Abstract:
A device for oral care in showers and baths has a water issuing member, a structure forming a throughoing passage connectable to a water source and supplying water to the water issuing member, a structure for regulating a parameter of the water supplied through the throughgoing passage to the water issuing element to allow a flow of water or to interrupt the flow of water, means forming a chamber fillable with a medium to be introduced into water, and a connecting element for connecting the throughgoing passage to the water source through a hose, so that water flows by a self-flow from the water source without pump, intermediate vessels and the like through the hose and then through the throughgoinog passage to issue from the water issuing member.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to devices for oral care, in particular for deep cleaning mouth care, in showers and baths, for household use.  
         [0002]     Devices for oral care as a rule have a compressor operating from an electric grid or from an accumulator. These devices have great dimensions, they operate in a short mode, and require separate procedures. It is believed to be advisable to improve the above mentioned devices.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a dental care device, which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.  
         [0004]     More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a oral care device for showers and bath which is powered in a simple manner, can be adjusted in many ways, provides automatic preparation of a required medium, is easily connectable to a water system, and can be used during water procedures.  
         [0005]     It is also an object of the present invention to provide the oral care device which has a small size and therefore does not require a special storage, so that it can be placed on shelves in shower cabins, etc.  
         [0006]     In keeping with these objects and with others which will become apparent hereinafter, one feature of the present invention resides, briefly stated, in a device for oral care in showers and baths, comprising a water issuing member; means forming a throughoing passage connectable to a water source and supplying water to said water issuing member; means for regulating a parameter of the water supplied through said throughgoing passage to said water issuing element to allow a flow of water or to interrupt the flow of water; and connecting means for connecting said means forming said throughgoing passage to the water source through a hose, so that water flows by a self-flow from the water source without pump, intermediate vessels and the like through the hose and then through said throughgoinog passage to issue from said water issuing member.  
         [0007]     When the oral care device is designed in accordance with the present invention, it eliminates the disadvantages of the prior art and provides above mentioned highly advantageous results.  
         [0008]     The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the present invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]      FIG. 1  is a view showing a cross-section of a device in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a view showing a cross-section of a housing of the inventive device;  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is an end view of the housing of the inventive device;  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a view showing a cross-section of the plunger of the inventive device;  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is a view showing an end view of the plunger of the inventive device;  
         [0014]      FIG. 6  is a view showing a cross-section of a jet tip of the inventive device;  
         [0015]      FIG. 7  is a view showing a cross-section of a fitting of the inventive device;  
         [0016]      FIG. 8  is a view showing a cross-section of a tubular member of the inventive device;  
         [0017]      FIGS. 9 and 10  are two views of a valve of the inventive device;  
         [0018]      FIG. 11  is a view showing a cross-section of a plug of the inventive device;  
         [0019]      FIGS. 12 and 13  are two views showing a tooth brush provided in the inventive device; and  
         [0020]      FIGS. 14 and 15  are views showing an inventive system, in which the inventive device is connected to a faucet and to a shower arm correspondingly.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0021]     A device for oral care for showers and baths in accordance with the present invention has a housing which is identified with reference numeral  1 . A plunger  2  is located inside the housing and has a sealing ring  3  and a fixing nut  4 . A rod  5  is located inside the plunger.  
         [0022]     A plug  6  is arranged in a front part of the housing and has sealing rings  7 ,  8 ,  9 , and a gasket  10 . A valve  11  is located inside the plug. A fitting  12  is screwed into the plug. A jet tip  13  is screwed into the fitting  12  and has a sealing ring  14 . The jet tip  13  is removable and interchangeable. For example, the device can be provided with several removable jet tips, each for a respective member of a family.  
         [0023]     The housing  1  which is shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3  is formed as a handle with longitudinal grooves  15  on its outer surface, to make comfortable its holding during the operation. It has an inner opening  16  with a cylindrical shape. One end  55  of the opening has two flats  17 . Another end  57  of the opening is cylindrical.  
         [0024]     The plunger  2  shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5  has a threaded part  18 , a piston part  19  with a groove  20 , and two flats  21 . The piston part is formed of one piece with a hollow plunger member  22  with openings  23  and  24 . In a front part the plunger  2  has a thread  25  and a longitudinal groove  26 . An opening  27  is provided in a rear part of the plunger.  
         [0025]     A tubular member  5  shown in  FIG. 8  is substantially cylindrical and has a surface  28  which corresponds to the opening of the plunger  24 .with a sliding fit. It also has inner openings  29  and  30 .  
         [0026]     The plug  6  shown in  FIG. 11  has a flange  31  with a knurling  32  on its periphery, a cylindrical part  33  with a groove  34 , two threaded openings  35  and  36  connected with one another by an opening  37 , and a groove  38  for a sealing ring.  
         [0027]     The valve  11  which is shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10  includes a disc  39  with a central laterally open slot  10 . The fitting  12  shown in  FIG. 7  has a flange  41  with a knurling  42  on its periphery, a hub  43  with a groove  58 , outer thread  44 , and an inner opening  45 . At the end side, the fitting has a threaded opening  46  and an annular groove  47 .  
