ELECTRICAL TOOTH BRUSH DEVICE HAVING SUCTION AND RELATED KIT AND METHOD

Abstract

An oral care system comprising: a. an electrical motor b. a base assembly comprising: i. an elongated base-assembly main body defining an elongate axis; and/or ii. a battery or a battery compartment optionally including electrical contacts for a battery, the battery and/or the battery compartment being electrically wired to the electrical motor; and c. a head assembly is disclosed herein. Methods and kits are also disclosed.

Claims

1. An oral care system comprising: a. an electrical motor 116; b. a base assembly 100 comprising: i. an elongated base-assembly main body 110 defining an elongate axis 181; and/or ii. a battery or a battery compartment optionally including electrical contacts for a battery, the battery and/or the battery compartment being electrically wired to the electrical motor 116; c. a head assembly 150, the head assembly comprising: i. an elongated head-assembly main body 160 defining an elongate axis 159 thereof; ii. a sideways-facing brush 165 mounted to the head-assembly main body 160 in a distal half thereof; iii. a suction lumen 170 defining a distal suction-orifice 172, the suction lumen comprising: A. a distal portion 270A disposed within or alongside the head-assembly main body 160 to longitudinally span a majority thereof; and B. a proximal portion 270B that is located proximal to the distal portion 270A, the head assembly 150 being detachably attachable to the base assembly such that when the head and base assemblies 150, 100 are attached to each other: I. the head-assembly main body 160 is disposed distal to the base-assembly main-body 110; and II. the brush is mechanically coupled to the motor 115 so that operation of the motor drives rotation and/or vibration of the sideways-facing brush 165; wherein: i. both the distal 270A and proximal 270B portions of the suction lumen may be completely brought out of contact from the base assembly main body 110 while remaining attached to each other and to the head-assembly main body 160; ii. when the head and base assemblies 150, 100 are attached to each other: A. the proximal 270B portion is within and/or disposed alongside the base assembly main body 110 and longitudinally spans at least a majority thereof; B. an interior of an entirety of the suction lumen 170 is liquid-sealed away from the base assembly main body 110; and C. the base assembly main body 110 is in restraining contact with the proximal portion 270B of the suction lumen 170 via a location 137 disposed on the proximal half of the base assembly main body, so as to restrain at least sideways motion of the suction lumen 170 away from the base assembly main body 110 at the location 137.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein: (i) brush bristles of the brush 165 collectively define a bristle-alignment direction 196; and (ii) at an orientation vector 173 of the distal suction orifice is non-parallel to the bristle-alignment direction 196 by at least 10 degrees or at least 20 degrees or at least 30 degrees.

3. The system of any preceding claim wherein the motor 116 is disposed within the base-assembly main body.

4. The system of claim 3 further comprising: d. a head shaft lumen 162 at least a portion of which is along or disposed within the head main body 160; e. a head drive shaft 166 at least a portion of which is disposed within the head shaft lumen 162, the head drive shaft mechanically coupled to the brush so that motion (e.g. rotational motion) head drive shaft drives the rotation and/or vibration of the sideways-facing brush 165; f. a base shaft lumen 186 at least a portion of which is along or disposed within the base main body 110; g. a base drive shaft 114 at least a portion of which is disposed within the base shaft lumen, the base drive shaft being mechanically coupled to the electrical motor so that operation of the electrical motor drives motion (e.g. rotational motion).

5. The system of claim 4 further comprising a shaft link 169 (e.g. part of the head drive shaft or the base drive shaft) via which the head drive shaft 166 and the base drive shaft 114 are connected to each other.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein when the head drive shaft 166 and the base drive shaft 114, the shaft link 169 is configured to allow pivoting in a direction perpendicular to the both of the respective elongate axes of the head drive shaft 166 and the base drive shaft 114.

