Toothbrush

Abstract

A toothbrush has a handle with an open-ended elongated slot in the body of the handle that partially defines the handle with two opposing handle portions and a hinge portion. Wherein one of the handle portions is directly joined with the rest of the handle in a cantilevered manner and the other handle portion is joined with the rest of the handle in an elastically hinged manner via the hinge portion. The handle portions have oppositely facing straight sides for engaging opposite sides of a tube of toothpaste and the hinge portion allows for swinging and positioning of the hinged handle portion with respect to the cantilevered handle portion with a manually applied force on the hinged handle portion to effect the progressive collapse of a tube of toothpaste with forced movement between the handle and the tube to thereby force the toothpaste toward the dispensing end of the tube.

1 . A toothbrush comprising a handle having a brush at one end, a slot in the body of said handle having an open end and a closed end and partially defining said handle with two opposing handle portions and a hinge portion wherein one of said handle portions is directly joined with the rest of said handle in a cantilevered manner, the other handle portion is joined with the rest of said handle in an elastically hinged manner via said hinge portion, said handle portions have oppositely facing straight sides and are structured to maintain their shape during their operation, said hinge portion normally supports said other handle portion such that said sides define a preset space there between for freely receiving a collapsed portion of a collapsible tube of toothpaste provided the collapsed tube portion has a thickness not exceeding the width of said preset space, said hinge portion has a compliance allowing said other handle portion to be swung outwardly of said handle by forced sideways movement there against of a collapsed tube portion having a thickness larger than the width of said preset space to thereby allow reception of this collapsed tube portion between said sides, and the compliance of said hinge portion allows said other handle portion to be urged to swing inwardly of said handle as necessary with a force manually applied to said other handle portion to a position pressing said sides fully against a collapsed tube portion however received there between and then be maintained in this condition with the applied force while said handle is moved along the associated tube in the direction of its dispensing end to thereby progressively collapse the associated tube with said sides and force toothpaste toward the dispensing end. 
     
     
         2 . A toothbrush as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said hinge portion handle joins said other handle portion with the rest of the handle independent of said one handle portion. 
     
     
         3 . A toothbrush as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said hinge portion joins said other handle portion to said one handle portion and thereby with the rest of the handle. 
     
     
         4 . A toothbrush as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said open end of said slot is located in a longitudinally extending side of said handle. 
     
     
         5 . A toothbrush as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said open end of said slot is located in a longitudinally extending brushless side of said handle. 
     
     
         6 . A toothbrush as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said open end of said slot is located in a longitudinally extending brush containing side of said handle. 
     
     
         7 . A toothbrush as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said open end of said slot is located in a butt end of said handle. 
     
     
         8 . A toothbrush as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said other handle portion has an outer side with a recessed surface adapted to be engaged by the thumb of a person's hand in applying force on said other handle portion. 
     
     
         9 . A toothbrush as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said other handle portion has an outer side with a recessed surface adapted to be engaged by a thumb of a person's hand, and said one handle portion has an outer side with a recessed surface adapted to be engaged by a forefinger of a person's hand to provide resistance with said one handle portion against the force applied on said other handle by the thumb when pressing on the recessed surface of said other handle portion. 
     
     
         10 . A toothbrush as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said hinge portion is defined at an inner side by a rounded surface. 
     
     
         11 . A toothbrush as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said hinge portion has a sinusoidal profile oriented at right angles to the swinging movement of said other handle portion. 
     
     
         12 . A toothbrush as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said hinge portion has a varying cross-sectional area. 
     
     
         13 . A toothbrush as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said sides are parallel in defining said preset space with a uniforms width, and the compliance of said hinge portion allows the force applied to said other handle portion to swingingly position and orient said other handle portion with respect to said one handle portion so that said sides remain parallel in pressing on a collapsible tube of toothpaste and progressively collapsing the tube. 
     
     
         14 . A toothbrush as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said sides are angled with respect to each other in defining said preset space with a width that increases in the direction of said open end of said slot, and the compliance of said hinge portion allows the force applied to said other handle portion to swingingly position and orient said other handle portion with respect to said one handle portion so that said sides become parallel in pressing on a collapsible tube of toothpaste and progressively collapsing the tube. 
     
     
         15 . A toothbrush as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said sides have oppositely facing convex surfaces adapted to define the closest space there between at a midpoint of said convex surfaces. 
     
     
         16 . A toothbrush as set forth in  claim 1  wherein said sides have converging oppositely facing convex surfaces adapted to define the closest space there between at corresponding ends of said convex surfaces.