Patent ID: 9326594
Filing Date: 2016-05-03
CPC Classification: A46B,A61C

Claim Text:
1. A toothbrush capable of sensing a position of a bristle set portion thereof relative to a user's teeth, comprising: a handle portion and a brushhead portion, the brushhead portion having a bristle set at one end thereof for cleaning the user's teeth; at least two sensors located on the handle portion of the toothbrush at a location that is outside a user's mouth in response to the bristle set being in position to brush the teeth, the sensors being responsive to a temperature, a first sensor of the at least two sensors further being oriented on the toothbrush such that it detects (i) a temperature of the skin in response to the bristle set being in a position adjacent one of either the outside or inside surfaces of the teeth, and a second sensor of the at least two sensors detects (ii) an environmental temperature outside the mouth in response to the bristle set being in a position adjacent the other of the outside or inside surfaces of the teeth; a processor responsive to temperature information from the sensors for determining whether (i) the bristle set is in position to brush the outside surfaces of the teeth or (ii) the bristle set is in a position to brush the inside surfaces of the teeth; and an indication system responsive to a bristle set position determined by the processor for indicating the position of the bristle set relative to the teeth.