Patent Application
20220295973
The present invention relates in general to the field of devices for the care of teeth of domestic animals, and, more particularly, to a veterinary toothbrush having dual heads. The present invention focuses on a system for effectively fixing two existing toothbrushes together to form the veterinary toothbrush having dual heads. This may help to avoid tooling up to make a brand-new design that is cost-prohibitive. The toothbrush with dual heads may be used for comprehensive cleaning of the teeth of such animals.
In general, it is well known that domestic animals such as cats and dogs should have their teeth brushed in order to prevent the build-up of tartar and plaque along the outer surfaces and in the interproximal areas between the teeth. Such build-up prevention is important otherwise it may lead to gum disease, tooth loss, and unpleasant smelling breath. Many pet owners are reluctant to clean their pet's teeth because of the time it takes and the difficulty in brushing, particularly as the brushing progresses and the pet becomes agitated. In lieu of brushing the pet's teeth, many pet owners take their pets to the veterinarian for brushing. In a few instances, pet owners also like to perform the brushing of their pets on a daily basis. However, many of the available toothbrushes have only one head with one set of bristles. Yet, the prior art is replete with variations of toothbrushes that attempt to vary the formation of the toothbrush and/or the bristles to improve the effectiveness of the toothbrush. These examples, however, are designed for human use and are not particularly suited for pets as they do not allow for simultaneous full coverage of the mesial, distal and occlusal surfaces of the teeth, while cleaning and massaging the opposing teeth and propping the animal's jaw open, at the same time. These features are particularly beneficial when brushing pets' teeth because of the need to thoroughly clean the teeth as quickly as possible before the pet becomes too agitated. Few of the prior arts also disclose toothbrushes having two or more heads with two or more sets of bristles.
For example, KR20190048210A discloses a toothbrush having a flexible multiple toothbrush head, and more particularly to a toothbrush having a single toothbrush head type toothbrush or a conventional two-toothbrush head type toothbrush head which is fixed in a fixed shape with a predetermined distance therebetween.
GB2169499A discloses a toothbrush comprising a handle formed with a pair of elongate shanks, one end of each of said shanks being provided with a brush head and said shanks being connected together with their brush heads facing generally inwardly and being spaced from one another in an equilibrium position of the brush and movable forwards one another against a resilient bias, the connection between said shanks being spaced from the heads by a distance such that by pressing said shanks together against said resilient bias said heads may be pushed towards one another and towards the teeth with a variable pressure during brushing.
All the above mention prior arts and others (which are not mentioned here) disclose different methods and systems for manufacturing new toothbrushes for pet animals. Designing or tooling up to create a completely new toothbrush design is cost-prohibitive for such a low-volume item, and therefore invention herein proposes a system or mechanism for effectively fixing two existing toothbrushes together that can be efficiently and effectively used for pet's brushing. In light of the foregoing, the present invention focuses on a method and a system for effectively fixing two existing toothbrushes together to form the veterinary toothbrush having dual heads. This may help to avoid tooling up to make a brand-new design that is cost-prohibitive.
To minimize the limitations in the prior art, and to minimize other limitations that will be apparent upon reading and understanding the present specification, the present invention describes a cost-saving measure of connecting or attaching two existing toothbrushes to form a dual-headed toothbrush. The present invention focuses on various mechanisms such as pinning, welding, or dipping of at least two toothbrushes to permanently form a single brush with a dual head with bristles. In one mechanism, at least two existing toothbrushes may be plastic dipped to form a single dual-head brush. In another mechanism, at least two existing toothbrushes may be welded together to form a single dual-head brush. In another mechanism, at least two existing toothbrushes may be pinned together to form a single dual-head brush. In another mechanism, at least two existing toothbrushes may be joined or pinned together by performing a heat-shrink method in a manner similar to the plastic-dip method.
