ATTACHABLE AND DETACHABLE TOOTHBRUSH HEAD ASSEBLY

Abstract

A toothbrush head assembly including a bristle plate having a plurality of bristles extending from one side thereof, a holding plate having a smaller diameter than the bristle plate; and a neck portion connecting the bristle plate and the holding plate and having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the holding plate, and a gasket configured to be press fit over the neck portion such that while the holding plate extends through a hole formed in a handle the gasket becomes press fit into the hole to secure the toothbrush head assembly to the handle.

Claims

1. A toothbrush head assembly, comprising: a body including: a first end having a first diameter and a plurality of bristles extending from one side thereof; a second end having a smaller diameter than the first end; and a fitting groove formed between the first end and the second end and having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the second end; and a gasket slidable over the second end to fit tightly over the fitting groove and having outer ribs which extend outward from a center of the gasket such that the second end will extend through a hole in a handle while the gasket is configured to flexibly fit into the hole such that the outer ribs extend around the hole to secure the toothbrush head assembly to the handle.

2. The toothbrush head assembly according to claim 1, wherein the diameter of the second end is configured to fit through the hole formed in the handle and the gasket is configured to have a diameter to be press fit into the hole while the ribs extend around and past the edge of the hole to secure the toothbrush head assembly to the handle.

3. The toothbrush head assembly according to claim 2, wherein the handle is an elongated spoon or spork designed for backpacking and camping.

4. The toothbrush head assembly according to claim 1, wherein the body is formed of one of metal, wood or hard plastic material.

5. The toothbrush head assembly according to claim 4, wherein the gasket is formed of one of a stiff rubber, plastic or cork material.

6. A toothbrush head assembly, comprising: a bristle plate having a first diameter and a plurality of bristles extending from one side thereof; a holding plate having a smaller diameter than the bristle plate; and a neck portion connecting the bristle plate and the holding plate and having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the holding plate; and a gasket configured to be press fit over the neck portion such that while the holding plate extends through a hole formed in a handle the gasket becomes press fit into the hole to secure the toothbrush head assembly to the handle.

7. The toothbrush head assembly according to claim 6, wherein the diameter of the holding plate is configured to fit through the hole formed in the handle and the gasket is configured to have outer ribs which extend outward from a center thereof to surround the edge of the hole to secure the toothbrush head assembly to the handle.

8. The toothbrush head assembly according to claim 7, wherein the handle is an elongated spoon or spork designed for backpacking and camping.

9. The toothbrush head assembly according to claim 6, wherein the bristle plate, holding plate and neck are formed of one of metal, wood or a hard plastic material.

10. The toothbrush head assembly according to claim 6, wherein the gasket is formed of one of a stiff rubber, plastic or cork material.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] These and/or other features and utilities of the present inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

[0028] FIG. 1A illustrates an exploded plan view of a toothbrush head assembly according to an example embodiment of the present inventive concept;

[0029] FIG. 1B illustrates an assembled plan view of the toothbrush head assembly according to the example embodiment of FIG. 1A;

[0030] FIG. 1C illustrates a plan view of the toothbrush head assembly according to the example embodiment of FIGS. 1A and 1B, while being attached to a handle with a hole formed therethrough;

[0031] FIG. 2A illustrates an exploded side view of the toothbrush head assembly according to the example embodiment of FIG. 1A;

[0032] FIG. 2B illustrates a fully assembled toothbrush head assembly according to the example embodiment of FIG. 1A, being fixed to a handle of a spoon with a hole formed therethrough; and

[0033] FIG. 3 illustrates another plan view of the toothbrush head assembly according to the example embodiment of FIGS. 1A and 1B, while being attached to a handle with a hole formed therethrough.

[0034] The drawings illustrate a few example embodiments of the present inventive concept, and are not to be considered limiting in its scope, as the overall inventive concept may admit to other equally effective embodiments. The elements and features shown in the drawings are to scale and attempt to clearly illustrate the principles of exemplary embodiments of the present inventive concept. In the drawings, reference numerals designate like or corresponding, but not necessarily identical, elements throughout the several views.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0035] Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present general inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present general inventive concept while referring to the figures. Also, while describing the present general inventive concept, detailed descriptions about related well-known functions or configurations that may diminish the clarity of the points of the present general inventive concept are omitted.

[0036] It will be understood that although the terms first and second are used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. Thus, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element may be termed a first element without departing from the teachings of this disclosure.

[0037] Expressions such as at least one, when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modify the individual elements of the list.

[0038] All terms including descriptive or technical terms which are used herein should be construed as having meanings that are obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. However, the terms may have different meanings according to an intention of one of ordinary skill in the art, case precedents, or the appearance of new technologies. Also, some terms may be arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in this case, the meaning of the selected terms will be described in detail in the detailed description herein. Thus, the terms used herein have to be defined based on the meaning of the terms together with the descriptions provided throughout the specification.

[0039] Hereinafter, one or more exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings.

[0040] Example embodiments of the present general inventive concept are directed to a toothbrush head assembly which attaches to and detaches from a hole punched through a flat device for existing gear. More particularly, but not exclusively, this inventive concept relates to a toothbrush head assembly with bristles, which can attach to and detach from any existing handle or other object having a hole formed therethrough.

