Patent Publication Number: US-2007102313-A1

Title: Interdental brush assembly

Description:
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
      This Patent Application is being filed as a continuation-in-part of patent application Ser. #11/125,093, filed 10 May 2005, currently pending. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to an interdental brush assembly which is compact and easily to carry and can be manufactured in a low manufacturing cost.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      People contact with each other frequently in social activities and proper manners and skills are required. It is important to have good oral hygiene which is deemed as a good personal image so that oral hygiene gets more attention for everyone. However, most people have lunches and/or dinners outside so that it is impossible to brush their teeth after every meal. Therefore, dental flosses and interdental brushes are used widely for cleaning teeth, especially for cleaning gaps between teeth.  FIG. 1  shows a conventional interdental brush  1  that includes a handle  11  and a brush portion  12  connecting to the handle  11 . A cap  13  is used to cover up the brush portion  12  to avoid from being contaminated. The users hold the handle  11  and insert the brush portion  12  into the gaps between teeth so as to remove the food residue from the teeth. However, the conventional interdental brush  1  has a large handle  11  and each interdental brush  1  is equipped with a cap  13  so that the interdental brush  1  becomes too big to carry conveniently. Besides, due to that people have their meals outside so frequently, it needs three interdental brushes  1  for using three times everyday and some people may need to carry more interdental brushes  1  per day. This large number of individual interdental brushes  1  is not convenience for the users to carry. However, if the user just uses the same interdental brush repeatedly, it is not hygienic. Furthermore, for the manufacturers, each interdental brush  1  is cooperated with a cap  13  which needs more cost. Therefore, the whole manufacture step waste much time and relatively creates the cost.  
      Furthermore, a conventional interdental brush assembly  4  is disclosed by Japanese Patent No. 02002191438A in  FIG. 2 , generally includes a plurality of interdental brushes  41  and an interconnected state  42  connecting with each interdental brush  41  and gathering them together. Each interdental brush  41  comprises a handle  411  and a brush portion  412  dispose on the handle  411 . After meal, the user tears down one interdental brush  41  and uses it. However, the conventional interdental brush assembly  4  really occupies much space because there is much room among each interdental brush  41 . Moreover, due to the size-fixed interconnected state  42 , the conventional interdental brush assembly  4  always occupies the same space, no matter how many interdental brushes  41  have been tore down and used. Besides, the interconnected state will remain after using, and the residuum will become a trash. Therefore, it is not convenient to the users.  
      The present invention intends to provide an interdental brush that are compact and are connected with each other by a small connection plate so that the users can easily carry.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to an interdental brush assembly and comprises a plurality of interdental brushes received in a box and each interdental brush has a handle and a brush portion connecting to the handle. The handles are connected with each other side to side by the connecting plates which can be conveniently torn apart so that the interdental brushes can be picked individually.  
      The object of the present invention is to provide an interdental brush assembly that is easily to be manufactured and carried.  
      The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  shows a conventional interdental brush;  
       FIG. 2  shows a conventional interdental brush assembly which is disclosed by Japanese Patent No. 02002191438A;  
       FIG. 3  shows the interdental brushes of the present invention connecting with each other;  
       FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view to show the interdental brushes of the present invention stored in a box; and  
       FIG. 5  shows one of the interdental brushes being separated from the interdental brush assembly. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Referring to FIGS.  3  to  5 , the interdental brushes assembly of the present invention comprises a plurality of interdental brushes  2  and each interdental brush  2  has a handle  21  and a brush portion  22  connecting to the handle  21  with a spiral bristle disposed thereon. Each interdental brush  2  forms a flat holding area in the end of the handle  21 , and two flat surfaces  212  are formed on two opposite sides of the flat holding area. A plurality of ridges  213  extend from the outer surface of the flat holding area. The ridges  213  are oriented to be perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the handle  21  so that the user can easily hold the interdental brushes  2 .  
      The handles  21  are tightly combined side to side by a connecting plate  211  disposed between each two handles  21 , and the interval between each two handles  21  equals to the width of each connecting plate  211 . Each connection plate  211  has a notch defined in the top edge thereof so that the user can conveniently tear the connection plate  211  apart to pick one of the interdental brushes  2 .  
      A box  3  is provided to receive the connected interdental brushes  2  and the box  3  is designed to be easily opened so that the user can pick one of the interdental brushes  2  easily. It will be advantageous in conveniently carrying more interdental brushes once. Due to the size of the interdental brushes  2  being small, twenty interdental brushes  2  enable to be put in the box  3  at the same time and afford the users who need three interdental brushes  2  per day to use for a whole week. The present invention has the following advantages:  
      (1) The interdental brushes are connected side by side by the connection plates so that they are well organized in the box and the connected interdental brushes occupy less space and the box allows the user to put it in pockets.  
      (2) Each handle of the interdental brushes has a holding area for convenience of grasp, and the connecting plates allow the user to pick the interdental brushes one by one easily. The interdental brushes can be discarded after use. Therefore, they are more hygienic and more convenient while being used.  
      (3) The interdental brushes can be produced in mass production by way of plastic injection so that only a low manufacturing cost is involved.  
      While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.