Patent Publication Number: US-7210187-B2

Title: Set of parts and an article for cleaning assembled therefrom

Description:
The invention relates to a set of parts and an article assembled therefrom, particularly a cleaning article such as a brush, in particular a toothbrush. 
   Toothbrushes have hitherto generally comprised a hand grip part and a cleaning part or brush head, the two parts being essentially in line. This can lead to difficulty in cleaning teeth thoroughly as it is difficult to manipulate the hand grip part so that the brush head cannot clean all teeth in a set, which can lead to the formation of plaque, poor oral hygiene, and overall deterioration of teeth. This in turn puts strain on Government Health Services in that additional dental care for the Community has to be provided. 
   It is accordingly an object of the invention to seek to mitigate these disadvantages. 
   According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a set of parts for assembly to provide an article for cleaning, comprising a hand grip part, a cleaning part, and releasably interengageable means for assembly of the parts to form the article, the set being characterised by one part having a plurality of said means whereby the parts can be assembled in a plurality of different relative positions. 
   The one part may comprise the cleaning part. This provides a relatively simple construction, particularly when the releasably interengageable means may comprise screw thread means. 
   The screw thread means may comprise a screw-threaded spigot of the handgrip part and a plurality of screw-threaded sockets of the cleaning part. This provides for versatility in assembly to provide the plurality of different positions. 
   The screw-threaded spigot may comprise an end of the hand grip part remote from a free, in use, end of the hand grip part. This provides a relatively simple construction in that the screw-threaded spigot can be inserted directly into a complementary socket. 
   The cleaning part may comprise a brush head, particularly a toothbrush head. This provides a relatively simple article for cleaning teeth in a number of different ways, and at different angles. 
   The toothbrush head may comprise a body which is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped and there may be a socket in each of the two surfaces of the body. This provides for the plurality of different relative assembled positions, particularly when there may be a socket in each of a top, end surface and side surface of the body. 
   The hand grip part and the cleaning part may be moulded from plastic material. This provides a relatively inexpensive material, and manufacture, particularly when the releasably interengageable means may be formed integrally with the respective hand grip part and cleaning part. 
   According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a toothbrush, characterised by being assembled from a set of parts as hereinbefore defined. 

   
     A set of parts and a toothbrush embodying the invention are hereinafter described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  7 ,  8 ,  13  and  14  show different elevational views of a toothbrush head being a cleaning part of the set, according to the invention, and 
       FIGS. 3 to 6 ,  9  to  12  and  15  to  18  show how the toothbrush head of  FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  7 ,  8 ,  13  and  14  is assemblable with a hand grip part of the set to form a toothbrush according to the invention. 
   

   Referring to the drawings, there is shown a set of parts  1 , for assembly to provide an article for cleaning, in the embodiment a toothbrush, comprising a hand grip part  2 , a cleaning part or brush head  3 , and releasably interengageable means  4   a ,  4   b  for assembly of the parts  2 ,  3  to form the toothbrush  5 , the set  1  being characterised by one part  3 , in the embodiment the brush head, having a plurality of said means  4   b  whereby the parts  2 ,  3  can be assembled in a plurality of different positions. 
   The hand grip part  2  is moulded in a suitable material such as plastic and has projecting from one end, the end opposite the free end which is grasped by a hand in use, an externally screw-threaded spigot forming the part  4   a  of the releasably interengageable means  4   a ,  4   b.    
   The brush head  3  is also formed as by moulding from a suitable material such as plastic to form a body  6  which is substantially in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped from which project cleaning bristles  7 , which can be formed integrally during moulding. 
   A top  8 , side  9  and end face  10  of the body each have a screw-threaded socket forming the part  4   b  of the releasably interengageable means  4   a ,  4   b . Each socket  4   b  can be formed during moulding, or can be formed thereafter. In either case, the socket  4   b  is complementary to the spigot  4   a  so that the parts  2 ,  3  can be assembled by screw-engagement of the spigot and socket in the direction of arrow ‘X’, in a plurality of different relative positions of the hand grip part  2  and brush head  3  to provide different shaped toothbrushes from the one set  1 , so that a multi-way or multi-purpose toothbrush  5  can be provided. Thus in  FIGS. 3 to 6 , the hand grip part  2  can be assembled with the brush head  3  by engagement of the spigot  4   a  in a socket  4   b  in a long-side face  9 , so that the brush head  6  is at 90° to the hand grip  2 ,  FIG. 3  showing a plan view,  FIG. 4  a side view,  FIG. 5  a bottom plan view, and  FIG. 6  from the side opposite that of  FIG. 3  and with the brush head inverted. 
   Similarly,  FIGS. 9 to 12  show the brush head  3  and hand part  2  assembled with the hand grip part  2  screwed into the socket  4   b  in the top  8  of the body  6  of the brush head  3 .  FIG. 9  shows a plan view,  FIG. 10  an end elevation,  FIG. 11  a bottom plan view and FIG.  12  a view from the side opposite that of  FIG. 10 . 
   In another assembly position, the hand grip part  2  and brush head  3  are assembled in line, as shown in  FIGS. 15 to 18  with the spigot  4   a  being screwed into the socket  4   b  in an end face  10 ,  FIG. 15  being a plan view,  FIG. 16  a front view,  FIG. 17  a bottom plan view and  FIG. 18  a rear view with the toothbrush inverted. 
   Thus by engaging the brush head  3  and hand grip  2  as shown, a plurality of different relative positions, and thus toothbrush shapes can be provided, and this provides a multi-way toothbrush  5  for cleaning all teeth thoroughly. 
   It will be understood that modification may be possible. Thus there may be more than one socket  4   b  in a particular surface, for example there may be two or more sockets  4   b  in the top surface  8 . This provides versatility as does a further modification where there is a socket  4   b  or sockets  4   b  in every face of the body, i.e. top and opposed side and end faces, except the one from which the bristles  7  project. 
   Also, the invention as described herein may be used with a brush such as a cleaning brush or other implement.