[0041] FIG. 1A illustrates an exploded plan view of a toothbrush head assembly 100 according to an example embodiment of the present inventive concept. The toothbrush head assembly 100 is configured to be attachable to and detachable from any type of flat handle means 200 having a hole 200a formed therethrough. For example, campers and backpackers commonly use a semi-flat titanium spoon (or spork) measuring approximately 8-9 inches in length. These spoons generally include an elongated hole formed through one end thereof to receive a carabiner (or other loop-shaped object) therethrough for carrying the spoon while backpacking, hiking, camping, etc. A few examples of backpacking or camping spoons and sporks which the toothbrush head assembly 100 can be easily attached to and detached from include the Toaks Titanium Long Handle Spoons, the Navaris Long Handle Titanium Spoons, the Silverant Titanium Ultralight Long Handle Spork, and the Vargo Long Handle Titanium Spoons and Sporks, etc.

[0042] Referring to FIGS. 1A-1B and FIG. 2A, the toothbrush head assembly 100 can include a bristle head portion 100a with a plurality of bristles 100b attached to and extending from one side thereof. The bristles 100b can be attached to the bristle head portion 100a by any known means commonly used by toothbrush manufacturers, and is not considered to be a feature of the present inventive concept. The bristle head portion 100a can include a bristle plate 100al, a fitting groove 100a2 and a holding plate 100a3, wherein the bristles 100b extend from the bristle plate 100al. The fitting groove 100a2 is preferably disposed between the bristle plate 100a1 and the holding plate 100a3 and has a smaller diameter than the bristle plate 100a1 and the holding plate 100a3. Also included with the toothbrush head assembly 100 can be a flexible gasket 100c to be flex-fitted around the fitting groove 100a2. The toothbrush head assembly 100 is preferably formed of a rigid, hard inflexible material, such as metal, wood, plastic, or other similar materials which will perform the intended purposes as described herein. The gasket 100c can be formed of a stiff compressible rubber, plastic or cork material. However, the gasket 100c can be formed of any stiff compressible material which will perform the intended purposes as described herein.

[0043] Referring to FIG. 1B and FIG. 2A, the holding plate 100a3 is preferably formed to have the same diameter as the hole 200a in the spoon 200 such that the holding plate 100a3 can be inserted through the hole 200a. The bristle plate 100a1 is preferably formed to have a larger diameter than the hole 200a in the spoon 200 so that the bristle plate 100a1 will not fit through the hole 200a. The gasket 100c is preferably formed to have outer ribs 100c1 which are greater in diameter than the hole 200a in the spoon 200. With this configuration, once the flexible gasket 100c is flexed to pass over the holding plate 100a3 and disposed over the fitting groove 100a2, the holding plate 100a3 can be inserted through the hole 200a in the spoon 200 (or other flat handle means), and then the gasket 100c can be flexibly fit into the hole 200a to secure the toothbrush head assembly 100 to the spoon 200 or other elongated handle with a hole 200a formed therethrough. The ribs 100c1 of the gasket 100c will extend outward to surround the edge of the hole 200a and secure the toothbrush head assembly 100 to the spoon 200.

[0044] FIG. 1C illustrates a plan view of the toothbrush head assembly 100 in a position secured to the spoon 200, and FIG. 2B illustrates a side view of the toothbrush head assembly 100 in the position of being secured to the spoon 200. In order to ensure that the toothbrush head assembly 100 remains secured to the spoon 200 (or any other flat handle means 200 having a hole 200a formed therethrough) the fitting groove 100a2 can be configured to be slightly smaller in circumference than the hole 200a formed in the spoon 200 while the gasket 100c can be configured to have a thickness sufficient such that an outer circumference thereof will be slightly larger than the hole 200a while the ribs 100c1 extend outward to surround the inner edge of the hole 200a and secure the toothbrush head assembly 100 to the spoon 200. With this configuration the gasket 100c will be press-fit against the edge of the hole 200a while the ribs 100c1 surround the edge of the hole 200a to cause the toothbrush head assembly 100 to remain secured to the spoon 200.

[0045] When use of the toothbrush head assembly 100 is completed, the toothbrush head assembly 100 can be conveniently removed from the spoon 200 without being damaged by pulling the bristle plate 100a1 away from the spoon 200, which will cause the gasket 100c to begin sliding out of the hole 200a and one of the ribs 100c1 to flex enough to slide past the hole 200a in the spoon 200. Once the toothbrush head assembly 100 is separate from the spoon 200 or any other elongated handle with a hole 200a formed therethrough cleaning of the toothbrush head assembly 100 can be performed easily by spraying it with water or soaking the toothbrush head assembly 100 in water or other toothbrush approved cleaning means. Once cleaned the toothbrush head assembly 100 can be easily stored in a minimal storage space and will use very little weight to carry while being stored.

[0046] FIG. 3 illustrates a rear plan view of the toothbrush head assembly 100 being fixed to the spoon 200. As illustrated in FIG. 3 the bristle plate 100a1 extends from one side of the spoon 200 and the holding plate 100a3 extends from an opposite side of the spoon 200 while the fitting groove 100a2 and gasket 100c are retained within the hole 200a in the spoon 200 as a result of the press-fitting of the gasket 100c against the inner edge of the hole 200a and the ribs 100cl extending past and surrounding the edge of the hole 200a.

[0047] Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.