US2505547A - Combined foldable toothbrush and powdered dentifrice dispenser - Google Patents

Description

priH 25, 1950 2,505,547

F. E, HOWARD COMBINED F'OLDABLE TOOTHBRUSH AND POWDERED DENTIFRICE DISPENSER Filed Feb. 26, 1945 lll'rlr'", "la11111111111111111111111111111111/1111(:j

Patented Apr. 25, 1950 UNITED STATS imia'iiiNT OFFECE CMBINED FLDABLE TOTEBRUSH AND PWDERED DENTIFRCE DISPENSER Frances B. Howard, Columbus, Miss.

Application February 26, 1945, Serial No. 579,774

5 Claims. (Cl. 15-13S) My invention relates broadly to tooth brushes and more particularly to a combined foldable tooth brush and powdered dentifrice dispenser.-

One of the objects of my invention is to provide an improved construction of foldable tooth brush having means for controlling the dispensing of powdered dentifrice to the tooth brush.

Another object of my invention is to provide a construction of foldable tooth brush and dentifrice controlling valve device for distributing the required quantity of dentifrice to the brush and protecting the brush when the tooth brush is not in use.

Another object of my invention is to provide a construction of foldable tooth brush wherein a protective hood for the brush when unfolded in coaction with the foldable handle of the tooth brush forms a substantially continuous support for the brush which may be readily operated by holding the extended portion of the handle and hood in a position in which the fingers may readily control the supply of dentifrice to the brush without the necessity of removal of any parts.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel and improved construction of closure for v the powder reservoir of the foldable tooth brush permitting ready access to the reservoir for the addition of renewed powdered dentifrice with means for controlling the delivery of powdered dentifrice to the brush.

Other and further objects of my invention reside in an improved construction of foldable tooth. brush and dentifrice supply means therefor as set forth. more fully in the specification hereinafter following by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a side elevational view of the improved foldable tooth brush in folded position with a portion of the protective hood broken away and showing the bristles of the tooth brush in elevation therein; Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken substantiallyon line 2-2 of Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a side elevational view showing the foldable tooth brush of my invention in unfolded position ready for use; Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the tooth brush in unfolded position on a somewhat larger scale and showing particularly the container for powdered dentifrice and the apertures which extend through the tooth brush handle; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken through the section of the tooth brush which includes the container for powdered dentifrice, the slide valve, the closure cap for the container and the pivoted protective hood connected to the slide valve, the slide valve being shown in the position in which the tooth brush is used for brushing the teeth, that is, with the slide valve moved to a position closing the perforations and preventing the sifting of powdered dentifrice from the container; Fig. 6 is a view similar to the View illustrated in Fig. 5 but illustrating the slide valve moved to an opposite limiting position to that illustrated in Fig. 5 for rendering the periorations effective for discharging powdered dentifrice to the tooth brush when the tooth brush sections are folded with respect to each other as illustrated in Fig. 7; Fig. 7 shows the sections of the tooth brush in folded relation for sifting the powdered dentifrice from the container to the tooth brush; Fig. 8 illustrates a fragmentary portion of the container ready to receive the closure cap on the end thereof; Fig. 9 is a perspective View of the slide valve and hood hingedly connected thereto; Fig. l0 is a transverse sectional view taken on line lll-l0 of Fig. 5; and Fig. l1 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line ll-ll of Fig. 10.

My invention is directed to an improved construction of foldable tooth brush with powder dispenser which may be inexpensively manufactured cn a mass production scale. The foldable tooth brush of my invention is particularly useful to traveling people, business people, and those in the military services, as the tooth brush oomplete with a, dentifrice supply occupies a veriT small overall space and can be conveniently carried in a purse or pocket. The tooth brush of my invention is capable of being molded from plastic material in a very small number of parts, one of which forms a support for the bristles of the tooth brush, another of which serves as a reservoir for powdered dentifrice, another of which consists of a protective hood for normally enclosing the bristles of the brush. another of which consists of a slide valve connected with the protective hood and serving in either of two limiting positions thereof to permit the delivery of powdered dentifrice to the brush or to maintain the powder reservoir closed, and the other of whiclrcomprises a closure cap for the powdered dentifrice container. I provide means for limiting the' outward movement of the slide valve so that when the parts have been assembled the protective hood may be used as a handle device to control the position of the valve to thereby permit the delivery or prevent the delivery of powdered dentifrice. I provide a closure cap of special construction which forms a tight-fitting connection with the reservoir to permit the addition of tooth powder to the reservoir from time to time for re-lling. The protective hood used in association with the tooth brush structure serves three functions; that is, as a means for facilitating the movements of the slide valve for moving the valve to either of two limiting positions; protection of the bristles of the tooth brush while at the same time preventing dampness from the bristles of the brush from injuring any articles which may be adjacent the folded tooth brush; .and as a securing .means for fastening the Y parts of the foldable tooth brush together while the brush is not in use.

