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    • 专利摘要:
    toothbrush handle that has an internal cavity. The present invention relates to a toothbrush handle comprising an end end, a connecting end, an outer surface, an inner cavity and a longitudinal axis. the inner cavity has a surface defining a cross-sectional area. the inner surface has at least one of a larger cross-sectional area limited by two smaller cross-sectional areas along the longitudinal axis or a smaller cross-sectional area limited by two larger cross-sectional areas along the longitudinal axis. the outer surface defines a cross-sectional area of the outer surface. a wall is formed from the surface of the outer cavity to the surface of the inner cavity. the toothbrush handle comprises a single unitary component. the difference between the outer cross-sectional area and the cross-sectional area of the inner cavity surface varies less than 25% along at least 50% of the toothbrush handle length along the longitudinal axis.
    公开号:BR112014012212B1
    申请号:R112014012212-1
    申请日:2012-11-21
    公开日:2021-06-22
    发明作者:Richard Darren Satterfield；Heidrun Annika Schmelcher；Tilmann Winkler；Andrew Joseph Horton；George West；Andreas Birk；Andreas BRESSELSCHMIDT；Jochen Kawerau；Ulrich Pfeifer；Franziska Schmid；Jens Uwe Stoerkel；Siegfried Kurt Martin Hustedt；Matthew Lloyd Newman；Cathy Wen
    申请人:The Procter & Gamble Company；
    IPC主号:
    专利说明:

    FIELD OF THE INVENTION
    [0001] The present invention relates to toothbrush handles that have an internal cavity. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
    [0002] Toothbrushes are typically manufactured using an injection molding process. Such an injection molding process is characterized by providing a mold in the shape of the toothbrush and injecting molten plastic through a hot channel nozzle into the mold. The toothbrush is then cooled and ejected from the mold. For example, US Patent No. 5,845,358 shows such a toothbrush produced from injection molding. One of the limitations of conventional injection molding processes is that large diameter handles, and specifically large handles with a substantial variation in cross-sectional area where the cross-sectional area either increases or decreases along the length or main axis of the brush, they cannot be produced effectively, due to increased material cost and extended cooling times resulting from the increased mass of material used. A second significant limitation of conventional injection molding is that it requires multiple steps, multiple injection nozzles and multiple cavities or multiple cavity sets to produce a multi-component brush.
    [0003] Toothbrushes with larger handle diameters provide substantial advantages, for example they can provide a larger grip area for children, increasing children's ability to handle the handle and use the toothbrushes; also people with disabilities such as arthritis sometimes have difficulty handling toothbrushes due to difficulty flexing the joints in their hands. Such difficulties are considerably alleviated by toothbrushes having increased handle diameters. Additionally, larger cross-section handles on toothbrushes are better for the user from an ergonomic point of view.
    [0004] Toothbrushes with regions of high friction and/or low durometer of a second material on the outer surface also provide substantial grip advantages. Low durometer materials, such as those materials whose hardness is measured less than approximately 90 on the Shore A scale, provide grip advantages by deforming under a range of comfortable gripping forces. The deformation aids in the action of holding the brush evenly in position in the hand, and also provides pleasant tactile feedback. The addition of high friction grip surfaces directly reduces the clamping force needed to maintain a stable brush bristle orientation during use. Due to their low strength, however, toothbrushes made entirely of a high friction, low durometer material do not exhibit the bending force necessary to provide adequate brush strength in a conventional grip style. Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) in the Shore A hardness range of 20 to 90 are a common secondary, tertiary or subsequent material used to optimize grip on toothbrushes and other personal care articles.
    [0005] Variations in cross-sectional area, including both larger and smaller cross-sectional areas, along the length or main axis of the brush assist the user in gripping and handling the brush during use, when it must be quickly moved while it can also be wet or slippery. Additionally, materials that maintain a higher coefficient of friction when wet, including TPEs in the aforementioned hardness range, can help in wet setting situations.
    [0006] In an attempt to overcome the difficulties associated with using injection molding to produce toothbrush handles that have larger diameters, it has been suggested to produce toothbrush handles that have a hollow body. For example, EP 0 668 140 and EP 0 721 832 disclose the use of air aided or gas aided technology to produce toothbrushes having hollow handles with large cross sections. In the processes shown, molten plastic is injected near the base of the toothbrush handle, and subsequently a hot needle is inserted into the molten plastic to blow gas into the molten plastic which is then expanded towards the mold walls for injection . Similarly, US Patent No. 6,818,174 B2 suggests injecting a predetermined amount of molten plastic into the cavity to only partially fill the mold cavity, and subsequently injecting a gas through a gas injection port formed in the mold for injection to force the molten plastic into contact with the mold cavity walls. Such injection molding processes with the use of additional air injection have substantial difficulty in forming hollow cable bodies with a substantially uniform wall thickness, and thus the potential for optimizing a cable for maximum ergonomic function by weight of Minimum material and manufacturing efficiency is limited. An additional disadvantage of such injection molding processes is the creation of a vent hole for the gas. EP 0 668 140 provides a possible solution to this problem through the use of a movable injection pin to create a sealed portion, however the integrity of this seal under the injection molding pressures created in the second injection is highly sensitive to conditions of processing, and may not result in a securely sealed part. The vent hole is formed at the interface between the molten plastic and the high pressure gas (not the molded steel) and as such cannot be predicted or highly accurate. Another additional disadvantage of hollow handle toothbrushes made using gas-assisted injection molding relates to the application or installation of a secondary, tertiary or subsequent material to the toothbrush through injection molding, or overlay molding, where the overlay molded material may, in the process of sealing the necessary gas vent, penetrate substantially into the hollow void created in the first gas injection step, since there is nothing to retain it other than friction and almost atmospheric pressure within empty space. EP 0 721 832 illustrates this effect in detail. While this can still result in a cosmetically acceptable part, it avoids the use of injection limiting devices like valve ports and can add substantially to the cost of the part. Gas-assisted injection molding does not substantially reduce the injection pressure or molten energy needed to form a plastic article, and most prior gas-assisted injection molding techniques claim a volume of void space that is only about 10 to 50% of the total part volume, and more often 10 to 25% of the total part volume.
    [0007] A conventional method for creating toothbrush handles that have larger cross sections, such as electromechanical toothbrush handles, is to fabricate distinct parts of the handle separately using injection molding, then assemble these parts or into a molding step without separate injection, or in a subsequent injection molding step, or more often some combination of the two, whereby the distinct parts of the first step or steps are inserted into a first injection mold and one or more additional materials are injected around them, creating a hollow body from multiple parts. This method of fabrication still has the disadvantages of: requiring complete casting of the plastic, high pressures and associated equipment involved with injection molding, and furthermore, it may have additional labor costs associated with both assemblies of separately molded cable parts in the mold and out of mold. The use of injection molding to create multiple distinct parts also has the disadvantage that each part must not contain any substantial undercut from which the mold core that forms a concave surface of the injection molded part could not be extracted from the part. after molding. Additionally, mold cores typically need to contain some mechanism to cool or remove heat, typically built-in as an internal channel through which ice water is forced, and it would therefore be difficult or impossible to create or make the internal geometry for most manual toothbrushes that can have diameters of 10 mm and lengths in excess of 150 mm. The lack of undercuts into distinct parts combined with the length and diameter of cores required to produce blunt undercut handle parts combined with the desire for multiple areas of variation in cross-sectional area in a toothbrush handle would thus require that any cables mounted distinctly have multiple connecting surfaces that would preferably require seals to maintain barriers to moisture and debris, even under weather and repeated use.
