Oral care implement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9775693-B2
Application number	US-201314130762-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 3, 2013
Priority date	Dec 11, 2012
Publication date	Oct 3, 2017
Grant date	Oct 3, 2017

Abstract

An oral care implement, such as a toothbrush, which includes a handle and a replacement head utilizing a specially designed structure for coupling the replacement head to the handle of the oral care implement. The replacement head comprises a head and a tubular sleeve comprising a cavity for receiving a handle. A protuberance protrudes radially inward from an inner surface of the tubular sleeve for engaging a boss of a stem on the handle to impede rotation of the tubular sleeve about the stem in a first angular direction. A locking tab protrudes radially inward from the inner surface of the tubular sleeve for engaging an undercut surface of the boss to prevent axial disengagement of the tubular sleeve from the stem. The locking tab is circumferentially spaced from the protuberance so that a first axial channel exists therebetween for receiving a section of the boss.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An oral care implement comprising:
a handle comprising:
a gripping portion comprising a shoulder;
a stem extending from the shoulder of the gripping portion along a first longitudinal axis; and
a boss protruding radially outward from an outer surface of the stem, the boss comprising a locking section having an undercut surface that is axially spaced from the shoulder and an anti-lock section extending from the locking section to the shoulder, wherein the anti-locking section comprises an outer surface and the locking section comprises an outer surface, the outer surface of the anti-locking section and the outer surface of the locking section being the same surface; and

a replacement head comprising:
a tubular sleeve comprising a cavity and a proximal edge defining an opening into the cavity;
a protuberance protruding radially inward from an inner surface of the tubular sleeve; and
a locking tab protruding radially inward from the inner surface of the tubular sleeve and circumferentially spaced from the protuberance; and

the tubular sleeve detachably coupled to the stem in which the stem is located within the cavity of the tubular sleeve wherein the tubular sleeve is rotatable relative to the stem of the handle between an unlocked state and a locked state, the locked state in which the locking tab and the protuberance are located on opposite sides of the boss, the locking tab engages the undercut surface of the boss to prevent axial disengagement of the tubular sleeve from the stem, the protuberance engages the boss to impede rotation of the tubular sleeve about the stem in a first angular direction.

2. The oral care implement according to claim 1 wherein the locking section of the boss comprises a bottom portion comprising the undercut surface, the bottom portion of the locking section circumferentially protruding from the anti-lock section along a first side of the boss and the protuberance engaging a second side of the boss, the first side opposite the second side.

3. The oral care implement according to claim 2 wherein the locking section of the boss comprises a top portion circumferentially protruding from the anti-lock section along the second side of the boss, wherein the top portion comprises an oblique lower edge.

4. The oral care implement according to claim 1 wherein the locking tab engages the first side of the boss to prevent over-rotation of the tubular sleeve relative to the stem in a second angular direction that is opposite the first angular direction.

5. The oral care implement according to claim 1 wherein the protuberance protrudes a first distance from the inner surface of the tubular sleeve and the locking tab extends a second distance from the inner surface of the tubular sleeve, the second distance being greater than the first distance.

6. The oral care implement according to claim 1 wherein a first axial channel exists between the protuberance and the locking tab, the anti-lock section of the boss nesting within the first axial channel.

7. The oral care implement according to claim 6 wherein a second axial channel exists between the protuberance and a radial wall of the tubular sleeve, the first and second axial channels located on opposite sides of the protuberance, wherein the first axial channel has a circumferential width and the second axial channel has a circumferential width that is greater than the circumferential width of the first axial channel.

8. The oral care implement according to claim 1 wherein the tubular sleeve comprises at least one indexing slot, the stem comprises at least one indexing rib protruding radially outward from the outer surface of the stem, the at least one indexing rib located within the at least one indexing slot and engaging a first radial wall of the at least one indexing slot to prevent over-rotation of the tubular sleeve relative to the stem in a second angular direction that is opposite the first angular direction.

9. The oral care implement according to claim 8 wherein the at least one indexing rib has a circumferential width and the at least one indexing slot has a circumferential width, the circumferential width of the at least one indexing slot being greater than the circumferential width of the at least one indexing rib so that the tubular sleeve can be rotated relative to the stem to an unlocked state in which the at least one indexing rib contacts a second radial wall of the at least one indexing slot.

10. The oral care implement according to claim 1 wherein the locking tab comprises an upper surface that engages the undercut surface of the locking section of the boss to prevent axial disengagement of the tubular sleeve from the stem.

11. The oral care implement according to claim 1 wherein the tubular sleeve comprises a window defined by a closed-perimeter edge, the tubular sleeve comprising a strap portion.

12. The oral care implement of claim 11 wherein the strap portion forms a portion of the closed-perimeter edge of the window and a portion of the proximal edge of the tubular sleeve, and wherein the protuberance is located on the strap portion.

13. The oral care implement according to claim 11 wherein the locking section of the boss is exposed through the window and the strap portion overlays the anti-lock section.

14. The oral care implement according to claim 1 wherein a bottom annular section of the tubular sleeve is radially resilient, the bottom annular section comprising the protuberance and the locking tab.

15. The oral care implement of claim 14 wherein the bottom annular section is sufficiently radially resilient such that the tubular sleeve can be rotated in the first radial direction relative to the stem so that the protuberance rides over the anti-lock section of the boss and snaps back toward the stem after the protuberance passes over the anti-lock section of the boss.

16. The oral care implement according to claim 1 wherein the protuberance has a convex surface.

17. The oral care implement according to claim 1 wherein the locking tab is in contact with the outer surface of the stem and the protuberance is spaced from the outer surface of the stem by a gap.

18. The oral care implement according to claim 1 wherein the locking section is an oblique rib and the anti-lock section is an axial rib.

19. The oral care implement according to claim 18 wherein the oblique rib extends along a first rib axis and the axial rib extends along a second rib axis, the first rib axis oriented obliquely to the second rib axis, the first rib axis oriented obliquely relative to and non-intersecting with the first longitudinal axis.

20. The oral care implement according to claim 1 wherein the tubular sleeve is rotatable relative to the stem of the handle between: (1) the locked state; and (2) the unlocked state in which the protuberance and the locking tab are both positioned on the same side of the anti-lock section of the boss and the tubular sleeve can be slid axially relative to the stem to remove the replacement head from the handle.

21. The oral care implement according to claim 20 wherein the protuberance passes over the anti-lock section of the boss during rotation between the unlocked state and the locked state.

22. The oral care implement according to claim 1 wherein the replacement head comprises a head having a plurality of tooth cleaning elements mounted thereto and the handle comprises a motion inducing element for imparting motion to the plurality of tooth cle

Assignees

• Colgate Palmolive Co

Inventors

• Fattori Joseph E

Classifications

• A61C17/222

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

• A61C17/225 Primary

  Handles or details thereof · CPC title

• F04C2270/0421

  Controlled or regulated · CPC title