7. The system of any preceding claim further comprising a suction lumen connector 171 (e.g. tapered) reversibly connectable to a proximally-disposed source 200 of suction to the suction lumen 170 so that when connected, suction is transmitted from the suction source to the distal suction-orifice 172 via an interior of the suction lumen 170,

8. The system of any preceding claim further comprising a suction source proximally disposed to the suction lumen and connected to the suction lumen via a proximal end thereof.

9. A method of cleaning teeth of a subject within the subject's mouth, the method comprising providing the system of any preceding claim, inserting the brush into the subject's mouth, operating the motor to drive rotational and/or vibrational motion of the brush to brush the subject's teeth, and operating the suction source to transmit negative pressure via the suction lumen to suction matter into the suction lumen via the distal suction orifice 172.

10. The method of any preceding claim further comprising timing circuitry configured to measure an elapsed-time-since-most-recent-operation since the motor was last on to drive rotation and/or vibration of the brush.

11. The method of any preceding claim further comprising an electronically operated display assembly (e.g. a plurality of LEDs and/or a display screen) having first and second display modes.

12. The method of any preceding claim further comprising e. display-control circuitry configured to cause the display assembly to operate in the first or second display modes according to an elapsed-time-since-most-recent-operation, as measured by the timing circuitry, since the motor was last on to drive rotation and/or vibration of the brush.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein the display assembly comprises a red LED and a green LED such that (i) when the display assembly is in the first display mode the red LED is on and the green LED is off and (ii) when the display assembly is in the first display mode the red LED is off and the green LED is on.

14. The method of claim 3 wherein the pre-determined threshold value is at least 2 hours or at least 4 hours or at least 6 hours and/or at most 24 hours or at most 12 hours or at most 10 hours.

15. The system of any preceding claim further comprising a user control for turning on or turning off the electrical motor and wherein the timing circuitry detects a change of state of the user control.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the user control is a mechanical switch having first and second switch-states and the timing circuitry measures an elapsed time since the user control was in a given one of the switch-states configured to cause the motor to operate.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the user control is a mechanical switch having first and second switch-states and the timing circuitry measures an elapsed time since the user control was in a given one of the switch-states configured to cause the motor to operate.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the user control is a mechanical switch having first and second switch-states and the timing circuitry measures an elapsed time since the user control was in a given one of the switch-states configured to cause the motor to operate.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein the user control is a mechanical switch having first and second switch-states and the timing circuitry measures an elapsed time since the user control was in a given one of the switch-states configured to cause the motor to operate.

20. The system of any preceding claim wherein the display-control circuitry causes the display assembly to perform a mode transition from the first to the second display modes to the second of the display modes in response to the elapsed-time-since-most-recent-operation exceeding a pre-determined threshold value.

21. A system comprising: a. An elongate electric toothbrush device (e.g. having head and main body as in the drawings or even a one-piece toothbrush) having a toothbrush body (e.g. the toothbrush body comprises head 160 and base 110 main bodies that are detachably attachable to each other or it could be a one-piece body), an electric motor deployed on or in the toothbrush body and a brush (e.g. sideways-oriented) deployed on the toothbrush body at a distal end thereof, the motor and brush being mechanically coupled to each other so that, when the motor is on, operation of the motor drives rotation and/or vibration of the toothbrush, the electric toothbrush defining an elongate axis; b. An optional suction lumen oriented along the elongate axis and having a distal lumen located at a distal end of the toothbrush body; and c. timing circuitry configured to measure an elapsed-time-since-most-recent-operation since the motor was last on to drive rotation and/or vibration of the brush; and d. an electronically operated display assembly (e.g. attached to and/or deployed onto and/or mounted on—e.g. to main body 160 or to main body 110 (e.g. for the example of FIG. 1A where the display assembly comprises indicators 141, 142) or to a body of a one-piece toothbrush) having first and second display modes; and e. display-control circuitry configured to cause the display assembly to operate in the first or second display modes according to an elapsed-time-since-most-recent-operation, as measured by the timing circuitry (e.g. since the motor was last on to drive rotation and/or vibration of the brush)

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the display assembly comprises a red LED and a green LED such that (i) when the display assembly is in the first display mode the red LED is on and the green LED is off and (ii) when the display assembly is in the first display mode the red LED is off and the green LED is on.