         [0028]     The jet tip  13  shown in  FIG. 6  is formed as a conical pipe  48  which is bent and has outlet part  49 . It has an opening  50  which merges into a microopening  51  of a very small diameter. The microopening  51  is significantly smaller than the inlet opening of the plunger  2 . In the rear part, the jet tip has a hub  52  with a groove  53  and a thread  54 .  
         [0029]      FIGS. 12 and 13  show a tooth brush  58  having a body  59  with bristles  60  and a rounded tapered slot  61  which ends in a curved slot  62 . The brush can be attached to the jet tip removably and interchangeably by snapping due to its elasticity and can be used with water or without water anywhere any time.  
         [0030]     The device in accordance with the present invention operates in the following manner.  
         [0031]     The device is connected to a water supply system with its threaded part  18  directly or through an intermediate quick-connect element. The housing  1  which is assembled on the plunger  2  through the opening  55  with the flats  17  and fixed by the nut  4  is hermetically closed with the sealing ring  3  so as to form a chamber  56 . At the opposite side, the chamber  56  is closed with the plug  6  which is screwed on the plunger  22  via a connection of the opening  35  with the plunger element  22  and is sealed by the sealing ring  7 . The chamber  56  is provided for medical solutions both in a liquid state and in form of a granules which can be dissolved in water, and supplied on a surface to be treated.  
         [0032]     The sealing ring  9  and the valve  1  shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10  are introduced in the threaded openings  36  of the plug shown in  FIG. 11 , and the fitting  12  shown in  FIG. 7  is screwed in. Thereafter the jet tip  13  shown in  FIG. 6  is screwed into the fitting, with the sealing ring  14  closing the groove  47 .  
         [0033]     Supply of water is performed through a system of openings  23  of the plunger  2 , then through the openings  29  and  30  of the tubular member  5  shown in  FIG. 9 , into the opening  37  shown in  FIG. 11  and the opening valve  11  shown in  FIGS. 9, 1  O through the groove  40  into the opening  50  of the jet tip  13 , and then through the outlet opening  51 .  
         [0034]     In the outlet opening  51  the jet is formed which under pressure is supplied on a surface to be treated. The pressure of the jet can be regulated from zero to maximum by opening of the valve, by means of turning of the fitting  12  with the knurling  42 . In the position shown in  FIG. 1  the fitting  12  is completely screwed in and the valve  11  is pressed against the seal  9 . When the fitting  12  is unscrewed by the user to move to the left in  FIG. 1 , the water pressure pushes the valve  11  to the left and water flows between the seal  9  and the valve  11 , through the groove  40  and then through the openings of the fitting  12 . The water supply quantity and pressure depends on a degree of unscrewing of the fitting  12 .  
         [0035]     The chamber  56  is filled with a treatment medium, for example a medication, from the side  57  of the housing  1  shown  FIG. 2 , and closed by the plug  6 . When the plug is completely closed by screwing of the threaded opening  35  shown in  FIG. 11  and the thread  25  with one another the sealing ring  8  closes the groove  26  and stops a flow of the medium from the chamber  56 . The closing of the plug moves the pipe  5  to an extreme position shown in  FIG. 1  so as to close also the opening  27  shown in  FIG. 4 , through which a flow of water under pressure in the opening  23  can be pumped into the chamber  56  when the opening  27  is open. As a result the simultaneous overlapping of the inlet opening  27  and outlet opening  26  takes place, so that the supply of medium into a water flow is interrupted. The opening of the opening  27  and the groove  26  is performed by unscrewing of the plugs and displacing the tubular member  5  under the action of water.  
         [0036]     When both the opening  27  and the groove  26  are open, water flows through the opening  27  into the chamber  56  and by its pressure expels the medium from the chamber, which medium then flows through the groove  26  into the openings of the plug  6 , to be mixed with water and then supplied to the jet tip. The quantity of the medium introduced into the water is regulated by the degree of opening of the opening  27  and the groove  26  at the inlet end and the outlet end of the chamber.  
         [0037]     Therefore, the device in accordance with the present invention actually has two independent systems of regulations, by which allow to regulate continuously a flow of water from zero to a maximum and a flow of additional medium also continuously from zero to a maximum.  
         [0038]     As shown in  FIGS. 14 and 15  the device is connectable by a hose  63  to a water source  64  or  65 , formed as a faucet or a shower arm. The system does not have any pumps, any intermediate vessels, any power generating devices. Water from the water source  64 ,  65  flows by a self-flow through the hose  63  into the device, through the latter, and then issues from the jet tip in a narrow, intense jet.  
         [0039]     Toothbrushing or other oral care procedures can be performed with water, without water, with water into which additional substances are introduced.  
         [0040]     It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.  
         [0041]     While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a device for dental care, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.  
         [0042]     Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.