Referring to the drawings .in moredetailfreference character i designates one section'of the foldable tooth brush of my invention consisting of a short handle portion 2 and faitooth :brush supporting portion 3, which carries the tooth brush bristles represented at projecting substantially normally to the plane of the tooth brush supporting portion 3. The tooth brush supporting portion 3 is located adjacent'one end .of the .handle portion 2 and a hinged connection .-3 is located adjacent the opposite end of the .handle portion 2 .for providing .et-.hinged connectio-n with the "aligned longitudinally .extending .section y'l of the tooth brush. The longitudinally extending section 'l is'enlarged in transverse `section with respect to theihandle portion i2 of sec Vtion i -bymeans of an outwardly tapered portion indicated at 8 which forms a housing for a longitudinally extending interior container 9 vfor powdered dentifrice. rlh'e container i9 extends :substantially the full length of the section 'l of the tooth brush rand serves 'to receive sufficient powdered dentifrice for 'useover a period of a Yshown at H is provided Vfor establishing-.snap-on and snap-off connection with the open end-of the container S of therhandle portion 'i for maintaining the .container :9 closed. The closure cap li is provided with a .yieldable vskirt portion l2 Y:extending peripherally around the external porn tion of the'end Il) of the container ,e and fric tionally engaging 'theexternal walls of the conn tainer d supplemented by the added snap-on and snap-o advantages obtained by the instruck projections it and i5 in the yieldable ysides l2 of the closure cap attached to engage aligned l-recesses i6 vand vil in the interior side walls of the container e of fsection l of the tooth brush.

Section 'i vof the .tooth brush 'isprovided adi jacent the end lil thereof in the flat vportion of the surface of the 4container represented 'at i3 with a multiplicity of perforations which.A -I have jndieatedat .is extending vthrough the-:nat suri ace .it `andiconnectinjgto thezinterior or the `con'- ftainer e. perforations .Llf'serve asia means for allowing the sprinkling .or 'discharging of powderedldentice whiohlhave desmnated: generally at .2t within :container .3. .on .to 'the bristle-'s f5 of the toothbrush when Vthe .sections i A'and l are folded one `upon `the other and heid fin the position illustratedinlig. 7 and thes'lide valve .2J moved to the position `shown in iig. 'il to .allow Vs'l'ialzing of the folded tooth brushafor .distributing .the powdered dentifrice from the container won to the bristies offthe toothbrush at E.

The slide valve 2| is constituted by a longitudinally extending strip somewhat shorter than the length of the section 'I of the tooth brush and engageable in oppositely aligned guide grooves 22 and 23 in the interior walls of the container S. The grooves 22 and 23 serve as continuous guides for the longitudinally extending slide valve 2l which is free to be shifted to either of two limit ing positions by grasping the protective hood 'it in the ngers and manually sliding slide valve 2l longitudinally of the section of the tooth brush. The slide valve 2l includes a slotted portion 25 and anapertured portion 26. When the protec- Vtive hood 2e which is hingedly connected with the end of the slide valve 2i hy means of the hinged device indicated at 2t is moved to the `position illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the slotted portion 25 of the slide valve 2i is aligned with theperforated portion I9 of the container 9 and obstructs or prevents the discharge of any Vpowdered dentifrice .fromcontainer t through the perforaticns When, however, the protective hood :2A is grasped 4and .the slide valve pulled outwardly, the apertured portion 2t `.thereof becomes'alignedwith perforations i9 thus-uncovering the perforations l' and allowing the powdered dentifrice to be sprinkled or discharged upon the bristles of the tooth brush. n order to preclude or .restrict the slide valve 2i from becoming separated from the ytooth brush in .normaloonditions of .operation Iprovide a limiting stop El on the slide valve `2l in a -position adjacent the end of the apertured portion 25. Limiting stop ..21 is an outstrucl; portion of thefstrip consisting of rthe slide valve and extends Asubstantially Anormal to the .plane-of .the slide valve V2l intermediate the slotted portion 25 andthe apertured ,portion '2t-on theslide valve 2l yforming a positive .abe-tment with the inside surface of .the closure cap l! when the "slide valve is pulled outwardly Yby grasping and .pulling Hupon the protective `hood 2li. The yieldable'engagementofclosure cap -lf'i with vthe end AI0 of the 'container 9 .of section l of the toothbrush is sunciently resistive tornerf vmally prevent the :slide valve 2| from `hei-ng drawn outwardly rbeyond 4the limit :intended for registering aperture 26 with perforations le.