    [0008] The installation of soft-touch or secondary materials to hollow molded articles can be done by other means such as welding, gluing or using the flexibility of the soft-touch material itself to pick up a pre-molded undercut in the main article. All of these methods have disadvantages, however, in long-term adhesion, specifically to thermoplastics with less active surfaces made from materials such as polypropylenes. Durable items produced from multiple components that need to be used in unpredictable circumstances and environments such as consumer restrooms must necessarily be built more robustly than, for example, disposable items or packaging.
    [0009] Electromechanical toothbrushes are, in particular, susceptible to assembly problems, as they are necessarily hollow in order to include batteries, motors and associated electrical connections and drive components that must all be placed inside to some degree of precision. To avoid the problems and cost of welding plastic parts together and multiple assembly steps of a sealed outer casing, it was proposed to blow mold the handle for electromechanical toothbrushes. When assembling a blow molded electromechanical toothbrush it is necessary to leave the blow molded portion of the handle open on at least one end to accommodate the motor, batteries, and drive system components. In this process, the minimum diameter of at least one opening for the blow molded cable must exceed the smallest linear dimension of each component that will be inserted. Such a large opening would be a disadvantage in a non-electromechanical cable, which does not have the need to accommodate the entry of internal components, and would need a second part or very large cover to prevent intrusion and collection of water, paste, saliva and other debris. of conventional use. Such a very large opening, if positioned close to the head, would substantially interfere with the ergonomic use of the brush. Additional limitations to the geometry on the internal surface of the cavity, eg for locating motors, compartments, batteries, etc. which must be positioned on the inside precisely in order to be rigidly fixed will also be detrimental to the blow molding process as a whole, since most of the internal cavity surface of a blow molded part cannot be defined directly by the steel. or other mold material on the mold surfaces, and is instead indirectly defined by the steel or other mold material on the outer surface of the handle combined with the wall thickness of the preform, ratio of blow pressure and part stretch end and the original preform or thickness of the preform. Such limitations on these process variables will necessarily limit manufacturing efficiencies.
    [00010] To accommodate activation of electrical components via a standard mechanical switch or button, at least some portion of a blow molded electromechanical toothbrush handle must be made slender enough to flex substantially under finger pressure or handshake. Such a thin wall structure or film wall structure necessarily needs some reinforcement mechanism to ensure durability and rigidity during use. An inner body or cap as described in WO 2004/077996 can be used to provide this necessary reinforcement mechanism in an electromechanical toothbrush, but it would be a disadvantage to a manual toothbrush, which does not need additional components to function properly, in extra cost, complexity and parts carrying additional charges. Additionally, due to the linear nature of the motor, power source, and drive shaft of the electromechanical toothbrushes there are no or minimal variations in the cross-sectional area of the internal cavity; so the internal cavity walls provide mechanical support to the internal components to reduce or eliminate unwanted movement or displacement.
    [00011] An electromechanical toothbrush handle, produced from blow molding or injection molding, is typically manufactured with an opening at either end: At a distal end there is typically an opening to accommodate the translation of mechanical energy through from a drive mechanism to the toothbrush head, and at a proximal end there is typically an opening to accommodate insertion of components during fabrication and possibly also insertion or removal of the battery by the user. Such a second opening would be unnecessary for a manual toothbrush and would create disadvantages in the need for additional seals and mechanical fasteners. In some blow molding processes, the formation of openings at the distal and proximal ends of the molded part is intrinsic to the process and would benefit the formation of a double open ended handle, but would not be necessary for a manual toothbrush handle.
    [00012] There are several advantages to producing lighter overall weight toothbrush handles regardless of cross section or size changes. Lighter handles could provide more tactile feedback of the forces transmitted from the teeth through the bristles to the head, to the handle and to the hand, during brushing. Lighter toothbrush handles would also be transported in bulk with greater efficiency from manufacturing centers to sales centers where they are purchased by users. To reduce weight while maintaining hardness, some toothbrush handles are made from bamboo or balsa wood, however these materials have disadvantages as they are not easily moldable into complex three-dimensional shapes that can be comfortably gripped. Additionally, these materials are anisotropic, meaning they have elastic modulus and elastic limits or ultimate elasticity that varies with the direction of the applied load. Carbon fiber composites and glass-filled injection molded plastics are other common examples of anisotropic materials that could be used to produce lighter, stronger toothbrushes. Articles produced from these materials therefore need to be formed with their strongest axis or 'grain' substantially aligned with the main axis of the article, in order to resist fracture during the bending forces common to use. Both carbon fiber and glass-filled thermoplastic composites also tend to fail in a brittle manner, with little ductility. This type of failure is undesirable in a device that is placed in the mouth. Additionally, these materials do not inherently contain all the properties necessary to create light weight, bending strength, and a soft-touch, high-friction grip. This creates an extra step needed in material preparation prior to forming or machining. This grain alignment can also present a specific disadvantage to woods in general, as the presence of material splinters is more likely to occur in the direction aligned to typical hand-applied forces during brushing.
    [00013] To produce lightweight toothbrush handles without relying on anisotropic materials like wood, articles could be made lighter through the use of non-homogeneous but isotropic materials like foamed plastics. Foamed plastics have an advantage in that they can offer a higher strength-to-strength ratio than solid plastics without regard to material orientation. The total weight savings possible with foamed plastics can be limited, however, as the bubbles within the plastic that create the weight savings also create stress concentrations that will severely reduce the tensile strength and will also severely reduce the ductility before of failure. While foamed plastics can provide substantial compressive strength (and are used for exactly this purpose in applications such as gasket materials where material weight combined with compressive crush strength is a critical issue) weakness in tension does affect severely bending strength and prevents evenly foamed plastics from serving as load-bearing elements in articles that must maintain bending strength, hardness and ductility during normal use.
