EP1197163A2

EP1197163A2 - A toothbrush incorporating a replaceable toothpaste container

Info

Publication number: EP1197163A2
Application number: EP01500076A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Domingo Obradors Giro
Original assignee: Instituto de Higiene Y Servicios Dentales SA
Current assignee: Instituto de Higiene Y Servicios Dentales SA
Priority date: 2000-10-10
Filing date: 2001-03-26
Publication date: 2002-04-17
Also published as: EP1197163A3

Abstract

This toothbrush comprises a hollow body (1) with a head member (3) provided with bristles (4), said hollow body forming a handle (5) housing a toothpaste container (6) and a pump (7) provided to impel said toothpaste towards the base of said bristles (4). This toothbrush is characterized in that the pump (7) is actuated by means of an outer push (9) being mounted in a slidable arrangement on said handle (5), said push (9) having means being provided to engage the very body of said pump. The handle (5) has a lateral opening (10), said push (9) being provided to operate said pump (7) being fitted to said opening. Also characteristic is the fact that the open top (22) of the container (6) is capped by means of an open cap (23) extending into a cannula (21) towards the inside of said container.

Description

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a toothbrush of the type of those including in their handle a toothpaste container and a pump which when being manually actuated impels the toothpaste from the container towards outlets defined in the head member provided with brush bristles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Several toothbrush models are known at present which include a toothpaste container being generally arranged in the hollow handle of the toothbrush, and means provided for dispensing said toothpaste through orifices defined in the head member provided with the brush bristles.
In one of these toothbrushes the very hollow handle serves as the toothpaste container, said toothpaste being impelled towards the head member by means of a pusher device provided on the handle.
In other toothbrushes the hollow handle is semirigid and comprises in its inside a container which when being pressed expels the toothpaste towards the head member.
Other toothbrushes comprise a head member carrying piece and a toothpaste container housed in the handle, and between them a pump is arranged which when being actuated impels the toothpaste.
In the known toothbrushes of the above-mentioned type a cannula is attached to the rear nipple of the pump, the toothpaste container being at its open top fitted to the rear portion of the pump, the cannula being thus housed inside the container.
When in these toothbrushes the container has run out of toothpaste said container is removed in order to insert a new container with a refill of toothpaste into the handle of the toothbrush. Due to the presence of toothpaste remains in the cannula this operation turns out to be annoying for the user since the toothpaste remains drip therefrom and thus soil the user's hands and the place having been chosen to carry out the replacement of the container.
This is the toothbrush type being improved by the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The toothbrush being the object of the invention is of the type comprising an outer body and a top cap, said outer body defining a head member with the bristles fixed on it, and a rear hollow portion by way of handle housing a toothpaste container and a pump provided to impel the toothpaste towards the base of the bristles, said toothbrush having a number of design peculiarities whose purpose is to facilitate the actuation of the pump in order to obtain an additional toothpaste delivery with no need for the user to stop the teeth brushing operation, which is what must be done in the case of the known toothbrushes.
One of the main characteristics of this invention consists in the fact that the pump actuating means are formed by an outer push being mounted in a slidable arrangement on the toothbrush portion forming the handle.
Said push has means provided to allow to mount it in a slidable arrangement on an opening defined in the very handle of the toothbrush, and means provided to allow it to engage the pump body, in such a way that when sliding the push the pump is actuated and a certain quantity of toothpaste is thus impelled towards the base of the bristles.
The incorporation of this push and its arrangement in the forward region of the handle allow the user to actuate it with one finger to thus obtain an additional quantity of toothpaste while he or she is using the toothbrush.
This push has a rear appendage whose lateral sides are formed with guides allowing to guide it on the opening defined in the handle as well as to snap-fit it to said opening, said push being thus apt to be longitudinally slid while being guided on two of the opposite sides of said opening.
At the rear lateral sides the push is besides provided with two legs extending from the above-mentioned appendage and forming with this latter a U-shaped cavity being engageable with the open section of a piece fitted on the pump.
The main body of the toothbrush comprises an intermediary length having an initial, straight portion whose cross-section is sensibly smaller than that of the handle thus allowing to fit the top cap to said initial, straight portion, and a final portion being tapered towards the head member.
The portion of the toothbrush forming the handle is of sufficient length to house in its inside a toothpaste container to be pressure fitted to the backward region of the pump.
The replaceable container or refill for this kind of toothbrush obviates the above-mentioned drawbacks, and is besides made in such a way that it cannot be refilled thus guaranteeing that the toothpaste contained in it will be the original one, and precluding the possibility of refilling the container with inadequate, low quality toothpastes possibly being detrimental for the intactness of the pump and its proper operation perhaps even to the point of ruining the toothbrush.
In order to achieve said improvements the cannula being directly fitted to the pump has been eliminated, and the present refill has been devised in such a way that it does already incorporate the cannula, this latter forming part of an open cap capping the open top of the container, said original open cap having been tightly sealed at the originating site thus guaranteeing that the contained toothpaste is the original one.
Said open cap is fitted to the open top of the container by means of a peripheral tongue jointing arrangement, the rear nipple of the pump being fitted in a sealing arrangement into said open cap, the toothpaste being sucked up through said rear nipple, said open cap having been provided with an orifice in order to thus facilitate the ingress of air into the container.
These and other characteristics will be best made apparent by the following detailed description whose understanding will be made easier by the accompanying three sheets of drawings showing a practical embodiment cited only by way of an example not limiting the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 shows in a separated arrangement a side elevation of the toothbrush and top cap having been sectioned along a longitudinal plane with the exception of the pump.
Figure 2 shows a front elevation of the toothbrush body.
Figure 3 shows the push in a perspective view.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the push fitted to the pump.
Figure 5 illustrates in a sectional elevation the refill having been arranged for its use.
Figure 6 shows in a perspective view said refill with the open cap with cannula having been separated from the container.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

