Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US5538023
Timestamp: 2018-04-24 12:11:59
Document Index: 443832115

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 12', 'art 14', 'art 12', 'art 12', 'art 12', 'art 40', 'art 42', 'art 44', 'art 44', 'art 44', 'art 44', 'art 40', 'art 44', 'art 44', 'art 36', 'art 71', 'art 40', 'art 82', 'art 81', 'art.\n14', 'art.\n15', 'art.\n16', 'art.\n17']

US5538023A - Tensioning dental flosser and method of manufacturing same - Google Patents
Tensioning dental flosser and method of manufacturing same Download PDF
US5538023A
US5538023A US08114424 US11442493A US5538023A US 5538023 A US5538023 A US 5538023A US 08114424 US08114424 US 08114424 US 11442493 A US11442493 A US 11442493A US 5538023 A US5538023 A US 5538023A
US08114424
Boguslaw Oczkowski
A disposable dental floss holder for removing plaque and food debris from tooth surfaces and from the interspaces between teeth has a handle part, a bow and a length of dental floss spanning the bow. A movable element is provided which can cause a portion of the floss holder to move and tighten the strand of floss and thus momentarily reduce slack in the floss. The invention further includes methods for manufacturing floss holders with slack in the floss, and for manufacturing floss holders with operable components for momentarily reducing slack which was designed into a flosser or which developed in the flosser due to stretching of the floss. The floss holder designs vary to include multiple bows on a single device, and to reduce the slack by moving selected parts of the bow.
This invention is in the field of disposable dental floss holders and particularly injection molded devices, each formed integrally as a handle plus a bow across which a strand of dental floss is spanned, and in the field of manufacturing dental floss holders.
______________________________________Pat. No.    Inventor         Date______________________________________4,006,750   I. S. Chodorow   2-8-774,016,892   I. S. Chodorow   2-8-7777244,376   I. S. Chodorow   5-D 250,214D 251,075   N. Schiff        2-13-79D 251,074   N. Schiff        2-13-79D 301,071   R. Franchi       5-9-89D 312,894   J. Schroder-Jorgensen                        12-11-903,858,594   G. Ensminger     1-7-755,086,792   I. S. Chodorow   2-11-92______________________________________
For many years teeth have been cleaned primarily by manual or power-driven brushing, and the spaces between teeth have been cleaned by a variety of methods including brushing, machine-driven jets of water, toothpicks, and the like, and by flossing with the commonly available nylon dental floss and dental tape or similar thread or even rubber bands.
Until recently the most generally accepted objective in cleaning teeth was to remove food particles and chemicals, particularly sweets from tooth surfaces. However, now it has been established and is being taught by a growing number of dentists, orthodontists and periodontists, that the chief cause of caries (dental cavities) and a principal cause of periodontal (gum and root) disease is a bacterial plaque formation that develops on tooth surfaces. When removed, new plaque can reform in less than 24 hours. The causes of plaque development are not fully appreciated; however, a person's normal body chemistry independent of his particular diet, can be a contributing factor.
Plaque is the name given to a bacterial substance that begins as an invisible film of micro-organisms, and with saliva and foods, particularly sugars, forms a soft sticky white film on the surfaces of teeth and between teeth. If plaque is not removed daily it can develop and harden into a firmly attached substance called calculus or tartar which may cause gums to redden and swell in a condition known as gingivitis. This disease is often characterized by receding gums which causes the creation of small pockets around the teeth which trap food particles and bacteria. These pockets can enlarge if the gums become further inflamed or infected causing the bone supporting the teeth to become infected and destroyed. The weakened tissue is infection-prone and once so injured the gums cannot protect the underlying bone from the spread of this disease. Additionally, bacterial plaque produces noxious chemicals which cause cavities and irritate the gums. This is the manner in which teeth become loosened and ultimately lost, the latter stages here-described being periodontal disease.
