Toothbrush heads comprising a two-component cleaning element and method for producing the same
AssigneeThe Procter & Gamble Company
InventorsStefan SCHEURICH, Uwe TRETROP, Ulrich STOERKEL
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A toothbrush head, including at least one two-component cleaning element and at least one bristle tuft element, is produced by injection molding. To achieve high design flexibility regarding the arrangement of the two-component cleaning elements and regarding the material choice, the two-component cleaning elements are manufactured separately or in an upstream molding step. Then the two-component cleaning elements, together with the bristle tufts, are over-molded with plastic material, to form the brush head or a part thereof.
Claims15
A method for producing a toothbrush head (10) or a part thereof, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a cleaning element carrier (30) comprising cavities (31, 32), wherein the cleaning element carrier (30) represents a first half of a mold;
- providing at least one two-component cleaning element (20) wherein the two-component cleaning element comprises a first component (21) and a second component (22), wherein the second component (22) comprise at least one undercut;
- inserting the at least one two-component cleaning element (20) and one or more bristle tuft(s) (26) into the cleaning element carrier (30), wherein the first component (21) of the at least one two-component cleaning element (20) and a first part (27) of the one or more bristle tuft(s) (26) are covered by the cleaning element carrier (30);
- forming a mold cavity (36) by combining the cleaning element carrier (30) with at least a second mold half (34), wherein the second component (22) of the at least one two-component cleaning element (20) including the at least one undercut and a second part (28) of the one or more bristle tuft(s) (26) are located inside the mold cavity (36);
- and
- injecting plastic material into the mold cavity (36), wherein the second component (22) of the at least one two-component cleaning element (20) including the at least one undercut and the second part(s) of the one or more bristle tuft(s) (26) are over-molded by the injected plastic material and wherein the brush head (10) or the part thereof is formed thereby, and wherein the two-component cleaning element (20) is mounted physically into the brush head (10) by the at least one undercut.
A manual toothbrush (40) or a part of a replacement brush head (42) for an electric toothbrush comprising a brush head (10) providing at least one two-component cleaning element (20) and one or more bristle tuft(s) (26) obtainable by a method according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one two-component cleaning element (20) and the one or more bristle tuft(s) (26) are embedded into the plastic material of the brush head (10) by over-molding, wherein the plastic material of the brush head (10) is different to the materials of the at least one two-component cleaning element (20) and the one or more bristle tuft(s) (26), and wherein the at least one two-component cleaning element (20) and the brush head (10) or the part of a replacement brush head (42) are physically connected by at least one undercut.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.