Replacement head for an oral care implement, and oral care implement and method of utilizing the same
AssigneesColgate-Palmolive Company, Omron Healthcare Co., Ltd.
InventorsHideaki Yoshida, Takashi Torihama, Thomas Mintel, Joseph Fattori
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A replacement head for an oral care implement, such as a powered toothbrush, wherein the replacement head utilizes a specially designed structure for coupling the replacement head to an oral care implement body. In one embodiment, the invention can be a replacement head comprising: a head having a plurality of tooth cleaning elements mounted thereto; a tubular sleeve comprising a cavity for receiving a stem of the body, a proximal edge defining an opening into the cavity, and a distal end to which the head is coupled, the tubular sleeve comprising a locking tab for engaging an undercut surface of a locking section of a boss.
Claims18
A replacement brush used for an electric toothbrush main body including a bar-shaped stem which has a leading end part, vibrates by a vibration source provided inside the electric toothbrush main body, and extends along a center axis, the replacement brush being attached so as to cover said stem, wherein said stem includes a protruding part region which protrudes outward from an outer peripheral face of the stem, said replacement brush includes:
- a tubular part having an open trailing end;
- a brushing member formed outside a leading end side of said tubular part;
- and
- an open sidewall formed from a trailing end side toward the leading end side of said tubular part to define an opening region having a leading end side which is closed and a trailing end side which is opened at said open trailing end,
- said open sidewall has a bulging wall protruding toward said opening region, and
- in the attached state of said replacement brush to said stem, said protruding part region is located inside said opening region, and said bulging wall comes into contact with said protruding part region at a trailing end side of said protruding part region
- wherein said open sidewall has a first sidewall extending from said open trailing end toward the leading end side, wherein the first sidewall is formed so as to extend in an inclined direction relative to said center axis when being seen laterally, said protruding part region has an inclined wall face extending in an inclined direction relative to said center axis when being seen laterally, and in the attached state of said replacement brush to said stem, said first sidewall comes into contact with said inclined wall face.
A replacement head for detachable coupling to an oral care implement body, the replacement head comprising:
- a head having a plurality of tooth cleaning elements;
- a tubular sleeve comprising a cavity for receiving a stem of the body, the tubular sleeve comprising a proximal edge defining an opening into the cavity;
- a slot in the tubular sleeve for mating with a boss of the stem, the slot comprising:
- (1) a locking slot section for receiving a locking rib section of the boss of the stem, the locking slot section axially spaced from the proximal edge;
- and
- (2) an entry slot section for receiving a positioning rib section of the boss of the stem, the entry slot section extending from the proximal edge to the locking slot section;
- and
- a locking tab comprising a distal edge that forms a first lateral wall of the entry slot section and an upper edge that forms a bottom wall of the locking slot section, the upper edge capable of engaging an undercut surface of the locking rib section of the boss,
- wherein the locking slot section extends along a first slot axis and the entry slot section extends along a second slot axis, and wherein the first slot axis is oriented obliquely to the second slot axis.
A replacement head for detachable coupling to an oral care implement body, the replacement head comprising:
- a head having a plurality of tooth cleaning elements;
- a tubular sleeve comprising a cavity for receiving a stem of the body, the tubular sleeve comprising a proximal edge defining an opening into the cavity;
- a slot in the tubular sleeve for mating with a boss of the stem, the slot comprising:
- (1) a locking slot section for receiving at least a portion of the boss of the stem;
- and
- (2) a locking tab comprising an upper edge that forms a bottom wall of the locking slot section, the upper edge capable of engaging the boss;
- and
- wherein the locking slot section extends along a first slot axis oriented obliquely relative to a longitudinal axis of the replacement head by an angle, and wherein a bottom edge of the locking tab forms a portion of the proximal edge of the tubular sleeve.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.