Of the methods mentioned above for cleaning teeth, brushing is not effective to remove plaque from interdental tooth surfaces between the teeth. Water jets are not sufficiently abrasive to achieve plaque removal, though they may remove food particles very well. Also, toothpicks are too thick and cumbersome to probe and scrape between two closely adjacent surfaces. This leaves only dental floss, typically a strand of multi-filamented nylon that is moved in a reciprocating action into the crack or space between the sides of two teeth. The unwaxed version of dental floss is less smooth and thus more abrasive and more effective in scraping plaque off the tooth enamel surfaces in question. However, the user of any floss has the problem of maneuvering it-while under certain tension, down between each pair of teeth, including the rear-most teeth. Positioning floss is inconvenient in most teeth locations, quite difficult in many, and almost impossible in others. The procedure generally includes winding opposite ends of a strand around one finger of each hand respectively, then inserting these two fingers of both hands into the mouth, attempting to position the span of floss between the fingers in the desired location, and finally reciprocating the floss between teeth while also moving it vertically along the tooth from tip to gum. The floss is maneuvered preferably just under the edge of the gum, held firmly against and wrapped partially around the proximal surface of the tooth and pulled over its surface toward the chewing edge.
It is known from surveys that most people, even including those who take seriously the matter of dental care and brushing regularly, do not use floss daily because the technique for use as described above is so tedious. For a number of years there have been attempts to render flossing less tedious and also to render it more effective by the development of holders onto which floss is attached. Most holders have two arms across which the floss is strung; however, secondary complications described below with the holders themselves have resulted in general non-use, and thus there has been no remedy to the original problem of non-use regularly of floss held by hand.
One basic problem with the holders is that floss stretches, eventually frays, becomes thin, and breaks when used. Whether the floss holds up for five, twenty or more teeth depends upon the tightness of the interdental spaces and the abrasion the floss incurs. By the original manual operation before floss holders, the floss user merely pulled the exposed end of floss from a spool, cut off a segment and then wound the cut segment on his or her fingers. With certain floss holder devices the user must, for each flossing operation, obtain a length of floss, thread or carefully position it about a floss holder, pull on some part of the floss until it is in tension, and finally secure it under tension to the holder. Whether a floss supply is provided on a spool in the holder handle according to one device, or provided from a separate spool from which segments of floss are cut as needed, the remaining threading and tensioning procedure is still an inconvenient burden.
From these manually strung or manually loaded flossing devices there developed pre-strung disposable flossers where a strand of floss of length to span the bow or spaced arms of the flosser had its ends secured to the arms in situ, namely at the same time the flosser handle and arms were injection molded. These devices have gained wide popularity and sales because they are convenient to use and to carry, and because they can be mass produced and sold at very low per unit cost.
Samples of prior art flossers of the type with an injection molded handle and floss pre-strung at the time of molding, and disclosures of known manufacturing methods may be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,006,750, 4,016,892, 5,086,792 and in the other patents cited above which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. These and similar devices, regardless of the geometric configuration of the handle, have certain useful features in common and certain troublesome features in common. On the positive side are the light weight and inexpensive holders, each with a bow portion formed by spaced arms and a segment of floss spanning the bow. Some configurations, i.e. with floss parallel to the handle, may be more convenient than others for particular users.
On the negative side, applying to all prior art disposable flossers with a permanently prestrung bow portion, are the following points. A typical user of a dental floss holder (flosser) would like to use a single flosser or as few flossers as possible to clean between all the teeth in his/her mouth. Thus, the floss spanning the bow of the flosser will be inserted repeatedly between different adjacent teeth. If the floss is multifilament type and if at least some of the teeth are closely or tightly adjacent, the floss in the flosser becomes stretched and/or becomes frayed and may even break. Monofilament floss tends less to stretch, fray or break; however, it is less abrasive than multifilament floss and accordingly is less effective in removing plaque, and thus is less desirable for many floss users.
Another reason why some prior art pre-strung flossers develop slack floss is because one or both floss ends slip slightly out of an arm of the bow during tensioning as the flosser is used. Slippage occurs when the floss is not well bonded to the holder which may occur because the plastics are incompatible or because the floss and the injection molded plastic are not heated and cooled uniformly or at least not at appropriate respective temperatures and time periods for secure bonding together.
In the new invention we have identified a problem and discovered a solution in the form of a new device and a new method of manufacturing these devices, as set forth below.
According to the present invention it was discovered that the greater the tension on floss prior to and during insertion between two teeth, the easier it is to insert the floss and overcome the friction created by the pressure two teeth may exert against each other. However, when the floss has become inserted into the interspace between two teeth and is being used to clean plaque off of tooth surfaces or to remove food particles from between teeth, it was further discovered that the floss preferably should not be under great tension so that is can be partially wrapped around a portion of the tooth.