23. The system of any preceding claim wherein the display-control circuitry causes the display assembly to perform a mode transition from the first to the second display modes to the second of the display modes in response to the elapsed-time-since-most-recent-operation exceeding a pre-determined threshold value.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the pre-determined threshold value is at least 2 hours or at least 4 hours or at least 6 hours and/or at most 24 hours or at most 12 hours or at most 10 hours.

25. The system of any preceding claim further comprising a user control for turning on or turning off the electrical motor and wherein the timing circuitry detects a change of state of the user control.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the user control is a mechanical switch having first and second switch-states and the timing circuitry measures an elapsed time since the user control was in a given one of the switch-states configured to cause the motor to operate.

27. The system of any preceding claim wherein the toothbrush body comprises a head body to which the brush is attached and a base portion, wherein (i) the base portion has a battery or battery compartment that is electrically wired to the motor to provide power thereto; and (ii) the head portion is detachably attachable to the base portion.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein the motor is on or in the base portion (e.g. buried inside the base) and is electrically wired to the battery or battery compartment even when the head portion is detached from the base portion.

29. The system of claim 27 wherein the motor is on or in the head portion (e.g. buried inside the head) and is electrically wired to the battery or battery compartment only when the head portion is attached to the base portion.

30. The system of any of claims 27-29 wherein the battery or battery compartment is rigidly attached to the timing circuitry, the display assembly and/or the display-control circuitry even when the head portion is detached from the base portion.

31. The system of any preceding claim wherein the electric motor has a shaft and/or is mechanically coupled to a shaft having an offset (non-symmetric) mass attached to the shaft. [e.g. an Eccentric Rotating Mass vibration motor, (or ERM, also known as a pager motor is a DC motor with an offset (non-symmetric) mass attached to the shaft]

32. The system of claim 31 wherein the motor is within the base and the offset mass is within the head.

33. The system of claim 31 wherein both the motor and the offset mass are within the head.

34. A toothbrush system comprising: f. an electric toothbrush device including (i) a toothbrush body defining a central and/or elongate axis; and (ii) a brush 165 having a plurality of toothbrush bristles extending from the toothbrush body; g. a sponge layer mounted over a portion of the toothbrush body such that: i. at least some of the toothbrush bristles extending from the toothbrush body subsequently extend through the sponge layer and have an upper portion above the sponge layer; and/or ii. an orientation axis 196 of toothbrush 165 and a portion of the sponge layer face to the same side of the toothbrush; and/or iii. at least a portion of the sponge layer is mounted onto a bristle-void region of the toothbrush body such that at least some toothbrush bristles of brush 165 are: A. adjacent to the bristle-void-region-mounted portion of the sponge layer; B. oriented substantially parallel to a surface vector of the bristle-void-region-mounted portion of the sponge layer; and C. opposite sides of bristle-void-region-mounted portion of the sponge layer; c. A suction lumen oriented along the central and/or elongate axis of the toothbrush both and having a distal lumen located at a distal end of the toothbrush body.

35. The system of claim 34 further comprising an electrical motor for driving motion of the toothbrush bristles.

36. The system of claim 34 further comprising an electrical motor for driving motion of the toothbrush bristles.

37. The system of claim 34 further comprising an electrical motor for driving motion of the toothbrush bristles.

38. The system of claim 34 further comprising an electrical motor for driving motion of the toothbrush bristles.

39. The system of claim 34 further comprising an electrical motor for driving motion of the toothbrush bristles.

40. The system of any of claims 34-35 further comprising: d. timing circuitry configured to measure an elapsed-time-since-most-recent-operation since the motor was last on to drive rotation and/or vibration of the brush; and e. an electronically operated display assembly (e.g. attached to and/or deployed onto and/or mounted on—e.g. to main body 160 or to main body 110 (e.g. for the example of FIG. 1A where the display assembly comprises indicators 141, 142) or to a body of a one-piece toothbrush) having first and second display modes; and f. display-control circuitry configured to cause the display assembly to operate in the first or second display modes according to an elapsed-time-since-most-recent-operation, as measured by the timing circuitry (e.g. since the motor was last on to drive rotation and/or vibration of the brush)

