US20240260736A1

Movatterモバイル変換

Info

Publication number: US20240260736A1
Application number: US18/165,731
Authority: US
Inventors: Andrew VARGO
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2023-02-07
Filing date: 2023-02-07
Publication date: 2024-08-08
Also published as: WO2024167881A1

Abstract

A toothbrush head assembly including a bristle plate having a plurality of bristles extending from one side thereof, a holding plate having a smaller diameter than the bristle plate; and a neck portion connecting the bristle plate and the holding plate and having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the holding plate, and a gasket configured to be press fit over the neck portion such that while the holding plate extends through a hole formed in a handle the gasket becomes press fit into the hole to secure the toothbrush head assembly to the handle.

Description

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of this disclosure contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the photocopy reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure in exactly the form it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 37 C.F.R 1.71(d).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIVE CONCEPT1. Field of the Invention

The present inventive concept relates to a toothbrush head assembly which attaches to and detaches from a hole-punch through a flat device for existing gear. More particularly, but not exclusively, this inventive concept relates to a toothbrush head assembly with bristles, which can attach to and detach from any existing handle or other object having a hole-punch formed therethrough.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Toothbrushes are clearly known to be vital devices for healthcare. The length and size of a common toothbrush is approximately 6 to 7 inches in length, which requires a kit of greater length and weight to store the toothbrush when traveling. Further, backpackers and long duration hikers must take into consideration the extra weight in carrying such vital toothbrushes when traveling by foot. In addition, the handles on toothbrushes modified for hiking are generally formed of an insufficient length to keep unclean hands away from one's mouth when on a trail all day. These brushes also provide insufficient leverage to correctly clean, or have a handle that can be unnecessarily burdensome.

U.S. Patent Publication No.: 2006/0236483 A1 by Koi discloses atoothbrush head 200 which can be engaged onto and disengaged from its ownelongated handle 100. Thebrush head 200 is partially or fully enclosed in an elastic casing 203, and the head 110 of thehandle 100 is inserted into the casing through an opening on a wall of the brush head. Thebrush head 200 of the toothbrush by Koi can only be placed on thehandle 100 it was designed to work with, and thehandle 100 by Koi therefore must travel together with thetoothbrush head 200 in order to use the toothbrush.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,453 by Huang discloses a toothbrush with a detachable bristle head 2 capable of changing orientation relative to its corresponding handle 3. In Huang the head 2 must be inserted into an axial hole 31 formed at the tip of the handle 3. The head 2 and the handle 3 are both required in order to form the toothbrush. In other words, the head 2 cannot be used as a toothbrush without first being inserted into the axial hole 31 of the handle 3.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,135 by Su discloses a toothbrush with a bristle-carrying brush head 1 which is removable and rotatable with respect to its corresponding handle 2. A lever 4 is used to rotate the head 1. The head 1 and the corresponding handle 2 are both required to be attached in order to form the toothbrush. In other words, the head 1 cannot be used as a toothbrush without first being attached to the handle 2.

Accordingly, there is a need for a toothbrush which requires minimal storage space for efficient storage and transportation thereof.

There is also a need for a toothbrush that can be easily and quickly attached to and removed from already existing camping gear, such as a long-handled camping spoon or spork with a carabiner hole extending therethrough.

There is also a need for a toothbrush that has little weight to contribute towards load when long distance backpacking and hiking.

There is also a need for a toothbrush that does not require cleaning of a handle and does not cause insufficient leverage for proper cleaning.

There is also a need for a toothbrush that will provide a sufficient distance from its head to a user's soiled hands while backpacking and long-distance hiking.

There is also a need for a toothbrush that can attach to any type of flat handle means200 having ahole200aformed therethrough.

There is also a need for a toothbrush that does not require the manufacturing of a handle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIVE CONCEPT

The present general inventive concept provides a toothbrush head assembly which attaches to and detaches from a hole-punch through a flat device for existing gear. More particularly, but not exclusively, this inventive concept relates to a toothbrush head assembly with bristles, which can attach to and detach from any existing handle or other object having a hole-punch formed therethrough.

