| US 7,549,186 B2 | ||
| Toothbrush | ||
| Christoph Geiberger, Herne (Germany) | ||
| Assigned to GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare GmbH & Co., Buehl (Baden) (Germany) | ||
| Appl. No. 10/533,863 PCT Filed Nov. 05, 2003, PCT No. PCT/EP03/12434 § 371(c)(1), (2), (4) Date May 05, 2005, PCT Pub. No. WO2004/041023, PCT Pub. Date May 21, 2004. |
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| Claims priority of application No. 0226031.3 (GB), filed on Nov. 07, 2002; and application No. 0303468.3 (GB), filed on Feb. 14, 2003. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2006/0010631 A1, Jan. 19, 2006 | ||
| Int. Cl. A46B 9/04 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 15—167.1 [15/201] | 16 Claims |
| 1. A toothbrush having a head and a toothbrush grip handle, the head having a base end at which the head is connected to the
toothbrush grip handle to thereby define a head-handle longitudinal direction, the head having a longitudinally opposite tip
end and consisting of three widthways adjacent, longitudinally extending sections from which bristles extend, being a middle
section and two lateral sections each being adjacent a widthways side of the middle section, each section having an end remote
from the toothbrush grip handle, one or more of the sections being resiliently flexibly connected to the grip handle, between
widthways adjacent sections being an air gap allowing relative movement of the sections, the middle section longitudinally
sequentially consisting of:
a tip pad at an end of the middle section that is at the tip end of the head and integrally widthways enlarged relative to
a longitudinally immediately adjacent part of the middle section longitudinally nearer to the handle, the tip pad having a
bristle carrying surface carrying plural tufts of bristles, and which extends across the entire width of the toothbrush head
adjacent to the tip end and having a length of 20-50% of the length of the toothbrush head between its base end and tip end,
and extends longitudinally beyond ends of the two lateral sections remote from the toothbrush grip handle,
longitudinally immediately adjacent to the tip pad closer to the handle and integral with the tip pad is a single first link
region of the middle section relative to which the tip pad is integrally widthways enlarged,
longitudinally immediately adjacent to the first link region and closer to the handle than the tip pad is a single region
of the middle section which is integrally widthways enlarged relative to the first link region to provide a single intermediate
bristle-carrying pad having a bristle carrying surface which carries plural tufts of bristles, and being a region of maximum
width of the pad of the middle section between the tip pad and the base end of the head, and having a length of 20-40% of
the length of the middle section between the tip end of the head and the base end of the head and having 50% or more of its
length in the longitudinal half of the toothbrush head closest to the handle,
longitudinally immediately adjacent to the intermediate bristle-carrying pad and integral with the intermediate bristle-carrying
pad is a single second link region of the middle section relative to which the intermediate bristle-carrying pad is integrally
widthways enlarged,
longitudinally immediately adjacent to the second link region and integral therewith being an integral resiliently flexible
neck connecting the middle section to the toothbrush grip handle.
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