According to the present invention it was discovered that regardless of the amount of tension of the floss in the holder at the time of manufacture, during insertion of the floss and later during sawing action, the floss stretches such that the point of teeth-floss contact is outside the line extending between the two tips of the holder arms, with the floss thus formed into a wide angle or curve. The floss once inserted is partially wrapped around and conformed to curved surfaces of a tooth to scrape a greater amount of surface, in contrast to a strand of floss in straight line tension that tends to retain its straight-line-configuration, minimizing its degree of contact with curved tooth surfaces. However, for the next penetration between two other teeth the slack floss is more difficult to insert than when it was taut earlier.
Where two teeth have their adjacent surfaces very close together forming a tight interdental space, it is often very difficult to maneuver and force a strand of floss down between these teeth to the gum. For this type of situation it can be helpful to use a different embodiment of the new invention, wherein the floss is placed in tension during manufacture, such that the floss "in a straight-line configuration" is tensioned between the holder's arms, as contrasted with floss in tension only after being formed into a V-shaped configuration while engaging the teeth. With this alternate embodiment the floss is taut in all positions and orientations of the holder, which is helpful to some users, especially where tight spaces are prevalent. In the embodiment where tension of the floss is established during manufacture, this added tension helps compensate for any tendency for slack to develop where shrinkage of the plastic occurs during solidification. In fact the arms can be designed so that if shrinkage is unavoidable, it will occur more severely in selected areas to cause the arms to shrink or warp away from each other and thus stretch the capture floss between said arms.
FIG. 1A is a sectional view taken along line A--A in FIG. 1.
FIG. 1B is a left side elevation view of FIG. 1.
FIG. 2A is a top plan view of another embodiment as a variation of the device of FIG. 2
FIG. 8B is the embodiment of FIG. 8A shown in an similar state where the left and right arms are placed in overlying position and snapped together by a peg within in a hole.
FIGS. 10B and 10C are fragmentary sectional views taken along line A--A in FIG. 10A.
Each of the embodiments shown herein comprises a dental floss holder with at least one strand of floss extending across a bow portion defined by a pair of spaced apart arms or by two spaced-apart elements which engage opposite ends of the floss. According to the invention each flosser is formed with floss originally in a generally slack state, or each flosser has slack floss only after use of the flosser has stretched or otherwise effectively elongated the floss spanning the bow. The claims herein are directed both to dental flossers which are made with slack floss as part of the design and to dental flossers which have legs or other means for causing the slack to be reduced essentially by causing the arms or at least one arm to move farther away from the other arm, or for causing both arms to move farther away from each other, thereby tightening the floss while the leg or other means is held in a flexed state. Accordingly, some of the embodiments shown herein will be illustrated with the floss shown in a slack state while others will have the floss shown in a generally axial and taut state. It is to be understood that the claims apply either to a flosser made with slack in the floss originally, or to a flosser which later develops slack, and to those embodiments which provide means for reducing the slack when the user desires to do so.
The preferred time for removing slack normally would be when the strand of floss is being urged or manipulated into the interspace between two teeth where there is certain resistance to said insertion of the floss. As further discussed herein, after the floss is inserted then the leg or other device for reducing slack is released, such that the slack may return and the slackened floss can be partially wrapped around a tooth surface for the reciprocal movement of the floss on the tooth surface for the purpose of removing plaque and otherwise cleaning said surface.
In FIG. 1 the flosser has flosser 10 as a body part 12 with bow part 14 at the top thereof formed by two arms 16R, 16L which terminate in tips 16T and a strand of floss 18 extending between said tips and terminating therein. The body part 12 extends downward from the bow forming a handle 20, and each arm of the bow has downward extending leg 22R, 22L respectively which is generally contiguous with its respective arm. On each side this flosser has a cut-out or recess portion 24 between the leg and the central body part 12 creating a generally narrow bridge 26, this bridge being narrower in cross-section and weaker than the leg or arm, acts as a living hinge. Because of the weakness of bridge 26, when leg 22R is pushed in the direction of arrow 28R toward the central handle 20, the arm/leg combination 16R/22R being stiffer than the bridge 26, the leg 22R will move inward toward body part 12 and the arm portion 16R will move outward in the direction of arrow 30R. Thus the relatively stiffer arm/leg 16R/22R moves about the bridge or hinge area 26. A small movement of leg 22R inward creates a corresponding movement of the tip 16T of arm 16R to lengthen the strand of floss 18 and reduce the slack therein.
