Disposable toothbrush
OwnerGail W. Hansel, Phillip D. Fausettinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A disposable toothbrush which includes a tubular housing forming a handle and a telescopically slidable brush head carrier mounted in the housing. The brush head carrier includes a brush head with tapered plastic bristles which have a central cup position therein to receive dentifrice. The brush head is pivoted to the carrier and forms a closure for the end of the tubular housing when in retracted position. A wedge-shaped member on the brush head retains it in optimum brushing position. A retaining projection on the brush head retains the brush head in optimum brushing position and a latch structure retains the carrier in extended relation to the tubular housing. The brush head includes a removable bristle assembly to enable multiple use cycles of the toothbrush.
Claims13
A disposable toothbrush comprising a pair of telescopically arranged components with one of the components being in the form of a tubular housing, the other of said components including an elongated brush head carrier slidably received in the tubular housing, a brush head mounted on one end of the brush head carrier for movement from a position adjacent one end of the tubular housing to an extended position remote therefrom, said brush head forming a closure for one end of the tubular housing when the toothbrush is in retracted position, said tubular housing forming a handle for the toothbrush when the brush head carrier and brush head are in their extended position, said tubular housing having a partial closure wall at the opposite end and being of a size to be easily grasped when using the device as a toothbrush and positionable in a pocket without producing a noticeable distortion when the brush head and carrier are telescoped into the housing, said brush head being pivotally mounted on the carrier for pivotal movement between a position perpendicular to the carrier to engage with and close the end of the tubular housing when in retracted position and an angulated position for use as a toothbrush when in extended position.
The disposable toothbrush as defined in claim 17 wherein said bristle assembly includes a plurality of bristles on one surface of the body and a dentifrice cavity in said one surface, said bristles being disposed outwardly of and around a major potion of the cavity thereby enabling the cavity to be preloaded with dentifrice and assembled on the mounting plate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.