Bristle for a toothbrush
AssigneeBraun GmbH
InventorsGeorges Driesen, Ahmet Cem Firatli, Rainer Hans, Norbert Schaefer, Armin Schwarz-Hartmann
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention is directed to a bristle (12) for a toothbrush, in particular for an electric toothbrush, which is made of plastic and includes several filaments (13, 14, 15) joined together. The filaments (13, 14, 15) are wound or braided and joined together as a result of the action of chemical agents. This results in a firm bond between the filaments (13, 14, 15), and any cavities between the filaments (13, 14, 15) are reliably avoided. Overall, a toothbrush results which, in addition to having a high cleaning effect, offers bacteria or other germs no possibility of infiltration.
Claims47
A bristle for a toothbrush, comprising
- a plurality of plastic filaments each having a cross-sectional area defining a core region and a peripheral region,
- at least one filament of said plurality being wound or interlaced about an other said filament of said plurality and defining an interface between said filaments, and
- said at least one and said other filaments being chemically welded, wherein respective said peripheral regions of adjacent said chemically welded filaments have an at least partially dissolved structure and said chemically welded filaments have a fixed bond along the interface.
A bristle for a toothbrush, comprising a plurality of plastic filaments,
- at least one filament of said plurality being wound or interlaced about an other said filament of said plurality,
- said at least one and said other filaments being chemically welded so as to form a bond along an interface between said filaments, and wherein a free end of the bristle has a fanned arrangement.
A bristle for a toothbrush, comprising
- a plurality of plastic filaments,
- at least one filament of said plurality being wound or interlaced about an other said filament of said plurality,
- said at least one and said other filaments being chemically welded, and
- wherein a peeling force of the filaments is between about 0.1 N and about 0.15 N.
A bristle for a toothbrush, comprising
- a plurality of plastic filaments,
- at least one filament of said plurality being wound or interlaced about an other said filament of said plurality,
- said at least one and said other filaments being chemically welded, and
- wherein at least a portion of the plurality of filaments comprises an at least partially crystalline structure, and
- further defining an envelope region having a generally amorphous structure being disposed outward of a core region having at least partially crystalline structure.
A method of forming a bristle for a toothbrush, comprising the steps of
- providing a plurality of plastic filaments,
- entwining, substantially free of torsional stress, at least first and second ones of said filaments,
- dissolving at least partially the entwined first and second filaments with a solvent to chemically weld said first and second filaments.
A bristle for a toothbrush, comprising
- a plurality of plastic filaments extending between a bristle proximal end and a bristle distal end,
- at least a first filament of said plurality being entwined about at least a second filament of said plurality, and
- a substantially continuous envelope region formed by portions of said first and said second entwined filaments being chemically welded, said envelope region being disposed on radially outward surfaces of said filaments and extending between the bristle proximal and distal ends.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.