FIG. 2 shows another embodiment 38 of the new invention of a dental flosser which has a body part 40 and a bow part 42 formed by a first arm 43 and a remote part 44 opposite from arm 43, part 44 being a top portion of leg 45. A strand of floss 46 extends between the tip 43T of arm 43 and the part 44. Extending from part 44 contiguously and downward and to the right is leg 45 which joins the body part 40 via a thin bridge or hinge section 47. The floss strand 46 has its ends secured in arm tip 43T and part 44 at the top of leg 45. As seen, the narrow bridge or hinge section 47 between leg 45 and the body portion 40 is weaker and more flexible than leg or arm. Accordingly, when leg 45 is squeezed in the direction of arrow 48 toward the body portion 40, bending will occur at hinge 47 without directly affecting arm 43. As leg 45 bends its upper portion 44 will move about an arc in a direction away from tip 43T of the remote opposite arm, this movement thus moves part 44 farther away from tip 43T and tends to remove any slack in the strand 46 extending therebetween.
FIGS. 2A and 2B show further variations of the device of FIG. 2. In FIG. 2 the bow is formed by one arm 43 and the top of leg 45. In FIG. 2A the bow is similarly formed by arm 31 and the top portion 32T of leg 32; however, in FIG. 2 the floss is generally parallel to the body, whereas in FIG. 2A the floss is angled with respect to the legs 32 and 33. FIG. 2B shows a variation where the bow is defined by leg 34 and a shoulder 35 of the central body part 36. Slack reduction is achieved by pressing leg to move about hinge 34H in the direction of arrow 37A. As shown in FIG. 2B the floss is generally parallel and centrally axial with the whole device.
FIG. 3A shows a fragmentary view of the tips 50A and 50B of the bow portion of a dental floss holder, with a strand of floss 51 extending therebetween. During the process of manufacture the floss is positioned to extend across the cavity defining the bow and extends outward beyond as projections 51b on the right side and 51A on the left. After the floss holder and attached floss is removed from the mold with the ends of floss 51b and 51a projecting outward of the arms of the bow, a source of heat which could be a hot wire, a laser beam, a flame or a jet of hot air is applied to said floss ends 51b and 51A until, if they are nylon, they coalesce into beads 52 shown in FIG. 3B, where each bead has a diameter greater than the diameter of the original floss and similarly greater than the bore 53 in the arm 50A through which said floss extends. The heat must be sufficient to melt all the filaments so that they coalesce into a single bead, the exact temperature depending on the plastic selected. Consequently, once the beads 52 are in position, pressure on the floss along the direction of arrow 54 in FIG. 3B which puts tension in the floss strand 51, will not be able to pull the ends of the floss through the arm to become detached therefrom. In other words, by this technique of forming a bead on the terminal ends of the floss, the strand of floss becomes permanently anchored in the arms of the bow. The strand might stretch during use as discussed earlier or might break after abusive or excessive use; however at least it will be anchored. The beading of floss is a technique particularly appropriate to multifilament nylon floss which is a very commonly used floss. It is also appropriate for polyethylene, PTFE and other lubricous strong plastics.
FIG. 4 illustrates a second technique for anchoring the ends of a strand of floss 55 in arms 56 of the bow of a floss holder. Here, the ends of the floss are formed into knots 57 prior to the injection molding phase and the floss is positioned in the mold with knots 57 situated in the cavities corresponding to the tips of the arms 56. Then when the fluid plastic is injection molded into the cavity, said plastic flows around and among and encompassing said knots with the result that the knots are securely embedded in the hardened plastic and thus the ends of the floss via the knots are securely anchored in the arms of the bow.