As can be seen in the above-mentioned figures the toothbrush being the object of the invention comprises a body (1) and a top cap (2) provided to be fitted to it.
Said body (1) defines a head member (3) provided with bristles (4) having been fixed to it, and a handle (5) housing a toothpaste container (6) and a pump (7) which when being manually actuated impels the toothpaste from the container (6) towards orifices (8a) and (8b) defined in head member (3) and in correspondence with the base of said bristles (4).
According to the invention the means being provided to actuate the pump (7) are formed by a push (9) being fitted in a longitudinally slidable arrangement to an opening (10) having been provided in a forwardly located region of the lateral side of the handle (5).
The push (9) has on its inner surface an appendage (11) provided with lateral guides (12) and legs (13), these latter together with said appendage defining a sensibly U-shaped cavity.
Said guides (12) have been provided for the purpose of being inserted into the handle (5) through the opening (10) to thus engage each of the material portions corresponding to the two opposite sides of said opening (10), the push (9) being in this way in a position to be longitudinally slid on said opening.
The legs (13) have been provided for the purpose of engaging the body of the pump (7) and fitting into the open section (14') of a piece (14) fitted on the pump (7) in order to have this latter actuated when sliding the push (9); this arrangement in this way assuring that each time the push (9) is actuated by means of sliding it towards the forward region of the toothbrush the pump (7) will be actuated, and this latter will hence impel a given quantity of toothpaste from the inside of the container (6) towards the outlets (8a) and (8b) of the head member.
Both the handle (5) and the container (6) can have a circular or oval cylindrical configuration.
The container (6) is replaceable and has in its inside a cannula (21) being provided to be fitted to the open top of the container (6), this assembly being fitted to the backward region (15) of the pump (7) and being shifted together with this latter when push (9) is actuated.
The container (6) has a cross-section that is smaller than that of handle (5), and is only in contact with the pump (7) and the inner surface of the bottom cap (16) of the handle, said container being guided on said inner surface.
Between the head member (3) and the handle (5) the body (1) of the toothbrush has an intermediary, hollow length (17) housing a flexible tube (18) provided with an open end (19) for the passage of the toothpaste from the container (6).
The tube (18) has been provided for the sole purpose of allowing the toothpaste to pass from the front end (20) of the pump to the orifices (8a) and (8b), and is fitted at one of its ends to said end (20) of the pump and at its other end to the inner, narrowest portion of the hollow region (17b) being tapered towards the head member.
The intermediary length (17) of body (1) is provided with a number of inner ribs (17e) serving as a stop arrangement for the front portion (20) of the pump (7) when this latter is actuated by the push (9).
The initial length (17a) of intermediary length (17) has a cross-section being slightly smaller than that of handle (5), and in the region corresponding to push (9) defines an enlarged portion (17c) whose outer surface is coplanar with that of handle (5).
This enlarged portion (17c) has been provided for the purpose of forming a surface for the push (9) to be slid on when this latter is shifted towards the forward region of the toothbrush in order to thus actuate the pump (7).
Between initial length (17a) and final length (17b) length (17) is provided with slightly enlarged sectors (17d) serving to snap-fit top cap (2), this latter being for such a purpose provided with innerly corresponding grooves (2').
It is to be pointed out that orifices (8a) and (8b) for the egress of toothpaste are of different diameters, the bigger diameter corresponding to the one being closest to the front end of the toothbrush; this diameter difference allowing to obtain practically the same quantity of toothpaste exiting through each of them when the pump is actuated.
According to Figures 5 and 6 the replaceable refill for the toothbrush comprises the cylindrical container (6) whose open top is capped by means of an open cap (23) extending towards the inside of said container up to the proximity of its bottom thus forming an assembly being housed in the hollow toothbrush handle (5) also housing pump (7) which when actuated will deliver the toothpaste thus feeding the bristled head member of the toothbrush with it, open cap (23) being fitted in a sealing arrangement to the pump's rear portion (15) provided with nipple (24) through which the toothpaste will be sucked up.
At the originating site this refill will be tightly sealed by means of a discoidal sealing element (25) fixed on the open top of the open cap (23), this latter having a surrounding, flat flange (26) provided to be applied on the edge (27) of the open top (22) of container (6), said sealing element having to be removed before incorporating the refill into the toothbrush.
Open cap (23) is fitted to the open top (22) of the container by means of a peripheral tongue jointing arrangement formed by an outer rib (28) being formed on the open cap and fitting into an inner groove (29) of said open top.
Open cap (23) has cylindrical sections and tapered sections whose diameter decreases towards the cannula (21). The rear portion (15) of the pump fits into the cylindrical open top (30) of the open cap, and the rear nipple (24) of said pump fits into a cylindrical portion (31) whose diameter is smaller than that of the open cap and which is followed by a tapered length (32) matching with the end tapering (33) of said nipple. This fitting of the open cap with cannula to the rear portion of pump (7) is a sealingly tight fitting because of the nature of the semirigid plastics material out of which this refill is made.
An intermediary portion of the open cap (23) has been provided with an orifice (34) to facilitate the ingress of air into the container (6) to thus balance the pressure when the toothpaste is sucked up by the pump.
The above explanation will allow all those skilled in the art to appreciate the scope of the invention and the advantages deriving from it without having to further elaborate upon this description.
The terms having been used for this description should always be construed in their amplest, nonlimiting sense.
Other materials, shapes, sizes and arrangements can be used for the elements provided that said variations do not alter the essential characteristics of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims

