Patent ID: 7363823

Claim:
A method for determining whether a double-headed toothbrush is contour adaptive, said method comprising: providing a double-headed toothbrush composed of a pair of handles, necks, and heads each having a bristle body mass composed of bristles extending therefrom, each handle connected to respective necks, that connect to respective heads, each head having a tip on an end opposite the respective neck and handle, the handles of the double-headed toothbrush being rigidly connected to each other, securing the handles in a fixed position; applying a first force (Y) onto a first neck or head substantially parallel to the bristles to deflect the tip to a first predetermined distance from a resting position; measuring the first force (Y) applied to cause the tip to be deflected to the predetermined distance; applying a second force (Z) to a bristle body mass extending from a head substantially perpendicular to the extended direction of the bristles to deflect the bristle body mass to a first predetermined bend percentage from a resting position; measuring the second force (Z) applied to cause the bristle body mass to be bent to the first predetermined bend percentage; applying a third force (X) to the bristle body mass extending from a head at a non-perpendicular direction to deflect the bristle body mass to a second predetermined bend pertentage from a resting position and the tip to a second predetermined distance from a resting position; measuring the third force (X) applied to cause the bristle body mass to bend to the second predetermined bend percentage and to cause the tip to the second predetermined distance; applying a fourth force (L) to a head substantially perpendicular to the direction of the bristle body masses to cause the tip to be deflected to a third predetermined distance from a resting position; measuring the fourth force (L) applied to cause the tip to be deflected to the third predetermined distance; and determining if the toothbrush is contour adaptive based on the measured forces.