Oral care implement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10736414-B2
Application number	US-201916251875-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 18, 2019
Priority date	Aug 13, 2013
Publication date	Aug 11, 2020
Grant date	Aug 11, 2020

Abstract

An oral care implement having an optical machine-readable representation of data, such as a barcode. The oral care implement may include a plurality of protrusions that at least partially define the optical machine-readable representation of data. Specifically, portions of the plurality of protrusions have a color that visually contrasts with a color of a surface that is exposed between the plurality of protrusions. Thus, the protrusions and the exposed surface collectively form the optical machine-readable representation of data. The oral care implement may include a soft tissue cleaner that forms the optical machine-readable representation of data.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An oral care implement comprising:
a body comprising a handle portion and a head portion; and
an optical machine-readable representation of data located on the body.

2. The oral care implement according to claim 1 further comprising a plurality of protrusions extending from the body, the plurality of protrusions at least partially defining the optical machine-readable representation of data.

3. The oral care implement according to claim 2 wherein each of the plurality of protrusions extends from an outer surface of the body to a distal end, and wherein a portion of the outer surface of the body from which the plurality of protrusions extend visually contrasts with the distal ends of the protrusions.

4. The oral care implement according to claim 3 wherein the portion of the outer surface of the body from which the plurality of protrusions extend comprises a first color and the distal ends of the protrusions comprise a second color, the first color being a different color than the second color or the first and second colors being a different shade of the same color.

5. The oral care implement according to claim 2 wherein the plurality of protrusions are spaced apart thereby exposing a surface in gaps between the plurality of protrusions, and wherein at least distal ends of the plurality of protrusions comprise a color that is different from and visually contrasts with a color of the surface that is exposed in the gaps between the plurality of protrusions.

6. The oral care implement according to claim 1 further comprising a resilient material coupled to the body, the resilient material comprising a pad and a plurality of protrusions that are unitary with and extend from the pad, the pad and the plurality of protrusions defining the optical machine-readable representation of data.

7. The oral care implement according to claim 6 wherein the pad and distal ends of the plurality of protrusions have a visually contrasting appearance.

8. The oral care implement according to claim 6 wherein the pad comprises a first color and distal ends of the plurality of protrusions comprise a second color, the first color being a different color than the second color or the first and second colors being a different shade of the same color.

9. The oral care implement according to claim 1 wherein the body is formed of a rigid material, and further comprising a pad formed of a resilient material coupled to the body, a plurality of protrusions that are integral with the body extending through openings in the pad and protruding from an outer surface of the pad, and wherein exposed portions of the outer surface of the pad located between the plurality of protrusions comprise a first color and distal ends of the plurality of protrusions comprise a second color that visually contrasts with the first color, the plurality of protrusions and the exposed portions of the outer surface of the pad collectively defining the optical machine-readable representation of data.

10. The oral care implement according to claim 1 wherein the head portion of the body comprises a first side and a second side opposite the first side, a plurality of cleaning elements extending from the first side of the head portion, and wherein the optical machine-readable representation of data is located on the rear side of the head portion.

11. The toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein the optical machine-readable representation of data comprises or represents an identifier of the oral care implement, and wherein the identifier comprises a stock keeping unit of the oral care implement.

12. The toothbrush according to claim 1 , wherein the optical machine-readable representation of data comprises a linear barcode comprising one of the following formats: Code 25 Interleaved, Code 25 Industrial, Code 39, Code 128, EAN, GS1 Databar and UPC.

13. The toothbrush according to claim 1 , wherein the optical machine-readable representation of data comprises a matrix code having one of the following formats: Aztec Code, PDF417, QR Code and Data Matrix.

14. An oral care implement comprising:
a body comprising a handle portion and a head portion, the head portion having a first side and a second side opposite the first side;
a soft tissue cleaner positioned on the second side of the head portion, the soft tissue cleaner comprising a plurality of protrusions that extend from the second side of the head portion; and
wherein the plurality of protrusions of the soft tissue cleaner at least partially define an optical machine-readable representation of data.

15. The oral care implement according to claim 14 wherein the soft tissue cleaner is a monolithic structure formed of a resilient material, the soft tissue cleaner comprising a pad and the plurality of protrusions, wherein the pad is attached to the head portion of the body and the plurality of protrusions extend from an outer surface of the pad, wherein the plurality of protrusions are spaced apart from one another by gaps such that exposed portions of the outer surface of the pad are visible in the gaps, and wherein the plurality of protrusions and the exposed portions of the outer surface of the pad collectively define the optical machine-readable representation of data.

16. The oral care implement according to claim 15 wherein the exposed portions of the outer surface of the pad comprises a first color and distal ends of the plurality of protrusions comprise a second color, the first color being a different color than the second color or the first and second colors being a different shade of the same color.

17. The oral care implement of claim 14 , wherein the soft tissue cleaner comprises a pad formed of a resilient material, and wherein the plurality of protrusions comprises a first plurality of protrusions that are formed integrally with the pad and a second plurality of protrusions that are formed integrally with the head portion of the body and extend through openings in the pad, the first plurality of protrusions being formed of a resilient material and the second plurality of protrusions being formed of a rigid material.

18. An oral care implement comprising:
a body comprising a handle portion and a head portion; and
a monolithic mass of elastomeric material coupled to the body, the monolithic mass of elastomeric material comprising a pad and a plurality of protrusions, the monolithic mass of elastomeric material defining an optical machine-readable representation of data.

19. The oral care implement according to claim 18 wherein the plurality of protrusions are spaced apart so that exposed portions of the pad are visible, and wherein the exposed portions of the pad comprise a first color and distal ends of the plurality of protrusions comprise a second color that is different than the first color to create a high degree of visual contract between the distal ends of the plurality of protrusions and the exposed portions of the pad.

20. The oral care implement according to claim 18 wherein the head portion comprises a first side and a second side opposite the first side, a plurality of cleaning elements extending from the first side and the monolithic mass of elastomeric material located on the second side.

Assignees

• Colgate Palmolive Co

Inventors

• Samaroo Derek

Classifications

• G06V30/224

  of printed characters having additional code marks or containing code marks · CPC title

• A46B2200/1066

  Toothbrush for cleaning the teeth or dentures (A61C17/16 takes precedence; bristles arrangements for toothbrushes A46B9/04) · CPC title

• B65B63/005

  for marking or coding articles prior to packaging · CPC title

• A46B15/0085 Primary

  Brushes provided with an identification, marking device or design · CPC title

• G06K1/121

  by printing code marks (applying code marks to labels B65C9/46; marking or coding completed packages B65B61/26) · CPC title