Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to a dental floss holder and
applicator.
There are many dental floss holders disclosed by the
patent litera-ture. Examples of such holders are described in
Unit~d States Patents Nos. 2,013,143, issued to V.C. Getz on
September 3, 1935; Z,467,221, issued to A.J. Pastl on April 12,
1949; 2,742,047, issued -to R.A. Ness on April 17, 1956;
3,340,881, issued to L.M. Cowan on September 12, 1967; 3,534,745,
issued to W.A. Waters on October 20, 1970; 3,734,107, issued to
I.B. Thierman on May 22, 1973; 3,746,017, issued to J.S. Cassel-
man on July 17, 1973 and 3,861,406, issued to R.E. Stitt on
January 21, 1975.
Many of the devices disclosed in the art are somewhat
complicated and consequently expensive to manufacture. Thus,
in spite of the large number of patents relating to dental floss
holders, there still exists a need for a simple dental floss
holder and applicator. The object of the present invention is
to meet such need by providing a relatively simple dental floss
holder and applicator, which is easy to produce and use.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a dental
floss holder and applicator comprising elongated handle means;
tubular casing means on one end of said handle means; said
casing means having an open top end and an open bottom end for
receiving a spool of dental floss; means on said base means for
holding the spool in said casing means; applicator means on the
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other end of said handle means for receiving dental floss from
said casing means; said applicator means including a pair oE
spaced apart arms extending outwardly from said handle means
for retaining a strip of floss in a usable position between
the free ends of the arms; and windiny means for removing dental
floss from said casing means and for storing used dental floss,
said winding means including plug means closing the top end of
said casing means, shaft means extending through the top end of
said casing means and through said plug means, said shaft means
being rotatable in said casing means and said plug means, tooth-
ed wheel means on said shaft means in said plug means for rota-
tion with said shaft means, pawl means extending into engagement
with said toothed wheel means for limiting rotation thereof to
one direction; first pulley means mounted on one end of said
shaft means outside of said casing means for receiving floss
from the spool before the floss passes to said applicator means;
second pulley means on the other end of said shaft means outside
of said casing means for receiving floss from said applicator
means; and disc means on said one end of said shaft means for
rotating said shaft means, said first pulley means and said
second pulley means.
The invention will now be described in detail with
reference to the accompanying drawing, which illustrates a pre-
ferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein:
Figure 1 is a partly sectioned front elevation view of
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a dental floss holder and appli~ator in accordance with the
present invention;
Figure 2 is a perspective view :Erom the front and below
of the top end of the device of Fig. l;
Figure 3 is a rear elevatlon view of the device of
Figs. l and 2; and
Figure 4 is a perspective view from one side and below
of a winding mechanism for use in the device of Figs. l to 3.
With reference to the drawing, the basic elements of
the dental floss holder and applicator of the present invention
include a handle generally indicated at 1, a tubular casing 2
mounted on the handle l for carrying floss, and a winding mech-
anism 3, which may be removably mounted within the end of casing
2, for dispensing dental floss from the casing 2. The handle l
has the same shape as a conventional toothbrush, except for a
generally C-shaped head 4, which defines the applicator portion
of the device. The head 4 includes a pair of forwardly extend-
ing, slightly inclined, arcuate arms 5 and 6. As best shown in
Figs. 2 and 3, each arm 5 and 6 includes a small groove 8 extend-
ing around the outer periphery thereof for receiving and retain-
ing dental floss 9. At the rear of the head 4, the handle 1
extends upwardly beyond the top of the g~oove 8 and includes an
open-top groove 10 (Fig. 2) for the floss 9. A pair of slots 13
are provided in the top rear of the handle for guiding the floss
9 into the arm 5 and out of the arm 6.
