WO2008019755A1

WO2008019755A1 - Improved toothbrush

Info

Publication number: WO2008019755A1
Application number: PCT/EP2007/006658
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lucia Russi
Original assignee: Lucia Russi
Priority date: 2006-08-17
Filing date: 2007-07-27
Publication date: 2008-02-21
Also published as: ITTO20060608A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a toothbrush (1) with a gripping handle (3) and a head (5) with a semicircular or 'U' form equipped with first, second and third bristles (7, 9, 11 ) for brushing, contemporaneously, the front, upper and rear parts of a tooth; the second and third bristles (9, 1 1 ) are arranged in a perpendicular position with respect to the surfaces of the head (5) so as to prove inclined with respect to the tooth to clean; the said second bristles and third bristles (9, 11 ) are realised with a length which increases progressively from the interior to the exterior of the head (5) so as to be suitable to effect brushing in a parallel manner to the vestibular and front surfaces of the tooth and to be suitable to clean, contemporaneously, both the vestibular, bite plane and palatatine/lingual surfaces of the tooth (6) and likewise the gingival epithelial groove and the irregular surfaces of the bite plane surfaces thereof.

Description

DESCRIPTION

Improved toothbrush

Technical field

The present invention relates to an improved toothbrush.

Background Art

There are currently very many known types of toothbrush: one category of these envisages toothbrushes which allow the contemporaneous cleaning of the front, upper and rear parts of a tooth, thanks to the conformation of the toothbrush's head, which is realised in a "U" or semicircular shape. In this way, the user, with a single movement, cleans all the upper teeth and then all the lower teeth. Examples of this type of toothbrush, on which the claim 1 premise is based, are described in documents GB-A-362332, WOA-86/07527 and US-A-4.757.570. Nevertheless the bristles of these toothbrushes, as it is commonly known, are arranged perpendicular to the surface of the head which contains them, and therefore also prove perpendicular to the surface of the tooth to clean: i.e. the existing toothbrushes all continue to realise a so-called 'horizontal' brushing technique, which presents precise limits. In actual fact, the horizontal brushing technique, which is the one most commonly used, results in an abrasion of the tooth necks and a retraction of the gingival margin in response to the trauma exerted by the toothbrush. The internal side is also often neglected. The so-called vertical brushing, instead, which is often recommended by dental physicians, proves difficult for users to apply and, in any case, does not manage to provide efficient cleaning of the internal side of the teeth. Disclosure of Invention

The aim of this invention is to resolve the aforesaid problems of the prior technique by providing a toothbrush suitable to be positioned on the bite plane of the teeth, so as to clean, contemporaneously, the vestibular, bite plane and palatine/lingual surfaces of the tooth without causing abrasions to the neck, and managing to clean both the epithelial groove and the irregular surfaces of the bite plane.

A further aim of the present invention is to provide a toothbrush, as indicated above, which is equipped with a hollow handle with an extractable end, wherein the end is equipped with an interdental brush and the handle contains a reserve of interdental brushes, to further increase the practicality of the toothbrush's use, furnishing it with a double cleaning function and thus preventing the user having to always utilise two different cleaning instruments for their teeth. These and other aims and advantages of the invention, which will better emerge in the description that follows, are achieved by a toothbrush as described in claim 1. Preferred embodiments and non-commonplace variants of the present invention form the subject matter of the dependent claims.

The present invention will better emerge in the description that follows of some preferred embodiments shown, purely in the form of a non-limiting example, in the drawings enclosed, in which: figure 1 is a perspective view which illustrates, in detail, an embodiment of the toothbrush head according to the present invention; figure 2 is a frontal view of two further possible embodiments of the head of the toothbrush in question in the present invention, showing therein its operative application to a tooth; figure 3 is a schematic view of an embodiment of the toothbrush in question in the present invention during the opening phase; figure 4 is a similar view to that of figure 3 which illustrates the part of the handle equipped with an interdental brush after its extraction; and - figure 5 illustrates the opening phase of the interdental brush in the present invention and the situation when the interdental brush has been extracted from the handle thereof. With reference to the figures, certain embodiments have been illustrated, of both the head and the toothbrush in question in the present invention. It will prove immediately obvious to an expert in the field that very many other forms, dimensions and arrangements of parts can be utilised, which are easily deduced from the precepts of the present invention, whose field of protection is limited solely to the claims that follow.

As shown in the drawings, the toothbrush 1 in question in the present invention comprises a gripping handle 3 and a head 5 equipped with a plurality of brushing bristles 1, 9, 11 ; this head 5 is conformed on the brushing side in the form of a semicircle (as illustrated in figure 1 and part of figure 2) or the form of a "U" (with straight or inclined walls, as shown in figure 2), and the bristles 7, 9, 1 1 are placed on the surface inside the semicircle or the "U" of the head 5 in order to allow the contemporaneous brushing of the front, upper and rear parts of a tooth 6. To this end, the bristles 1, 9, 11 are made of first bristles 7 suitable to clean the upper part of the tooth 6, second bristles 9 suitable to clean the front part of the tooth 6 and third bristles 1 1 suitable to clean the rear part of the tooth 6: the second bristles 9 and the third bristles 11 are arranged in a perpendicular position with respect to the respective surfaces of the head 5 that contains them, so that they prove inclined by the same inclination that the head 5 has, thanks to its conformation, with respect to the font and rear part of the tooth 6.