Additional features and utilities of the present general inventive concept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the general inventive concept.

The foregoing and/or other features and utilities of the present general inventive concept may be achieved by providing a toothbrush head assembly, comprising: a body including: a first end having a first diameter and a plurality of bristles extending from one side thereof; a second end having a smaller diameter than the first end; and a fitting groove formed between the first end and the second end and having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the second end; and a gasket slidable over the second end to fit tightly over the fitting groove and having outer ribs which extend outward from a center of the gasket such that the second end will extend through a hole in a handle while the gasket is configured to flexibly fit into the hole such that the outer ribs extend around the hole to secure the toothbrush head assembly to the handle.

In an exemplary embodiment, the diameter of the second end is configured to fit through the hole formed in the handle and the gasket is configured to have a diameter to be press fit into the hole while the ribs extend around and past the edge of the hole to secure the toothbrush head assembly to the handle.

In another exemplary embodiment, the handle is an elongated spoon or spork designed for backpacking and camping.

In another exemplary embodiment, the body is formed of one of metal, wood or hard plastic material.

In another exemplary embodiment, the gasket is formed of one of a stiff rubber, plastic or cork material.

The foregoing and/or other features and utilities of the present general inventive concept may also be achieved by providing a toothbrush head assembly, comprising: a bristle plate having a first diameter and a plurality of bristles extending from one side thereof; a holding plate having a smaller diameter than the bristle plate; and a neck portion connecting the bristle plate and the holding plate and having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the holding plate; and a gasket configured to be press fit over the neck portion such that while the holding plate extends through a hole formed in a handle the gasket becomes press fit into the hole to secure the toothbrush head assembly to the handle.

In an exemplary embodiment, the diameter of the holding plate is configured to fit through the hole formed in the handle and the gasket is configured to have outer ribs which extend outward from a center thereof to surround the edge of the hole to secure the toothbrush head assembly to the handle.

In another exemplary embodiment, the bristle plate, holding plate and neck are formed of one of metal, wood or a hard plastic material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other features and utilities of the present inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG.1A illustrates an exploded plan view of a toothbrush head assembly according to an example embodiment of the present inventive concept;

FIG.1B illustrates an assembled plan view of the toothbrush head assembly according to the example embodiment ofFIG.1A;

FIG.1C illustrates a plan view of the toothbrush head assembly according to the example embodiment ofFIGS.1A and1B, while being attached to a handle with a hole formed therethrough;

FIG.2A illustrates an exploded side view of the toothbrush head assembly according to the example embodiment ofFIG.1A;

FIG.2B illustrates a fully assembled toothbrush head assembly according to the example embodiment ofFIG.1A, being fixed to a handle of a spoon with a hole formed therethrough; and

FIG.3 illustrates another plan view of the toothbrush head assembly according to the example embodiment ofFIGS.1A and1B, while being attached to a handle with a hole formed therethrough.

The drawings illustrate a few example embodiments of the present inventive concept, and are not to be considered limiting in its scope, as the overall inventive concept may admit to other equally effective embodiments. The elements and features shown in the drawings are to scale and attempt to clearly illustrate the principles of exemplary embodiments of the present inventive concept. In the drawings, reference numerals designate like or corresponding, but not necessarily identical, elements throughout the several views.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present general inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present general inventive concept while referring to the figures. Also, while describing the present general inventive concept, detailed descriptions about related well-known functions or configurations that may diminish the clarity of the points of the present general inventive concept are omitted.

It will be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” are used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. Thus, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element may be termed a first element without departing from the teachings of this disclosure.

Expressions such as “at least one,” when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modify the individual elements of the list.

