Described herein is an oral care implement that includes a head portion; a cup member extending from a front surface of the head portion along a first axis, the elastomeric cup member comprising: a top surface; a plurality of grooves formed into the top surface; a plurality of rib members, wherein adjacent ones of the grooves are separated by one of the rib members, each of the rib members extending along a rib axis that extends radially outward from the first axis, and wherein each of the rib members has a thickness that increases with distance from the first axis. The cup member may comprise a plurality of first grooves and a plurality of second grooves, and wherein each of the first grooves has a first transverse cross-section and each of the second grooves has a second transverse cross-section, the first and second transverse cross-sections being different from one another.

A portable tooth polishing and bleaching treatment device is provided for simultaneous tooth surface polishing and bleaching for use at home or in dental clinics. A single-rod-swinging mechanism, either using tilt-rod-driving or bent-rod-driving, is employed to transfer a continuously rotational input from an electric power into a back-and-forth swinging movement output. The device comprises a battery-powered handpiece with a detachable swinging angle, a dual-functional rubber cup, a user-specific thermoplastic gum protector, a dual-agent mixing set consisting of a separated storage of polishing and bleaching agents and an agent mixing tool. The swinging angle alone is used as a prophylaxis angle for dental clinics.

A coupling mechanism for an electric toothbrush includes a handle coupling portion and a refill coupling portion structured and configured to engage one another, thereby providing a secure connection between the handle and the refill. The handle coupling portion has a coupling stem disposed at one end of the handle and a coupling pin protruding from the stem. The coupling stem has outer walls terminating at a free end thereof. The refill coupling portion has a tubular structure having refill walls and an interior space for receiving therein the coupling stem, and a pair of mutually opposite and resiliently deformable cantilevered arms disposed in the interior space, each of the arms terminating with a coupling surface for engaging the coupling pin of the handle coupling portion.

An electric toothbrush, including a refill connectable to a handle via a coupling device. The handle has a drive mechanism, and the refill has a brush head and a motion transmitter functionally connected to the brush head for driving it. The handle has a coupling stem terminating with a free end and including a coupling pin extending from the stem. The refill includes a generally tubular portion formed by refill walls defining an interior space for accepting the coupling stem of the handle. The coupling device comprises a pair of mutually opposite and resiliently deformable cantilevered arms disposed adjacent to the refill walls in the interior space of the refill. Each of the cantilevered arms terminates with a coupling surface for engaging the stem's coupling pin for secure and disengageable connection between the handle and the refill.

A refill for an electric toothbrush comprises a generally tubular structure formed by refill walls defining an interior space for accepting thereinto a coupling stem of a toothbrush handle. The refill includes a motion transmitter functionally connected to the brush head for driving it. The refill has a coupling device including a pair of mutually opposite and resiliently deformable cantilevered arms disposed in the interior space of the refill and adjacent to the refill walls. Each of the arms terminates with a coupling surface for engaging a coupling pin extending from the handle's coupling stem for secure and disengageable connection therewith.

An electric toothbrush having bristle driven pulsation includes a brush head having a bristle holder and bristle tufts attached to the bristle holder. The bristle tufts and corresponding bristles are disposed at a perpendicular and/or a non-perpendicular angle with respect to a mounting surface of the brush head. The electric toothbrush also includes an electric toothbrush handle removably attached to the brush head. The electric toothbrush handle includes a linear motor configured to drive the bristle holder via a gearing structure coupled to the linear motor and the bristle holder. The linear motor causes the bristle holder to rotate clockwise and counterclockwise at a rotation frequency which exceeds a rotation frequency threshold (e.g., 100 Hz, 120 Hz, etc.). The linear motor also causes the brush head to vibrate in a direction toward and away from a contact surface in synchronization with the rotation of the bristles.

