US2304319A - Toothbrush - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 1942- A. L. SALTZMAN I 2,304,319

TOOTHBRUSH Filed May 31, 1940 INVENTOR. Al/Gl/Sff L. 8402M ATTORNEY;

Patented Dec. 8, 1942.

'roo'rmnwsu Auguste L. Saltzman, Orange, N. 1., assignor to Bristol-Myers Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application May 31, 1940, Serial No. 338,011

3 Claims.

The invention relates to toothbrushes; and particularly to improvements in the handles to such brushes.

An object of the invention is to provide a handie having gripping portions which are so disposed with relation to the head of the brush as to facilitate manipulation of the brush by either hand in massaging the gums. and in brushing downwardly over the upper teeth and upwardly over the lower teeth.

. Another object is to provide toothbrush in which gripping surfaces on the handle are so disposed with reference to the disposition of the head of the brush and the working face of the bristlesas to present the bristles correctly to the surfaces to be brushed, with a natural, un-

strained position of the fingers and wrist, irre- ,spective of whether the brush is held in the right hand Orin the lefthand.

Another object is to provide'a toothbrush handle which is so constructed as to permit rotary movement of the handle about its longitudinal axis to be imparted by the thumb and fingers with little or no wrist action.

A particular feature of my brush resides in the symmetrical arrangement around the longi-- tudinal axis of the handle, of more than two relatively broad gripping surfaces disposed at acute angles to the plane of the working surface of the brush.

The accompanying drawing illustrates certain typical embodiments of the invention. Figs. 1 and 2 are side and back views, respectively, of a The head I0 is of substantially flat, elongatedform, 'and carries a plurality of transversely projecting bristle tufts I2. The flat sides of the head, or the central plane which is parallel to one or the other of the sides (1. e., at right angles to the plane of the drawing designated Fig. 1) will be referred to herein, and in the appended claims, as the plane of the head. The. ends of the tufts may lie ina generally flat plane, as so shown, or in a curved or irregular plane, and reference to the plane of the working face of the brush is to be understood as denoting a flat plane which contains the ends of the tufts or which comes the closest to containing the ends of all the tufts.

The edges of the head 10 may fiare outwardly toward the right as viewed in Fig. 2, to the points l3, where they taper inwardly to form a neck H. The axis of the handle II is substantially straight, and the handle has a gripping portion l-5 provided with four gripping surfaces I6 symmetrically arranged around the longitudinal axis of the handle in theform of a diamond or square prism. The surfaces It are disposed at acute anlcs to the plane of the head It or to the plane of the working face of the brush. In my preferred construction each of these gripping surfaces is disposed at approximately 45 to the plane of the working face. Depressions ll of arcuate form, or other gripping means, assist in insuring a comfortable, sure grip on the handle. The gripping surfaces ii are of substantial area, and are co-extensive in the longitudinal direction so that the brush can be'rotated back and forth around the longitudinal axis by the action of the thumb and fingers with little or no wrist-action. The centers of the gripping surfaces l6 are equidistant from the head l0, so that, upon the aforesaidrotary movement, the thumb and fingers successively grip different sides of the prism without dimculty and without substantial change in longitudinal position of the grip.

The end' l8 of the handle may be of any suit- 'able configuration, and, as shown, is of square cross section, tapering down from the edge of the grip ii at first sharply, and then more gradually, terminating in a rounded tip i9. l

, The brush shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is similar to that which has been described with reference to Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, having a gripping portion 20 which is the same as the grip ii of the first embodiment, except that the depressions I! are omitted. The end 2| of the handle also is of modified construction, being of flattened form and arranged substantially in the plane of the head Ill. The form of the end of th handle is, of course, subject to considerable variation while retaining the principal objects and advantages of my invention.

In the form of handle shown in Fig. 7, the gripping portion is of frusto-pyramidal form and tapers into the end 23 in a manner to provide naturally to the left side of the teeth, or 90 in the opposite direction so as to present the bristles naturally to the right side of the teeth. By a simple manipulation with the thumb and fingers, and without substantial wrist action, the brush can be turned back and forth between either of these positions and .that shown in Fig. 7 so as to brush upwardly over the lower teeth on either side and downwardly over the upper teeth, and

to partially rotate the brush for massaging the gums. The same action can be performed with the left hand, so the brush is equally well suited to brushing all of the teeth with either hand. The edges of the prismatic gripping portion assist in the rotary motion about the handle axis, and the flat sides serve, in effect, as stops to bring the working face into proper position for the beginning and end of each stroke. This is true whether the brush is rotated by finger action or by wrist action. v

The terms and expressions which Ihave employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof; but recognize that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

I claim:

1. A toothbrush having a substantially flat, elongated head and a substantially straight handie, the head and handle being connected end to end and having a common longitudinal axis, the head having bristle tufts, the ends of the tufts providing a working face, and the handle having a gripping section consisting of four gripping portions symmetrically arranged around said axis I in a common transverse section, all of the gripping portions in said common transverse section being arranged in planes which make acute angles with said working face, the width of each gripping portion being substantially equal to the full width of the handle whereby they present broad surfaces serving as stops to bring the working face into proper position for the beginning and end of each rotation stroke about said axis.

2. A toothbrush having a substantially flat, elongated head and an elongated handle, the head and handle being connected end to end, the handle having a four-sided gripping portion which is substantially square in cross section with four sharply-defined comers, each of the sides of the square being disposed at an angle of approximately with respect to the plane of the head, and each side of the gripping portion being of substantial width and meeting adjacent gripping portions at an angle of substantially whereby the gripping portions serve as stops to bring the head of the brush into proper position for the beginning and end of each rotative stroke. I

3. A toothbrush having a substantially fiat, elongated head and an elongated handle, the

head and handle being connected end to end,

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