US1869991A - Toothbrush - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 2, 1932. w. @WHITE ET AL TOOTHBRUSH` Filed March 14. 1930 Patented Aug. 2,1932 Y Y Y UNITED. STATES. PATENT Frio W'Ill'iLIAMrk C. WHITE AND WILBUR D. MCCRAY, OFLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

TOOTHBRUSH Application led March 14, 1930. Serial No. 435,789.

This invention relates to improvements in dra-Wing, that vOIIH Of tOOtll bIuSll tlISIl 3S tooth brushes, and has for an object the proan entirety and shown in Figure 1 is desievision of a tooth brush'whic'h has its parts Dated aS A, and the form in Figure f1 as y so constructed and arranged that the. brush BOth forms have many elements in common 5 is adapted to give a gentle massage to the although one form A utilizes a motor and 55 gums during a Cleansing of tho tooth. Tho the form B utilizes a vibrator. However, the tooth brush likewise, is so formed and @loturesult accomplished by both forms is identical. ated as to directly contact with all crevices The fOrIn A will be first described. The between the teeth for the proper removal (':asingv a is adapted to house any form 0f. of deleterious Substanoea motor b, the shaft of which is secured to a so With thisinvention7 we have provided a, blOCl which `is adapted t0 I'Otate in a Suittooth brush wherein the brush is adapted to able bushing 2, and this block carries an echave transverse oscillation, the result being centric pin 8. A member l is Secured to the that the user of this brush nood only hold casing at an end thereof, this member having the brush against the teeth in order to dea Central Opening fOr ,reevng the bushing 65 rive all the benefits as above set forth in the 2, and to the member 4 is secured a further objects, A housing or casing 5 for housing other ele- Other obj ccts of the invention will appear ments of the invention. This casing or housasthe specification proceeds, among which ing 5 is provided with an elongated pOItiOn 2e objects .is the provision of L tooth brush within which is an annular` bushing 7. This 7:) which is simple of construction, inexpensive annular bushing is provided with internal of manufacture, and superior to any hand screw-threads 8 and likewise transversely tooth brush, Y slotted at 9. Received within the said bush- With thoabovo md other objects in View, ing is a shaft 10. This shaft is provided with the invention consists in the novel and useeXternal screw-threads 11 adapted to coop- 75 ful provision, formation, construction, assoerate with threads 8 of the bushing 7 and ciation, and relativel arrangement of parts, one end of said shaft within a chamber porniembers and features, all as shown in certain tion 12 of the housing or casing 5, carries Y embodiments in the accompanying drawing, a guide 13. This guide includes a pair of Vdescribed generally, and more particularly spaced members 14 and 15, between which 80 pointed out in the claims. is a block 16, the said block being ycarried In the drawing: y upon the stud 3. It will `be noted that the Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly'in secguide 13 depends from the shaft 10. The

tion, showing one form of the improved tooth shaft 10 extends beyond the bushing 7 and brush, Y its housing 6, as shown at 17 and the shaft is Sb c Figure 2 is an end elevation looking in the centrally bored at 18, and likewise diametridirection of the brush head, cally split as shown at 19. The port-ion 17 Figure 3 is a cross sectionalview on the is` externally threaded at 2O and adapted to line 3--3 of Figure 1, K receive a compressing cap 21. In other words,

w Figured is a longitudinal sectional view the external diameter of the shaft adjacent 9U of a modified form of the tooth brush. the split portion varies more or less progres- Figure 5 is a sectional view on the line sively and the cap when secured to the screw- 5 5 of Figure 4L, threads, compresses this portion of the shaft.

r Figure 6 is a sectional viewY on the line rA transverse rpin 22` spans the bore 18 and 6-6 of Figure 4, y -within said bore we provide a brush re- 95 Figure 7 is a sectional view .on the line ceiving head 23 secured to a stem 24, one end 7-7`of Figure 4, and, of which stem is bifurcated at 25. The stem Figure 8 is a sectional view on the line is adapted to be received within the bore of 8 8 of Figure 4. Y the shaft with the pin 22 between the bifurca- Referring now with particularityto the tions 25. The head part 23 includes a base .100

member 26 and two side pieces 26a and 265 at an angle to said base. The side pieces of the head are preferably made of spring-like material and are adapted to grip the base 27 of a tooth brush 28.

The operation of this particular form of the inv -ntion is as follows:

The motor may be battery driven or driven by electric light current and the shaft of the motor will rotate, which in turn will rotate the stud 3 which is in olf-center relation or eccentric to the shaft of the motor. This eccentricity is sutlicient to cause the slide block 16 to reciprocate between the guides of the guide block 13, thus crea-ting transverse oscillation of the shaft l0. As the shaft carries threads llwhich are in mesh with the threads S of the bushing, the shaft in addition to transversely oscillating will likewise longitudinally oscillate. The bushing is prevented from turning by a screw or similar means 29 received within the slot 9.