FIG. 7 shows a further embodiment 70 of dental floss holder. In this figure two floss holders are shown having been made in a mold not shown which had multiple cavities oriented so that a plurality of floss holders have their bows aligned whereby the single strand of floss can be used simultaneously to lie through all the cavities for all the bows at once. Thus, floss holder 70A is identical to floss holder 70b, both being generally like the device shown in FIG. 2. Each has a body part 71, a bow 72 formed by arms 73A, 73B and a segment of floss 74 spanning said arms. Each has a leg 75 which is contiguous with arm 73A and wherein leg 75 and arm 73A are both stiffer than the bridge or hinge portion 76 adjacent the leg/arm combination 75, 73A. Thus when a user squeezes leg 75 in the direction of arrow 77 toward the body portion 70A, the bridge or hinge portion 76 bends and arm 73A moves slightly in the direction of arrow 78 and thus moves away from leg 73B, the consequence being that the floss 74 between these two arms tends to tighten and have slack therein reduced. As stated above the design herein is generally similar to the apparatus of FIG. 1 in that the leg and arm are contiguous. The differences, of course, include the second leg-arm combination in FIG. 1; also in FIG. 1 the floss lies perpendicular to the axis of the handle, whereas in FIG. 7 the floss lies transverse of the axes of the handle and actually at an angle askew to the axis of the handle. The devices of FIGS. 1 and 7 are both different from the embodiment of FIG. 2 where the floss lies at an angle essentially parallel to the axis of the handle. As stated in FIG. 2 the leg 45 is not contiguous with and does not directly cause movement in the arm 43 or to the body part 40. Leg 45 merely pulls the floss 46 until any slack is reduced.
The floss holders 70 of FIG. 7 have further differences from the holders of FIGS. 1 and 2, namely a thickened and/or ribbed area 79 on the upper side of body portion 70A and on the bottom portion 80 of leg 75. These thickened and/or ribbed portions render the device easier to hold and grip when used than if the device was merely flat, smooth, thin plastic as would generally be used in FIGS. 1 and 2. The devices of FIGS. 2 and 7 each have a handle and trigger configuration which provides ease of operation. In FIG. 7 the angle or orientation of the bow portion 72 relative to the body portion 70 provides a slightly different mode of handing it with respect to the user's mouth as compared to the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate a still different embodiment of a floss holder 80B comprising right and left sides 81, 82 joined together by connecting bridge 83. The right side has an upper portion which is arm portion 81A and lower leg portion 81L. The left side has similar arm and leg portions 82A and 82L respectively. At the time the left and right portions of FIG. 8A are formed, they are created in a single cavity of a mold with the connecting bridge 83. Also floss 84 is positioned in the mold at the time of injection molding so that it too is captured in arms 81A and 82A.
After the parts in FIG. 8A are molded, they may be immediately packaged as they are, or they may be assembled as shown in FIG. 8B where the left part 82 is placed so that its knee section 84L overlies the knee section 84R of the right part 81, and the peg 85 of leg 82 is inserted in the hole 86 of leg 81 with a snapping action so that these parts remain coupled together and operate in a scissor or pliers type motion. As shown in the assembled version in FIG. 8B, a squeezing of legs 81 and 82 toward each other in the directions of arrow 86A tends to move arms at the remote ends farther apart and reduce slack in floss 84. A spring element or finger 88 shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B is positioned to push the handles apart should they be squeezed together excessively.
FIGS. 10, 10A, 11 and 12 illustrate three variations of a double floss holder, each having floss in a straight line through two different bows while remaining coaxial through the entire floss holder. In FIG. 10 the floss holder 100 has a central portion 101 and remote arms 102R and 102L. Above central portion 101 are projections 103R and 103L each forming a kind of tower or shoulder to help define a bow. On the right side for example arm 102R is the right arm of the bow while shoulder 103R is the left side. A major difference between the arms is that arm 102R has a cross-section substantially greater that the bridge or hinge section 104 between it and shoulder 103R. Thus, if shoulder 103R is pressed in the direction of arrow 105 and arrow 106, it will bend about hinge 104, because both shoulder 103R and arm 102 are much thicker and stiffer. The result of course, is that the strand of floss between the arm 102 and shoulder 103R is stretched and the slack is reduced.
The FIG. 10A flosser 110 differs significantly from the FIG. 10 flosser in that the floss 110A is secured to the ends 110B of arms 110C, but is freely slidable in through shoulders 110D. Slidability is permitted by providing a slot 110E or a hole 110F in the shoulder as seen in FIGS. 10B and 10C. Momentary application of pressure on the floss in the direction of arrow 110G in FIG. 10A causes tension in the floss 110A and thus reduces slack.
As used herein the term slack means any condition of the strand of floss that is non-linear. This includes a condition of floss displaced as little as one diameter of floss from linear to a substantially greater amount.
