Toothbrush and method of identifying a toothbrush

Abstract

A toothbrush comprises a handle portion 31, a brush head portion 32 provided with bristle elements 33, The brush includes an electronic unit 101 configured to indicate the user’s name either visually

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a toothbrush and a method of identifying a toothbrush. Toothbrushes are widely used by millions of people and are known in many varieties. One of the problems arises when there are several family members living in one place and each of them is willing to use only his / her own toothbrush which is frequently located in the same area as toothbrushes of other members of the family. It sometimes is not easy to memorize which toothbrush belongs to what person, judging exclusively by color, shape or other superficial features of toothbrushes. Also it is not easy sometimes to determine how long a toothbrush has been in use and actually needs a replacement with a new one, e.g. for reasons of hygiene or the like. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly it in an object of the present invention to provide a toothbrush, which constitutes a further improvement of the existing toothbrush. According to the present invention there is provided a toothbrush as defined in the appended claims. According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a toothbrush which has a body with one portion configured for holding the toothbrush and another portion provided with tooth cleaning elements, and electronic means for generating a recognizable name of a person. When the toothbrush is designed according to the present invention, it is no longer necessary to guess who is a person to whom it belongs, his / her name is generated by the electronic means of the toothbrush and can be easily recognized. In accordance with a further feature of the present invention the electronic means is configured so that it produces a visual image of the name of a person. In accordance with a further feature of the present invention the electronic means is configured so that it produces an audio image of the name of a person. In accordance with a further feature of the present invention the toothbrush is provided with further electronic means which count a time of use of its cleaning elements and produces a visual image of the time of use. In accordance with a further feature of the present invention the toothbrush is provided with further electronic means which count a time of use of its cleaning elements and produces an audio image of the time of use. In accordance with a further feature of the present invention the one portion configured for holding the toothbrush contains the electronic means is connected with the another portion provided with tooth cleaning elements in a disconnectable manner, so that the another portion provided with tooth cleaning elements can be disconnected from the one portion and replaced with a new another portion provided with new tooth cleaning elements. In accordance with a further feature of the present invention means is provided for introducing and memorizing the name of the person, for subsequent generation of the name of the person. According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of identifying a toothbrush, the method comprising, on a toothbrush having a body with one portion configured for .holding the toothbrush and another portion provided with tooth cleaning elements; generating with electronic means a recognizable name of a person. There is also provided a method of producing an indication, e.g. a visual image, of the time of use of a toothbrush. Electronic means are provided to count a time of use of the cleaning elements of the toothbrush and produce a visual image of the time of use. This can be provided as well as or instead of the name of the person to whose toothbrush it is. The novel features of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself however both. As to its construction and is manner of operation will be best understood from the description of the preferred embodiments, which is accompanied by the following drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Examples and embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a view showing an electronic scheme of a toothbrush according to one embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a view showing an electronic scheme of a toothbrush according to another embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the toothbrush according to the present invention; Figs. 4 and 5 are two different side views of the first embodiment of the toothbrush according to the present invention; Figs. 6 and 7 are two different perspective exploded views of the first embodiment of the toothbrush according to the present invention; Fig. 8 is an exploded side view of the first embodiment of the toothbrush according to the present invention; Figs. 9 and 10 are two different side views of the second embodiment of the toothbrush according to the present invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION A toothbrush according to one embodiment of the present invention as shown in Fig. 1 has an electronic system including a control unit 101, an on-off switch 1 connected to the control unit 101, a keyboard 2 connected to the control unit 101, a clock 3 connected to the control unit 101, a memory 4 connected to the control unit 101, a display 5 connected to the control unit 101, a record button 6 connected to the control unit 101, a playback button 7 connected to the control unit 101, and a battery 8 connected to the control unit 101, the clock 3, the memory 4, and the display 5. The toothbrush of Figure 1 is for use with the method of the second aspect of the present invention. When a person wants his / her toothbrush to be identifiable, he turns on the electronic means by pressing the on-off-switch 1, then with the keyboard 2 enters his / her name, and with the record button 6 has it memorized in the memory 4. When he / she wants to find out what name is in the toothbrush, the person presses the on-off switch 1, then presses the playback button 7, and the name memorized