Toothbrush with longitudinal to lateral motion conversion

Abstract

A toothbrush has a toothbrush head supported by an elongated handle which defines an axis. A number of brush elements mounted on the toothbrush head, each including at least one tuft of bristles, have a dimension parallel to the axis being no more than about 5 mm. Each brush element assumes a released state projecting upright from the toothbrush head, and can be deflected in a given direction defined by a motion delineating configuration. The direction of deflection is at an angle of between about 15° and about 75° to the axis and perpendicular to a bristle extension direction.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A toothbrush comprising: 
 (a) a toothbrush head attached to, or integrally formed with, an elongated handle, a direction of elongation of said handle being referred to as an axis; and    (b) a plurality of brush elements associated with said toothbrush head, each of said brush elements including at least one tuft of bristles, a dimension of each of said brush elements parallel to said axis being no more than about 5 mm,    wherein each of said brush elements assumes a released state projecting substantially upright from said toothbrush head, and wherein each of said brush elements is associated with a motion delineating configuration which defines a preferred direction of deflection of at least part of said brush element, said preferred direction of deflection being substantially perpendicular to a bristle extension direction and at an angle of between about 15° and about 75° to said axis.    
     
     
         2 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein said dimension of each of said brush elements parallel to said axis is no more than about 3 mm.  
     
     
         3 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein each of said brush elements includes exactly one tuft of bristles.  
     
     
         4 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein said preferred direction of deflection is at an angle of between about 30° and about 60° to said axis.  
     
     
         5 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein said preferred direction of deflection is at an angle of between about 40° and about 50° to said axis.  
     
     
         6 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein said motion delineating configuration includes a flexible shaft portion of each of said brush elements, said shaft portion being constructed so as to exhibit a preferred direction of flexing corresponding to said preferred direction of deflection.  
     
     
         7 . The toothbrush of  claim 6 , wherein said flexible shaft portion has a cross-sectional shape with a major dimension and a minor dimension, said minor dimension being no more than two thirds of said major dimension so as to define said preferred direction of flexing.  
     
     
         8 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein said motion delineating configuration includes a hinge arrangement defining an arcuate path of at least part of said brush element.  
     
     
         9 . The toothbrush of  claim 8 , wherein said hinge arrangement includes a hinge formed as part of said brush element.  
     
     
         10 . The toothbrush of  claim 8 , wherein said hinge arrangement includes a hinge formed between said brush element and said toothbrush head.  
     
     
         11 . The toothbrush of  claim 8 , wherein said hinge arrangement includes a substantially cylindrical pin element inserted into a complementary socket.  
     
     
         12 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein said motion delineating configuration includes an elongated slot associated with said toothbrush head for limiting movement of said brush element to a predefined direction.  
     
     
         13 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein said motion delineating configuration includes an elongated slot formed in said toothbrush head within which said brush element is slidably mounted.  
     
     
         14 . The toothbrush of  claim 1 , wherein said motion delineating configuration includes a resilient element deployed to bias said brush element to return to said released state.