    [00014] It is familiar to those skilled in the art to use blow molding and extrusion to create portable, lightweight single-component or single-material items, such as children's toys, such as hollow plastic sticks, golf clubs, or any large plastic item. which benefits from being lighter in weight. While these articles can be both rigid and strong during bending, they also generally contain disadvantages that would limit their general use in Class I semi-durable medical devices such as toothbrushes. First, such articles typically contain significant burrs along the parting lines, or at any locations where the preform is greater in cross-sectional area than the cavity into which it is blown. At these locations the preform folds into the cavity or emerges from the cavity's dividing lines, and substantial burr is created. Second, most articles contain some significant trace of breath in the form of an orifice, which can be formed exactly or inaccurately. Such a trace would be considered a significant defect in a Class I medical device that would prohibit penetration or entry of contaminants into a hollow interior that is not effectively drained. Third, the relative size of these articles is large compared to the size of these defects, and the general function of the articles is not severely affected by these defects. In many cases, the size of the article itself makes the manufacturing process easier in terms of minimizing defects. It is not challenging to extrude blow molded articles, packages or bottles in the size range common to manual toothbrush handles - if the plastic wall thickness can be minimized in proportion to the total cross section. Such articles exist in the form of small, typically compressible tubes or bottles, which actually benefit from having a very thin and deformable wall that allows dispensing of the internal contents, but also makes them useless or significantly inferior as toothbrushes.
    [00015] Extruded and blow molded cables for semi-durable single-component consumer goods like feather dusters and tape dispensers are also known, but again these items would not meet the criteria for semi-durable medical grade devices I, specifically with respect to the necessary blow hole sealing against water intrusion or other contamination, and in the case of blow molding and extrusion, the appearance of a burr on articles in areas that would come into direct contact with or enter the mouth. These articles can also be brittle, and when too much force is applied, they can break or break suddenly and without ductility, producing sharp edges, making them useless for use in the oral cavity.
    [00016] Multi-component blow molded packages, such as water and water bottles, are known to those skilled in the art. In these embodiments, smooth blow molded bottles are provided with high friction tactile surfaces through the use of an in-mold marking technique, whereby previously injection molded textured markers are placed in the mold cavities prior to introduction and pre-blow. semi-cast extruded plastic shape. While these articles provide the advantage of a large gripping surface that is enhanced by the addition of a textured, high-friction surface, they are by nature highly deformable or compressible packages designed for storage and dispensing of liquids, and would insufficiently serve as toothbrush.
    [00017] It has also been proposed to manufacture manual toothbrushes by blow molding, and indeed it would not be challenging to blow and extrusion molding, blow and injection molding, or even blow molding and injection stretching such an article in the shape and size of a toothbrush or toothbrush handle, however no existing description in the prior art addresses the problems of: strength during bending, stiffness during bending, overall stiffness, mitigation of burr or other acute defects, variations in cross-sectional area and undercuts, and obstruction or sealing of the vent hole trace. Any of these defects in a blow molded toothbrush or toothbrush handle would severely affect the usefulness of the article, and thus, enhancements are needed to enable a hollow article with maximized material savings through uniform wall thickness that is adequately strong and rigid during flexion without breaking during use and does not leak or present uncomfortable defects to the user.
    [00018] In view of these disadvantages of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved toothbrush or toothbrush handle that has an internal cavity, which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
    [00019] A toothbrush handle is provided which comprises an end end, a connecting end, an outer surface, an inner cavity, and a longitudinal axis; the internal cavity having a surface defining a cross-sectional area; with the internal cavity having at least one of a larger cross-sectional area limited by two smaller cross-sectional areas along the longitudinal axis of the toothbrush or a smaller cross-sectional area limited by two smaller cross-sectional areas. along the longitudinal axis of the toothbrush; the outer surface defines a cross-sectional area of the outer surface; a wall formed from the surface of the outer cavity and the surface of the inner cavity; and the toothbrush handle comprising a single unitary component, the difference between the cross-sectional area of the outer surface and the cross-sectional area of the inner cavity surface varying less than 25% over at least 50% of the length of toothbrush handle along the longitudinal axis.
    [00020] A toothbrush handle is provided which comprises an end end, a connecting end, an outer surface, an inner cavity, and a longitudinal axis; the internal cavity having a surface defining a cross-sectional area; with the internal cavity having at least one of a larger cross-sectional area limited by two smaller cross-sectional areas along the longitudinal axis of the toothbrush or a smaller cross-sectional area limited by two smaller cross-sectional areas. along the longitudinal axis of the toothbrush; the outer surface defines a cross-sectional area of the outer surface; a wall formed from the surface of the outer cavity and the surface of the inner cavity; the toothbrush handle comprising a single unitary component; and the toothbrush handle comprising two or more layers of material. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
    [00021] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a toothbrush handle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00022] Figure 1A is a cross-sectional view of Figure 1 along section line 1A according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00023] Figure 1B is a cross-sectional view of Figure 1 along section line 1B according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00024] Figure 2 is a perspective view of a toothbrush handle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00025] Figure 3 is a perspective view of a toothbrush handle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00026] Figure 4 is a perspective view of a toothbrush handle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00027] Figure 5 is a perspective view of a toothbrush handle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00028] Figure 6 is a perspective view of a toothbrush handle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00029] Figure 6A is a cross-sectional view of Figure 6 along section line 6A according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00030] Figure 7 is a perspective view of a toothbrush according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00031] Figure 7A is a cross-sectional view of Figure 7 along section line 7A according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00032] Figure 8 is a perspective view of a toothbrush handle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00033] Figure 8A is a cross-sectional view of Figure 8 along section line 8A according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00034] Figure 9 is a perspective view of a toothbrush handle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00035] Figure 9A is a cross-sectional view of Figure 9 along section line 9A according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00036] Figure 10 is a perspective view of a toothbrush handle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00037] Figure 10A is a cross-sectional view of Figure 10 along section line 10A according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00038] Figure 11 is a perspective view of a toothbrush handle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00039] Figure 11A is a cross-sectional view of Figure 11 along section line 11A according to an embodiment of the present invention.
    [00040] Figure 12 is a diagrammatic representation of an analysis method.
    [00041] Figure 13 is a diagrammatic representation of an analysis method.
    [00042] Figure 14 is a graph that illustrates the deflection during bending as a function of specific gravity. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
    [00043] The present invention relates to personal care articles that have an internal cavity, such as a single-component, single-component toothbrush handle that may have different colors, shapes, and surface decorations in one or both of the cavity. inner or outer surface. The toothbrush handle can be produced in a single molding step. The internal cavity varies in cross-sectional area along the length of the toothbrush, with the internal cavity being essentially open compared to an open or closed cell foam material. The toothbrush handle is a unitary piece, but may include separate non-structural elements such as markers, handle structures, etc... In certain embodiments the inner cavity is sealed, with no opening to the outer surface of the handle of toothbrush. In certain embodiments the unitary toothbrush handle comprises distinct regions of different materials that are intrinsically or chemically bonded together as a part of the manufacturing process.
    [00044] Personal care items are items used to store, dispense, apply or release health, beauty, fitting, or other care, maintenance, improvement or enhancement of the consumer's personal body or human biological system. Examples of personal care items include, but are not limited to, toothbrushes, toothbrush handles, razors or epilators, razor or epilator handles, mop handles, vacuum cleaner handles, makeup applicators or beauty care, skin care applicators, feminine hygiene applicators, hair care applicators, hair dye applicators, or hair care articles.
