Vibrating toothbrush
AssigneeColgate-Palmolive Company
InventorAlan Vincent Sorrentino
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vibrating toothbrush is provided with vibration-isolating zones that substantially isolate vibrations in the head and reduce vibrations transmitted to the handle without sacrificing structural integrity around the vibration-isolation zones. Such zones may generally comprise neck material that is reduced in cross-section, thinned, replaced by dampening material, or removed altogether to create transmission-inhibiting voids. The vibration-isolating zones may be further supported by the housing of the vibratory element to maintain the structural integrity around the zones and to thereby alleviating weakness conditions that might subject the toothbrush to fatigue and breakage conditions.
Claims10
A toothbrush comprising:
- a) a head and a neck formed from a support of a first material having a first vibration transmission capacity,
- h) a mechanical vibrating device in the neck containing a power element and a vibratory element that are both housed within a housing having a length, and
- c) a vibration-reducing section situated along at least a portion of the length of the housing having a second vibration transmission capacity that is less than said first vibration transmission capacity, and
- wherein the vibration-reducing section comprises a depression or concavity formed into an inner surface of the neck.
A toothbrush comprising:
- a head;
- a neck coupled to the head, the neck having an inner surface that defines a cavity;
- a mechanical vibrating device positioned within the cavity and extending along a portion of a length of the neck;
- and
- a depression or concavity formed into the inner surface of the neck, at least a portion of the depression or concavity positioned along the portion of the length of the neck.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.