The casing 2 is defined by a clear plastic tube with
an open bottom end 15 and an inclined open top end 16. A spool
17 carrying the dental floss 9 ls inserted into the bottom end
15 of the casing 2. The spool 17 is defined by a shaft 18 in
the form of a rod, with a disc 19 on the top end and a second
disc 20 near the bottom end. There is sufficient clearance
between the discs l9 and 20, and the casing 2 that the spool
17 is readily slida~le in the casing 2. The disc 20 closes
the bottom end of the casing 2 when the spool 17 is inserted
into the casing. The bottom end of the shaf-t 18 extends down-
wardly beyond the disc 20 for facilitating manual insertion and
removal of the spool 17. The spool 17 is held in the casing 2
by a small wire clip 22, howe~er it will be appreciated that the
method of retention is by way of example only and is not intend-
ed to be limiting. The wire clip 22 is defined by a short lengthof spring wire, which extends outwardly from between the casing
2 and the handle l. The clip 22 is merely pushed to one side
when a spool 17 is being inserted into the casing 2. Once a
spool 17 has been inserted, the clip bears against the bottom
ends of the casing 2 and the spool 17. During dispensing of
floss, the spool 17 rotates in the casing 2.
Dental floss 9 is dispensed through an opening 24 in
one side of the casing 2 near the top end 16 thereof. The floss
9 passes through the opening 24/ three or four turns around a
pulley 25, upwardly to the top rear of the handle 1, through one
_ ~ _
slot 13 nearest the arm 5 in-to the groove 8 in the arm 5,
around the arm 5, across the gap ~etween the arms 5 and 6, into
the groove 8 in the arm 6, around such arm 6, and through the
other slot 13 to a take-up pulley 26.
Referring to Fig. 4, the winding mechanism 3 includes a
lug 28 which closes the top end of the casing 2. The bottom
end of the plug 28 is bifurcated. A toothed wheel 29 is mounted
on a shaft 30 extending transversely through the top end of the
plug 28. The wheel 29 rotates with the shaft 30 between the
arms 31 of the plug 2~. A metal pawl 33 extends upwardly from
beneath the casing 2 through an opening (no-t shown) in ~he rear
of the casing into engagement with the toothed wheel 29. Thus,
the wheel 29 can be rotated in one direction only, i.e. the wheel
29 can be rotated in the direction required to dispense dental
floss and not in the opposite direction. The pulley 25 is
mounted on one end of the shaft 30 adjacent a drive disc 34.
The disc 34 includes transversely extending grooves 35, which
facilitate gripping and turning of the disc. The take-up pulley
26 is fixedly mounted on the other end of the shaft 30. Thus,
when the disc 34 is rotated, -the pulley 25, the toothed wheel
29 and the take-up pulley 26 rotate in the same direction.
As can be seen more clearly in ~ig. 4 the winding mech-
anism 3 is snap-fitted into plug 28 via slot 36, thus enabling
the toothed wheel 29 r shaft 30, and the pulleys 25 and 26 to be
separated from plug 28 to facilitate cleaning and/or repair.
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In order to use the holder and applicator, the first
step is to load the casing 1 with a spoo] 17 of floss. Several
centimeters of dental floss 9 are unwound from the spool 17, and
the free end of the floss is tied to one end of a flexible wire
threader (not shown) inserted through the opening 24 from inside
to outside the casing 2. The floss is pulled through the open-
ing 24 and, at the same time, the spool 17 is inserted into the
casing 2 to prevent accumulation of the floss in front of the
spool. The floss is threaded around the arms 5 and 6 in the
manner described hereinbefore, and wound around the take-up
pulley 26 in the direction of rotation of the pulleys. By pro-
viding a small pln (not shown) in the groove of the pulley 26 it
is easy to attach the floss to the pulley. The floss is looped
around the pulley and around the pin to secure the floss.
The floss holder and applicator can then be used. In
order to replace the floss 9 between the arms 5 and 6, the disc
34 is rotated, which advances the floss. When the take-up pulley
26 is full r the floss is cut between the arm 6 and the pulley 26,
the used floss is removed from the pulley, and the free end of
the unused floss is again connected to the pulley 26.
