Tooth cleaning device

In a straddle-type tooth cleaning device which comprises:

• carrier means adapted for insertion in the mouth of the person whose teeth are to be cleaned, an implement that is operatively connected with the carrier means for cleaning the teeth, and elongated positioning means, including a handle, for supporting the carrier means adjacent a row of teeth while the implement is applied thereto,
• the carrier means comprising a pair of elongated arms which project from the distal end of the positioning means in generally spaced parallel relationship to one another, with an elongated slot extending therebetween, and are rigidly interconnected with the positioning means so as to form relatively rigid extensions of the same, longitudinally thereof,
• the implement comprising an operatively taco shell shaped cleaning head which is operatively connected with the arms to straddle the slot at the outboard end portions of the arms on an axis of the implement extending from arm to arm crosswise the length of the slot,
• the cleaning head having three sections in the body thereof comprising a pair of spaced wings, and a midsection in the space therebetween, which are serially interconnected with one another along the aforesaid axis of the implement,
• the head also having tooth cleaning means on corresponding sides of the wings and being operatively arranged on the arms so that the wings are reentrantly folded about the midsection transverse the axis of the implement, with the tooth cleaning sides thereof folded relatively toward one another, but spaced apart from one another by a gap having a mouth opposite the midsection of the head for the introduction of the teeth to the gap,
• the cleaning head having additional portions thereof which are interposed between the respective wings and the midsection thereof, axially of the implement, and
• the respective additional portions being connected with the midsection and the wings at pairs of spaced first and second connections, respectively,
• the improvement wherein:
• the wings of the head are operatively reentrantly folded about the midsection at the first connections, are interposed between the arms at the opposite sides of the slot so that the tooth cleaning sides thereof are opposed to one another crosswise of the slot, and are connected with the outboard end portions of the arms at a pair of third connections which are formed on the bodies of the wings at the opposite sides of the second connections from the first connections in the head, axially of the implement, so that the wings project laterally outwardly from the arms and give the head a taco shell shaped configuration,
• the wings are capable of reciprocating in relation to one another axially of the implement,
• means in one of the pairs of first and third connections are operable to yieldably bias the wings relatively toward one another axially of the implement to the extent that when the head is straddled about a row of teeth, the user must relatively forcibly wedge the tops of the teeth between the tooth cleaning sides of the wings to introduce the teeth to the gap through the mouth thereof, and
• the added portions of the head are cantilevered into the slot from the second connections and flexibly interposed in the slot between the wings and the midsection so that when the head is straddled about a row of teeth and the wings reciprocate in relation to one another axially of the implement as the head is translated along the length of the row of teeth, the midsection and added portions of the head form an articulated linkage between the wings which can flex in relation to the arms to preserve the bias on the wings while the head adjusts to the varying diameters of the teeth axially of the implement.