An electric toothbrush having bristle driven pulsation includes a brush head having a bristle holder and bristle tufts attached to the bristle holder. The bristle tufts and corresponding bristles are disposed at a perpendicular and/or a non-perpendicular angle with respect to a mounting surface of the brush head. The electric toothbrush also includes an electric toothbrush handle removably attached to the brush head. The electric toothbrush handle includes a linear motor configured to drive the bristle holder via a gearing structure coupled to the linear motor and the bristle holder. The linear motor causes the bristle holder to rotate clockwise and counterclockwise at a rotation frequency which exceeds a rotation frequency threshold (e.g., 100 Hz, 120 Hz, etc.). The linear motor also causes the brush head to vibrate in a direction toward and away from a contact surface in synchronization with the rotation of the bristles.

An electrically driven device includes an electric motor with a drive shaft having a first rotary axis and a drive pin eccentrically thereto, and a driven shaft having a second rotary axis and mounted for pivoting motion. The driven shaft is coupled to the drive shaft by a scotch yoke mechanism, converting a rotary motion of the drive shaft into a reciprocating pivoting motion of the driven shaft. The scotch yoke mechanism includes a cross slider having a sliding support extending perpendicular to the first rotary axis and receiving the drive pin either directly or by a sliding block having a bearing receiving the pin. The cross slider is axially guided to move in an axial direction perpendicular to the first rotary axis and to the extension of the sliding support. The driven shaft is coupled to the cross slider by a pivotable crank arm, thereby converting a rotary motion of the drive shaft into a reciprocating motion of the driven shaft.

A personal hygiene device has a drive unit having a support, a stator fixedly mounted at the support, and an armature spring-mounted at the support for driven linear oscillating motion along a first longitudinal direction parallel to or coinciding with an x-axis of an x-y-z coordinate system. The armature has a center of gravity located in rest at a coordinate [x.sub.a, y.sub.a, z.sub.a], and a drive shaft fixedly coupled with the armature and having a center of gravity located in rest at a coordinate [x.sub.d, y.sub.d, z.sub.d]. A first treatment head assembly, detachably connected to the drive shaft, has a center of gravity located in rest at a coordinate [x.sub.t1, y.sub.t1, z.sub.t1]. A secondary mass element, spring-mounted at the support for essentially linear oscillating motion along the first longitudinal direction, has a center of gravity located in rest at a coordinate [x.sub.m, y.sub.m, z.sub.m]. At least the coordinate [x.sub.a, y.sub.a, z.sub.a] of the center of gravity of the armature has an offset in at least one of the y-direction and z-direction with respect to the coordinate [x.sub.d, y.sub.d, z.sub.d] of the center of gravity of the drive-shaft or with respect to the coordinate [x.sub.t1, y.sub.t1, z.sub.t1] of the center of gravity of the first treatment head assembly, i.e., y.sub.ay.sub.d and/or y.sub.ay.sub.t1 and/or z.sub.az.sub.d and/or z.sub.az.sub.t1; and the secondary mass element is configured such that the coordinate [x.sub.m, y.sub.m, z.sub.m] of the center of gravity of the secondary mass element is aligned with the coordinate [x.sub.j, y.sub.j, z.sub.j] of the joint center of gravity of the drive shaft, the first treatment head assembly and the armature in the at least one offset direction, i.e., y.sub.m=y.sub.j and z.sub.m=z.sub.j, so that a line connecting the coordinate [x.sub.m, y.sub.m, z.sub.m] of the center of gravity of the secondary mass element and the coordinate [x.sub.j, y.sub.jz.sub.j] of the joint center of gravity is parallel to or coincides with the x-axis.

The invention relates to a brush head for an electric toothbrush comprising a brush head shaft (20) with two ends, one end (21) with a tuft plate (30) being oscillatable about its centre axis, and one end adapted for detachable connection to a handle of the electric toothbrush, wherein the oscillatable tuft plate comprises at least three tufts (40), each tuft being non-rotatably attached to the tuft plate, wherein each tuft comprises a free end (41) and an end (42) fixedly attached to the oscillatable tuft plate.