by the memory 4 visually appears on the display 5. If a person wants to know how long the toothbrush has been in use, or whether it reached a critical time, for example 90 days, he / she enters with the keyboard 2 the desired time into the clock 3 and records it by pressing the record button 6. When he / she wants to know how long the toothbrush has been used, the person presses the on-off switch 1, then presses 4 the playback button 7, and the time memorized by the memory 4 or counted by the clock 3 visually appears on the display 5. A toothbrush according to another embodiment of the present invention as shown in Fig. 2 has an electronic system including a control unit 102, an on-off switch 11 connected to the control unit 102, an analog to digital converter 103 connected to the control unit 102, an input amplifier 104 connected to the analog to digital converter 103, a microphone 12 connected to the input amplifier 104, a clock 13 connected to the control unit 102, a memory 14 connected to the control unit 102, a digital to analog converter 105 connected to the control unit 102, an output amplifier 106 connected to the digital to analog converter 105, a speaker 15 connected to the output amplifier 106, a record button 16 connected to the control unit 102, a playback button 17 connected to the control unit 102, and a battery 18 connected to-the control unit 102, the analog to digital converter 103 , the input amplifier 104, the clock 13, the memory 14, the digital-to-analog converter 105, and the output amplifier 106. When a person wants his / her toothbrush to be identifiable, he turns on the electronic means by pressing the on-off-switch 11, then with the microphone 12 enters by voice his / her name, and with the record button 16 has it memorized in the memory 14. When he / she wants to find out what name is in the toothbrush, the person presses the on-off switch 11, then presses the playback button 17, and the name memorized by the memory 14 is heard audibly from the speaker 15. If a person wants to know how long the toothbrush has been in use, or whether it reached a critical time of use, for example 90 days, he / she enters with the speaker 12 the desired time into the clock 13 and records it by pressing the record button 16. When he / she wants to know how long the toothbrush has been used, the person presses the on-off switch 11, then presses the playback button 17, and the time memorized by the memory 14 or counted by the clock 13 is heard audibly from the speaker 15. It is to be understood that the visual system of Fig. 1 and the audio system of Fig. 2 can be combined with one another in different ways, to selectively reproduce the above specified information either visually, or audibly, or both. Figs. 4 and 5 show the toothbrush of the embodiment of FIG. 1, in which key button to the left 21 and key button to the right 22 are shown and used to introduce corresponding letters from A to Z into the keyboard 2 to memorize the name of a person and to introduce corresponding numbers from lower to higher and vice versa into the keyboard to memorize the desired time of use of the toothbrush, Figs. 6- 8 show the toothbrush in disassembled condition. The toothbrush has one portion 31 configured for holding the toothbrush and it accommodates all electronic elements of the electronic system. It is connected with another portion 32 provided with tooth cleaning elements 33, such as for example bristles, in a disconnectable manner. The portion 32 provided with tooth cleaning elements 33 can be disconnected from the portion 31 after a certain time of use of the toothbrush and replaced with a new similar portion provided with new tooth cleaning elements. A protruding tongue 34 locks the. portions 31 and 32 with one another, and it can be released by a push-button 35 for disconnecting the portions 31 and 32 from one another. A threaded end cover 36 closes a hollow interior of the portion 31, after batteries 37 are introduced into it, with interposition of a sealing ring 38. Figs. 9 and 10 show a toothbrush accordance to the second embodiment of the present invention including the components corresponding to Fig. 2 The invention is not limited to the details shown since various modifications and structural changes are possible, without departing from the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A toothbrush, comprisinga body with one portion configured for holding the toothbrush and another portion provided with tooth cleaning elements; andelectronic means configured to generate a recognizable name of a person.

2. The toothbrush of claim 1, wherein the electronic means is configured so that it produces a visual image of the name of a person.

3. The toothbrush of claim 1 or 2, wherein the electronic means is configured so that it produces an audio image of the name of a person.

4. The toothbrush of any of claims 1 to 3, further comprising further electronic means which count a time of use of its cleaning elements and produces a visual image of the time of use.

5. The toothbrush of any of claims 1 to 4, comprising further electronic means which count a time of use of its cleaning elements and produces an audio image of the time of use.

6. The toothbrush of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the one portion configured for holding the toothbrush contains the electronic means is connected with the another portion provided with tooth cleaning elements in a disconnectable manner, so that the another portion provided with tooth cleaning elements can be disconnected from the one portion and replaced with a new another portion provided with new tooth cleaning elements.

7. The toothbrush of any of claims 1 to 6, further comprising means for introducing and memorizing the name, for its subsequent recognizable generation by the electronic means.

8. A method of identifying a toothbrush, the method comprising, on a toothbrush having a body with one portion configured for .holding the toothbrush and another portion provided with tooth cleaning elements; generating with5 electronic means a recognizable name of a person.

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