Dental cleaner

Nov. 20, 1956

2,771,084

Μ. E. FLEMING

DENTAL CLEANER Filed Sept. 29, 1953

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United States Patent Office

2,771,084

Patented Nov. 20, 1956 :1.2,771,084

DENTAL CLEANER

Margaret E. Fleming, Niagara Falls, N. Y·, assignor to John S. Fleming, Niagara Falls, N. Y.

Application September 29, 1953, Serial No. 382,987

Claims. (Cl. 132—89)

The invention relates to dental cleaners for removing food particles from between adjacent teeth, this application being related to the application Serial Number 382,594, filed September 28, 1953, entitled Dental Cleaner, and the application Serial Number 220,063, filed April 9, 1951, patented June 28, 1955, now Patent No. 2,711,747, entitled Manicure Tool. Known dental cleaners comprise tooth picks of various kinds, dental floss and dental ribbons the wax impregnated threads of which are bonded and held together by the wax, all of which tend to injure or cut the gums for lack of a soft selfcushioned edge.

An object of the invention is to provide a dental cleaner consisting of a narrow ribbon of flexible paper, one of the longitudinal edges of which is a soft self-cushioned edge resulting from tearing said ribbon from and along a weakened tear line of a sheet of said paper, said ribbon being movable between adjacent teeth with its soft edge pressed vertically against the gums, said soft edge having a brushing action during such movement. Other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter or will be obvious.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combinations of parts as hereinafter set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a side view of the dental cleaner on an enlarged scale.

Figure 2 is an end view of the same.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the same.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention.

Figure 5 is a plan view of a fragment of the ribbon on a much enlarged scale showing the soft edge resulting from tearing the ribbon from and along a weakened tear line of a sheet of said paper.

Figure 6 is a section on the line 6—6, Figure 5.

Figure 7 is an end view of a second embodiment, in several arrangements.

Referring to the drawings, Figures 1 to 3, 1 designates the dental cleaner consisting of a narrow ribbon of flexible paper having longitudinal edges, one or alternatively both of which is a soft self-cushioned edge 2 resulting from tearing said ribbon from and along a weakened tear line of a sheet of said paper, said soft edge being beveled at 2' upon one side thereof and having approximately the same breadth throughout its length, said ribbon being movable between adjacent teeth with its soft edge 2 pressed vertically against the gums, said soft edge having a brushing action during such movement due to its filmy nature. Said soft edge being weak is adapted to bear only a light pressure load. If the given load is heavier said soft edge is adapted to bear only part of it, the remainder being transmitted through the soft edge to the flexible paper of said ribbon, said soft edge and the flexible paper of said ribbon being adapted to bear the entire load, which is distributed therebetween so that they are collectively self-cushioned. Said paper is thin to enable said ribbon to be movable between adjacent teeth, it is flexible to enable said ribbon to be flexed during such movement, and to be yieldable under such transmitted pressure, it is calendered between cal5 ender rollers to make it smooth and compact, increase its tensile strength and to provide an adequate soft edge, . and it is sized to resist penetration of the moisture of the saliva. The paper should not be so thin as to provide an inadequate soft edge.

If the given load is still heavier, it is taken care of in a second embodiment of the invention, shown in Fig. 4, in which said ribbon is folded centrally longitudinally thereof to superpose one of its longitudinal halves upon the other half, locate the two halves and their soft edges ad15 jacent each other and provide a paper fold 3 connecting said halves together, the folded ribbon being movable between adjacent teeth with the soft edges of the two halves pressed vertically against the gums, the soft edges of the two halves having collectively a brushing action during such movement. Each flexible paper ribbon half and its soft edge are yieldable in the direction of such pressure and adapted to bear only a part of a given pressure load, the two flexible paper ribbon halves and their soft edges being collectively less 25 yieldable and adapted to bear the entire load, which is distributed therebetween, so that they are collectively self-cushioned. The folded ribbon is adapted for use with teeth that are not close together.

In said second embodiment, referring to Fig. 7, 30 the soft edges of the two halves may be located in contact along their non-beveled sides with their beveled sides facing outwardly, thereby reinforcing each other and strengthening combined soft edges. Or the soft edges of the two halves may be spaced apart from each other, 35 thereby increasing their combined softness.

The flexible paper of said ribbon may be substituted by any other equivalent material. The right is reserved to modifications coming within the scope of the claims.