A TOOTHBRUSHThis invention relates to a toothbrush and more particularly to an improved toothbrush bristle arrangement.
Various designs of toothbrush bristles are available, including the arrangement and height of the bristle tufts, to improve the cleaning properties of the brush. However, none of these address the problem of reaching the gums of the user where the teeth emerge.
This area of the mouth is particularly prone to the collection of food particles which, unless removed, cause plaque to form, often leading to tooth decay.
An aim of the present invention is to provide a toothbrush which is designed to reach the edges of the user's gums where the teeth emerge.
According to the present invention there is provided a toothbrush comprising a handle joined by a neck to a head with an array of bristle or filament tufts, wherein the central area of tufts is of a first height, the tufts at the free end of the head of a greater height and tufts at opposite sides of the bristles having a greater height than the other tufts.
Preferably, the tufts at opposite sides of the bristles are in rows.
Conveniently, the handle has inserts of a resilient material to improve the grip on the handle.
In one construction an insert having needle shaped projections is located in a recess on the underside of the handle, the needle shaped projections passing through holes formed in the top of the handle to form a grip for the thumb of the user.
In a preferred construction, the inserts are of a contrasting colour to the brush handle, neck and head.
An embodiment of the improved toothbrush will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the toothbrush head;Fig. 2 is a plan view of the toothbrush;Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the toothbrush shown in Fig. 2; andFig. 4 is an underneath plan view of the toothbrush shown in Figs. 2 and 3.
The toothbrush comprises a handle 1 connected by a neck 3 to a head 2 with an array of bristle or filament tufts. The handle is moulded from a hard plastics material, i.e. polypropelene and enlarges from its neck towards the rear end, the upper side of the handle curving upwards from the neck towards the rear end.
The upper surface of the handle 1 has an insert 4 of a contrasting coloured soft and resilient plastics material e.g. an elastomeric material sold under the trade name Thermoflex having a hardness of 20 shore A-55Shore D to that of the brush handle. The underside of the handle has a recess 5 in which is fitted a generally triangular shaped insert 6 of a soft plastics material corresponding to the insert 4. The insert 6 has a plurality of needle shaped projections 7 which project upwards through a corresponding number of holes 8 in the upper surface of the handle to form a resilient grip for the thumb of the user.
The improved array of bristle tufts is illustrated in an enlarged fragmentary view shown in Fig. 1 and comprises a central area of two rows of tufts 9 of a first height with five tufts 10 at the free end of the head of a greater height than tufts 9. A single row of tufts 11, of a greater height than the tufts 10, is arranged at each side of the head. It will be apparent that in the course of brushing the teeth, the central area of tufts 9 brush the upper surfaces and when the brush is turned through 900, these tufts brush the sides of the teeth. The tufts 10 at the free end of the head brush the spaces between the teeth while the rows of tufts 11 brush the teeth along the line of the gums at the inside and the outside of the teeth respectively.