One object of the present invention discloses a dual-headed toothbrush for veterinary purposes. The brush may include dual heads that are opposite to each other such that the bristle surfaces are substantially facing one another. The dual heads are at opposite angles. Further, each brush head is supported by its own neck. The system has been designed to integrate at least two existing toothbrushes. Possible modes may include a handle adapted to hold two brushes, or a plastic dip that permanently fixes two brushes together, or a heat-shrink method that joins the toothbrushes in a manner similar to the plastic-dip method. The space between the necks of the toothbrush has the advantage of preventing an animal from biting onto the neck. The chewy brush handle may be produced using the dip molding technique. The silicone handle screws over the brush handle end that have the screw threads aligned to keep the brush heads at their intended positions.
The brush handle may use two over-the-counter toothbrushes such that it is holding them together at opposing angles to create a channel that allows the toothbrushes to guide between the teeth of the pet animals while achieving brush action on both sides of the teeth. If a pet animal bites, the teeth may go between the brushes keeping the brush heads on either side of the teeth. In some other exemplary scenarios, the toothbrushes may be used to guide between the teeth of a human being while achieving brush action on both sides of the teeth.
The brush handle has been designed such that it can hold at least two toothbrushes in a static position with the heads opposing at opposite angles in an intended position. This may be accomplished with a silicone handle where the brushes are pushed into the handle or with a handle that screws over the brush handle ends that have screw threads aligned to keep the brush heads at their intended positions. The handle may be produced using the dip molding technique allowing a user to use over-the-counter toothbrushes and insert them into a void in the handle which properly aligns the brush heads in opposing angles.
Thus, an objective of the present invention is to disclose a mechanism in which at least two standard toothbrushes may be fused together, clipped together, snapped together, or joined in any manner or held together by a handle so that the brush heads are met at opposing angles. When a pet animal or a human being bites, the teeth are captured between the brush head keeping the teeth centered on the dual brush surface and held in the track of the opposing handles ensuring brush contact to gums and teeth.
Various advantages and features of the present invention are described herein with specificity so as to make the present invention understandable to one of ordinary skill in the art, both with respect to how to practice the present invention and how to make the present invention.
Elements in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale in order to enhance their clarity and improve understanding of these various elements and embodiments of the invention. Furthermore, elements that are known to be common and well understood to those in the industry are not depicted in order to provide a clear view of the various embodiments of the invention.
The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the present invention, as to its structure, organization, use and method of operation, together with further objectives and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following drawings in which a presently preferred embodiment of the invention will now be illustrated by way of various examples. It is expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. Embodiments of this invention will now be described by way of example in association with the accompanying drawings in which:
Certain terminology is used in the following description for reference only and is not limiting. The words “front,” “rear,” “anterior,” “posterior,” “lateral,” “medial,” “upper,” “lower,” “outer,” “inner,” and “interior” refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the invention, and designated parts thereof, in accordance with the present disclosure. Unless specifically set forth herein, the terms “a,” “an,” and “the” are not limited to one element, but instead should be read as meaning “at least one.” The terminology includes the words noted above, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.
Before describing the present invention in detail, it should be observed that the present invention utilizes a combination of components, which constitutes a system for effectively fixing two existing toothbrushes together to form the veterinary toothbrush having dual heads. This may help to avoid tooling up to make a brand-new design that is cost-prohibitive. The toothbrush with dual heads may be used for comprehensive cleaning of the teeth of animals or human users. Accordingly, the components have been represented, showing only specific details that are pertinent for an understanding of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that may be readily apparent to those with ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. As required, the detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting but rather to provide an understandable description of the invention.
The words “comprising”, “having”, “containing”, and “including”, and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items.
The veterinary toothbrush having dual heads will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which should be regarded as merely illustrative without restricting the scope and ambit of the present invention.
In some other embodiments, the tail portions of each toothbrush 202a or 202b may be permanently fixed into the slots of the respective connector 204a or 204b. Thereafter, the user may insert a screw thread portion of each connector 204a or 204b into a hollow portion of the handle 206 and then rotate them together to tighten within the hollow portion. This integration process in which the handle 206 is adapted to hold two toothbrushes has been described in detail below in conjunction with
While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/162,153 filed on Mar. 17, 2021. The content of the above application is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63162153 | Mar 2021 | US |