41. A toothbrush system comprising: a. an elongated toothbrush main body defining a main body elongate axis; b. a brush comprising a plurality of toothbrush bristles, the brush being mounted to the toothbrush main body at a distal end thereof; c. a suction lumen having a distal portion that (i) is disposed within or alongside the toothbrush main body; (ii) defines a suction-lumen-distal-orifice at a distal end of the suction lumen, the suction-lumen-distal-orifice being disposed at the distal end of the toothbrush main body; d. an onboard sensor that is (i) mechanically coupled to toothbrush main body; and (ii) for detecting a current level or activity/passivity of the toothbrush; e. onboard timing circuitry configured to measure an elapsed-time since activity decrease (ETSAD), the ETSAD being an elapsed time since the level of activity/passivity of the toothbrush, as sensed by the onboard sensor, has decreased; f. an electronically operated display assembly (e.g. attached to and/or deployed onto and/or mounted on—e.g. to main body 160 or to main body 110 (e.g. for the example of FIG. 1A where the display assembly comprises indicators 141, 142) or to a body of a one-piece toothbrush) having first and second display modes; and g. display-control circuitry for regulating operation of the display assembly in the first or second display modes according to the ETSAD, as measured by the onboard timing circuitry.

42. The system of claim 41 wherein display-control circuitry regulates operation of the display assembly so as to transition the display assembly from the first state mode to the second state mode only after the elapsed time, as measured by the onboard timing circuitry, exceeds a threshold level that is greater than 3 hours.

43. A toothbrush system comprising: a. an elongated toothbrush main body defining a main body elongate axis; b. a brush comprising a plurality of toothbrush bristles, the brush being mounted to the toothbrush main body at a distal end thereof; c. a suction lumen having a distal portion that (i) is disposed within or alongside the toothbrush main body; (ii) defines a suction-lumen-distal-orifice at a distal end of the suction lumen, the suction-lumen-distal-orifice being disposed at the distal end of the toothbrush main body; d. an onboard sensor that is (i) mechanically coupled to toothbrush main body; and (ii) for detecting a current state of the toothbrush system; e. onboard timing circuitry configured to measure an elapsed-time since a state-change as detected by the onboard sensor; f. an electronically operated display assembly (e.g. attached to and/or deployed onto and/or mounted on—e.g. to main body 160 or to main body 110 (e.g. for the example of FIG. 1A where the display assembly comprises indicators 141, 142) or to a body of a one-piece toothbrush) having first and second display modes; and g. display-control circuitry for regulating operation of the display assembly in the first or second display modes according to the elapsed time, the display-control circuitry configured to transition the display assembly from the first state mode to the second state mode only after the elapsed time, as measured by the onboard timing circuitry, exceeds a threshold level that is greater than 3 hours.

44. The system of any of claims 41-43 wherein the toothbrush system is a manual toothbrush lacking a motor.

45. The system of any of claims 41-43 wherein (i) the toothbrush system includes an onboard electrical motor configured for driving motion of the toothbrush-bristle-comprising brush, (ii) the onboard sensor senses a shut-down of the onboard electrical motor or a reduction in operating power thereof; (iii) the timing circuitry measures an elapsed time since shutdown of the onboard electrical motor; and (iv) the display-control circuitry regulates operation of the display state according to the elapsed time since the shutdown of the electrical motor or the reduction in operating power thereof.

46. The system of any preceding claim wherein the timing circuitry measures an elapsed time since a change in an operation state of the suction lumen (e.g. flow of matter through the suction lumen, for example, in a proximal direction) and the display-control circuitry regulates operation of the display state according to the elapsed time since the change in the state of the suction lumen.

