Manually held dental flossers

Abstract

A dental flossing device is characterized by a flossing circuit comprised of a flossing supply spool and a take-up spool mounted to a housing. The floss feeds from the supply spool along a pair of prongs forming a fork extension of the handle and is stretched across the prongs and appropriately tensioned to be inserted into a users mouth for flossing. To maintain tension, a pair of ratchet pawls are jointly engageable with a ratchet mounted for co-rotation with the take-up spool. The pawls are offset relative to the ratchet teeth to ensure appropriate tension. Tension on the supply spool side of the flosser is achieved with a tension arm in constant engagement with tension teeth co-rotatably mounted with the spool. When a floss advancing trigger is not depressed, a brake pawl formed at one end of the trigger is spring biased into locking engagement with these teeth while the tension arm assures proper tension on the supply side. In an alternative preferred embodiment, only one tensioning ratchet pawl engages the ratchet mounted for co-rotation with the take-up spool. A different ratchet pawl, mounted to one end of a ratchet arm pivotally secured to the flosser housing beneath the ratchet, is engaged by the trigger to drivingly contact the ratchet to rotate the take-up spool. In this latter embodiment, the brake pawl is replaced with a projection formed on the trigger that is adapted to engage the supply spool tensioning ratchet to lock the ratchet in the released position of the trigger to prevent supply spool rotation and maintain the floss circuit in a tight condition.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is directed to inventions that are improvements over flossing equipment disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,578, to Kossak et al. This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 975,558, filed Oct. 12, 2001, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 689,626 filed Oct. 13, 2000. All of the above patent / applications are incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] The present invention relates generally to tooth flossing and, more particularly, to manual floss holders for use in the avoidance in periodontal diseases. BACKGROUND ART [0003] Flossing is the only effective method for cleaning between teeth to remove plaque buildup which is the primary causative agent of gingivitis, periodontitis, and tooth decay. The most commonly used method of flossing is to strip a large piece of floss off a dispenser, about one and one half to two feet, wrap it around one's fingers, and to then work an exposed ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0016] In a preferred embodiment, the tension arm of the second tensioning element is in constant engagement between two of the supply spool mounting post ratchet teeth to lockingly engage the mounting post and prevent supply spool rotation when the trigger is not being depressed to advance floss. To maintain supply spool lock-up during trigger deactivation, a portion of the trigger within the housing and opposite the depressed trigger end is adapted to pivot into abutting contact with the distal end of the tension arm to thereby prevent supply spool mounting post rotation in the unwinding direction.

[0017] Still with reference to the preferred embodiment, the trigger actuating mechanism is neither directly spring biased nor integrally formed with an actuating pawl at one end thereof as is the case in the first above described embodiment. Instead, a ratchet arm is pivotally secured at one end thereof within the housing and the opposite end extends towards a position immediately adjacent the trigger. This opposite end of the ratchet arm adjacent the trigger is resiliently biased towards the trigger. An actuating pawl is formed to project upwardly from this ratchet bar opposite end so that trigger depressment is operable to pivot the pawl carried on the ratchet bar opposite end, as well as the ratchet bars, into driving engagement with a single take-up spool ratchet. With this construction, less force is necessary to depress the trigger as a result of reduced spring force and the advantageous location of the pawl at the distal end of the ratchet arm so as to obtain an improved leveraging effect.

Problems solved by technology

Otherwise, continued use of the same exposed piece will likely result in transference of plaque and bacteria from one interproximal space to another.

However, only the most conscientious individuals adhere to such a strict schedule.

This is because flossing is generally regarded as an unpleasant experience since there are a number of problems which occur during flossing which result in a failure to floss daily.

One such problem, for example, is that it can be difficult and painful for the individual to wrap the floss tightly enough around the fingers to maintain the needed tension, and then to unwrap and rewrap the used piece to expose a fresh piece to floss the next interproximal space.

It is also unpleasant to handle the wet, odorous, used floss and to wrap such material about the fingers of the hands.

Additionally, gagging may occur during flossing and it can be painful to hold one's mouth open long enough and wide enough to floss every tooth, particularly rearwardly located teeth.

Furthermore, it is often difficult to work with fingers from both hands in the mouth and the force applied to get the floss between the teeth can be excessive.

Often, the floss snaps into the gum causing it to bleed.

Furthermore, although floss is relatively inexpensive, quite a bit is used in a single cleaning and there is considerable waste, considering that the end portions of the floss are not used for cleaning but merely to be wrapped around each hand to provide the necessary anchoring for proper tension.

For various reasons, most of these devices, if not all, are not widely accepted or practical and have not resulted in the increased regularity of flossing among the general population.

One problem associated with the manual flossers of which I am aware is the inability of the flossers to impart sufficient tension to the exposed piece of floss during the flossing operation.

Not only do these flossers fail to provide sufficient tension, most if not all rely upon structures wherein the take-up spool is located within a housing.

This is extremely unhygienic, contaminates the flosser both inside and out, and creates an odorous situation.

Other problems associated with flossers of which I am aware is that the mechanism tend to be complicated.

If the floss in the circuit breaks, as normally occurs each time an individual flosses, it is virtually impossible for the flosser to rethread the floss onto the take-up spool.

However, the use of a water jet has been classically shown to be ineffective as a flossing substitute and only works on the outsides of the teeth and not interproximally, which is the area most vulnerable to decay and periodontal disease or bone loss.

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