Toothbrush

Abstract

A toothbrush having a toothbrush head with a top side at which cleaning elements for cleaning teeth are arranged. The cleaning elements and the head can facilitate the removal of foam, plaque and undesired particles.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to DE 10 2010 051 878.6 filed Nov. 22, 2010 and DE 10 2009 057 483.2, filed Dec. 10, 2009, the contents of each being incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The invention relates to a toothbrush having a toothbrush head with a top side to which cleaning elements for cleaning teeth are arranged.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]The utilization of toothbrushes to clean one's teeth has long been known. In general, toothbrushes include a head and a handle. The head includes a plurality of bristle tufts which extend from a top surface of the head. The bristle tufts generally consist of a plurality of filaments which are attached to the head in a suitable fashion. In addition to bristle tufts, some toothbrushes available on the market also provide elastomeric elements in an effort to achieve benefits such as gum massaging, tongue cleaning, etc.[0004]The use of elastomers at various points on...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007]A toothbrush constructed in accordance with the present invention can facilitate the removal of plaque and / or undesired substances from the bristle field. In some embodiments, foam removal, plaque removal, and / or undesired particle removal may be accomplished by utilization of lateral surfaces having a curvature that deviates from a straight line. An elastomer region at the lateral surface can be provided either with a constriction or a flat portion or a convex curvature, and the provision of a section at the lateral surface that consists of hard plastic and that is provided with an outward bulge or a convex curvature can facilitate this removal.

[0009]In contrast to the conventional rounded, possibly pot-shaped, design of a recessed toothpaste receiving region, the polygonal design of this toothpaste receiving reservoir in the bristle area makes it easier, after the toothbrush head has been packed with bristles, to trim the bristles that border the receiving region on the side to their desired length and round off their ends in order to achieve the desired topography of the free bristle ends. Because in a polygonal design of the toothpaste receiving region that is recessed on the inside, the centers of the bristle tuft forming the polygon as a tuft or as a plurality of tufts lie on a straight line in each case, it is possible that adjacent tufts that are not part of the polygon can be more easily pushed out of the way by means of deflector plates or displacers in order to trim certain regions of the bristle area to the desired length and / or to round off the ends in isolation from other bristle tufts. In doing so, the deflector plate is threaded between the bristle tufts of the packed head and subsequently pivoted laterally, making it possible to separately trim tufts to the correct length relative to adjacent tufts. The polygonal design of the toothbrush receiving region may certainly also be of advantage for those toothbrushes that are not produced in this way using anchor wire tufting but rather, e.g., without an anchor wire.

Problems solved by technology

However, a disadvantage of such toothbrushes is that, during brushing, plaque and other undesired substances can get caught between the bristles, which are then retained in the cleaning element field and thereby may have a damaging effect on the tooth enamel when teeth are cleaned and polished.

Images