Interdental brush holder

A brush holder for a replaceable interdental brush having a body portion and a gripping member mounted on the body portion and movable relative to it. The stem of a brush can be inserted into the holder and is retained between opposed surfaces of the body portion and gripping member. Preferably the opposed surfaces may be textured or have ribs. Optionally the holder is adapted to retain the brush in a variety of orientations.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to holders for brushes and particularly to 
interdental brush holders. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
A typical interdental brush has bristles extending radially from a 
deformable wire stem. Such brushes are not easily gripped by the user and 
may therefore be difficult to use. It is therefore desirable to provide a 
holder for such brushes. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
According to the invention a brush holder for a replaceable brush is 
provided which has a body portion providing a handle and a gripping member 
which is mounted on the body portion and is movable relative to the body 
portion between a first condition in which the stem of a brush is 
insertable into and removable from the holder, and a second condition in 
which opposed surfaces of the gripping member and of the body portion are 
arranged to grip the stem of a brush inserted therebetween to prevent said 
removal, the brush holder being retainable in the second condition for 
use. One or both of the opposed surfaces may be textured or ribbed. The 
opposed surfaces may be generally curved or flat, with curved surfaces 
preferable since they provide a better grip. 
The gripping member is preferably pivotally connected to the body portion, 
the pivotal connection preferably being at an end portion of the gripping 
member and of the body portion respectively. The pivotal connection may be 
provided by at least one cooperating stud and recess on the body portion 
and the gripping member. 
The holder is preferably retained in said second condition by at least one 
cooperating stud and recess arrangement on the gripping member and the 
body portion, but is releasable from said condition by finger pressure on 
a projecting portion of the gripping member. 
There are preferably a plurality of passages at non-zero angles to each 
other provided in an end portion of the gripping member, into which the 
stem of a brush is insertable. Such passages may determine the angle of a 
brush relative to the holder when the holder is in the closed condition. 
It is preferred that one such passage be substantially parallel and one 
substantially perpendicular to the holder when the holder is in the closed 
condition, so that a brush is held either substantially parallel or 
substantially perpendicular to the holder.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
An interdental brush holder 1 embodying the present invention has a 
gripping member 2 pivotally connected to a body portion 3 at an end 
portion 4 thereof so that the gripping member 2 and body portion 3 are 
relatively movable. The body portion 3 provides a handle. The end portion 
4 is laterally enlarged relative to the main body of the gripping member 
2. This end portion 4 is disposed within a recess 3d of the body portion 3 
of the holder 1. Part of such a brush holder is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 
with a brush 10 inserted therein. 
The body portion 3 provides a stem gripping portion having first and second 
oppositely directed faces 3a, 3b. The recess 3d is bounded by a base 
surface 12 provided by the body portion 3. The gripping member 2 has a 
rear face 2a and a gripping face 14. 
The gripping member 2 has a pair of bores 5,6 substantially at right angles 
to each other passing through the end portion 4 for insertion of the stem 
8 of a brush 10. Alternatively, there may be a single such bore or more 
than two bores. The bores 5,6 have flaring ends for ease of insertion of 
the stem 8 of a brush 10. 
The gripping member 2 is rotatable between the open condition shown in FIG. 
1 and the closed condition shown in FIG. 2. In the closed condition, 
opposed surfaces 12,14 of the body portion 3 and of the gripping member 2 
respectively grip the stem 8 of a brush 10 between them. The surface 14 of 
the gripping member 2 which opposes the surface 12 of the body portion 2 
has raised ribs 16 to provide more effective grip. Either one or both of 
the opposed surface 12,14 may have such ridges or other texturing. In this 
closed condition, the two bores 5 and 6 are respectively substantially at 
right angles to the holder 1 and substantially parallel to the holder 1. 
The gripping member 2 is retainable in the closed condition by cooperating 
studs 18 and recesses 20 between the body portion 3 and the end portion of 
the gripping member 2 which is distal from its pivotal connection to the 
body portion 3. In the closed condition, the gripping member 2 is housed 
in the recess 3d in the body portion 3. The gripping member 2 has a 
projection 22 which extends through an aperture 23 in the body portion 3 
to the outside of the holder 1. Finger pressure against the projection 22 
can release the gripping member from its closed condition. 
The pivotal connection between the gripping member 2 and the body portion 3 
is provided by cooperating studs 24 and recesses 26. This is shown in 
FIGS. 3 and 4. The gripping member 2 may be completely separable from the 
body portion 3 for example by finger pressure on the gripping member 2 in 
the region of its pivotal connection to the body portion 3. 
The body portion 3 of the holder 1 may be formed as a plurality of parts 
which can be locked together, for example by cooperating studs can 
recesses, or alternatively as a single body. 
The holder 1 may additionally be provided with a releasable cover for 
covering the portion of the holder incorporating the gripping member which 
cover may have a spring clip, as is known in writing instruments. 
An example of an interdental brush holder according to the present 
invention has been formed with gripping member 2 having a length of 20 mm 
between the moulded studs 24 which form part of the pivotal connection and 
the moulded studs 18 of the retaining means. This length of the gripping 
member is preferably between 15 mm and 50 mm. 
The end portion of the gripping member 2 at the pivotal connection to the 
body portion 3 is partially circular in cross-section perpendicular to the 
body portion 3, having a radius of 2.5 mm (preferred range being 2 mm to 4 
mm). Moulded ribs 16 are provided at intervals of 2 mm (preferred range 1 
mm to 8 mm) along the surface 14 of the gripping member 2. The body 
portion of the holder 1 is 127 mm in length (preferred range 90 mm to 150 
mm), 10 mm in width (preferred range 8 mm to 20 mm) and 5 mm in depth 
(preferred range 4 mm to 10 mm).