Sanitary toothbrush

Application filed October 28, 1918. Serial No. 834,627.

To all whomit may concern:

Be it known that I, Lawrence C. Davis, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, and a citizen of the United States, have invented a new and use5 ful Improvement in Sanitary Toothbrushes, set forth in the following specification.

The invention relates to instruments which are employed for the purpose of removing deposits of foreign matter from the I® surfaces of various objects, and it especially relates to brushes which are used for cleaning the teeth, the principal object of the invention being to produce a brush which is capable of acting upon not only the exterior 15 surfaces of the teeth, but the less accessible proximate surfaces thereof which the ordinary tooth brush is incapable of reaching.

These ordinary tooth brushes are provided with bristles which are substantially of equal 28 lengths and stiffness, and, if it be attempted to force some of these bristles into the interproximal spaces of the teeth, penetration of those spaces will be prevented by the resistance of other bristles which bear against the 25 bodies of the teeth. Other tooth brushes contain tufts of stiff and relatively soft or pliable bristles, but these brushes contain no means for sustaining the stiff bristles against lateral displacement, and it is, consequently, 38 difficult to cause these stiff bristles to enter the spaces between teeth to thereby clean the approximal surfaces thereof. A tooth brush having' a limited number of bristles may be caused to reach into these inter-proximal 35 spaces, but such a special brush is unfitted for general uses, and, furthermore, is of limited utility inasmuch as the bristles are unsustained laterally and are therefore liable to bend or break under pressure.

*0 The brush which I have devised is provided with laterally sustained bristles and is therefore adapted, not only to clean and polish the outer and more exposed surfaces of teeth, but to reach the hitherto practically <5 inaccessible proximate surfaces and to remove therefrom or prevent the formation of the so-called plaques which are the direct cause of diseases of teeth and gums. This brush is also adapted for use in massaging 50 and hardening the gums.

The invention will be understood by referring to the accompanying drawings in which—

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing 55 the brush body and the handle assembled;

' Figure 2 is a perspective view of the handle with the locking device released;

Figure 3 is a section through 3—3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a section through 4—4 of 00 Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a view showing a strip of the wrapping material from which the body of the brush is formed, and showing the penetrative filaments of the brush; 85

Figure 6 is a view showing the application of the brush to teeth;

Figure 7 represents a piece of luffa;

Figure 8 is a view of a modifying wrapping, and 70

Figure 9 is a view of another modified wrapping.

The body of the brush 1 is composed of two principal parts, one part of which con- . tains a narrow row or a plurality of narrow 75 rows of abrasive, penetrative filaments 2, which are preferably straight and stiff and are disposed in a substantially median position in said body, and the other part of which is made of yielding fibrous vegetable or other 80 cellulose 3, arranged in such a way as to envelop and constitute lateral supports for the penetrative filaments when they are pushed into the inter-proximal spaces 4 of the teeth. This yielding material may be 88 resilient and, if so, will tend to restore the penetrative filaments to normal upright positions as the brush is passed from tooth to tooth.

The penetrative filaments 2 may be com- 00 mon bristles, but are preferably vegetable or cellulose fibres, such as Tampico or bast fibres which, provided they are sufficiently stiff will effectuate the removal or prevent the formation of incipient plaques. W

The enveloping yielding part of the brush is preferably composed of the cellulose that is known as luffa fibre 5, this being the fibrous mass constituting the linings of certain Indian and African and Texan gourds 100 which are respectively known as Luffa Acutangvla and Luffa Cylindrica or Luffa AEgyptica. These linings contain layers in one of which the fibres 6 are approximately parallel, while the other layers 7 are of re- 105 ticulate form. In cutting these linings for use in a brush, the incision is made across the fibres 6, so that the cut ends thereof will appear at the surface of the brush and a reticulated layer 7 will constitute the side HO £| 1,470,710 of the brush. This disposition of the respective layers is advantageous inasmuch as the parallel fibres are thus positioned where their abrasive and absorptive prop• erties may be utilized, and the reticulated fibres are so situated that their relatively smooth surfaces may be employed for the purpose of massaging the gums. The penetrative filaments are enveloped by a piece ¹⁰ of the aforesaid cut lining.