    [00045] Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a personal care article, a toothbrush handle 10, which has a terminal end 12 and a connecting end 14. The toothbrush handle 10 can be formed unitarily as a one-piece and comprises an inner cavity 30 and an outer surface 50, the outer surface of the cable 50 varying in cross-sectional area (OSCA), which is the total cross-sectional area as defined by the outer surface 50, along the longitudinal axis L of cable 10 - as shown in Figure 1A; in this embodiment the handle 10 is substantially hourglass-shaped. The inner cavity 30 has a surface of the inner cavity 32, the surface of the inner cavity 32 varying in cross-sectional area (ICCA) along the longitudinal axis L of the cable. As Figure 1 shows, in certain embodiments the inner cavity 30 of cable 10 has one or more larger cross-sectional areas ICCAG bounded along the longitudinal axis L of cable 10 by smaller cross-sectional areas ICCAL1, ICCAL2 having a smaller area. than the area of the cross-sectional area larger ICCAG. The inner cavity 30 of the cable 10 may also have a smaller cross-sectional area ICCAL limited along the longitudinal axis L of the cable 10 by the larger cross-sectional areas ICCAG1, ICCAG1 which have an area greater than the area of the smaller cross-sectional area. ICCAL. Additionally, as shown in Figures 1, 1A and 1B, in certain embodiments the square root of the cross-sectional area of the surface of the inner cavity 32 varies in proportion to the changes in the square root of the cross-sectional area of the outer surface 50 along the longitudinal axis L of the handle 10, with the exception of the areas near the terminal 12 and connecting 14 ends of the toothbrush handle where the inner cavity 30 becomes sealed. In certain embodiments the square root of the cross-sectional area of the inner cavity surface varies proportionally less than 5% with respect to the variations in the square root of the cross-sectional area of the outer surface along the longitudinal axis L of the cable 10, with the exception of areas near the terminal and connecting ends of the toothbrush handle. In certain embodiments, the toothbrush handle wall thickness, the distance between the outer surface of the toothbrush handle and the inner cavity surface, varies in inverse proportion to the square root of the cross-sectional area of the outer surface. In certain embodiments the difference between the outer surface cross-sectional area (OSCA) and the inner cavity surface cross-sectional area (ICCA) varies less than about 25%, 20% 15%, 10%, 5% to length of at least 50%, 70%, 80%, 90% of the toothbrush handle length along the longitudinal axis. For example, in these embodiments areas of a toothbrush handle that have a larger outer surface cross-sectional area will have a thinner wall (compared to areas that have a smaller outer surface cross-sectional area) since the material has been extended to a greater degree during the extrusion blow molding process.
    [00046] In certain embodiments, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, a handle 110 may be a part of a toothbrush 100 together with a separate neck 150 and head 160. Cable 110 comprises a longitudinal axis (L), a terminal end 112, a connecting end 114, an outer surface 116 and an inner cavity 118, as described above.
    [00047] In addition, the cable 110 can be formed to include a connector 120 to engage a complementary connector 152 to the neck 150 to form a toothbrush 100. The connectors 120, 152 can be formed to allow a removable or permanent connection between the handle 110 and the neck 150, in any manner known to the person skilled in the art. For example, the connectors 120, 152 can be provided with connecting features, such as a thread, so that the two connectors 120, 152 can be threaded together. Alternatively, or in addition, one of the connectors 120, 152 may have a connecting feature, such as a protrusion, rib, or hook that corresponds to a mating undercut in the female portion of the opposite connector 120, 152 to secure the portions with the use of a snap fit. Bayonet-type fittings can also be used, as well as friction or interference fits, or other common plastic fittings well known to those skilled in the art. Additionally, in addition to or in place of connectors, a connection means can be used to connect a cable and a neck, such as an adhesive, a fusion, ultrasonic welding or friction welding.
    [00048] Connectors on a hollow cable have connection features that provide advantages over connectors made using injection molding, which are typically solid. First, connection features such as a male insert feature can be physically larger in diameter when made hollow than when made solid, if the connection features are produced from common thermoplastics. As connection features are made larger in injection molding, for example, the time for the part to cool in the mold increases approximately in proportion to the square of the diameter, and the ability to maintain consistent geometry becomes more difficult. In addition, if the internal cavity extends into the connector, the surface of the internal cavity may have connecting features, such as a thread or friction fit, allowing complementary connectors, such as the neck, to be inserted into the connector. Injection molded parts that are more than several millimeters thick are also subjected to sink marks, which are the manifestation of solidification-based shrinkage of the thermoplastic parts. Sink marks are difficult to control and thus are undesirable in any location where precise geometry is required, for example in a snap fit or thread fit connection area, or in any area that will depend on fits by interference to create a waterproof seal. Hollow connection features are possible in injection molding, and even injection molded toothbrush handles, but in general these must be created or originated from the terminal end, and cannot be made hollow and recessed from a single hole in the connecting end. The injection molded hollow parts at the connecting end will necessarily have their larger internal diameter at the connecting point, and are therefore severely limited in their geometry.
    [00049] As illustrated in Figure 2, the head 160 supports a plurality of cleaning elements such as bristles or tufts of bristles 162. The bristles or tufts of bristles may comprise nylon, PBT and TPE. In addition to bristles or tufts of bristles, a toothbrush head in the present invention can include any suitable cleaning element that can be inserted into the oral cavity. Some suitable cleaning elements include elastomeric massage elements, elastomeric cleaning elements, massage elements, tongue cleaners, soft tissue cleaners, hard surface cleaners, combinations thereof, and the like. The head can comprise a variety of cleaning elements, and is attached to the cable at the connecting end through connecting features. For example, the head may comprise bristles, abrasive elastomeric elements, elastomeric elements in a specific orientation or arrangement, for example, hinged fins, prophylactic cups, or the like. Some suitable examples of elastomeric cleaning elements and/or massage elements are described in US patent application publications Nos. 2007/0251040; 2004/0154112; 2006/0272112; and in US patents 6,553,604; 6,151,745. Cleaning elements can be tapered, notched, crimped, corrugated, or the like. Some suitable examples of such cleansing elements and/or massage elements are described in US Patent Nos. 6,151,745; 6,058,541; 5,268.005; 5,313,909; 4,802,255; 6,018,840; 5,836,769; 5,722,106; 6,475,553; and in US patent application publication no. 2006/0080794. Additionally the cleaning elements can be arranged in any suitable way or pattern on the toothbrush head.
    [00050] In certain embodiments, as shown in Figure 4, a toothbrush 200 may comprise a handle 210 and a neck 212 connected to a head 214; or in certain other embodiments a toothbrush 230 may comprise a separate handle 232, neck 234, and head 236 - the separate parts may be connected using one or more of the connection methods mentioned above.
