conceals the refillable toothpaste, the dental floss and the tongue scraper. In contrast, the German with patent publication NO. DE19850325 discloses a dental care unit that comprises a sliding inter-dental brush, tooth pick and extensible dental floss set individually or all together in a head for fitting onto tooth brush. The inter-dental brush, tooth pick and floss can be turned to extend out and in by a rotary disc.
It should be noted that the aforementioned prior art does not provide a means for attaching a flossing device on a mechanical tooth brush head that the consumer chooses separately, such as an mechanical rotary tooth brush or ultrasonic tooth brush.
It should also be appreciated that the integrated designs of a flossing device in a tooth brush limits the consumers choice to a particular type of toothbrush, eliminating the options for a preference in a softness or the configuration of the bristles, as well as the option for use with an electric toothbrush of any type the consumer might already own.
It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide a more flexible means for supplying a single device that allows floss and various oral hygiene aids to be attached or incorporated to a variety of toothbrushes, so as to encourage flossing as part of an oral hygiene regimen.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a means wherein the brush and the floss holder/dispenser do not interfere with their respective operations.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a device that is more hygienic in that the floss is not likely to be contaminated or used multiple times.
In the present invention, the first object of providing a means for providing a flossing attachment for use with different toothbrushes is achieved by providing a retrofitable flossing device, which comprises a floss head having a pair of tines extending upward from a base for supporting a string of dental floss in tension, the base including a first latchable fixture, and an at least partially flexible elongated adapter having a closed distal end and open proximal end with the intermediate portion between the distal and proximal ends having a generally U shaped cross-section to latchably receive the elongated distal portion of a tooth brush opposite the bristles wherein the closed distal end includes a second fixture for latchable engagement to the first latchable fixture of said floss head so as to dispose the dental floss outward from the tooth brush bristles.
It should be appreciated that the foregoing device provides a means for more efficient and effective sonic flossing, as the flexible adapter can be applied over a conventional toothbrush, or any sort of mechanical tooth brush head, including but not limited to a sonic toothbrush head.
A second aspect of the invention is characterized in a tooth brushing and flossing tool comprising an elongated brush handle having a proximal end for at least one of holding or attachment to a machine, and a distal end adapted for mated engagement of a floss head, an array of bristles extending substantially perpendicular from the side of the distal end of said elongated handle and rearward of the portion of the distal end adapted for mated engagement of a floss head, a floss head latchably engaged in the distal end of said elongated handle so as to dispose a length of tensioned dental floss forward of the array of bristles past the distal end of said elongated handle.
A third aspect of the invention is characterized by a disposable flossing head comprising a base member having a fixture for latchable engagement to an elongated handle, a pair of tines extending outward from the base member for tensioning a length of dental floss there between, wherein the fixture is oriented so as to dispose the tines at an oblique angle with respect to an elongated handle when so attached such that the dental floss is orientation transverse to the direction of the handle and extends outward and above the end of the handle attached to the flossing head.
Thus, it should be appreciated that in the various embodiments of the invention is provide alternative forms for a single device for flossing and cleaning tongue that promotes better hygiene. The disposable nature of the floss head in preferred embodiment prevents more than one use. Optionally, other embodiments may incorporates brush/floss/tongue cleaner/inter dental cleaner into one device.
The above and other objects, effects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
Thus, it is generally preferred that the floss be placed between about 3-7 mm vertically above the top of the bristles.
Adapter 120 is generally tubular in shape but flattened and preferably closed at the end, having a wide slit 123 through which the bristles 11 extend when it engages the distal end 8a of the toothbrush 10. Adapter 120 wraps around the distal end of the tooth brush 10 on the side opposite bristles 11. It should be noted that the adapter 120 is intended to be made of a flexible material like a plastic or rubber so that it can be flexed opened before inserting distal end 8a of the toothbrush 10 as illustrated in
It can be seen in
It will also be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that the width and length of the adapter may be varied over a wide range and still fit a wide variety of commercial toothbrush sizes and shapes. However, to the extent that the adapter is target or intended for use with toothbrushes having a generally narrow handle it is more desirable that the adapter be sufficiently long and wide to effectively reinforce the toothbrush handle so that it does not unduly flex or possibly snap when the extra stress is placed on it for flossing. It should be noted that that the toothbrush or any other sort of extending floss holder handle will occasionally be subjected to high stress when the user is attempting to pass floss through a tight junction between teeth so that it can reach the margin of the teeth and gum tissue. It is also desirable that such an adapter accommodate smaller toothbrush sizes intended for children.
Further, it is preferable that edges of the slit in the adapter 120 that move apart are curved at the proximal end near the end grip portion of handle 8. This permits the insertion of the tooth brush by sliding it into the opening, distal end 8a first, in the direction of the arrow shown in
The adapter 120 has a locking member 101 for mating attachment to the floss head 110. Floss head 110 has a mating receiver 111 portion for coupling with locking member 101 on the adapter 120.
The floss head 110 is more fully illustrated in
It should be appreciated that it is preferable that the mating receiver 111 and floss head 110 are configured to dispose the tines 114 upward and away from bristles 11 of toothbrush 10. More preferably, floss head 110 also comprise a tongue cleaning blade 116 opposite tines 114, extending in the opposite direction from mating receiver 111.
In this embodiment, the mating receiver 111 in floss head 110 has a square shaft or bore 117 that is covered on the side closest to adapter 120 with a scored series of four diagonal flaps 118. The corresponding locking member 101 of the adapter 120 in this embodiment is a barb. When the barb is inserted into floss head bore 117 in the direction of the arrow shown in
Further, it is also preferred that the floss head 110 must be replaced after it is removed from the adapter 120, so that it cannot be used multiple times to promote better hygiene. Thus, it is preferred that the flaps 118 readily tear away from bore 117 upon removing the floss head 110 by pulling in the opposite direction of the arrow shown in
It should be appreciated that the device 100 of
In more preferred embodiments the floss head 110 is mechanically coupled to (or incorporated into) a sonic toothbrush to transmit sonic energy to the floss 112 for improved cleaning. In other embodiments, the device 100 includes a tongue cleaning implement or blade 116, and in the alternative the ability to attach other inter dental cleaning devices, such as interproximal brushes, r-tips and the like.
In
In
The mating receiver 611 may also includes detents adjacent to the T-shaped protrusion 612 optionally in the form of one or more flexible arms 613 that terminated with short laterally extending barbs 614. When T-shaped protrusion 612 is slid into the corresponding slot in toothbrush 510′ the arms 613 flex and then latch as the barbs 614 extend past the bottom surface of the toothbrush 510′, opposite bristles 11.
It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that suitable alternatives for the mating the T-shaped protrusion 612 and slot include any alternative shapes for sliding engagement, such as one or more matching teeth, a serpentine type path and the like. Further it should be appreciated that it may be preferable in some instances for the toothbrush to have a recess and not a protrusion, deposing on the exact configuration of these complimentary mating features the position may be reversed.
In another embodiment shown in
While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Thus, for example in addition to the alternative embodiments already described the tooth brush may have any style or array of bristles, such as rotary bristles as well as static bristles. Further, it should be understood that while it is preferable that floss 112 is pre-molded into the tines 114, it is alternatively continuously thread able between the tine ends.
The present application claims priority to the US provisional application for a “Flossing and Oral Hygiene Tool” having application Ser. No. 60/978,036 and filed on Oct. 5, 2007, which is incorporated herein by reference.
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