Patent ID: 9289055
Filing Date: 2016-03-22
CPC Classification: A46B

Claim Text:
1. A toothbrush comprising: a handle; a head with bristles; and a force sensitive region coupling the head to the handle, the force sensitive region including a principal beam and a secondary beam arranged in a bistable configuration to transmit normal loads from the head to the handle, wherein the principal beam elastically bends in response to a brushing force on the head thereby creating an axial force in the secondary beam, and wherein the secondary beam responds to the axial force by changing from a first state to a second state having a different end-to-end length when the brushing force on the head exceeds a predetermined amount, and further wherein the secondary beam includes a slip clutch that moves from the first state to the second state in response to the predetermined amount, and the slip clutch includes a first number of teeth on the secondary beam and a second number of teeth on the principal beam, wherein at least one of the first number of teeth is engaged with at least one of the second number of teeth.