    [00051] In certain embodiments of the present invention, a toothbrush handle can be produced from multiple layers of material, for example, to create different tactile surfaces. Layers of material may be present on or on the outer surface of the toothbrush handle. Generally, in a two-layer embodiment, an inner layer, or substrate, is produced from a first material which is the main load-bearing material and is typically thicker than subsequent outer layers; and an outer layer can be produced from a softer material that can have a higher coefficient of friction with wet or dry skin, or other improved tactile features.
    [00052] In certain embodiments, as shown in Figures 6 and 6A, of a multilayer toothbrush handle 300, the material layers can be fully concentric, where all or nearly all of the outer surface 332 of an inner material layer 320 abuts integrally adjacent to all or most of the inner surface 331 of an outer material layer 330. In certain embodiments, as shown in Figures 7 and 7A, the material layers may vary radially around the perimeter of the outer surface 420 of a toothbrush handle 400, creating, for example, a band or strips of a second layer material 430 extending along the longitudinal axis of the toothbrush handle, which may be one color, hardness, and different durometers, or any combination thereof, from a first layer material 410. In certain embodiments, as shown in Figures 8 and 8A, the layers of material in a cable 500 can vary by such radii. both axially and axially, where one or more layers of material may appear as a strip or strips 530 that extend along the longitudinal axis (L) of cable 500. The strip or strips 530 overlap an inner layer of material 520 that contains and forms the inner cavity 510. In certain embodiments, an outer layer of a second material present on or on the outer surface of a toothbrush handle may be small and occupy less than 50%, 40%, 30%, 20%, 20% or 5% of the circumference of the outer surface of the toothbrush handle, compared to a first layer material also present on or on the outer surface of the toothbrush handle. In another embodiment, a tactile layer produced from a softer material or with greater friction may occupy 50% or more of the circumference of the outer surface of the toothbrush handle.
    [00053] In certain embodiments of multi-layer toothbrush handles, the thickness of the material layer may vary along the longitudinal axis, circumference, or both of the toothbrush handle. In the case of extrusion blow molding, this can be achieved by varying the relative extrusion pressures and/or flow rates of the two or more materials upstream of the extrusion hole throughout the single-part extrusion process. As shown in Figures 9 and 9A the thickness of a first layer of material 620 and a second layer of material 630 can vary along the longitudinal axis (L) of a toothbrush handle 600. In certain brush handle embodiments of teeth 700, as shown in Figures 10 and 10A , a second layer of material 730 may be partially or substantially visible through a first layer of material 720, which completely or substantially encompasses the second layer of material 730. For example, the first layer of material material layer can be completely or partially transparent or translucent. The first layer of material 720 may vary in thickness around the circumference of the toothbrush handle 700 so that the second layer of material 730 is closer to the outer surface 710 along the portions of the handle of the toothbrush 700 at compared to other portions. If the second layer of material 730 visibly differs from the first layer of material 720, for example, a different color, material, or texture, this difference will be most noticeable in the portions of the toothbrush handle 700 where the second layer of material 730 is closer to the outer surface 710. For example, if the second layer of material is colored and the first layer of material is translucent the color of the second layer of material would be more noticeable or more vibrant in the portion of the toothbrush handle where it is. closer to the outer surface.
    [00054] Extrusion blow molded articles with up to seven layers are known to those skilled in the art, and such layers can serve for purposes of vapor barrier, water barrier, gas barrier, perfume barrier, chemical barrier, recyclable content , low cost material content (ie, filler), or high cost material content to economically include color, transparency, translucency, or reaction due to specific or general heat or wavelengths of light, including infrared, visible, and ultraviolet.
    [00055] Extrusion blow molded multi-layer toothbrush handles that include a softer element, for example, with a Shore A hardness between 10 and 80, as its outermost layer in the region close to the connecting end may also have the advantage that the softer material can provide some additional seal against an attachable head or neck versus a stiffer material like polypropylene or most other engineering plastics.
    [00056] In order to provide a tactile grip, in certain embodiments of a multi-layer toothbrush handle produced by in-mold marking, extruded sheets of flexible material of high friction or low durometer can be first die cut into a predetermined shape to form markers or coupons; or such markers can be made with three-dimensional textures through injection molding, thermoforming, or another molding step. The transition between different tactile grip regions can be distinct, abrupt and precise. Very detailed designs and formats are possible for bookmarks. Figures 11 and 11A illustrate an embodiment of a toothbrush handle 800 where a marker 830 is intrinsically bonded to an inner layer 820.
    [00057] Markers can be made slender enough to deform so that the markers closely follow the three-dimensional shape or contours of the toothbrush handle. Markers produced from a polypropylene based TPE in the Shore A range of 30 to 50 may be less than 0.25 mm thick when the polypropylene part wall is 1 to 3 mm thick, to ensure proper formation of the outer surface of the cable. In certain modalities the markers can be pre-textured.
    [00058] The texture can have a macrostructure, a microstructure or both. Macrostructure is defined as comprising a texture or features on a length scale greater than 0.1 mm such as ribs, protuberances, cavities or tactile protrusions; and microstructure is defined as comprising a texture or features on a length scale of less than 0.05 mm such as abrasive blast textures, matte textures, marker lines or parting lines.
    [00059] In certain embodiments a multi-layer toothbrush handle may comprise a main component that forms the majority of the toothbrush handle and a secondary component that forms a minor part of the toothbrush handle, the second component being it may be less than 0.4 mm in thickness, as measured normal to either the inner or outer surface of the layer, and greater than 1 cm2 in area. In certain embodiments, the second component is a material with a higher coefficient of friction and a lower durometer than the first component, and has a thickness less than 0.2 mm substantially from beginning to end, as measured normal to or the inner surface. or outer layer comprising the second material, and has a total exposed surface area greater than 10 cm2.
    [00060] The materials from which a hollow toothbrush handle can be made must comprise one or more of the following characteristics: (1) strength or resistance to bending and axial load, (2) strength, as opposed to brittleness, (3) Class I medical device requirements, (4) chemical compatibility with a variety of toothpastes and active chemicals therein, (5) chemical compatibility with other components that are typically affixed to toothbrushes such as decals, embossed paints, markers, grip elements, head or neck elements and the like, and (6) ability to be processed to a final geometry by extrusion blow molding, injection blow molding or injected stretch blow molding. Examples of materials that have one or more of the above characteristics include polypropylenes; nylons (polyamides); polyethylene terephthalates; low density and high density polyethylenes; polyester; polyvinyl chlorides; and engineering plastics such as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, polyphenylene ether, polyphenylene oxide. Any sub-types of these materials or other thermoplastics, including blow molding grade thermoplastics with melt flow rates between 0.3 and 3.0 g/10 min, are preferred if a blow molding process is used. . Few materials outside thermoplastics can satisfy all requirements, however metal blow molded objects are known, and some zirconium alloys can be formed into hollow shapes using blow molding techniques.
