Process for producing a toothbrush having a bristle area design

Abstract

The present invention concerns a process for producing toothbrushes covered with bristles in an anchor-free manner, in which a tuft of bristles with cylindrical bristles and/or pointed bristles is introduced into a receiving recess of a mold of a bristle-providing machine and, by means of a profiled pin guided in the receiving recess, force is applied to the end facing the pin of the bristles of the tuft of bristles for the alignment thereof, so that the bristles of the tuft of bristles are aligned by means of an end face of the profiled pin and, as a result, form the topography that complements the topography of the end face of the profiled pin, wherein the profiled pin has on the end face that acts on the bristles a discontinuous surface, which forms multiple levels. This achieves a bristle area configuration that has multiple areas of use. A correspondingly produced toothbrush is also described.

1 . A brush head for an electric toothbrush configured for an oscillating motion of tufts of bristles, the brush head comprising a bristle field formed by tufts of bristles,
 wherein at least one of the tufts of bristles has bristles with at least two different lengths, wherein free end portions of the bristles with at least two different lengths stand up to different heights from a bristle-carrying upper side of the brush head and form a stepped profile with at least two stepped end faces,   wherein the at least two stepped end faces form at least two different areas of use that are offset from one another, and   wherein the tuft of bristles forming the stepped profile comprises an elongate and arcuate cross-section.   
     
     
         2 . The brush head according to  claim 1 , wherein the bristles of the tuft of bristles forming the stepped profile are arranged obliquely with respect to the bristle-carrying upper side of the brush head. 
     
     
         3 . The brush head according to  claim 2 , wherein the obliquely arranged bristle tufts are inclined with respect to the vertical at an angle between 3° and 15° 
     
     
         4 . The brush head according to  claim 2 , wherein the bristle field further comprises perpendicular tufts of bristles. 
     
     
         5 . The brush head according to  claim 1 , wherein the tuft of bristles forming the stepped profile comprise different types of bristles. 
     
     
         6 . The brush head according to  claim 5 , wherein the bristles forming the stepped profile differ with respect to color. 
     
     
         7 . The brush head according to  claim 5 , wherein the bristles forming the stepped profile differ with respect to diameter. 
     
     
         8 . The brush head according to  claim 5 , wherein the bristles forming the stepped profile differ with respect to a shape of the free end portions. 
     
     
         9 . The brush head according to  claim 5 , wherein the stepped profile is formed by conventional cylindrical bristles and by pointed bristles. 
     
     
         10 . The brush head according to  claim 1 , wherein in each of the at least two stepped end faces of the stepped profile, the free end portions of the bristles form a contiguous, continuous profile. 
     
     
         11 . The brush head according to  claim 1 , wherein the bristle field comprises a group of two neighboring tufts of bristles forming the stepped profile. 
     
     
         12 . The brush head according to  claim 1 , wherein in the tuft of bristles forming the stepped profile, the bristles of one end face surround the bristles of the at least one other end face. 
     
     
         13 . The brush head according to  claim 1 , wherein in the tuft of bristles forming the stepped profile, the bristles of shorter length surround the bristles of greater length. 
     
     
         14 . The brush head according to  claim 1 , wherein the bristle field also contains tufts of bristles forming a non-stepped profile. 
     
     
         15 . The brush head according to  claim 14 , wherein the tufts of bristles forming the stepped profile are arranged in outermost regions or peripheral regions of the bristle field and the tufts of bristles forming the non-stepped profile are arranged in an inner area of the bristle field. 
     
     
         16 . The brush head according to  claim 14 , wherein the bristles of said tufts forming the non-stepped profile have a shorter bristle length than the bristles of the stepped profile bristle tufts. 
     
     
         17 . The brush head according to  claim 14 , wherein the tufts of bristles forming the non-stepped profile have a circular cross-section. 
     
     
         18 . The brush head according to  claim 1 , wherein in the tuft of bristles forming the stepped profile, the distance of free end portions of the lower standing bristles from free end portions of the higher standing bristles is from 0.5 mm to 5 mm. 
     
     
         19 . The brush head according to  claim 1 , wherein in the tuft of bristles forming the stepped profile, the lower standing bristles have a height of 6 mm to 11 mm, and the higher standing bristles have a height of 9 mm to 15 mm. 
     
     
         20 . The brush head according to  claim 1 , wherein rearward end portions of the bristles of the tufts of bristles are melted to the brush head and are fastened in an anchor-free manner to the brush head. 
     
     
         21 . An electronic toothbrush configured for an oscillating motion of tufts of bristles, the electronic toothbrush comprising a head region with the brush head as claimed in  claim 1 ; a handle region; and a neck region connecting the handle region and the head region. 
     
     
         22 . A brush head for an electric toothbrush configured for an oscillating motion of tufts of bristles, the brush head comprising a bristle field formed by tufts of bristles,
 wherein at least one of the tufts of bristles has bristles with at least two different lengths, wherein free end portions of the bristles with at least two different lengths stand up to different heights from a bristle-carrying upper side of the brush head and form a stepped profile with at least two stepped end faces,   wherein the at least two stepped end faces form at least two different areas of use that are offset from one another,   wherein the tuft of bristles forming the stepped profile comprises an elongate and arcuate cross-section,   wherein the bristles of the tuft of bristles forming the stepped profile are arranged obliquely with respect to the bristle-carrying upper side of the brush head, and   wherein the tufts of bristles forming the stepped profile are arranged in outermost regions or peripheral regions of the bristle field.