The completed brush body₂ which may or may not be impregnated with a suitable dentifrice, such as a suitable powder mixed with a binder in solution, that is, a binder ¹⁵ made adhesive by moisture, is preferably in th® form of a compressed block whicn is adapted to be firmly clamped in a suitable handle 8, said handle being so designed as to be capable of exerting substantially ²⁰ uniform pressures upon and throughout the length of th® brush body. It has been found difficult to secure the individual penetrative filaments unless they are all subjected to the same degree of pressure, but this result may ²⁸ be attained if the clamping portion of the handle has parallel jaws 10 and 11, which will operate to produce these equal pressures or unless an adhesive binder is employed. The reticulated fibres of the body ³⁰ portion assist in the locking of the straight penetrative fibres in place, the pressure of the clamped jaws, due either to their movement toward each other, or to the swelling of the wetted body portions of the fibres ³⁸ acting to cause the reticulated fibres to crimp said penetrative filaments which interlock therewith and thus produce a secure anchorage for said filaments.

The jaws 10 and 11 of the handle are ⁴⁰ united at their extremities by a thin flexible hinge 12, which may be made integral with said j aws. This hinge is preferably straight, as shown, so that it will not yield under the strain which is incident to the ⁴⁵ clamping operation, and in order that it may act merely as a tensional member of the clamp. The flexibility of said hinge should not be impaired by excessive tempering, but it may be mildly tempered to ⁵⁰ cause it to maintain the jaws of the clamp in slightly divergent relation to each other to enable the body of the brush to be easily introduced between said jaws.

The handle 8 is preferably made of a ⁸⁵ single piece of semi-cylindrical metal, portions of which at the middle part 13 of the handle are juxtaposed to form a cylindrical stem, a continuation of one of these parts being the jaw 10. The jaw 11 has. a free ⁶⁰ semi-cylindrical end 14, which may lie flat against a part 15 of the handle when the jaws are grasping the body of the brush. The juxtaposed portions of the handle are united by a band 16 or otherwise. A sleeve 17 which is adapted to slide on the handle constitutes the locking means for the free end 14 of the jaw 11.

The handle is bent to form a scraper or cleaner, 18, which is to be used in removing deposits from the tongue. 7®

Figure 8 shows a mass of spongy rubber 19, having serrations 20 and pores 21, which mass may be substituted for the luff a hereinbefore described.

A further modification of the brush body 75 may be made by using a woven piece of fabric, as shown in Figure 9. This fabric may have wefts 22, of any suitable and relatively stiff fibres, such as bast fibres, and warp threads 23 of cotton or other ⁸⁰substance commonly employed in weaving. The penetrative filaments may be wrapped in pieces of this fabric in the same way that they are wrapped in the luffa fibre. The fabric will, of course, be cut in such a ⁸⁵way as to present the ends of the wefts to the teeth when the brush is used.

In order to ensure and maintain complete sterility of the brush body, it is sterilized in any suitable manner, and tightly ⁸⁰wrapped in foil, or wax paper. This wrapping, for sanitary reasons, should be removed without allowing the fingers to touch said body.

The parts of the brush are so related that ⁸⁸it will be found convenient to utilize each of the parts thereof in the manner contemplated. For scrubbing the extraneous parts of the teeth the brush will be employed in the same way as an ordinary tooth brush, ¹⁰⁰while, to reach the proximate surfaces, the brush will be pressed against the teeth crosswise, and the penetrative filaments caused to enter the interproximal spaces. If the gums are to be massaged, the relatively soft and ¹⁰⁸smooth side of the brush will be rubbed against the gums, the absorptive character of the envelope enabling the envelope to receive and retain foreign substances carried by the gums, or expressed from cavities be- ¹¹⁰neath diseased gums.