However., the assernbly of the slide valve 2i :with respect to container 9 is such that by `removing the closure cap H from the end it :of container 9, the slide valve 2| may lbe wholly removed from the container for the purpose of washing and cleaning the parts. Re-assembly is extremely simple 4as it fis only necessary to move slide valve 2l into the guide grooves `22 and 23 to the point where abutment 21 is well within the open end'of container-9 whereupon the yieldable closure cap il is finserted over the end it of the container 9 for .maintaining the valve 2l against normal removal during the intended 'operation illustrated in Figs. 6 and In the positionillustrated in Eigf 'the closure cap U has been wholly .removed Vandcontainer i9 4ris .ready for :filling with lpowdered dentifrice Yin 2a quantity vsuiicient 'to last -a Vweet: `or several powdered dentifrice.

The protective hood- 24 is .shaped iin a very special `manner with `skirted walls Von 'opposite sides of the hood 24 as Yrepresented at `28 and 29 vwhich are of vsufficient flengthto frictionally enfgage oppositefsides of the Asection 'I lof the Vtooth `brush for efectingthe lbix-idin'g relation between aises-for? the sections i and 1 of te-toothtrush when the tooth brush is folded to the position illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. Inadditionto this frictional bond I also provide a` longitudinally extending slot 30 inthe end wall of the protective hood which is sufficiently wide to ena-ble the hood 2dr when in folded position` to be moved` fully over the handle section portion 2A of the tooth brush. In this position thev inwardly skirted edges of the slotted portion 3D represented at. 30a and 353D establish frictional binding relationwith opposite sides of the handle `portion 2 of section I for thereby` increasing the binding relation to secure the folded sections I and I together permitting the tooth brush to be carried in folded position in a purse or pocket without danger of the parts separating. To enable the .protective hood 24 to be closed to the maximum extent over the bristles 5 of the tooth brush and to allow the yieldable side walls 28 and 29 to establish frictional wiping engagement with the external side walls of the container S I out away each of. the corner portions of the slot 39 as I have indicated generally at 39e.

When the tooth brush is in use with the parts' illustratedin Fig. 3, sections I and 'i are held in substantial alignment inthe hand and protective hood 2d extends-in a longitudinal direction substantially aligned with section 'i of the tooth brush in the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 3. By quickly drawing the protective hood 24 outwardly, slide valve ZI is shifted to a position where apertured portion 26 uncovers perforations I5 as illustrated in Fig. 6. Then the section I of the tooth brush is folded against the section I and the assembly reversed and slightly tapped or shaken to allow the powdered dentifrice to be shaken from the container 9 on the bristles 5 of the tooth brush. When the bristles 5 of the tooth brush are thus charged with the powdered dentifrice the protective hood is pushed inwardly toward the section 'I of the tooth brush moving slide valve 2| to the position shown in Fig. 5 in which slotted portion 25 of slide valve 2l closes the perforations I9 whereupon section i is swung outwardly to a position of alignment with section I with the several parts aligned in the position illustrated in Fig. 3 and the tooth brush is ready for use. After the brushing operation is completed bristles 5 may be Washed and then the tooth brush folded to the position illustrated in Figs. l and 2 and returned to the purse or pocket for carrying purposes. The open slot 3G permits the circulation of air to the bristles 5 for the rapid drying of the tooth brush while the protective hood prevents any unsanitary contact with the bristles 5 and precludes, in a large measure, any dampness from seeping out from the folded tooth brush to adjacent articles which may be carried in the purse or pocket.