47. The system of any preceding claim (i) further comprising a fluid-delivery lumen, at least a portion of which is alongside the suction lumen and defining a distal fluid-delivery orifice disposed at the distal end of the toothbrush main body; (ii) the timing circuitry measures an elapsed time since fluid is forced into the fluid-delivery lumen from a proximal end thereof and/or an elapsed time since fluid flows in a distal direction through the fluid-delivery lumen; and (iii) the display-control circuitry regulates operation of the display state according to the elapsed time since the flow of fluid and/or forcing of liquid into the fluid-delivery lumen.

48. The toothbrush system of any preceding claim wherein the onboard sensor is deployed within the toothbrush main body.

49. The toothbrush system of any preceding claim wherein the onboard sensor is directly or indirectly attached to the toothbrush main body.

50. A toothbrush system comprising: h. An elongate electric toothbrush device (e.g. having head and main body that are detachably attached to each other or a toothbrush device having a one-piece toothbrush body) having a toothbrush body (e.g. the toothbrush body comprises head 160 and base 110 main bodies that are detachably attachable to each other or it could be a one-piece body), an electric motor deployed on or in the toothbrush body and a brush (e.g. sideways-oriented) deployed on the toothbrush body at a distal end thereof, the motor and brush being mechanically coupled to each other so that, when the motor is on, operation of the motor drives rotation and/or vibration of the toothbrush, the electric toothbrush defining an elongate axis; i. An optional suction lumen oriented along the elongate axis and having a distal lumen located at a distal end of the toothbrush body; and j. timing circuitry configured to measure an elapsed-time-since-most-recent-operation since the motor was last on to drive rotation and/or vibration of the brush; and k. an electronically operated display assembly (e.g. attached to and/or deployed onto and/or mounted on—e.g. to main body 160 or to main body 110 (e.g. for the example of FIG. 1A where the display assembly comprises indicators 141, 142) or to a body of a one-piece toothbrush) having first and second display modes; and l. display-control circuitry configured to cause the display assembly to operate in the first or second display modes according to an elapsed-time-since-most-recent-operation, as measured by the timing circuitry (e.g. since the motor was last on to drive rotation and/or vibration of the brush)

51. The system of any previous claim wherein the display assembly comprises a display screen.

52. The toothbrush system of any preceding claim wherein an elongated toothbrush main body is a one-piece main body.

53. The toothbrush system of any of claims 41-52 wherein the elongated toothbrush main body comprises a head portion and a base portion that are detachably attached to each other.

54. The toothbrush system of any preceding claim wherein (i) a body of the toothbrush comprises base portion and a head portion detachably attached to the base portion; and (ii) the timing circuitry and/or display-control circuitry and/or electronically operated display assembly is powered by a battery disposed on or within the base portion.

55. The system of any preceding claim wherein the display-control circuitry causes the display assembly to perform a mode transition from the first to the second display modes to the second of the display modes in response to the elapsed-time-since-most-recent-operation exceeding a pre-determined threshold value.

56. The method of claim 55 wherein the pre-determined threshold value is at least 2 hours or at least 4 hours or at least 6 hours and/or at most 24 hours or at most 12 hours or at most 10 hours.

57. The system of any preceding claim further comprising a user control for turning on or turning off the electrical motor and wherein the timing circuitry detects a change of state of the user control.

58. The system of claim 57 wherein the user control is a mechanical switch having first and second switch-states and the timing circuitry measures an elapsed time since the user control was in a given one of the switch-states configured to cause the motor to operate.

59. The system of any preceding claim wherein the toothbrush body comprises a head body to which the brush is attached and a base portion, wherein (i) the base portion has a battery or battery compartment that is electrically wired to the motor to provide power thereto; and (ii) the head portion is detachably attachable to the base portion.

60. The system of claim 59 wherein the motor is on or in the base portion (e.g. buried inside the base) and is electrically wired to the battery or battery compartment even when the head portion is detached from the base portion.

