Patent Publication Number: US-2010115724-A1

Title: Brush head of a toothbrush

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a brush head, and more particularly to a brush head of a toothbrush that can keep gum from being injured. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Toothbrushes are important for daily dental cleaning, and a conventional toothbrush comprises a grip, a head and multiple brush hairs. The head is formed on one end of the grip, and the brush hairs are mounted on one side of the head and have a same length. 
     However, the conventional toothbrush still has following drawbacks. 
     If the conventional toothbrush is provided with hard brush hairs, the hard brush hairs easily injure the gum of the user. 
     If the conventional toothbrush is provided with soft brush hairs, the soft brush hairs are not strong enough for completely scale food residuum from teeth. Therefore, the conventional toothbrush does not have enough cleaning effect and causes some dregs remaining in the mouth to incur dental disease. 
     To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide a brush head for a toothbrush to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The main objective of the invention is to provide a brush head of a toothbrush to keep gum from being injured. The brush head has a head body and multiple hair assemblies. The head body has a mounting surface and multiple mounting holes defined in the mounting surface. The hair assemblies are mounted respectively in the mounting holes. Each hair assembly comprising at least one bundle of soft hairs and a bundle of hard hairs. The at least one bundle of soft hairs is mounted in a corresponding one of the mounting holes and has a hardness. The bundle of hard hairs is mounted in the corresponding mounting hole, is enclosed by the at least one bundle of soft hairs and has a hardness larger than that of the soft hairs. 
     Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a brush head of a toothbrush in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of the brush head in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of the brush head in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of another embodiment of a brush head of a toothbrush in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a top view of the brush head in  FIG. 4 ; and 
         FIG. 6  is a side view of the brush head in  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , a brush head of a toothbrush in accordance with the present invention comprises a head body ( 10 ) and multiple hair assemblies. 
     The head body ( 10 ) may be rectangular and has a mounting surface ( 11 ) and multiple mounting holes ( 12 , 13 ) defined in the mounting surface ( 11 ). In a preferred embodiment, the mounting holes ( 12 , 13 ) comprise multiple circular first mounting holes ( 12 ) and multiple ellipsoid second mounting holes ( 13 ). The first mounting holes ( 12 ) may be arranged in two parallel lines, and the second mounting holes ( 13 ) are arranged around the first mounting holes ( 12 ). 
     In an alternative embodiment, the mounting holes ( 12 , 13 ) may be circular or ellipsoid at all. 
     The hair assemblies are mounted respectively in the mounting holes ( 12 , 13 ) and protrude inclinedly from the mounting surface ( 11 ) of the head body ( 10 ). Each hair assembly comprises at least one bundle of soft hairs ( 122 , 131 ) and a bundle of hard hairs ( 121 , 132 ). The at least one bundle of soft hairs ( 122 , 131 ) is mounted in a corresponding one of the mounting holes ( 12 , 13 ) and has a hardness. The bundle of hard hairs ( 121 , 132 ) is mounted in the corresponding mounting hole ( 12 , 13 ), is enclosed by the at least one bundle of soft hairs ( 122 , 131 ) and has a hardness larger than that of the soft hairs ( 122 , 131 ). Accordingly, the hair assemblies can provide different scaling and cleaning effect to teeth. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the hair assemblies comprises multiple first hair assemblies mounted respectively in the circular first mounting holes ( 12 ) and multiple second hair assemblies mounted respectively in the ellipsoid second mounting holes ( 13 ). Each first hair assembly has one bundle of soft hairs ( 122 ) being annular and mounted around the bundle of hard hairs ( 121 ) that has a circular cross section. In a second embodiment as shown in  FIGS. 4 to 6 , the bundle of soft hairs ( 122 A) may have a star-shaped and mounted around the bundle of hard hairs ( 121 A) that has a circular cross section. 
     Each second hair assembly has two bundles of soft hairs ( 131 ) being mounted respectively at two ends of the corresponding ellipsoid second mounting hole ( 13 ). The bundle of hard hairs ( 132 ) of each second hair assembly is mounted on a central segment of the corresponding ellipsoid second mounting hole ( 13 ), may have a square cross section and is enclosed between the two bundles of soft hairs ( 131 ) of the second hair assembly. 
     In the second embodiment as shown in  FIGS. 4 to 6 , the second hair assembly has two bundles of soft hairs ( 131 A) being curved and mounted respectively at two sides of the corresponding bundle of hard hairs ( 132 A). 
     With the arrangement of the first mounting holes ( 12 ) and the second mounting holes ( 13 ), the first hair assemblies are arranged in two lines and the second hair assemblies are arranged around the first hair assemblies. The two lines of first hair assemblies are inclined at a same inclined angle relative to the mounting surface ( 11 ) of the head body ( 10 ). The second hair assemblies located at two sides of the lines of the first hair assemblies are arranged in two parallel lines and are inclined at an inclined angle different from that of the inclined angle of the first hair assemblies. 
     In the alternative embodiment, the hair assemblies may be the first hair assemblies or the second hair assemblies at all. 
     When a toothbrush with the brush head in accordance with the present invention is in use, the soft hairs ( 122 , 131 ) enclosing the hard hairs ( 121 , 132 ) of the hair assemblies contact the user&#39;s gum earlier than the hard hairs ( 121 , 132 ) do. This can remind the user not to use the toothbrush with an undue force. Thus, the gum can be kept from injured. Additionally, the hard hairs ( 131 , 132 ) of the hair assemblies can provide an excellent scaling effect for cleaning food residuum from the teeth completely, so the cleaning effect of the brush head can be improved. 
     Furthermore, the head body ( 10 ) further comprises multiple massage elements. The massage elements may be massage rods ( 14 ) mounted on and protruding inclinedly from the mounting surface of the head body ( 10 ). In the preferred embodiment, the massage rods ( 14 ) are inclined at an inclined angle same as that of the first hair assemblies. The massage rods ( 14 ) are arranged in two lines, and the hair assemblies are mounted between the two lines of the massage rods ( 14 ). Each massage rod ( 14 ) has a flat top and is shorter than the hairs ( 121 , 122 , 131 , 132 ) of the hair assemblies. The massage rods ( 14 ) can provide a massage effect to the gum or tongue of a user, such that the brush head is versatile in use. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 4 to 6 , the head body ( 10 ) may further comprise multiple third mounting holes ( 15 ). Each third mounting hole ( 15 ) is elongated and has one bundle of soft hairs ( 124 ) mounted in the mounting hole ( 15 ) to massage the gum of the user with the soft hairs ( 124 ). In addition, the massage elements may comprise two massage plates ( 14 A) parallel with each other and two curved massage panels ( 16 ). The hair assemblies are mounted between the massage plates ( 14 A), and the curved massage panels ( 16 ) correspond to each other. 
     Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.