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SUPPLE~ENTAR~Y DI CLOSURI::
Another embodiment of the invention has been made. The
object of creating a third embodiment of the invention is to
improve upon the original structure, In the latest version of the
5 dental floss holder and applicator, the latch at the bottom end
of the casing has been made integral with the casing. Moreover,
a knob or handle for rotating the shaft carrying the pulleYs has
been replaced with a simple flat rectangular knob, which is easy
to grasp and rotate.
It will be appreciated that all embodiments of the
invention include elongated handle means~ tubular casing means
on one end of said handle means; said casing means having an open
top end and an open bottom end for receiving a spool of dental
floss; latch means on said base means for holding the spool in
~5 said casing means; applicator means for holding the spool in said
casing means; applicator means on the other end of said handle
means for receiving dental floss from said casing means; said
applicator means including a pair of spaced apart arms extending
outwardly from said handle means for retaining a strip of floss
in a usable position between the free ends of the arms; and
winding means for removing dental floss from said casing means
and for storing used dental floss, said winding means including
plug means closing the top end of said casing means, shaft means
extending through the top end of said casing means and through
said plug means, said shaft means beinq rotatable in said casing
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means and said plug means, toothed wheel means on said shaft
means in said plug means for rotation with said shaft means, pawl
means extending into engagement with said toothed wheel means
for limiting rotation thereof to one direction; first pulley
means mounted on one end of said shaft means outside of said
casing means for receiving floss from the spool before the floss
passes to said applicator means; second pulley means on the other
end of said shaft means out~ide of said casing means for receiving
floss from said applicator means; and knob means on said one end
of said shaft means for rotating said shaft means, said first
pulley means and said second pulley means.
The third embodiment of the invention will be described
in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing
wherein:
15 Figure 5 is a perspective view of the bottom end of an
alternative body of the invention, and
Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of a spool and
winding device for use in the device of Fig. 5.
With reference to Figs. 5 and 6, in the third embodiment
of the invention, the handle 1 and casing 2 are replaced by a
tubular casing 35, which defines both the bottom end of the
handle and a tubular casing on one end thereof, The top end of
the handle carrying the spaced apart arms (not shown) for
retaining a strip of floss i5 integral with the casing 35 and is
essentially the same as the device of Figs. 1 to 4. The clip 22
" .
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for holding the spool in the casing 35 is replaced by a lever 36.
The bottom end 37 of the casing 35 is inclined with respect to a
plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the casing. 1A7hen
fully inserted the enlarged bottom end 39 of the spool 40 extends
out of the casing 35, so that the spool can be moved manually.
The lever 36 is integral with the casing 35 t and is defined by a
strip of material separated at its sides from the remainder of
the casing 35 by slits 41. The outer free end 43 of the lever 36
extends outwardly slightly beyond the end 39 of the casing 35 for
manual release. A shoulder 44 on the lever 36 in the casing 35
normally engages a disc 45 near the bottom end of the spool 40
for retaining the spool in the casing. In order to remove the
spool 40, the lever 36 is pivoted outwardly to release the disc
45.
As shown in Fig. ~, the spool 40 includes a shaft 47
on which dental floss 9 is wound. The plug 28 is replaced by
a cylindrical plug 4~ which includes a transversely extending
rectangular aperture 49 for the toothed wheel 29. The drive
disc 34 is replaced by another form of knob, namely a flat handle
50 which is mounted on the shaft 30, as are the pulleys 26 and 52.
The pulley 52 is defined by the inner surface of the
handle 50 and a disc connected thereto. ~ rectangular lug 53
extends downwardly frol~ the bottom end 54 of the plug 4~ for
engaging the generally cruciform top end 56 of the spool 40.
The lug 53 and the end 56 of the spool 40 define a lock. r~7hen
the spool is pushed upwardly against the plug 48, the lug slides
between two arms of the end 56 of the spool, so that the latter
cannot be rotated, i.e. the spool 40 is locked. sy pulling the
spool 40 a short distance out of the casing 35, the spool is
released from the lug 53 and is free to rotate.
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