    [00061] For toothbrushes that are produced from multiple materials, in certain embodiments at least one material is from the list mentioned immediately above, and a second material can be composed of either the same list or any thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) containing materials listed above at some fraction, to allow for improved heat activated adhesion and tack, deflection and coefficient of skin friction.
    [00062] For toothbrush handles that have an internal cavity, such as those produced from blow molding and extrusion, it is advantageous to cover the fluid-blown orifice or trace orifice with the toothbrush head or neck to allow sealing and preventing the entry of water or contaminants. Additionally, for toothbrush handles produced from blow molding and extrusion, it is desirable not only to cover the blow hole, but also to remove or reduce any burrs, compressions or bending defects that naturally occur during cavity closure, where the outer diameter of the extruded preform may be greater than the diameter of the local mold cavity, prior to blowing. These defects may also occur in needle blow modes, in calibrated neck modes, or in modes that use neither a needle nor a metal blow nozzle to form an inner surface of the blown part.
    [00063] In certain embodiments a toothbrush handle that has an internal cavity may have a center of gravity closer to the head than the geometric center than is normally possible with a conventionally shaped solid brush, which provides a dexterity or improved ergonomics during brushing, or the center of gravity can be placed as far away from the head as possible with a solid homogeneous brush, for example, by positioning permanently mounted weights within the hollow portion of the handle, which provides, for example, a improved tactile response of forces transmitted from teeth to head and handle. Such center of gravity manipulation provides additional benefits to handling during brushing or storage, without compromising design elements such as shape, material, or color that appear on the outside of the handle. Furthermore, a toothbrush handle having an internal cavity may have a specific gravity, in certain embodiments below about 0.60 g/cm3, or below about 0.20 g/cm3 in plastic, or below about 0.20 g/cm3 in plastic. of 0.10 g/cm3 on metal, while maintaining sufficient modulus or strength to resist bending even during heavy brushing without worrying about the alignment or specific arrangement of any raw material or load-bearing element (in contrast to materials that have a grain, such as wood or carbon fibers), which is difficult to achieve on a toothbrush handle that is substantially solid and produced from common homogeneous and isotropic materials such as plastic or metal.
    [00064] Toothbrushes of the present invention that have an internal cavity can help reduce the amount of excessive force being applied to the toothbrush during brushing, such as when using a solid manual toothbrush or a toothbrush typical electromechanics. It is known to those skilled in the art that tolerated and repeated brushing with a standard tufted manual toothbrush with a force greater than approximately 5.0 N can lead to a loss of gingival tissue over time. For example, there are electromechanical toothbrushes with built-in feedback systems that notify users when this force is exceeded during use. This suggests that a significant fraction of toothbrush users apply forces of up to 5.0N across the toothbrush head. An exemplary toothbrush with a uniform rectangular cross section produced from a solid and homogeneous isotropic material could be modeled on the handle as shown in Figure 12. The deflection of the toothbrush head on this handle during flexion during use could be approximation of the equation used to calculate the flexural modulus of a horizontal bar of material flexed at three points, as shown in Figure 13, and as shown in ASTM D 790.
    [00065] The materials used to form toothbrush handles that have an internal cavity (hollow toothbrushes) should provide a bending strength, or hardness, when a load is applied normal to the longitudinal axis. Toothbrush handle materials that do not meet these criteria flex severely during normal use, and result in a negative experience or provide insufficient strength to properly clean teeth. To evaluate candidate materials for building a toothbrush handle in as light a modality as possible, we define here a ratio for the bending force of the handle to its total specific gravity as a deflection measured under a specific load case described in Figure 13.
    [00066] The graph in Figure 14 illustrates this ratio applied to an approximation in simple rectangular beam format of solid cables produced from homogeneous isotropic materials; cables produced from non-isotropic composite or non-homogeneous materials; and hollow cables produced from otherwise isotropic homogeneous materials. The results in the graph are obtained from the analytical bending equation for the apparatus in Figure 13, or from the predicted bending in an analysis of non-soluble finite element materials in analytical form, such as anisotropic materials. It is clear from this graph that solid cables produced from homogeneous isotropic materials cannot achieve the ratio of bending force to weight achievable by hollow and homogeneous isotropic and manipulated cables.
    [00067] Not all hollow articles have a bending force sufficient to withstand 5 N of bending force applied normal to the main axis at a distance typical of that applied to a toothbrush between a thumb support point and a brush head . Certainly not all blow molded items can withstand such forces in any loading situation: many blow molded packages, such as water bottles, must be filled prior to pallet stacking as their walls are thin enough so that they will significantly deform during compression even under the weight of a few empty bottles on them. It is possible to produce toothbrushes and toothbrush handles in a similar way, through the use of generally weak materials or through the fabrication of extremely thin walls so that they look strong, possibly due to the use of opaque materials or other decoration. . Toothbrushes produced from these handles would not flatten under gravity or moderate forces, and might look robust in packaging or in a disused display, but would in fact be unpleasant or impossible to use as intended, or even provide strength. enough brushing to maintain oral health. In general, toothbrushes or toothbrush handles that deform more than 40mm under a force of 5.0N applied normal to the head on the surface to which the bristles are mounted would not be desirable during use. In certain embodiments, the handles of the toothbrush of the present invention deform less than about 40 mm under a 5.0 N force normally applied to the head on the surface to which the bristles are mounted. In certain embodiments, the handles of the toothbrush of the present invention deform less than about 20 mm under a force of 5.0 N applied normally to the head on the surface to which the bristles are mounted. A sample flexed under a load as defined by the ASTM D 790 method should deflect at the load point approximately 25% as much as a sample flexion and measured for deflection at the load point shown in Figure 12, so a sample flexed at the ASTM D 790 would deflects more than 10 mm under 5.0 N of applied load would be considered too weak. In certain embodiments, a sample that deflects more than 5 mm under 5.0 N of applied load would be considered too weak.
    [00068] Isotropic inhomogeneous materials also appear, from this graph, to be candidates for lightweight cables, however these materials are inherently brittle as a result of stress concentrations due to bubbles that are resulting from the foaming process. The graph as described above illustrates only predicted or theoretical deflection under load, and does not take into account the ultimate strength of the materials. Toothbrushes produced from the foams shown would break on the surface under tension, while flexing under loads much less than those used during typical brushing.
    [00069] In general, hollow toothbrush handles with a substantially uniform wall thickness provide desired resistance to bending with minimal material use by selectively positioning the material at the outermost diameter, or at the location farthest from the bending axis, where it can withstand a greater bending moment, with less force required. This selective material placement naturally reduces the axial forces applied to the material elements, caused by bending moments, and results in less effort by the material element per unit of normal applied force or bending moment than if the cable were produced at from solid material or has material placed primarily on the neutral axis. An I-beam is a common example of selectively positioning the material as far away from a neutral axis as possible, however an I-beam resists bending quite differently when flexed differently. A hollow portion that is substantially, or even approximately round in cross section, such as a hollow toothbrush, will provide adequate force during bending around a variety of axes, which is needed for a personal care article such as a toothbrush that it is portable and regularly used in various orientations and must withstand loads around any bending axis.