61. The system of claim 59 wherein the motor is on or in the head portion (e.g. buried inside the head) and is electrically wired to the battery or battery compartment only when the head portion is attached to the base portion.

62. The system of any of claims 59-61 wherein the battery or battery compartment is rigidly attached to the timing circuitry, the display assembly and/or the display-control circuitry even when the head portion is detached from the base portion.

63. The system of any preceding claim wherein the electric motor has a shaft and/or is mechanically coupled to a shaft having an offset (non-symmetric) mass attached to the shaft. [e.g. an Eccentric Rotating Mass vibration motor, (or ERM, also known as a pager motor is a DC motor with an offset (non-symmetric) mass attached to the shaft]

64. The system of claim 31 wherein the motor is within the base and the offset mass is within the head.

65. The system of claim 31 wherein both the motor and the offset mass are within the head.

66. The system of any previous claim wherein the suction lumen oriented along the central and/or elongate axis of the toothbrush body and has a distal lumen located at a distal end of the toothbrush body.

67. The system of any previous claim further comprising a sponge layer mounted over a portion of the toothbrush body such that: m. at least some of the toothbrush bristles extending from the toothbrush body subsequently extend through the sponge layer and have an upper portion above the sponge layer; and/or ii. an orientation axis 196 of toothbrush 165 and a portion of the sponge layer face to the same side of the toothbrush; and/or iii. at least a portion of the sponge layer is mounted onto a bristle-void region of the toothbrush body such that at least some toothbrush bristles of brush 165 are: A. adjacent to the bristle-void-region-mounted portion of the sponge layer; B. oriented substantially parallel to a surface vector of the bristle-void-region-mounted portion of the sponge layer; and C. opposite sides of bristle-void-region-mounted portion of the sponge layer;

68. An oral care system comprising: a. an electrical motor 116; b. a base assembly 100 comprising: i. an elongated base-assembly main body 110 defining an elongate axis 181; and/or ii. a battery or a battery compartment optionally including electrical contacts for a battery, the battery and/or the battery compartment being electrically wired to the electrical motor 116; c. a head assembly 150, the head assembly comprising: i. an elongated head-assembly main body 160 defining an elongate axis 159 thereof; ii. a sideways-facing brush 165 mounted to the head-assembly main body 160 in a distal half thereof; iii. a suction lumen 170 defining a distal suction-orifice 172, the suction lumen comprising: A. a distal portion 270A disposed within or alongside the head-assembly main body 160 to longitudinally span a majority thereof; and B. a proximal portion 270B that is located proximal to the distal portion 270A, the head assembly 150 being detachably attachable to the base assembly such that when the head and base assemblies 150, 100 are attached to each other: I. the head-assembly main body 160 is disposed distal to the base-assembly main-body 110; and ii. the brush is mechanically coupled to the motor 115 so that operation of the motor induces motion of the sideways-facing brush 165; wherein: i. both the distal 270A and proximal 270B portions of the suction lumen may be completely brought out of contact from the base assembly main body 110 while remaining attached to each other and to the head-assembly main body 160.

69. The system of claim 68 wherein when the head and base assemblies 150, 100 are attached to each other: A. the proximal 270B portion is within and/or disposed alongside the base assembly main body 110 and longitudinally spans at least a majority thereof; and/or B. an interior of an entirety of the suction lumen 170 is liquid-sealed away from the base assembly main body 110; and/or C. the base assembly main body 110 is in restraining contact with the proximal portion 270B of the suction lumen 170 via a location 137 disposed on the proximal half of the base assembly main body, so as to restrain at least sideways motion of the suction lumen 170 away from the base assembly main body 110 at the location 137.