1. A disposable, one-piece dental floss holder operable by a user and comprising a body part, first and second spaced apart arms, each having a near end contiguous with and extending from said body part, a remote end and a stem part between said near and remote ends, which stem part contacts no other part of this dental floss holder a strand of floss extending between and permanently molded into said remote parts of said arms, and handle means extending from said body part, said holder having a relaxed state where said floss extends between said arms generally non-axially with slack, and said holder having a flexed state whereby said arms are extended farther apart than in said relaxed state thus reducing any slack in said strand of floss, means contiguous with at least one of said arms and operable by the user for moving said arm to said flexed state further apart from the other arm, said flexed arm resiliently returning to its relaxed state when released by the user.
2. A dental floss holder operable by a user and comprising a body part having two floss-engaging parts spaced apart from a first distance, a strand of dental floss spanning said floss-engaging parts and permanently engaged thereto, said strand of floss having sufficient slack such that it is non-linear, and means for urging at least one of said floss-engaging parts to move farther away from the other than said first distance for temporarily reducing the slack in said floss, wherein said means for reducing slack comprises a movable part extending contiguously from and being resiliently pivotable relative to said body part or from one of said floss-engaging parts.
3. A dental floss holder operable by a user and comprising a body part, first and second spaced apart arms extending from said body part, a strand of floss extending between said arms, said strand having end parts secured to said arms, said holder having a relaxed state where said floss extends between said arms non-axially with slack, said holder further comprising handle means extending from said body part, said handle means comprising at least one leg joined by a hinge to said body part, said leg being contiguous with one of said arms, said leg and contiguous arm being stiffer than said hinge, said leg being movable by the user which causes simultaneous movement of said contiguous arm in a direction away from the other arm thereby reducing any slack in the floss between said arms.
4. A dental floss holder operable by a user and comprising a body part, first and second spaced apart arms extending from said body part wherein said body and arms comprise a single injection molded piece, a strand of floss extending between said arms, said strand having end parts secured to said arms, wherein said holder is molded about said floss in situ, and said holder comprises a first plastic and said floss comprises a second plastic sufficiently incompatible with the first such that said two plastics are not bonded together when the holder is injection molded about said floss, said holder having a relaxed state where said floss extends between said arms non-axially with slack, and said holder having a flexed state whereby said arms are extended farther apart than in said relaxed state thus reducing any slack in said strand of floss, and means on said holder when squeezed by a user for extending said arms to said flexed state, said holder resiliently returning to its relaxed state when released by the user.
5. A dental floss holder operable by a user and comprising a body part, first and second spaced apart arms extending from said body part wherein said body and arms comprise a single injection molded piece, a strand of floss extending between said arms, said strand having end parts secured to said arms, wherein said holder is molded about said floss in situ, and said holder comprises a first plastic and said floss comprises a second plastic, said two plastics being sufficiently compatible such that they become bonded together when the holder is injection molded about said floss, said holder having a relaxed state where said floss extends between said arms non-axially with slack, and said holder having a flexed state whereby said arms are extended farther apart than in said relaxed state thus reducing any slack in said strand of floss, said holder being deformable to bend at least one arm when squeezed by a user from said relaxed state to a flexed state, said holder resiliently returning to its relaxed state when released by the user.
6. A floss holder according to claim 5 wherein said two plastics are nylon.
7. A method of manufacturing a dental floss holder which has a body part, first and second spaced apart arms extending from said body part, a strand of floss extending between said arms, said strand having end parts permanently secured to said arms, said holder having a relaxed state where said floss extends between said arms non-axially with slack, and said holder having a flexed state whereby said arms are extendable farther apart than in said relaxed state thus reducing any slack in said strand of floss, comprising the steps:
(a) forming an injection mold and cavity therein defining said body part and arms which are spaced apart a first distance from each other,
(b) positioning said strand of floss to span the space between said arms of the cavity with said end parts of the strand traversing said arms of the cavity and extending outward therefrom prior to injection molding plastic into said cavity,
(c) injecting fluid plastic into said cavity thereby embedding with plastic said end parts, and
(d) hardening said plastic such that said end parts of the floss become secured in said arms of the holder and said arms upon hardening bend slightly toward each other resulting in said floss between said arms becoming slack and non-linear.
8. A method according to claim 7 wherein step (b) comprises positioning said strand with low tension so it is slack as it spans the space between said arms before steps (c) and (d).
9. A method according to claim 8 wherein step (a) includes forming said cavity so that said arms upon hardening will shrink and bend slightly toward each other.
10. A method according to claim 7 comprising the further step subsequent to step (d) of heating said end parts of said strand extending outward of said arms until said end parts coalesce into ball-like elements.
