Oral care implement

#A toothbrush is used to clean the teeth by removing plaque and debris from the tooth surfaces. Conventional toothbrushes having a flat bristle trim are limited in their ability to conform to the curvature of the teeth, to penetrate into the interproximal areas between the teeth, to sweep away the plaque and debris, and to clean along the gum line. Additionally, such toothbrushes have a limited ability to retain dentifrice for cleaning the teeth. During the brushing process, the dentifrice typically slips through the tufts of bristles and away from the contact between the bristles and the teeth. As a result, the dentifrice is often spread around the mouth, rather than being concentrated on the contact of the bristles with the teeth. Therefore, the efficiency of the cleaning process is reduced.

#While substantial efforts have been made to modify the cleaning elements of toothbrushes to improve the efficiency of the oral cleaning process, the industry continues to pursue arrangements of cleaning elements that will improve upon the existing technology. In typical oral care implements, bristles having circular transverse cross-sectional profiles are bundled together in a bristle tuft and mounted within tuft holes having circular transverse cross-sectional profiles. However, such a configuration results in gaps being present between adjacent bristles in the tuft and between the bristles of the tuft and the walls of the tuft holes, thereby resulting in a looser packing of the tuft hole and a less than optimal packing factor. These gaps can also reduce the effectiveness of the oral care implement and can cause the oral care implement to effectuate an uncomfortable feeling during brushing.

#Additionally, the use of tapered bristles on oral care implements has also recently become more popular due to the ability of the tapered bristles to penetrate into hard to reach crevices and their softer feel. However, known oral care implements that include tapered bristles suffer from the drawback that the tapered bristles tend to flex too easily during use and have short lifetimes due to wear.

#The features of the exemplified embodiments will be described with reference to the following drawings in which like elements are labeled similarly. The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

#FIG. 1a is a front perspective view of a tapered bristle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

#FIG. 1b is a transverse cross-section of the tapered bristle of FIG. 1a taken along view 1b-1b.

#The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.

#The description of illustrative embodiments according to principles of the present invention is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description. In the description of embodiments of the invention disclosed herein, any reference to direction or orientation is merely intended for convenience of description and is not intended in any way to limit the scope of the present invention. Relative terms such as “lower,” “upper,” “horizontal,” “vertical,” “above,” “below,” “up,” “down,” “left,” “right,” “top” and “bottom” as well as derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally,” “downwardly,” “upwardly,” etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawing under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description only and do not require that the apparatus be constructed or operated in a particular orientation unless explicitly indicated as such. Terms such as “attached,” “affixed,” “connected,” “coupled,” “interconnected,” “mounted” and similar refer to a relationship wherein structures are secured or attached to one another either directly or indirectly through intervening structures, as well as both movable or rigid attachments or relationships, unless expressly described otherwise. Moreover, the features and benefits of the invention are illustrated by reference to the exemplified embodiments. Accordingly, the invention expressly should not be limited to such exemplary embodiments illustrating some possible non-limiting combination of features that may exist alone or in other combinations of features; the scope of the invention being defined by the claims appended hereto.

#Referring to FIGS. 1a and 1b, a tapered bristle 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated extending from a face 31 of a head of an oral care implement, such as a toothbrush. The tapered bristle 10 extends from the face 31 of the head of the oral care implement from a fixed end 11 of the tapered bristle 10 to a free end 12 of the tapered bristle 10 along a longitudinal axis A-A of the tapered bristle 10. The tapered bristle 10 has a length L1, measured from the face 31 of the head to the free end 12 of the tapered bristle 10 along the longitudinal axis A-A of the tapered bristle 10. In certain embodiments, the length L1 of the tapered bristle 10 may be in a range of 10 mm to 20 mm. Of course, the invention is not so limited and the length L1 of the tapered bristle 10 can be selected as desired for a particular toothbrush or section of a toothbrush.