Toothbrush

Abstract

A toothbrush having a toothbrush head with a top side at which cleaning elements for cleaning teeth are arranged. The cleaning elements form various zones of care or arrangements to meet specific cleaning and manufacturing requirements.

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 057 432.2, 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. Often it is desirable to provide a toothbrush to a consumer which can offer a plurality of benefits. However, in order to create such a toothbrush, often times bristle tufts in certain areas of the toothbrush have to be treated or ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006]A toothbrush constructed in accordance with the present invention can provide a user with a plurality of benefits as well as facilitating manufacturing of the toothbrush. Additionally, 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, a toothbrush is provided having a toothbrush head at whose top side first and second cleaning elements for cleaning teeth are provided, wherein the first cleaning elements have first bristle tufts with a long and a short side and thus, in cross-section, an approximately rectangular or oval base. This can create toothpaste and foam carriers within the elongated tufts, which make it possible for foam to escape at the corners of the base where no tufts are arranged. As an alternative, first multiple or compound bristle tufts are provided, each of which may have a circular cross-section; however, because they are strung together along a straight line each, the result is a square or rhombic bristle arrangement. Accordingly, for a rhombus, four straight lines are provided, each having several bristle tufts. These tufts are designed to be longer the than cleaning elements arranged within the polygon (e.g., the rhombus), resulting in the formation of a recessed, in particular trough-like, toothpaste receiving reservoir that is surrounded by tufts. This contributes to the toothpaste gradually distributing in the oral cavity during tooth brushing. According to the alternative design, the “corners” of the rhombus, square, or other polygon are formed by bristle tufts, and according to the embodiment having tufts with a short and a long side by interstices without forming a corner in the strictly geometric sense.

[0007]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

One disadvantage to such toothbrushes is that as the number of benefits provided by the toothbrush increase, often so does the complexity in manufacturing increase.

A further disadvantage of known toothbrushes is that, during brushing, plaque and other undesired substances can get caught between the bristles, which are then retained in the bristle area and thereby may have a damaging effect on the tooth enamel when teeth are cleaned and polished.

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