Oral Care Implement

Abstract

An oral care implement including a handle and a head. The head has a first surface and a plurality of tuft holes formed into the first surface. Each of the tuft holes has a diameter DTH. The tuft holes are arranged in a tuft hole pattern such that a singular bounded area AB of the first surface can be selected that includes X number of tuft holes. In some embodiments, X is an integer that is greater than or equal to 2, DTH is less than or equal to 1.1 mm, and X/AB is greater than or equal to 0.54.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An oral care implement comprising:
 a handle;   a head having a first surface, a plurality of tuft holes formed into the first surface of the head, each of the tuft holes having a diameter D TH , the tuft holes arranged in a tuft hole pattern such that a singular bounded area A B  of the first surface can be selected that includes X number of tuft holes; and   wherein X is an integer that is greater than or equal to 2, D TH  is less than or equal to 1.1 mm, and X/A B  is greater than or equal to 0.54.   
     
     
         2 . The oral care implement according to  claim 1  wherein the X number of tuft holes define a cumulative tuft hole area A CTH  within the singular bounded area A B , wherein A CTH /A B  is greater than or equal to 0.51. 
     
     
         3 . The oral care implement according to  claim 2  wherein X/A B  is greater than or equal to 0.57 and wherein A CTH /A B  is greater than or equal to 0.54. 
     
     
         4 . The oral care implement according to  claim 3  wherein X/A B  is greater than or equal to 0.61 and wherein A CTH /A B  is greater than or equal to 0.58 
     
     
         5 . The oral care implement according to  claim 4  wherein X/A B  is greater than or equal to 0.76 and wherein A CTH /A B  is greater than or equal to 0.73 
     
     
         6 . The oral care implement according to  claim 1  wherein X/A B  and A CTH /A B  increases as X decreases. 
     
     
         7 . The oral care implement according to  claim 1  wherein X is equal to 2, and wherein the singular bounded area A B  is defined by: (1) a semi-circumference of a first one of the two tuft holes; (2) a semi-circumference of a second one of the two tuft holes; and (3) first and second lines that are parallel to one another and tangent to each of the first and second tuft holes of the two tuft holes. 
     
     
         8 . The oral care implement according to  claim 1  wherein X is equal to or greater than 4, and wherein the singular bounded area A B  is defined by: (1) a portion of a circumference of a first one of the tuft holes positioned in a first corner of the singular bounded area A B ; (2) a portion of a circumference of a second one of the tuft holes positioned in a second corner of the singular bounded area A B ; (3) a portion of a circumference of a third one of the tuft holes positioned in a third corner of the singular bounded area A B ; (4) a portion of a circumference of a fourth one of the tuft holes positioned in a fourth corner of the singular bounded area A B ; (5) first and second lines that are parallel to one another, the first line being tangent to the first and second tuft holes and the second line being tangent to the third and fourth tuft holes; and (6) third and fourth lines that are parallel to one another, the third line being tangent to the first and third tuft holes and the fourth lines being tangent to the second and fourth holes. 
     
     
         9 . The oral care implement according to  claim 8  wherein the portions of the circumferences of each of the first, second, third, and fourth tuft holes is approximately a quarter of the circumferences of each of the first, second, third, and fourth tuft holes. 
     
     
         10 . The oral care implement according to  claim 1  wherein adjacent ones of the tuft holes are spaced apart by a distance d ATH  that is between 0.35 and 0.45 mm. 
     
     
         11 . The oral care implement according to  claim 1  wherein the diameter D TH  of each of the tuft holes is substantially equal to a diameter of a bristle tuft that is positioned within the tuft hole.