Interdental cleaner

Abstract

An interdental cleaner has a rod-shaped support which is made of plastic and which, at a support rear end region, has a grip part. A support opposite front end region has a flocking with flock fibers made of plastic. The rod-shaped support is provided, in the support front end region, with a sleeve-shaped cover made of a flexible plastic. The flocking is arranged on the cover.

Claims

1. An interdental cleaner comprising: a rod-shaped support comprised of plastic with a rear end region having a grip part and an opposite front end region; a sleeve cover; and a flocking with flock fibers made of plastic, wherein the rod-shaped support is provided, in the front end region, with the sleeve cover made of a flexible plastic, and the flocking is arranged on the cover, wherein the outside of the cover has a plurality of integrally formed fingers protruding radially outward, the fingers being made of the same flexible material as the cover, wherein the sleeve cover is provided with the flocking in a cover region between a cover front end and the fingers.

2. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cover is covered completely by the flocking.

3. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cover is covered by the flocking only in a cover front end region.

4. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein a region of the cover lying between the fingers is free of the flocking.

5. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flocking is arranged in a region of the cover lying between the fingers.

6. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support is made of a dimensionally stable plastic comprised of polypropylene or polyamide.

7. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plastic material of the support is fiber-reinforced.

8. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cover is predominantly comprised of a thermoplastic elastomer, of a thermoplastic polyurethane or of silicone.

9. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flocking comprises an adhesive layer on which the flock fibers are held.

10. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flock fibers are made of polyamide, polypropylene, polybutylene terephthalate, viscose, acryl, or polyester.

11. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein a length of the flock fibers lies in a range of 0.2 mm to 2.0 mm.

12. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flock fibers have a fineness in a range of 0.09 tex to 2.2 tex, wherein 1 tex=1 g per 1000 m length.

13. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support has a circular, polygonal, oval or triangular cross section.

14. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein an outer contour of the cover follows an outer contour of the support.

15. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cover has a triangular outer contour and the support has a circular, polygonal or oval cross section, such that tapering corner regions of the cover are formed.

16. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein each and every portion of the flocking is located at a spaced location from the support.

17. An interdental cleaner comprising: a rod-shaped support comprised of plastic with a rear end region having a grip part and an opposite front end region; a sleeve cover; and a flocking with flock fibers made of plastic, wherein the rod-shaped support is provided, in the front end region, with the sleeve cover made of a flexible plastic, and the flocking is arranged on the cover, the flocking being located at a spaced location from the rod-shaped support, wherein the outside of the cover has a plurality of integrally formed fingers protruding radially outward, the fingers being made of the same flexible material as the cover, wherein the cover is provided with the flocking in a cover region between a cover front end and the fingers.

18. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 17, wherein each of the plurality of integrally formed fingers extend to a radial position beyond a radial position of each of the flock fibers with respect to a longitudinal axis of the sleeve cover.

19. An interdental cleaner comprising: a rod-shaped support comprised of plastic with a rear end region having a grip part and an opposite front end region; a sleeve cover; and a flocking with flock fibers made of plastic, wherein the rod-shaped support is provided, in the front end region, with the sleeve cover made of a flexible plastic, and the flocking is arranged on the cover, each and every portion of the flock fibers being arranged at a position outside of the sleeve cover, wherein the outside of the cover has a plurality of integrally formed fingers protruding radially outward, the fingers being made of the same flexible material as the cover, wherein the cover is provided with the flocking in a cover region between a cover front end and the fingers.

20. The interdental cleaner as claimed in claim 19, wherein each portion of each of the flock fibers is free of contact with the rod-shaped support.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In the drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an interdental cleaner in a first illustrative embodiment;

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of an interdental cleaner in a second illustrative embodiment;

(4) FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of an interdental cleaner in a third illustrative embodiment;

(5) FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of an interdental cleaner in a fourth illustrative embodiment;

(6) FIG. 5 is the cross section V-V in FIG. 4;

(7) FIG. 6 is the cross section according to FIG. 5 in a first alternative configuration; and

(8) FIG. 7 is the cross section according to FIG. 5 in a second alternative configuration.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(9) Referring to the drawings, an interdental cleaner 10 shown in FIG. 1 has an elongate rod-shaped support 11 which is made of a dimensionally stable plastic and which, at its rear end (the right-hand end in FIG. 1), is provided with a grip part 12 at which a user can take hold of the interdental cleaner 10.

(10) At an opposite front end (the left-hand end in FIG. 1), the rod-shaped support 11 is provided with a sleeve-shaped cover 13 made of a flexible plastic. The cover 13 completely covers approximately ⅓ of the axial length of the interdental cleaner 10. A flocking 14 is arranged on the outer face of the cover 13 directed away from the rod-shaped support 11. The flocking 14 comprises an adhesive layer 15 in which short flock fibers 16 made of plastic are held.

(11) As FIG. 1 shows, the outer face of the cover 13 in this illustrative embodiment is covered completely by the flocking 14.

(12) FIG. 2 shows a modification of the interdental cleaner 10 according to FIG. 1 and differs from the latter in that the cover 13 is provided with the flocking 14 only in its front end region, which comprises approximately one third to a half of the axial length of the cover 13, while the cover 13 in its other regions is free of the flocking.

(13) FIG. 3 shows a development of the interdental cleaner 10 according to FIG. 2 and differs from the latter only in that a plurality of integrally formed, radially outwardly protruding fingers 17, which are made of the same flexible material as the cover 13, are provided externally in the region of the cover 13 which is set back from the front end (the left-hand end in FIG. 3) and in which no flocking is provided. This means that the flocking 14 is formed in the front region of the cover 13 and the fingers 17 are formed in the rear or remaining region of the cover 13. The portions of the cover 13 lying between the fingers 17 are free of the flocking here.

(14) FIG. 4 shows a development of the interdental cleaner 10 according to FIG. 3 and differs from the latter in that the regions of the cover 13 arranged between the fingers 17 are now also provided with the flocking 14.

(15) As FIG. 5 shows, the support 11 has a circular cross section and is surrounded by the cover 13 with an approximately constant layer thickness, i.e. the cover 13 has a circular outer contour and thus follows the outer contour of the support 11. Arranged on the outer face of the cover 13 is the adhesive layer 15 in which the flock fibers 16 are held.

(16) In a modification of the embodiment according to FIG. 5, FIG. 6 shows an embodiment in which the rod-shaped support 11 has a triangular cross section and is covered by the cover 13 in a constant layer thickness, i.e. here too the outer contour of the cover 13 follows the outer contour of the support 11. Arranged again on the outer face of the cover 13 is the adhesive layer 15 in which the flock fibers 16 are held.

(17) In the embodiment according to FIG. 7, the support 11 has a circular cross section, while the cover 13, which encloses the support 11, has a triangular cross section. This has the effect that only the relatively soft material of the cover 13 is present in the corner regions of the triangular cover 13, such that the corner regions are particularly pliable and can adapt well to the shape of the interdental spaces. Arranged again on the outer face of the cover 13 is the adhesive layer 15 in which the flock fibers 16 are held.

(18) While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.