The main characteristic of the toothbrush 1 is that the second bristles 9 and the third bristles 1 1 are realised with a length which increases progressively from the interior to the exterior of the head 5 so as to be suitable to effect brushing with a movement of the bristles parallel to the vestibular surface and the front palatine or lingual surfaces of the tooth and so as to be suitable to clean, contemporaneously, both the vestibular, bite plane and palatine/lingual surfaces of the tooth 6 and likewise the gingival epithelial groove and the irregular surfaces of the bite plane. This brushing, parallel to the vestibular and front surfaces of the tooth, unlike the horizontal or vertical brushing, allows a deeper cleaning of both the tooth and the gingival groove, without creating trauma and the retraction of the said gum, as the bristles do not interfere therewith. In detail, but without limiting the present invention in any way, the second bristles 9 and the third bristles 1 1 have, preferably, a length which increases progressively from 3 mm to 12 mm, more preferably, from 5 mm to 10 mm, to clean more effectively, 6^th teeth, called molar teeth, whose height is, on average, equal to 10 mm. Other preferable measurements are the internal height of the toothbrush, which is equal to 7 mm, the toothbrush opening, equal to 6 mm, the distance between the base of the head and the end point of the longest bristle, which is equal to 10 mm, and the total width of the head, which is equal to 15 mm.

In further detail, the second bristles 9 and the third bristles 11 have an inclination with respect to the surface of the tooth to clean which varies from 1° to 45°, more preferably from 10° to 35°, the most preferable manner being 30°, which is the inclination which allows the best cleaning of the tooth 6 without abrading it.

As far as the handle 3 is concerned, the toothbrush 1 envisages that the gripping handle 3 is of an elongated cylindrical form and comprises a first rear part 14 which is extractable and equipped with an interdental brush 16 for cleaning the non-visible parts of the teeth. The interdental brush 16, as illustrated, is equipped with a brush 21 which can be located along the axis of the rear part 14 and can be immediately utilised in this position. It is obvious that the brush 21 of the interdental brush 16, as the latter has a metallic core, can be inclined at 90° with respect to the rear part 14 (which constitutes the operative grip thereof) before use and, after use, it can be repositioned along the axis of the rear part 14 so as to be arranged again in the handle 3. The interdental brush 16 can also be equipped with a second rear part 19 which is extractable and hollow inside so as to arrange therein a plurality of reserve brushes 21. As a variant, the handle 3 may be hollow inside, so as to contain a plurality of reserve brushes 21. With this solution, the user is no longer forced to carry and use two different cleaning instruments (toothbrush and interdental brush), as the toothbrush 1 in question in the present invention realises both functions with a single object.

Finally, the toothbrush 1 according to the present invention may also be equipped with a cover (not illustrated) for protection of the head 5: this cover is suitable to engage, with a snap fit, the gripping handle 3 for sealing the head 5. This particular snap fit conformation of the cover is also useful because the covers currently available in the shops envisage solutions which are difficult to utilise and often break or have to be replaced.

This outlines how a perfected toothbrush 1 is realised, the said toothbrush being convenient to use, low in cost, easy to realise, and allowing an effective cleaning of all the teeth and all the parts thereof with a simple, rapid and immediate operation.

Claims

1. A toothbrush (1) comprising a gripping handle (3) and a head (5) equipped with a plurality of brushing bristles (7, 9, 11), the said head (5) being conformed on the brushing side thereof in the form of a semicircle or the form of a "U", the said bristles (7, 9 ,1 1) being arranged on the surface of the interior of the semicircle or the "U" of the head (5) so as to allow the brushing, contemporaneously, of the front, upper and rear parts of a tooth (6), the said bristles (7, 9, 11) being constituted, for this purpose, of first bristles (7), suitable for cleaning the upper part of the tooth (6), second bristles (9) suitable for cleaning the front part of the tooth (6) and third bristles (1 1), suitable to clean the rear part of the tooth (6), the said second bristles (9) and the said third bristles (11) which are arranged in a perpendicular position with respect to the respective surfaces of the said head (5) that contains them, so as to prove inclined by the same inclination that the head (5) has, thanks to its conformation, with respect to the front and rear part of the tooth (6), the said toothbrush being characterised by the fact that the said second bristles (9) and the said third bristles (11) are realised with a length which increases progressively from the interior to the exterior of the said head (5) so as to be suitable to effect brushing in a parallel manner to the vestibular and internal surfaces of the tooth (6) and to be suitable to clean, contemporaneously, both the vestibular, bite plane and palatine/lingual surfaces of the tooth (6) and likewise the gingival epithelial groove and the irregular surfaces of the bite plane surfaces of the said tooth (6).

2. A toothbrush (1) according to claim 1 , characterised by the fact that the said second bristles (9) and the said third bristles (11) have a length which increases progressively from 3 mm to 12 mm, more preferably, from 5 mm to 10 mm.

3. A toothbrush (1) according to claim 1, characterised by the fact that the said second bristles (9) and the said third bristles (1 1) have an inclination with respect to the surface of the tooth to clean which varies from 1° to 45°, more preferably from 10° to 35°, the most preferable manner being 30°.

4. A toothbrush (1) according to claim 1, characterised by the fact that the said gripping handle (3) is of an elongated cylindrical form and comprises a first rear part (14) which is extractable and equipped with an interdental brush (16) with a brush (21) for cleaning the non-visible parts of the teeth (6).

5. A toothbrush (1) according to claim 4, characterised by the fact that the said gripping handle (3) is hollow inside so as to contain a plurality of reserve brushes (21) for the interdental brush (16).

6. A toothbrush (1) according to claim 4, characterised by the fact that the said interdental brush (16) comprises a second rear part (19) which is extractable and hollow inside so as to contained therein a plurality of reserve brushes (21) for the interdental brush (16).

7. A toothbrush (1) according to claim 1, characterised by the fact that the said toothbrush is furthermore equipped with a cover for protection of the head (5) the said cover being suitable to engage, by means of a snap fit, the said gripping handle (3) for sealing the said head (5).