All terms including descriptive or technical terms which are used herein should be construed as having meanings that are obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. However, the terms may have different meanings according to an intention of one of ordinary skill in the art, case precedents, or the appearance of new technologies. Also, some terms may be arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in this case, the meaning of the selected terms will be described in detail in the detailed description herein. Thus, the terms used herein have to be defined based on the meaning of the terms together with the descriptions provided throughout the specification.

Hereinafter, one or more exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings.

Example embodiments of the present general inventive concept are directed to a toothbrush head assembly which attaches to and detaches from a hole punched through a flat device for existing gear. More particularly, but not exclusively, this inventive concept relates to a toothbrush head assembly with bristles, which can attach to and detach from any existing handle or other object having a hole formed therethrough.

FIG.1A illustrates an exploded plan view of atoothbrush head assembly100 according to an example embodiment of the present inventive concept. Thetoothbrush head assembly100 is configured to be attachable to and detachable from any type of flat handle means200 having ahole200aformed therethrough. For example, campers and backpackers commonly use a semi-flat titanium spoon (or spork) measuring approximately 8-9 inches in length. These spoons generally include an elongated hole formed through one end thereof to receive a carabiner (or other loop-shaped object) therethrough for carrying the spoon while backpacking, hiking, camping, etc. A few examples of backpacking or camping spoons and sporks which thetoothbrush head assembly100 can be easily attached to and detached from include the Toaks Titanium Long Handle Spoons, the Navaris Long Handle Titanium Spoons, the Silverant Titanium Ultralight Long Handle Spork, and the Vargo Long Handle Titanium Spoons and Sporks, etc.

Referring toFIGS.1A-1B andFIG.2A, thetoothbrush head assembly100 can include abristle head portion100awith a plurality ofbristles100battached to and extending from one side thereof. Thebristles100bcan be attached to thebristle head portion100aby any known means commonly used by toothbrush manufacturers, and is not considered to be a feature of the present inventive concept. Thebristle head portion100acan include a bristleplate100al, afitting groove100a2 and a holdingplate100a3, wherein thebristles100bextend from thebristle plate100al. Thefitting groove100a2 is preferably disposed between thebristle plate100a1 and the holdingplate100a3 and has a smaller diameter than thebristle plate100a1 and the holdingplate100a3. Also included with thetoothbrush head assembly100 can be aflexible gasket100cto be flex-fitted around thefitting groove100a2. Thetoothbrush head assembly100 is preferably formed of a rigid, hard inflexible material, such as metal, wood, plastic, or other similar materials which will perform the intended purposes as described herein. Thegasket100ccan be formed of a stiff compressible rubber, plastic or cork material. However, thegasket100ccan be formed of any stiff compressible material which will perform the intended purposes as described herein.

Referring toFIG.1B andFIG.2A, the holdingplate100a3 is preferably formed to have the same diameter as thehole200ain thespoon200 such that the holdingplate100a3 can be inserted through thehole200a. Thebristle plate100a1 is preferably formed to have a larger diameter than thehole200ain thespoon200 so that thebristle plate100a1 will not fit through thehole200a. Thegasket100cis preferably formed to haveouter ribs100c1 which are greater in diameter than thehole200ain thespoon200. With this configuration, once theflexible gasket100cis flexed to pass over the holdingplate100a3 and disposed over thefitting groove100a2, the holdingplate100a3 can be inserted through thehole200ain the spoon200 (or other flat handle means), and then thegasket100ccan be flexibly fit into thehole200ato secure thetoothbrush head assembly100 to thespoon200 or other elongated handle with ahole200aformed therethrough. Theribs100c1 of thegasket100cwill extend outward to surround the edge of thehole200aand secure thetoothbrush head assembly100 to thespoon200.