    [00070] However, not all hollow toothbrush designs would provide sufficient flexural strength as defined in the deflection to specific gravity ratio above. Instead, it is easier to manufacture an extrusion blow molded toothbrush with a very thin flexible wall than to manufacture a toothbrush such that the wall is thick enough to provide adequate flexural strength. For all extrusion blow molded articles, there is an upper limit on wall thickness that can be created without creating significant creases or burr lines on the outer surface of the article. This upper limit is governed by the smallest outer circumference of the portion of the article to be made hollow, the initial thickness of the extruded material before blowing, and the ratio of the initial circumference of the blown section to the final circumference of the blown section. As the wall thickness of the starting material increases, a larger fraction of the starting material can be trapped between the mold surfaces designed to fit, thus creating a flat section around the entire or a portion of the molded article, commonly known as burr . Hollow toothbrush handles even with small amounts of burr would be unpleasant to use, especially since burr becomes or is perceived sharper to the touch the smaller it is.
    [00071] The elasticity and strength of materials also play a factor in flexural strength: for example, a blow molded toothbrush that has sufficient hardness and is produced from a relatively strong material, such as PET-G, can be too weak to be considered useful when molded to the same geometry and wall thickness as LDPE or polypropylene. Even between LDPE and polypropylene, a polypropylene toothbrush can be sufficiently stronger than an LDPE toothbrush when molded to the same geometry and with the same wall thickness, as to be perceived stiffer by a user.
    [00072] The wall thickness required to provide sufficient bending force will vary with the elastic modulus of the material as well as the distance of this wall section from the axial centerline of the toothbrush. At first, a hollow toothbrush with a larger diameter will need less wall thickness to maintain the same flexural strength, however as the wall thickness decreases, the potential for catastrophic flexing through distortion or tightening becomes possible, therefore there is also a lower limit on wall thickness, even in very large cross sections or diameters. We can define an approximate average wall thickness for the toothbrush as the volume occupied by the plastic divided by the average of the inner and outer surface areas of the hollow handle. In certain embodiments, an average wall thickness can be between 0.3 mm and 5.0 mm, or 1.0 mm and 3.0 mm. In certain embodiments the wall thickness of the toothbrush handle and the thickness of the individual layers for those embodiments having two or more layers varies less than about 20%, 10% or 5% along the longitudinal axis of the toothbrush handle. of teeth.
    [00073] In certain embodiments of the invention, a polypropylene toothbrush handle whose length is between 60 mm and 180 mm, and has a weight between 7.0 g and 12.0 g with a substantially uniformly distributed material along the wall of the hollow portion, it has a total specific gravity of less than 0.5 g/cm3.
    [00074] In addition to the bending strength, rigidity and convenience in manufacturing a hollow toothbrush handle is the advantage of using the unoccupied internal volume to store some useful or decorative element. Such elements can include elements common to assembled hollow brushes such as primary electronics, electromechanical systems, primary mechanical systems, and decorative elements.
    [00075] Electronic elements such as batteries, timers, alarms, transducers, accelerometers, lights, speakers, amplifiers, resistors, capacitors, inductors, transistors, circuits, circuit boards, printed electronics, ink and electronic substrates, solders, wires, and similar components can be pre-assembled into functional or partially functional systems and installed in the void area in a hollow toothbrush handle. Such systems may make specific use of undercuts in the cable, for example, by virtue of positioning or positioning against or close to an undercut to provide restriction of movement. Such systems can also take advantage of an inner layer of a multi-layer system to provide electrical insulation, or conductivity or semi-conductivity between elements integrated into the system, or to elements outside the toothbrush cavity. An example of this would be an inductive charging system that stores energy from an external electric field by positioning and activating wire springs positioned within the cable. This is a common method by which electric toothbrushes are recharged when not in use. Specific modalities of these systems and elements include, but are not limited to: a timer to provide feedback to a user while brushing teeth, a force sensor to discourage excessive use of force during brushing, an indicator element that informs a user when the life of a toothbrush may have been reached, lights or sounds to start a song or game during brushing, use the geometric properties of the hollow empty space to resonate or attenuate certain sounds generated within it, an electrostatic generator to charging the system to a potential high or low voltage, creating an 'electronic pet' or tamagotchi, which will survive if good brushing habits are maintained and suffer or die if they are not, and the like.
    [00076] Electromechanical systems such as rotary motors, linear motors, permanent magnet direct current motors, piezoelectric transducers, buttons, switches, temporary switches, magnets and reed switches can also be used independently or, more likely, combined with electrical elements and systems to provide additional benefits or feedback to users. Examples include, but are not limited to: using a motor to create vibrating tactile feedback, using piezotransducers or inductive electrical systems to store mechanical energy and convert it to electrical energy during brushing, using switches to turn systems on and off electrical or electromechanical, use of magnets as elements in inductive systems or to provide detection of an external electrical system, use of strain gauges to measure and feedback, or use of vibration-inducing motors or weight-shifted motors to create a pleasant tactile sensation at any point on the brush. For the use of mechanical wrenches, it may also be advantageous to selectively thin the wall of the toothbrush handle in some, but not all, areas in order to create a deformable region that can allow deflection through the solid wall of an internally mounted wrench. without creating a hole that must be sealed in an additional step.
    [00077] Primary mechanical systems such as solids, liquids, gases, colloids, magnets, living or organic elements, phase change or chemical transition elements, color change elements, thermochromatic elements, and the like can be installed within a cable hollow toothbrush, either permanently or with the intention of later dispensing, for consumption. Examples of consumable fillers include, but are not limited to: toothpaste, mouthwash, whitening agents, mouthwash. Examples of solids include, but are not limited to: shaped articles designed to add charge or weight to a device, such as iron, zinc, or other metals in solid form; silica, or other granular material, in a single color or multiple colors. Articles made from liquids could include, but would not be limited to: water, oils, gels, or combinations thereof, including emulsions, mixtures, solutions, and combinations of the aforementioned that readily separate, such as oil and water. Magnets placed on a device can add storage or connection/interaction advantages with ferrous materials or articles, for example, doors on hardware cabinets or refrigerators or appliances. The magnets can also be arranged internally so that they interact with magnets outside the toothbrush to support the toothbrush on the end to prevent the head from touching any surfaces in the bathroom or other storage area. Phase shifting or color shifting elements or systems adjusted to temperatures slightly below that of the human body may be included in a hollow toothbrush with transparent outer layers, for example, to create a non-electric timer, which would allow the brush to teeth changes color after being held long enough in the hand.
