Toothbrush assembly

Abstract

A child's toothbrush includes a handle in the form of a toy, such as a rocket ship or a vehicle, and wherein a toothbrush head and neck easily connects and disconnects from the handle. The handle may also contain a hollow compartment for holding stationary a removable vehicle, figurine, other toy or sundry product therein.

Description

[0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 113,763, filed Apr. 1, 2002, the disclosure of which being incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.[0002] A. Field of the Invention[0003] The present invention relates generally to toothbrushes, and, more particularly, to a toothbrush assembly having a toy-shaped handle with an interchangeable, easily detachable head and neck, the toy-shaped handle also having a compartment for holding stationary a removable separate figurine or toy.[0004] B. Description of the Related Art[0005] Various types of toothbrushes having object-shaped handles are generally known in the art, and are designed to appeal to children to encourage them to brush their teeth for enhanced oral health. Examples of such toothbrushes that appeal to children include U.S. Des. Pat. Nos. 237,659, 443,765, 452,381, and 452,382 which disclose toothbrushes having handles shaped like vehicles (e.g., race cars, rocket shi...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Thus, the appeal of such designs is necessarily limited.

Unfortunately, this arrangement requires a separate unlatching member, and the reference fails to disclose a latch button that is located at the surface so that it can be finger manipulated.

However, the toothbrush head fits into a recess or socket of the handle through a frictional sliding arrangement, and there is no mention of providing a latch button that is located at the surface so that it can be finger manipulated.

Unfortunately, U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,664 fails to suggest that such a pop out item configuration can be used for a toothbrush handle.

Furthermore, none of the related art appears to disclose a toothbrush handle having a compartment for retaining a figurine, wherein the handle prevents the figurine from moving within the compartment and provides a display case for the figurine.

None of the related art discussed above discloses such a coupling mechanism wherein the toothbrush head and neck are detachably mounted to a toy-shaped or other ornamental-shaped handle.

This prevents the figurine from being damaged or moving within handle, potentially distracting children during teeth cleaning.

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