Abstract:
The present concept is a bristle extruding toothbrush and the method of the bristle extruding toothbrush replacing its own bristles. Polymer is stored in a reservoir in the body of the toothbrush before being heated and urged into an extrusion cavity by a screw housed in the reservoir. Molten polymer is extruded through bristle apertures on the extrusion face found on the brush head to form bristles by the action of an extrusion mold plunger.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims priority from the previously filed provisional application No. 62/069,894, filed on Oct. 29, 2014 by Kevin Mako and Herman Grewal under the title: EXTRUDER BRUSH. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present concept relates to toothbrushes and more particularly relates to a toothbrush which has the ability to renew its bristles by extruding bristles through the head of the toothbrush. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Toothbrushes that are currently on the market include disposable toothbrushes which are discarded once the bristles on the head of the toothbrush have worn past the point of usability. There are also other toothbrushes on the market which allow one to replace the head of the toothbrush which disconnects from the handle of the brush roughly at the neck of the brush. In this manner the top portion including the bristles on the head can be removed and discarded and the handle is kept. 
         [0004]    There are yet further brushes which are electrically activated namely they provide brushing action through a series of motors which provide a reciprocating and/or a rotating action of the head thereby aiding in the brushing action of the toothbrush. 
         [0005]    There are yet other toothbrushes which include some toothpaste within the body of the handle which can be selectively discharged as required thereby effectively combining a toothbrush and the toothpaste tube into one unit. 
         [0006]    With all of these toothbrushes there is still is the issue of ecological waste which ends up in landfill sites. Whether it is the traditional brush which is discarded when worn out or whether it is the brush with replaceable heads, there is still significant amount of waste that goes into landfill sites with the replacement components of these devices. 
         [0007]    Therefore there is a need for a toothbrush which can regenerate its bristles without the need for disposable replacement parts. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The present concept is a bristle extruding toothbrush comprising:
       a) a heated body with a reservoir for receiving polymer therein;   b) a screw housed within the reservoir for urging polymer into an extrusion cavity in a brush head connected to the body;   c) the brush head includes an extrusion face with bristle apertures;   d) a means for extruding polymer out of the extrusion cavity and through the bristle apertures thereby forming a bristle extrusion which includes bristles.       
 
         [0013]    Preferably wherein the screw couples to an external dock for reciprocating and rotating the screw within the reservoir while coupled to the dock. 
         [0014]    Preferably wherein the dock includes a motor drive coupled to the screw. 
         [0015]    Preferably wherein the toothbrush further including heating elements in the body for heating the polymer to an extrusion temperature. 
         [0016]    Preferably wherein the toothbrush further including heating elements in the screw for heating the polymer to an extrusion temperature. 
         [0017]    Preferably wherein the extruding means includes an extrusion mold which releasably connects to the brush head, the extrusion mold includes a plunger which is slide-ably fit within the extrusion cavity and urges polymer out of the extrusion cavity and through the bristle apertures thereby forming the bristle extrusion. 
         [0018]    Preferably wherein the extrusion mold includes an advancement mechanism for urging the plunger into the extrusion cavity. 
         [0019]    Preferably wherein the brush head further includes a removable back on one side, and the extrusion face on the other side. 
         [0020]    Preferably wherein the bristle extrusion is removable by detaching the removable back and the extrusion face from the brush head and the bristle extrusion. 
         [0021]    Preferably wherein the polymer is preferably selected from the nylon family of polymers. 
         [0022]    Preferably wherein the polymer preferably heated to between 190 and 230 degrees Celsius. 
         [0023]    Preferably wherein the polymer preferably heated to between 200 and 220 degrees Celsius. 
         [0024]    Preferably including a removable bottom cap for adding polymer to the reservoir. 
         [0025]    The present concept is a method of extruding bristles from the brush head of a toothbrush comprising the steps:
       a) fill a reservoir in the toothbrush body with polymer;   b) connect a bottom end of the body to a dock with a brush head downward, and place the brush head into an extrusion mold;   c) push an extrude button to activate an extrusion process;   d) a screw and neck heater warms the polymer to a molten extrusion temperature;       
 
         [0030]    e) a motor drive in the dock reciprocates and turns the screw urging the polymer along a neck channel and into an extrusion cavity;
       f) advancing an extrusion mold plunger to urge the molten polymer through bristle apertures thereby forming new bristles.       
 