A toothbrush incorporating a replaceable toothpaste container and comprising a hollow body (1) with a head member (3) provided with bristles (4), said hollow body forming a handle (5) housing a toothpaste container (6) and a pump (7) provided to impel said toothpaste towards the base of said bristles (4); characterized in that the pump (7) is actuated by means of an outer push (9) being mounted in a slidable arrangement on said handle (5), said push (9) having means being provided to engage the very body of said pump (7).
A toothbrush as per claim 1, characterized in that said handle (5) is laterally provided with an opening (10), said push (9) provided to operate said pump (7) being fitted to said opening.
A toothbrush as per claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the push (9) has on its back surface an appendage (11) provided with lateral guides (12) designed to be fitted to the opposite sides of the opening (10) thus fitting said push (9) to the handle (5) in a longitudinally slidable arrangement thereon.
A toothbrush as per claims 1 through 3, characterized in that the means having been provided on said push (9) in order to enable this latter to engage said pump (7) are formed by two legs (13) extending from the lateral sides of the back appendage (11) and together with this latter forming a U-shaped cavity fitting into the open section of a piece (14) fitted on said pump (7).
A toothbrush as per claim 1, characterized in that the body (1) comprises an intermediary length (17) between the handle (5) and the head member (3), said intermediary length having a straight portion (17a) proximate to the handle, and a portion (17b) being tapered towards the head member (3).
A toothbrush as per claim 5, characterized in that the straight portion (17a) of the intermediary length (17) of said body (1) has a cross-section being smaller than that of said handle (5) in order to thus allow to fit a top cap (2) to said straight portion.
A toothbrush as per claim 1, characterized in that said handle (5) at its back end defines an open bottom provided for the positioning and replacement of said toothpaste container (6), said handle being as well provided with a closing bottom cap (16).
A toothbrush as per claim 1, characterized in that in the region corresponding to the base of the bristles (4) said body (1) has two orifices (8a) and (8b) provided for the egress of the toothpaste, said orifices being of different diameter, the one having the bigger diameter being located in the forward region and the one having the smaller diameter being located in the backward region of said head member (3).
A toothbrush as per claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a container (6) containing the toothpaste, the open top (22) of said container being capped by means of an open cap (23) extending into a cannula (21) towards the inside of said container.
A toothbrush as per claim 9, characterized in that the rear nipple (24) of the pump (7) fits in a sealing arrangement into the open cap (23).
A toothbrush as per claim 9, characterized in that the open cap (23) has been tightly sealed at the originating site, the sealing element (25) hence having to be removed before incorporating the container (6) into the toothbrush.
A toothbrush as per claim 9, characterized in that said open cap (23) is fitted to the open top (22) of said container (6) by means of a peripheral tongue jointing arrangement (28, 29).
A toothbrush as per claims 9 and 10 characterized in that said open cap (23) has cylindrical sections (30 and 31) and a tapered section (32) whose diameter decreases towards the cannula (21), said sections snugly fitting around the portion (15) and the nipple (24) arranged in the backward region of the pump (7), said open cap in said region comprising an orifice (34) for the ingress of air into the container (6).