11. A method of manufacturing a plurality of dental floss holders, each holder having a body part having two floss-engaging parts spaced apart from each other a first distance, a strand of dental floss spanning said floss-engaging parts and engaged thereto, said strand of floss having sufficient slack such that it is non-linear, and means for urging at least one of said floss-engaging parts to resiliently move farther away from the other than said first distance for temporarily reducing the slack in said floss, the method comprising
(a) forming a mold having a plurality of cavities for defining the dental floss holders,
(b) positioning a strand of floss across said cavities and aligned with said floss-engaging parts,
(c) injection molding said holders whereby the floss is captured in the floss engaging parts,
(d) cutting the molded pieces apart with a portion of floss extending outward from each floss engaging part, and
(e) heating said extending portion of floss until it coalesces into a bead of greater diameter than the floss at a site closely adjacent the outer surface of said floss engaging part, said heating step (e) being done simultaneously with and for said cutting step (d).
12. A dental floss holder comprising a body part having two floss-engaging parts spaced apart from each other a first distance, a strand of dental floss having opposite ends, said strand spanning said floss-engaging parts and said ends secured thereto and having slack in its length between said floss-engaging parts, said dental floss holder formed by injection molding wherein said strand of floss comprises a first plastic which is lubricous, and said body part comprises a second plastic different from said first plastic, said first and second plastics being sufficiently incompatible that they do not become chemically bonded to each other during said injection molding.
13. A device according to claim 12 wherein each of said ends of said floss is secured to said floss-engaging part by a loop formed in said floss and situated within said floss-engaging part.
14. A device according to claim 12 wherein each of said ends of said floss is secured to said floss-engaging part by a knot formed in said floss and situated outside and adjacent said floss-engaging part.
15. A device according to claim 12 wherein each of said ends of said floss is secured to said floss-engaging part by a knot from in said floss and situated within said floss-engaging part.
16. A device according to claim 12 wherein each of said ends of said floss is secured to said floss-engaging part by a bead formed in said floss and situated outside and adjacent said floss-engaging part.
17. A disposable, one-piece dental floss holder comprising a body part, a generally stiff first area with near and remote ends, a first hinge means pivotally coupling said near end of said first arm to said body part, a generally stiff second arm with near and remote ends, a second hinge means pivotably coupling said near end of said second arm to said body part, a strand of dental floss extending between and permanently secured to said remote ends of said arms respectively, each arm having a stem part between its near and remote ends, which stem part contacts no other part of the floss holder, a leg extending from the near end of each arm, said holder having a relaxed state where the remote ends of said arms are spaced apart a first distance and said dental floss extends therebetween with slack, said arms being pivotable when force is applied to said legs to diverge from their normal state to a flexed state whereby said remote ends of said arms are spaced apart a distance greater than said first distance, thus temporarily reducing any of said slack in said strand of dental floss.
18. A floss holder according to claim 17 wherein said body part and arms comprise a single injection molded piece.
19. A floss holder according to claim 18 wherein said arms define a first plane and said body part defines a second plane, and said two planes are not coplanar.
20. A floss holder according to claim 17 further comprising handle means extending from said body part, said handle means comprising two spaced apart first and second legs which are resiliently movable from a relaxed state toward each other in their flexed state, said movement of said handle means causing corresponding pivoting of said arms to their flexed state.
21. A floss holder according to claim 20 wherein said body part and arms and handle means comprise a single injection molded piece.
22. A floss holder according to claim 21 wherein said body part and arms and handle means are generally flat elements lying generally in the same plane.
23. A floss holder according to claim 20 wherein said first and second legs correspond respectively to first and second arms, and each leg and its corresponding arm define a generally stiff unit, said two legs being movable relative to each other for increasing the space between the arms and tightening the floss.
24. A floss holder according to claim 17 wherein said strand of dental floss extending between said arms is nylon and has opposite ends, and each end extends through one arm and is molded in situ therein and projects outward of said arm and terminates in a bead of coalesced nylon that has diameter greater than the diameter of the floss such that when the floss is axially tensioned due to force applied transversely to the axis of the floss between said arms, said beads prevent the ends of the floss from being pulled through and out of said arms.
25. A floss holder according to claim 24 wherein said beads comprise coalesced ball-like elements.
26. A floss holder according to claim 17 wherein said strand of floss extending between said arms has opposite ends, each end terminating and secured within one of said arms.