70. A head assembly for an electrical toothbrush device, the head assembly comprising: a. an elongated head-assembly main body 160 defining an elongate axis 159 thereof and having a proximal-facing recess; b. a sideways-facing brush 165 comprising toothbrush bristles mounted to the head-assembly main body 160 in a distal half thereof; c. suction lumen 170 and fluid-delivery lumen 214 respectively defining suction 172 and fluid-delivery 218 distal orifices, each of the suction and fluid-delivery lumens having: i. respective distal portions that are each disposed within or alongside the head-assembly main body 160 to longitudinally span a majority of the head-assembly main body 160; and ii. respective proximal portions that are each disposed proximal to their distal counterparts; and d. a fluid-storage reservoir containing cleaning fluid attached to the fluid-delivery lumen at a proximal end thereof and in communication (e.g. sealed fluid communication) with the fluid-delivery orifice via fluid-delivery lumen.

71. The head assembly of claim 70 wherein a volume of the fluid-storage reservoir between 2 cc and 20 cc, between 5 cc and 10 cc

72. The head assembly of any preceding claim wherein a ratio between a cross section of the suction distal-orifice and the fluid-delivery orifice is at least 1 or at least 1.25 or at least 1.5 or at least 1.75 or at least 2.

73. The head assembly of any preceding claim wherein a ratio between a cross section of the suction lumen and the fluid-delivery lumen is at least 1 or at least 1.25 or at least 1.5 or at least 2 or at least 3 or at least 4.

74. The head assembly of any preceding claim wherein the suction distal-orifice and the fluid-delivery distal-orifice are oriented away from each other by at least 20 degrees or at least 45 degrees or at least 60 degrees or at least 90 degrees

75. The head assembly of any preceding claim wherein the suction distal-orifice faces in direction substantially parallel to the elongate axis 159 within a 30 degree tolerance.

76. The head assembly of any preceding claim wherein: (i) at least respective sub-portions of the proximal portions of the suction and fluid-delivery lumens are disposed alongside each other; and (ii) at a fork location that is proximal to each of the sub-portions, the suction and fluid-delivery lumens distally diverge from each other.

77. The head assembly of any preceding claim wherein the fork location is proximal to a center of the proximal-facing recess.

78. A toothbrush comprising: a. a [one-piece or multi-piece] elongated toothbrush body defining elongate axis 181; b. a sideways-facing brush 165 comprising toothbrush bristles mounted to the head-assembly main body 160 in a distal half thereof; c. a suction lumen 170 defining a distal suction-orifice 172, at least a portion of the suction lumen 170 being disposed within or alongside the head-assembly main body 160 [e.g. to longitudinally span a majority thereof]; and d. a vibrator device mounted in or on the elongated toothbrush body 110, the vibrator device including: G. an electrical motor 116; H. a shaft that is part of the electrical motor and/or mechanically coupled to the electrical motor; I. an offset/non-symmetric mass attached to the shaft so that operation of the electrical motor causes the offset/non-symmetric mass to rotate around an elongate axis of the shaft to product vibrations, the shaft of the vibrator device being aligned with the elongate axis 181 of the main body and disposed in or on the elongated toothbrush body so as to induce vibrations of the sideways-facing brush 165.

79. A head assembly for an electrical toothbrush device, the head assembly comprising: a. an elongated head-assembly main body 160 defining an elongate axis 159 thereof and having a proximal-facing recess; b. a sideways-facing brush 165 comprising toothbrush bristles mounted to the head-assembly main body 160 in a distal half thereof; c. suction lumen 170 and fluid-delivery lumen respectively defining suction 172 and fluid-delivery distal orifices, each of the suction and fluid-delivery lumens having: i. respective 270A, distal portions that are each disposed within or alongside the head-assembly main body 160 to longitudinally span a majority of the head-assembly main body 160; and ii. respective 270B, proximal portions that are each disposed proximal to their distal counterparts; and wherein: A. a thickness ratio between a cross section of the suction distal-orifice and the fluid-delivery orifice is at least 1 or at least 1.25 or at least 1.5 or at least 1.75 or at least 2; B. a length ratio between respective lengths of the suction lumen 170 and fluid-delivery lumen is at least 1.25 or at least 1.5 or at least 1.75 or at least 2 or at least 3 or at least 4 or at least 5]