    [00078] Separate from the installed elements, and an advantage of a hollow toothbrush handle, is the ability to decorate a translucent or transparent handle on an inner surface that is insulated from user contact through the brush handle body of teeth. In these embodiments, there would be an advantage in insulating the decorative layer against human contact, for example, to create some delay in the temperature rise of the insulated layer, ie for the thermochromatic paint which can change color after approximately some specific time. A reduction in the appearance of wear would also be advantageous, in contrast to surfaces that are painted or decal from the external surface and subjected to mechanical wear and chemical attack.
    [00079] The dimensions and values presented in the present invention are not to be understood as being strictly limited to the exact numerical values mentioned. Instead, except where otherwise specified, each of these dimensions is intended to mean both the stated value and a range of functionally equivalent values around that value. For example, a dimension displayed as "40 mm" is intended to mean "about 40 mm".
    [00080] Each of the documents cited in this invention, including any cross-reference, related patent, or patent application, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety unless expressly excluded or otherwise limited. Citation of any document is not an admission that it is prior art in relation to any invention disclosed or claimed herein, or that it, by itself or in any combination with any other reference or references, teaches, suggest or present any such invention. In addition, if there is a conflict between any meaning or definition of a term mentioned in this document and any meaning or definition of the same term in a document incorporated by reference, the meaning or definition ascribed to that term in this document shall take precedence.
    [00081] Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it should be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the character and scope of the invention. Therefore, it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the present invention.
    权利要求:
    Claims (12)
    [0001]
    1. Toothbrush handle (10; 110; 200; 300; 400; 500; 600; 700; 800), comprising: a) a terminal end (12; 112), a connecting end (14; 114), an outer surface (50; 116), an inner cavity (30; 118), and a longitudinal axis (L); b) the internal cavity having a surface (32) defining a cross-sectional area (ICCA); with the internal cavity (30;118) having at least one of a larger cross-sectional area (ICCAG), limited by two smaller cross-sectional areas (ICCAL1, ICCAL2) along the longitudinal axis (L) of the toothbrush , or a smaller cross-sectional area (ICCAL) limited by two larger cross-sectional areas (ICCAG1, ICCAG2) along the longitudinal axis (L) of the toothbrush; c) the outer surface (50; 116) defining an outer surface cross-sectional area (OSSA); d) a wall formed from the surface of the outer cavity and the surface of the inner cavity (32); e) the toothbrush handle comprising a single unitary component; with the difference between the outer surface cross-sectional area (OSSA) and the inner cavity surface cross-sectional area (ICCA) varying by less than 25% over at least 50% of the toothbrush handle length along the longitudinal axis (L), where the average wall thickness is 0.5 to 5.0 mm; and characterized in that the toothbrush handle has a specific gravity below about 0.60 g/cm3 and that the toothbrush handle deforms less than about 10 mm under a force of 5.0 N applied as determined by ASTM D 790 method.
    [0002]
    2. Toothbrush handle (10; 110; 200; 300; 400; 500; 600; 700; 800), according to claim 1, characterized in that the square root of the cross-sectional area of the external surface (OSSA) varies proportionally to the square root of the cross-sectional area of the internal cavity (ICCA) along the longitudinal axis (L) of the toothbrush.
    [0003]
    3. Toothbrush handle (10; 110; 200; 300; 400; 500; 600; 700; 800), according to claim 2, characterized in that the square root of the cross-sectional area of the surface of the internal cavity (ICCA) varies proportionally less than 5% relative to the variations in the square root of the external surface cross-sectional area (OSSA) along the longitudinal axis of the (L) toothbrush handle.
    [0004]
    4. Toothbrush handle (10; 110; 200; 300; 400; 500; 600; 700; 800), according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the wall thickness of the handle of the toothbrush varies in inverse proportion to the square root of the cross-sectional area of the outer surface (OSSA).
    [0005]
    5. Toothbrush handle (10; 110; 200; 300; 400; 500; 600; 700; 800), according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the internal cavity (30; 118 ) is open to the outer surface (50; 116) of the toothbrush handle.
    [0006]
    6. Toothbrush handle (10; 110; 200; 300; 400; 500; 600; 700; 800), according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the internal cavity (30; 118 ) is sealed and not open to the outer surface (50; 116) of the toothbrush handle.
    [0007]
    7. Toothbrush handle (10; 110; 200; 300; 400; 500; 600; 700; 800), according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it has a connector (120).
    [0008]
    8. Toothbrush handle (10; 110; 200; 300; 400; 500; 600; 700; 800), according to claim 6, characterized in that the internal cavity (30; 118) extends to the inside of the connector (120).
    [0009]
    9. Toothbrush handle (10; 110; 200; 300; 400; 500; 600; 700; 800), according to claim 8, characterized in that the internal cavity (30; 118) comprises a feature of connection.
    [0010]
    10. Toothbrush handle (10; 110; 200; 300; 400; 500; 600; 700; 800), according to claim 1, characterized in that the cross-sectional area of the outer surface (OSSA) at least one of the terminal end (12; 112) or the connecting end (14; 114) is less than the largest cross-sectional area of the internal cavity (ICCAG).
    [0011]
    11. Toothbrush handle (10; 110; 200; 300; 400; 500; 600; 700; 800), according to claim 1, characterized in that the cross-sectional area of the external surface (OSSA) at least one of the terminal end (12; 112) or the connecting end (14; 114) is less than the smallest cross-sectional area of the inner cavity (ICCAL).
    [0012]
    12. Toothbrush handle (10; 110; 200; 300; 400; 500; 600; 700; 800), according to claim 1, characterized in that the toothbrush handle comprises at least one of polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene glycol terephthalate, high density polyethylene, low density polyethylene or polystyrene.
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    法律状态:
    2018-12-04| B06F| Objections, documents and/or translations needed after an examination request according [chapter 6.6 patent gazette]|
    2019-10-22| B06U| Preliminary requirement: requests with searches performed by other patent offices: procedure suspended [chapter 6.21 patent gazette]|
    2020-09-15| B06A| Notification to applicant to reply to the report for non-patentability or inadequacy of the application [chapter 6.1 patent gazette]|
    2020-12-15| B06A| Notification to applicant to reply to the report for non-patentability or inadequacy of the application [chapter 6.1 patent gazette]|
    2021-04-13| B09A| Decision: intention to grant [chapter 9.1 patent gazette]|
    2021-06-01| B350| Update of information on the portal [chapter 15.35 patent gazette]|
    2021-06-22| B16A| Patent or certificate of addition of invention granted|Free format text: PRAZO DE VALIDADE: 20 (VINTE) ANOS CONTADOS A PARTIR DE 21/11/2012, OBSERVADAS AS CONDICOES LEGAIS. |
    优先权:
    申请号 | 申请日 | 专利标题
    US201161562675P| true| 2011-11-22|2011-11-22|
    US61/562,675|2011-11-22|
    PCT/US2012/066316|WO2013078355A2|2011-11-22|2012-11-21|Toothbrush handle having an inner cavity|
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