FIG.1C illustrates a plan view of thetoothbrush head assembly100 in a position secured to thespoon200, andFIG.2B illustrates a side view of thetoothbrush head assembly100 in the position of being secured to thespoon200. In order to ensure that thetoothbrush head assembly100 remains secured to the spoon200 (or any other flat handle means200 having ahole200aformed therethrough) thefitting groove100a2 can be configured to be slightly smaller in circumference than thehole200aformed in thespoon200 while thegasket100ccan be configured to have a thickness sufficient such that an outer circumference thereof will be slightly larger than thehole200awhile theribs100c1 extend outward to surround the inner edge of thehole200aand secure thetoothbrush head assembly100 to thespoon200. With this configuration thegasket100cwill be press-fit against the edge of thehole200awhile theribs100c1 surround the edge of thehole200ato cause thetoothbrush head assembly100 to remain secured to thespoon200.

When use of thetoothbrush head assembly100 is completed, thetoothbrush head assembly100 can be conveniently removed from thespoon200 without being damaged by pulling thebristle plate100a1 away from thespoon200, which will cause thegasket100cto begin sliding out of thehole200aand one of theribs100c1 to flex enough to slide past thehole200ain thespoon200. Once thetoothbrush head assembly100 is separate from thespoon200 or any other elongated handle with ahole200aformed therethrough cleaning of thetoothbrush head assembly100 can be performed easily by spraying it with water or soaking thetoothbrush head assembly100 in water or other toothbrush approved cleaning means. Once cleaned thetoothbrush head assembly100 can be easily stored in a minimal storage space and will use very little weight to carry while being stored.

FIG.3 illustrates a rear plan view of thetoothbrush head assembly100 being fixed to thespoon200. As illustrated inFIG.3 thebristle plate100a1 extends from one side of thespoon200 and the holdingplate100a3 extends from an opposite side of thespoon200 while thefitting groove100a2 andgasket100care retained within thehole200ain thespoon200 as a result of the press-fitting of thegasket100cagainst the inner edge of thehole200aand theribs100clextending past and surrounding the edge of thehole200a.

Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A toothbrush head assembly, comprising:

a body including:

a first end having a first diameter and a plurality of bristles extending from one side thereof;

a second end having a smaller diameter than the first end; and

a fitting groove formed between the first end and the second end and having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the second end; and

a gasket slidable over the second end to fit tightly over the fitting groove and having outer ribs which extend outward from a center of the gasket such that the second end will extend through a hole in a handle while the gasket is configured to flexibly fit into the hole such that the outer ribs extend around the hole to secure the toothbrush head assembly to the handle.

2. The toothbrush head assembly according toclaim 1, wherein the diameter of the second end is configured to fit through the hole formed in the handle and the gasket is configured to have a diameter to be press fit into the hole while the ribs extend around and past the edge of the hole to secure the toothbrush head assembly to the handle.

3. The toothbrush head assembly according toclaim 2, wherein the handle is an elongated spoon or spork designed for backpacking and camping.

4. The toothbrush head assembly according toclaim 1, wherein the body is formed of one of metal, wood or hard plastic material.

5. The toothbrush head assembly according toclaim 4, wherein the gasket is formed of one of a stiff rubber, plastic or cork material.

6. A toothbrush head assembly, comprising:

a bristle plate having a first diameter and a plurality of bristles extending from one side thereof;

a holding plate having a smaller diameter than the bristle plate; and

a neck portion connecting the bristle plate and the holding plate and having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the holding plate; and

a gasket configured to be press fit over the neck portion such that while the holding plate extends through a hole formed in a handle the gasket becomes press fit into the hole to secure the toothbrush head assembly to the handle.

7. The toothbrush head assembly according toclaim 6, wherein the diameter of the holding plate is configured to fit through the hole formed in the handle and the gasket is configured to have outer ribs which extend outward from a center thereof to surround the edge of the hole to secure the toothbrush head assembly to the handle.

8. The toothbrush head assembly according toclaim 7, wherein the handle is an elongated spoon or spork designed for backpacking and camping.

9. The toothbrush head assembly according toclaim 6, wherein the bristle plate, holding plate and neck are formed of one of metal, wood or a hard plastic material.

10. The toothbrush head assembly according toclaim 6, wherein the gasket is formed of one of a stiff rubber, plastic or cork material.