80. A base assembly of an oral care system comprising: i. an elongated base-assembly main body 110, at least a portion of which is elastic, the elongated base-assembly main body 110 defining an equilibrium-configuration elongate axis 181; and ii. a vibrator device mounted in or on the elongated base-assembly main body 110, the vibrator device including: J. an electrical motor 116; K. a shaft that is part of the electrical motor and/or mechanically coupled to the electrical motor; L. an offset/non-symmetric mass attached to the shaft so that operation of the electrical motor causes the offset/non-symmetric mass to rotate around an elongate axis of the shaft to product vibrations, the shaft of the vibrator device being aligned with the elongate axis 181 of the main body and the offset/non-symmetric mass located at a distal end of the base-assembly main body 110, at least a portion of the elongated base assembly main body being sufficiently elastic so that: C. when the elongated base-assembly main body 110 is the equilibrium configuration, line-segment between (A) fixed point on a proximal half of the elongated base-assembly main body 110 and (B) the offset/non-symmetric mass is aligned with the elongate axis 181 of the elongated base-assembly main body 110; and D. the elongated base-assembly main body 110 elastically bends without breaking to allow a direction of the line-segment to deviate from a direction of the equilibrium-configuration elongate axis 181 by at least 10 degrees or at least 20 degrees or at least 30 degrees.

81. The system of claim 80 further comprising a lumen restrainer disposed on a proximal half of the base-assembly main-body 110

82. A method comprising employing the base assembly of any of claims 14-15 to drive vibrational motion of a toothbrush.

83. The method of claim 16 further comprising simultaneous with the driving of the vibrational motion, suctioning matter through a suction lumen.

84. The method of claim 17 wherein the suction lumen is aligned with the equilibrium-configuration elongate axis 181.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0116] FIG. 1A illustrates a multi-assembly power-brush device for cleaning a subject's teeth where matter (e.g. debris or biofilm) is suctioned into and through a suction lumen.

[0117] FIG. 1B illustrates the same power brush when a proximal end of suction lumen and/or suction connector is coupled to a suction source.

[0118] FIG. 1C illustrates an interface plane.

[0119] FIGS. 2A-2C show the same brush as in FIG. 1A where certain elements or labels are removed to further emphasize the various lumens of the brush.

[0120] FIG. 2D illustrates an interface plane.

[0121] FIG. 3 shows the same brush in a disassembled configuration.

[0122] FIG. 4 illustrates a ‘tail-like’ proximal portion of suction lumen.

[0123] FIG. 5 defines a representative direction of the brush.

[0124] FIG. 6 illustrates the device as bendable instead of an elongate and/or central axis of base main body.

[0125] FIG.7 illustrates the fluid delivery distal orifice and fluid delivery lumen and reservoir where fluid is stored.

[0126] FIG. 8 illustrates the toothbrush bristles, top and side view.

[0127] FIG. 9A illustrates a head assembly.

[0128] FIG. 9B illustrates part of the head assembly.

[0129] FIG. 10 illustrates a head assembly.

[0130] FIG. 11A illustrates a base assembly.

[0131] FIG. 11B illustrates a base assembly.

[0132] FIG. 11C illustrates a base assembly.

[0133] FIG. 12 illustrates a frame sequence of distal part of the base main body that may be inserted into a proximal-facing ‘sleeve’ or cavity defined by the head main body.

[0134] FIG. 13 illustrates a distal part of the base main body.

[0135] FIG. 14 illustrates distally travelling vibrations from the vibrator 109 that drive motion of the brush.

[0136] FIGS. 15-17 illustrate a head and base assembly.

[0137] FIGS. 18A, 18B, 18C, and 19 illustrates flexibility of the head (elastic neck).

[0138] FIGS. 20A-20B illustrate a compartment or recess that is dimensioned to store reservoir—a spring assembly for expelling liquids from reservoir.

[0139] FIGS. 21A-21B illustrate an open and closed view of a compartment or recess that is dimensioned to store reservoir—a spring assembly for expelling liquids from reservoir.