         [0032]    Preferably wherein step a is replaced with step a′ as follows:
       a′) removing the bottom cap from the body to fill a reservoir in the toothbrush body with polymer and reinstalling the bottom cap.       
 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0034]    The present concept will be described by way of example only with reference to the following drawings in which: 
           [0035]      FIG. 1  is a schematic cross sectional side view of the present concept a toothbrush which has the ability to extrude bristles. 
           [0036]      FIG. 2  is a schematic cross sectional view of the toothbrush shown in  FIG. 1  in the inverted position shown connected to a dock at the top portion and an extrusion mold at the bottom portion. 
           [0037]      FIG. 3  is a schematic perspective assembly view of the top portion of the brush showing the brush head, the extrusion face and the removable back. 
           [0038]      FIG. 4  is a schematic side assembly view of the brush head together with the removable back, the extrusion face and a bristle extrusion. 
           [0039]      FIG. 5  is a schematic perspective partial cut away view of the screw showing screw heaters embedded within the screw. 
           [0040]      FIG. 6  is a partial schematic perspective view of the body showing the removable bottom cap. 
           [0041]      FIG. 7  is a schematic diagram showing the direction of flow of the polymer through the body. 
           [0042]      FIG. 8  is a table showing the method of extruding bristles from the head of a toothbrush comprising the steps as shown in  FIG. 8 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0043]    Referring first of all to  FIGS. 1 through 7  the present concept is toothbrush  100  which includes the following major components namely body  102 , brush head  104 , bottom cap  106 , screw  108  and neck  110 . 
         [0044]    Brush head  104  includes a removable back  112 , an extrusion face  114 , an extrusion cavity  116  and bristle apertures  118 . 
         [0045]    The lower portion of the body  102  of toothbrush  100  defines a reservoir  120  which will house polymer  122  therein. 
         [0046]    In  FIG. 1  toothbrush  100  is shown connected to dock  126  which contains a motor drive  128  and connects to the bottom end  130  of body  102  as schematically depicted in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0047]    Dock  126  makes a mechanical connection between the motor drive  128  and the screw  108  thereby both reciprocating and rotating screw  108  when motor drive  128  is activated. 
         [0048]      FIG. 1  further depicts channel  132  through which the polymer  122  flows as well as heating elements  134  which surround channel  132  to ensure that the polymer  122  remains molten as it flows through channel  132 .  FIG. 1  also depicts an extrude button  136  which is depressed in order to initiate the extruding action of toothbrush  100 . 
         [0049]    Now referring to  FIG. 2  which shows toothbrush  100  in the inverted position wherein the bottom end  130  is releasably attached to dock  126  and the brush head  104  is also releaseably engaged within extrusion mold  140 . In the inverted position shown in  FIG. 2  toothbrush  100  is in a position in which extrusion of new bristles can take place. 
         [0050]    By depressing extrude button  136  the motor drive  128  as well as connections to the internal heaters is activated thereby heating polymer  122  located within reservoir  120  of body  102 . The action of screw  108  forces molten polymer  148  down the length of the body  102  of toothbrush  100  and through channels  132  and into extrusion cavity  116 . 
         [0051]    Once molten polymer  148  is located in extrusion cavity  116  a plunger  142  forceably urges molten polymer  148  out through bristle apertures  118  thereby forming bristles  146 . An advancement screw  144  or other advancement mechanism within extrusion mold  140  is used to urge plunger  142  into extrusion cavity  116 . 
         [0052]    Extrusion mold  140  is releaseably attached to the neck  110  as well as the brush head  104 . 
         [0053]    Neck heaters  150  as well as screw heaters  152  maintain polymer  122  in its molten state namely molten polymer  148 . 
         [0054]      FIG. 2  depicts the flow of molten polymer as  156  shown as polymer flow flowing downwardly along body  102  through channels  132  and into extrusion cavity  116 . 
         [0055]    Referring now to  FIGS. 3  which is an assembly of the removable back  112 , the brush head  104  and the extrusion face  114 . 
         [0056]    Both the removable back and the extrusion face are clipped into position onto brush head  104  and can be removed for cleaning purposes and also for the purpose of removing a bristle extrusion  160 . 
         [0057]    Referring now to  FIG. 4  which shows an exploded assembly view of removable back  112 , brush head  104 , extrusion face  114  as well as a bristle extrusion  160 . 
         [0058]    Once bristles  146  have worn to the point where there are no longer usable it is necessary to remove removable back in order to extract the spent bristle extrusion from brush head  104 . In cases where cleaning is necessary it is also possible to remove extrusion face  114  thereby being able to completely clean brush head  104 , removable back  112  and extrusion face  114  separately. 
         [0059]      FIG. 5  depicts screw  108  and in cut away fashion shows screw heater  152  running through roughly the centre of screw  108  for heating of screw  108  and ultimately the polymer  122  surrounding screw  108 . There is a coupling  162  at the bottom end of screw  108  which couples with motor drive  128 . 
         [0060]      FIG. 6  depicts body  102  and removable bottom cap  106 . 
         [0061]      FIG. 7  depicts schematically the direction of flow  156  of molten polymer  148  through the body and out through to the neck. 
         [0062]    A method of extruding bristles from the head of toothbrush  100  is summarized in  FIG. 8  as follows: 
         [0063]    Step 1 requires removing the bottom cap from the body and filling the reservoir with polymer. The polymer can be in the form of pellets, powder or granules or may even be in the form of a liquid. 
         [0064]    The next step is to connect the bottom end  130  to a dock  126  with the brush head  104  downward and the top end inserted into an extrusion mold  140 . 
         [0065]    The next step is to push the extrude button  136  to activate the extrusion process. 
         [0066]    The next step is the activation of screw  108  and the heating elements  134  including the neck heater  150  and the screw heater  152  thereby warming the polymer  122 . This forms a molten polymer  148  which has the ability to flow through channel  132  and into extrusion cavity  116 . 
         [0067]    The screw  108  is coupled to motor drive  128  which reciprocates and turns thereby urging the polymer along the neck channel  132  and into the extrusion cavity  116 . 
         [0068]    In the next step with the extrusion mold removeably snapped into place onto the brush head and neck  110  portion of brush  100 , the plunger  142  advances to urge molten polymer  148  through the bristle apertures  118  of extrusion face  114  thereby forming new bristles  146 . 
         [0069]    In the last step the toothbrush is removed from the dock and the extrusion mold is ready for use. 
         [0070]    It should be apparent to persons skilled in the arts that various modifications and adaptation of this structure described above are possible without departure from the spirit of the invention the scope of which defined in the appended claim.