27. A floss holder according to claim 26 wherein each end of floss is formed into a knot, and said body part and arms comprise a single injection molded plastic piece, and said plastic forming each arm is molded about and encompassing one of said knots.
28. A floss holder according to claim 26 wherein each end of the floss is formed into a loop, said body part and arms comprise a single injection molded plastic piece, and said plastic forming each arm is molded about, through and encompassing one of said loops.
29. A floss holder according to claim 17 further comprising handle means extending from said body part, and a leg extending from the near end of each of said arms, each leg and arm combination being a generally stiff element pivotable about one of said hinge means, whereby movement of the legs toward each other causes movement of the remote ends of said arms away from each other.
30. A floss holder according to claim 17 wherein the remote end of each arm has an outer surface and wherein said strand of dental floss comprises nylon of a first diameter which strand extends through the remote end of each arm and projects outward of the surface thereof and terminates in a bead of coalesced nylon situated entirely upward of said outer surface, said bead having diameter greater than the diameter of said strand.
31. A dental floss holder comprising a body part, a first element which is generally stiff, has near and remote ends, the near end extending from said body part, a strand of dental floss having opposite ends permanently secured respectively to said body part and to said remote end of said first element and extending therebetween with slack, said first element being pivotable about said near end with respect to said body part between a relaxed state where the remote end of said first element is a first distance from said body part and a flexed state where said remote end is a second distance greater than said first distance from said body part, thus temporarily reducing any of said slack in said strand of floss extending between said element and said body part, said holder further comprising means for moving said first element from said relaxed state to said flexed state.
32. A dental floss holder according to claim 31 further comprising hinge means connecting said first element to said body part, said hinge means resiliently urging said first element toward its relaxed state.
33. A disposable one-piece dental floss holder comprising a body part, a generally stiff arm with near and remote ends, hinge means pivotally coupling said near end of said arm to said body part with said remote end spaced from said body part, a strand of dental floss extending between and permanently secured to said remote end of said arm and said body part, said arm having a stem part between its near and remote ends, which stem part contacts no other part of the floss holder, a leg extending from the near end of said arm, said holder having a relaxed state where the remote end of said arm is spaced apart a first distance from said body part and said dental floss extends therebetween with slack, said arm being pivotable when force is applied to said leg to diverge from its normal state to a flexed state whereby said remote end of said arm is spaced apart from said body part a distance greater than said first distance, thus temporarily reducing any of said slack in said strand of dental floss.
US08114424 1993-08-30 1993-08-30 Tensioning dental flosser and method of manufacturing same Expired - Lifetime US5538023A (en)
US08114424 US5538023A (en) 1993-08-30 1993-08-30 Tensioning dental flosser and method of manufacturing same
PCT/US1994/009803 WO1995006445A1 (en) 1993-08-30 1994-08-29 Tensioning dental flosser and method of manufacturing
US08324479 US5692531A (en) 1993-08-30 1994-10-17 Dual strand dental flosser and method of manufacturing same
US08749470 US5829458A (en) 1993-08-30 1996-11-15 Dental flosser and method of manufacturing same
US08324479 Continuation-In-Part US5692531A (en) 1993-08-30 1994-10-17 Dual strand dental flosser and method of manufacturing same
US5538023A true US5538023A (en) 1996-07-23
ID=22355102
US08114424 Expired - Lifetime US5538023A (en) 1993-08-30 1993-08-30 Tensioning dental flosser and method of manufacturing same
US08324479 Expired - Lifetime US5692531A (en) 1993-08-30 1994-10-17 Dual strand dental flosser and method of manufacturing same
US (2) US5538023A (en)
WO (1) WO1995006445A1 (en)
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Owner name: PLACONTROL CORPORATION, NEW JERSEY
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Free format text: THE PATENTABILITY OF CLAIMS 7-14, 16-30 AND 33 IS CONFIRMED. CLAIMS 5 AND 6 ARE CANCELLED. CLAIMS 1-4, 15 AND 31 ARE DETERMINED TO BE PATENTABLE AS AMENDED. CLAIM 32, DEPENDENT ON AN AMENDED CLAIM, IS DETERMINED TO BE PATENTABLE. NEW CLAIMS 34-37 ARE ADDED AND DETERMINED TO BE PATENTABLE.
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Owner name: RANIR LLC, MICHIGAN
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Owner name: RANIR LLC,MICHIGAN