US 5,261,430 AGranted

System of oral hygiene and personal care apparatus with interchangeable and replaceable elements

OwnerDavid J. Mochelinventor

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Abstract

The invention comprises in combination a system of oral hygiene and personal care apparatus with interchangeable and replaceable elements to facilitate oral hygiene needs such as flossing, brushing and gum stimulation, and personal care needs such as shaving, massaging and manicuring. The preferred embodiment comprises a handle having a receiver slot for mounting and securely retaining the self-locking mounting stem of a demountable tool attachment, and a plurality of demountable and interchangeable tool attachments. The handle may enclose a battery-powered electric motor to impart vibrating motion. The preferred tool attachment is a floss cartridge holder designed to retain a disposable floss cartridge having a short strand of dental floss held between two legs of a U-shaped yoke. The disposable floss cartridge has an integral locking mechanism which allows it to be locked into the holder for each use, and afterwards be unlocked, removed and discarded.

Claims8

Dependent claims

A system of oral hygiene and personal care apparatus with interchangeable and replaceable elements comprising in combination:

a. a floss cartridge holder having:
(i) bifurcated prongs with alignment grooves formed into outermost ends and inside edges of said prongs;
(ii) a tongue slot recessed into an area of juncture between said bifurcated prongs, said tongue slot having an indented interior space;
b. a handle to which is attached said floss cartridge holder;
c. a disposable floss cartridge, replaceable in said floss cartridge holder, comprising:
(i) a yoke with two legs and a short strand of dental floss held taut between the tips of said legs;
(ii) an elongated tongue extending rearwardly at the base of said yoke, said tongue being insertable into said tongue slot of said floss cartridge holder;
(iii) a locking means selected from the group consisting of a raised level and a wedge disposed on a flexible surface of said tongue of said floss cartridge and so positioned thereon as to snap into said indented interior space inside said tongue slot of said floss cartridge holder when said cartridge is inserted into said holder, thereby firmly locking said cartridge into said holder;
(iv) a securing means selected from the group consisting of hooked ends, balls or bevels at the tips of said legs of said floss cartridge, so positioned as to seat into said alignment grooves in said prongs of said floss cartridge holder, thereby securing said legs to said prongs and preventing said legs from flexing inwardly when pressure is applied to said strand of dental floss during usage.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.