Oral care system including an oral care implement and a tracking attachment, tracking attachment thereof, and method of assembling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11523678-B2
Application number	US-201816483051-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 3, 2018
Priority date	Aug 3, 2018
Publication date	Dec 13, 2022
Grant date	Dec 13, 2022

Abstract

An oral care system that includes an oral care implement and a tracking attachment. The oral care implement may include a handle and a head. The tracking attachment is detachably coupled to the oral care implement. The tracking attachment may include a housing including a first housing portion having an inner surface that defines a first cavity and a second housing portion having an inner surface that defines a second cavity. The tracking attachment may also include a tracking unit configured to facilitate tracking at least one of a position, orientation, or movement of the oral care implement to which it is attached. A first portion of the handle may be positioned within the first cavity and a second portion of the handle may be positioned within the second cavity.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An oral care system comprising:
an oral care implement comprising a handle and a head; and
a tracking attachment coupled to the oral care implement, the tracking attachment comprising:
a housing defining a receiving cavity within which a portion of the oral care implement is positioned, the housing comprising:
a first housing portion having an inner surface that defines a first portion of the receiving cavity; and
a second housing portion having an inner surface that defines a second portion of the receiving cavity, the second housing portion detachably coupled to the first housing portion;

a tracking unit configured to facilitate tracking at least one of a position, orientation, or movement of the oral care implement within an oral cavity of a user; and

wherein a first portion of the handle is positioned within the first portion of the receiving cavity and a second portion of the handle is positioned within the second portion of the receiving cavity; and
wherein the first housing portion comprises an alignment aperture and the oral care implement comprises a protrusion that extends into the alignment aperture to prevent relative axial and rotational movement between the oral care implement and the tracking attachment.

2. The oral care system according to claim 1 wherein the second portion of the receiving cavity comprises a floor and the second housing portion comprises a post extending from the floor, and wherein a proximal end of the oral care implement rests atop a distal end of the post.

3. The oral care system according to claim 1 wherein the second housing portion comprises an outer surface and a plurality of holes extending from the outer surface to the inner surface in a spaced apart manner, and wherein the tracking unit comprises a plurality of visual markers, each of the visual markers coupled to the second housing portion within one of the plurality of holes.

4. The oral care system according to claim 3 wherein each of the visual markers comprises an anchor portion, a protruding portion, and an intermediate portion extending between the anchor and protruding portions, the anchor portions located within the second cavity, the intermediate portions located within one of the plurality of holes, and the protruding portions protruding from the outer surface of the second housing portion, wherein the protruding portions of each of the visual markers has a spherical or semispherical shape.

5. The oral care system according to claim 3 wherein the second housing portion extends from a first end to a second end along an axis, wherein the plurality of visual markers comprises a first set of visual markers that are aligned along a first plane that is orthogonal to the axis and a second set of visual markers that are aligned along a second plane that is orthogonal to the axis and parallel to the first plane, wherein each of the visual markers of the first set of visual markers is a different color and wherein each of the visual markers of the second set of visual markers is a different color.

6. The oral care system according to claim 1 wherein an outer surface of the handle of the oral care implement is a first color, an outer surface of the first housing portion is a second color, and an outer surface of the second housing portion is a third color, each of the first, second, and third colors being the same.

7. The oral care system according to claim 6 further comprising a design feature on the outer surface of the second housing portion having a fourth color, the fourth color being different than the first, second, and third colors.

8. The oral care system according to claim 1 wherein the first housing portion has a first end having a first opening and a second end having a second opening, wherein the oral care implement has a proximal end and a distal end, the head located at the distal end, wherein the oral care implement comprises a proximal portion that includes the proximal end, the proximal portion of the oral care implement having a cross-sectional profile that does not fit through the second opening of the first housing portion.

9. The oral care system according to claim 8 wherein the distal end of the oral care implement has a cross-sectional profile that fits through the first and second openings of the first housing portion.

10. The oral care system according to claim 8 wherein the second housing portion has a first end and a second end, the second end having an opening therein, and wherein the cross-sectional profile of the proximal portion of the oral care implement fits through the opening in the second end of the second housing portion.

11. The oral care system according to claim 8 wherein the second end of the first housing portion is located closer to the distal end of the oral care implement than the first end of the first housing portion.

12. The oral care implement according to claim 1 wherein the first housing portion extends from a first end having a first opening to a second end having a second opening, and wherein the handle protrudes from both of the first and second ends of the first housing portion.

13. The oral care system according to claim 1 wherein the tracking attachment is free of electronic components.

14. An oral care system comprising:
an oral care implement comprising a handle and a head, the handle having a first alignment feature;
a tracking attachment coupled to the oral care implement, the tracking attachment comprising:
a housing having a second alignment feature, the housing comprising a first housing portion having an inner surface that defines a first portion of a receiving cavity and a second housing portion having an inner surface that defines a second portion of the receiving cavity, the second housing portion detachably coupled to the first housing portion; and
a tracking unit configured to facilitate at least one of a position, orientation, or movement of the oral care implement within an oral cavity of a user; and

wherein a first portion of the handle is positioned within the first portion of the receiving cavity and a second portion of the handle is positioned within the second portion of the receiving cavity; and
wherein the first and second alignment features mate with one another to maintain the tracking attachment and the oral care implement in a predetermined relative angular orientation.

15. The oral care system according to claim 14 wherein the first alignment feature is a protrusion and the second alignment feature is an aperture such that the protrusion of the handle nests within the aperture of the tracking attachment to prevent the tracking attachment from rotating relative to the oral care implement.

Assignees

• Colgate Palmolive Co

Inventors

• Yang Wu
• Okai Takahide

Classifications

• A46B15/0097

  Self supporting, e.g. brushes that stand upright or in other particular ways · CPC title

• A61C17/222

  Brush body details, e.g. the shape thereof or connection to handle · CPC title

• A46B15/0022

  with an electrical means · CPC title

• A46B15/0006 Primary

  with a controlling brush technique device, e.g. stroke movement measuring device · CPC title

• A46B15/00

  Other brushes; Brushes with additional arrangements · CPC title