While I have described my invention in one of its preferred embodiments I realize that changes in detail and modifications in construction may be made and I do not intend any limitations upon my invention except as may be imposed by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is as follows:

1. A combination foldable tooth brush and powdered dentifrice dispenser comprising a handie constituted by a pair of sections hingedly con- L nected end to end and movable from a substantially extended position to a position in which said sections are folded one adjacent the other, a tooth brush carried adjacent the end of one of said sections, a container for powdered dentifrice carriedtby the other of saidf sections, said container section being perforated for theV delivery of "powdered dentifrice to the tooth brush -when the sections `are lfolded together, a valve slidable toeither of two limiting positions, one of which blocks discharge of powdered dentifrice through the perforations in said container and the other ofwhich permits delivery of powdered dentifrice from the container to the brush, saidslide valve having an abutment stop extending normal to theplane thereof, and a closure cap removably secured to the end of said container and normally obstructing the removal of said slide valvewith respect to said container by the restrictive coaction between saidabutment and said closure cap.

2; A` combination foldable tooth brush and powdered dentifricedispenser comprising a handle constituted by a pair of sectionshingedly connectedend to end and Vmovable from a substantially extended position to a position in which said sections are folded one-.adjacent the other, a toothbrush carried adjacentthe end ofone of saidsections, acontainer for powdered dentifrice carried by the other of said sections, said container being' perforated for the delivery of'powdereddentifrice to the tooth brush when the sections are folded together, a slide valve slidable to either of two limiting positions within said container, one of which blocks4 discharge of powdered dentifrice through the perforations in said container and the other of which permits delivery of powdered dentifrice from the container to the brush, a detachable closure cap for the end of said container and extending in a plane normal to the plane of said slide valve, and a lug projecting from said slide valve and adapted to abut against the side edge of said closure cap for obstructing the removal of said slide valve from said container, a detachable closure cap for the end of said container and extending in a plane normal to the plane of said slide-like valve, and a lug projecting from said slide-like valve and adapted to abut against the side edge of said closure cap for obstructing the removal of said slide-like valve f, from said container.

3. A combination foldable tooth brush and powdered dentifrice dispenser comprising a handle constituted by a pair of sections: hingedly connected end to end and movable from a substantially extended position to a position in which said section are folded one adjacent the other, a tooth brush carried adjacent the end of one of said sections, a container for powdered dentifrice carried by the other of said sections, said container being perforated for the delivery of powdered dentifrice to the tooth brush when the sections are folded together, and a third section comprising a protective hood hingedly connected adjacent the end of said container section and adapted to be extended in a substantially linear direction with respect to said first mentioned sections and movable to a position enclosing said tooth brush when said first mentioned sections are folded together, said protecff tive hood having a coextensive bifurcated end portion for frictionally engaging opposite sides of said first mentioned section of said tooth brush and having a pair of coextensive resilient side walls operative to engage opposite sides of said second mentioned section for protecting said brush and maintaining said sections in folded relation.

4. A combination foldable tooth brush and powdered dentifrice dispenser comprising a handle constituted by a pair of sections hingedly con- Vnested end to end and movable from a substan- `said tooth brush when said sections are folded together and a pair of resilient side walls associated With said protective hood and frictionally engageable with both of said hingedly connected sections when in folded relation for protecting said brush and maintaining said sections in folded position.

5. A foldable tooth brush and powdered dentifrice dispenser comprising a handle constituted by a pair of sections hingedly connected end to end and movable from a substantially extended position to a position in which said sections are folded, one adjacent the other, a tooth brush carried adjacent the end of one of said sections,

a container for powdered dentifrice carried by the other of said sections, said container being perforated for the delivery of powdered dentifrice to the tooth brush when the sections are folded 8 together, and a third section adapted to be extended in alignment with the aforesaid sections when in unfolded relation, comprising a hood hingedly connected with respect to one of said first mentioned sections and operative to embrace both of said rst mentioned sections when said nrst mentioned sections are folded together, said hood including a pair of yeldable parallel extending side walls having a depth substantially greater than the projection of said tooth brush 'from said first mentioned section and operative to envelope the tooth brush and engage the exterior side Walls of said container for yieldably and frictionally maintaining said rst mentioned sections in detachable folded position, one with respect to the other.

FRANCES B. HOWARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the nie of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 345,517 Lakin July 13, 1886 479,796 Foss Aug. 2, 1892 835,365 Morgan Nov. 6, 1906 902,796 Archer et al. Nov. 3, 1908 1,960,807 Cole May 29, 1934

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