US1452108A - Toothbrush - Google Patents

Description

Apr. I7, W23. rmszm J. H. CARTER Filed July 1 1921 Patented. Apr. l7, E923.

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. JQHH E. GARTER, OF CUHQES, YORK.

TOUTEIEIJBRUSH.

Application filed July 1, 1921. Serial H0. 481,889.

T 0 all whom it may concern: i

. Be 'it known that I, Jenn H. CARTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at C0- hoes, in the county of Albany and .State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Toothbrushes, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to tooth brushes and has for its object the production of a brush in which the cleansing element is constructed along scientific lines which adapt it for use in simultaneously cleansing the teeth and massaging the'gums.

To this end the invention concerns itself with the construction of a tooth brush having a head provided with a central. series of tufts of bristles and a marginal series of tufts of bristles which together not as a cleansing element but which are so differentiated in characteristics as to particularly adapt the central series of tufts of bristles to be used onthe teeth while the marginal series of tufts ismore suitably constructed for massage of the soft parts of the oral cavity adjacent to the teeth.

*It is well recognized that much of the' disease of the soft tissue of. the mouth and tit) the disintegration of tooth structure are due not merely to neglect. of cleansing, but in a large measure to lack of stimulative exercise on account of the soft character of the food to which modern civilized dietetics has accustomed them. The side walls of the teeth and gums are the parts more acutely afi'ected by this deficiency of exercise.

, In the treatment of diseases of the teeth and gums it has been recommended that articles difficult of mastification, such as bran or other fibrous material, be eaten to supply the stimulation necessary to the vitality of the parts, but, since it is more difficult to change the system of diet than it is to provide an artificial means for supplying the needed stimulation, the tooth brush forming the subject of this invention has. been evolved for the accomplishment of the latter purpose 1 In the drawings Figure 1 is a planview of a. tooth brush embodying the. invention. as seen from the at the center of the head back.

Figure 2 is a similar view from the front. Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of e 2.

Figure 4 shows a racer with the (shownin cross section) applied thereto in three different positions. v

igure 5 is a view of an anterior lower tooth with the brush pplied to the lingual surface thereof.

Referring in detail to the drawings thenumeral represents the handle of the tooth brush which is constructed preferably of a celluloid composition and is bent through a slight are as shown in Figure 3 for con-- venience in the use ofthe same. The width of the handle is reduced forming a neck portion as at and terminates in a widened oval head portion 3 in which the tufts of bristles are anchored. A row of'holes a is bored in one face-of the head portionadjacent the margin of the latter following the curvature of said head and diverging outwardly at an angle of about 30 t'osaidface. -Within the curvature of the seriesof holes adjacent the margin of the head and running in a longitudinal direction are a. plurality of rows of holes 5 bored perpendicularly through the head portion of the tooth brush. In the holes thus formed are anchored tufts of bristles 5 and 6 sufficiently separated one from another to be self cleansing. Those tufts which are locatedin the longitudinal holesare substantially perpendicular to the anterior surface of the brush and are about of an inch in height. The tufts secured in the row of holes adjacent the margin of the head extend at an angle of about 30 to the er- 7 pendicular and are about one half an inch in height so that the ends of the bristles of. both series lie substantially in a plane parallel to the anterior surface of the head of the brush. The tufts in the marginal row of. holes'are more flexible than those in the longitudinal rows of holes or inner! unit which latter are relatively stiff. The size of the head of the brush is such that the tufts of brush gums in more or less fixed relation thereto 31 while the rotary movement of the cleansing act is being performed, and are alternately bowed and straightened from one side of the brush around the end to the other side, forming a resilient support for the brush while the stiff portion thereof at the center is being translated over the surfaces, of the teeth. This makes. the rotary movement of the brush much easier of accomplishment than in the ordinary tooth brush which slides bodily over the teeth, and the shape of the bristle portion prevents the brush being poked with hurting violence into the softer tissues of the check or gumas frequently happens with the long narrow type of tooth brush. Moreover the broad oval form of the bristle portion and the divergent dlsposition of the tufts of bristles interposes a larger number of resilient tufts between the end of the brush and the tissues into Contact with which it may be pushed thus acting as an effective buffer to prevent bruising of the parts.' The soft tufts are designed also to enter the crevice portions of the sides of the teeth and to cleanse and stimulate the gingival (gum) margin and the adjacent soft tissue, thereby causing fresh arterial blood to flow to the parts building u a resistance to bacterial invasion. The tufts of bristles projecting beyond the end of the brush are adapted to extend beyond the wisdom (3rd molar) teeth to the posterior surface thereof which theuordinary tooth brush will not reach. v I V Figures 4 and 5' represent more or less diagrammatically several special uses of my improved tooth brush in which a: represents the tooth y the gum and a the alveolar process. In the full line position A of Figure l the stiff bristle tufts are shown in cleansing engagement with the occlusal surface of a molar. In dotted line position B, the tooth brushv is shown in cross section tilted at an angle with the flexible marginal tufts in cleansing engagement with the side face of the tooth and the margin of the gum. In the dotted line position C, the same brush is shown with-the, stiff tufts in contact with the side face of the tooth and .the flexible tufts in massaging relation to the gum. In

Figure 5 is shown a lower front tooth with the brush in position D having the flexible end tufts in engagement with the lingual surface of the tooth and the marginal portion of the gum.

While I have above described what I have found to be a very practical embodiment of my invention, it is nevertheless to be understood thatthe tooth brush ma exemplified in numerous other a ternative constructions and I accordingly reserve the right of adopting all such legitimate changes as may be fairly embodied within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A brush comprising a handle having a substantially oval head which is substantially elliptical in cross section, stifi' tufts of also be bristles carried by the central portion of one alleli'sm, and a. series of more flexible tufts carried by said head adjacent the margin thereof and extendlng in divergent relation to the tuftsv of said first-named series of tufts. a

3. In a brush, a handle having at one end a substantially oval shaped head provided with a rounded face, and tufts of bristles projecting from said rounded face, said tufts comprising a central series of stiff bristles extending substantially perpendicular to the plane of said head, and a. second series of more flexible tufts extending from said rounded face adjacent one edge of the latter and substantially radially to the curvature of said roundedface.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set w my hand in presence of a subscribing witness.

JOHN H. CARTER.

Witness:

MARIE CARTER.

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