The form of the invention B includes a casing (Z within which is adapted to be housed a vibrator e. This form of vibrator is adapted to be operated by alternating current, and the same includes an electro-magnet 29 and an armature 30. One end of the armature is secured to a leaf-spring 3l, the spring in turn being secured to a base or block 32, being the saine base or block that holds the electro-mag net 29. Vibration of the armature is controlled by an adjusting screw 33 and afixed screw 34, both of which screws are adapted to bear against leaf- springs 35 and 36 secured to the armature 30. No particular claim is made to this construction, as it is of the type that is in ordinary use for vibrators. The casing is provided with an annular end piece 37 and the armature extends partly through the opening thereof, as shown at 38. The casing (Z is formed with an annular inwardly directed Tian ge 39 and a housing 40 is adapted to be secured to the casing Z and bear against this flange 39, as shown at 4l. Secured to the housing 40 is an annular flanged plate 42, and adapted to be interposed between the plate 42 and the end piece 37 is the mechanism depicted in Figure 8. This mechanism includes a ratchet 43 secured to a stud shaft 44, the stud shaft being passed through the annular opening in the plate 42. A pawl 45 is swingingly carried by a plate 46. This plate 46 is spaced from the plate 42 and swingingly carried on a pin 47. Furthermore, the plate 46 carries a further pawl 4S. Both pawls are urged into tooth engagement with the ratchet by means of springs 49 and 50. The free end of the armature is received within a slot 5l of the plate 46. The stud shaft 44 is pinned to a member 52. This member is provided with a pin or stud 53 eccentric to the stud shaft 44, and this pin 53 is in turn received within an o1 ening 54 of a slide block 55, this slide block being received between members 56 and 57 of a guide 58. This guide is identical with the guide shown for the form A, and furthermore the remaining parts of the invention are the same as shown in the form A and, accordingly, like reference characters will be applied. It is realized, of course, that the housing is slightly differently formed but the form is immaterial.

The operation, uses and advantages of this form of the invention are as follows:

Whereas in the form of the invention A the motor reciprocates and longitudinally oscillates the brush head at high speed, the form B reduces the speed of oscillation and reciprocation by the mechanism shown in Figure 8. It will be noted that when the armature is vibrating that the plate 46 is oscillated back and forth about its pivotal point 47. This oscillation actuates the pawls 45 and 48 to cause rotation of the pinion 43. The pinion in turn will rotate the stud shaft 44 and cause rotation of the eccentric stud 53. T his stud 53 is free to rotate in the opening 54 of the block 55 and, as a consequence, due to the threaded arrangement between the shaft 10 and the bushing 7, longitudinal oscillation is possible as well as lateral reciprocation or vibration. It is quit-e evident that by the arrangement shown, the speed oscillation and reciprocation both longitudinally and laterally will depend upon the number of teeth on the ratchet 43. The same system as shown in Figure 8 could be utilized for the form shown in Figure l.

It is obvious that we have provided a form of tooth brush which is capable of performing a more etiicient cleansing operation than by the ordinary manually operated tooth brush. The invention is adaptable to any type of brush or for that matter vibrator. The inventors are aware that numerous vibrators are on the market which simply vibrate, but so far as the inventors are aware, there is no vibrator on the market that is capable of longitudinal oscillation or vibration along with lateral oscillation or vibration.

Itis obvious that various changes and mod ifications and variations may be made in practicing the invention in departure from the particular showing of the drawing and description as given without departing from the true spirit of the invention.

We claim:

l. In a device of the character disclosed, a shaft provided with screw-threads, a brush head, means on said shaft for det-achably securing a brush head, the opposite end of said shaft being provided with a guide member, a slide block for said guide member, propulsive means for reciprocating said slide block relative to the guide, and a screwthreaded bushing in engagement with the threads of the shaft and whereby when the slide block is moved, the shaft is laterally and Cil logitudnally oscillated t in turn osoillate the head. n

2. In a device of the character disclosed,

a propulsive element, a plate adapted to be oseillated by movement of said propulsive element, said plate carrying a pawl and a ratchet adapted to be turned by said pawl when the plate is vbrated, a head, and means of connection between said head and the ratchetshaft whereby rotation vof said ratchet shaft produces longitudinal and lateral oscillation of the head.

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specification at Los Angeles, California, this 24th day of February, 1930.

WILLIAM C. WHITE. WILBUR D. MCCRAY.

Images