Colgate Palmolive Company

Stephen Nelson

Robert Moskovich

Wen Jin Xi

Joachim Storz

Guang Sheng Guo

Felix Mueller

Alan Vincent Sorrentino

David K Lee

An oral care implement including an elongated body having a head portion supporting plurality of tooth cleaning elements and a handle portion defining an outer surface. A grip control component is disposed on the handle portion and includes a pair of transversely spaced apart control surfaces separated by a longitudinally extending channel. The control surfaces are elevated above the outer surface of the handle portion and positioned to engage a user's thumb. The control component is operable to tilt the head portion at an upward or downward angle relative to a vertical plane of a user's teeth when the control component is grasped between the user's thumb and forefinger for producing a proper brushing angle at the gum line.

Oral care implement

A system or method of forming a handle portion of an oral care implement and a handle portion of an oral care implement formed thereby. The method may include providing a first mold that defines a first mold cavity having a shape that corresponds to the handle portion, injecting a first material into the first mold cavity via a first injection orifice with a first hot runner sub-system, and injecting a second material into the first mold cavity via a second injection orifice with a second hot runner sub-system. The second material is injected into the first material thereby forming the handle portion, with the second material forming a core component of the handle portion and the first material forming a shell component of the handle portion that surrounds the core component.

System and method for forming an oral care implement

A mechanically tapered bristle filament for an oral care implement. The filament is characterized by a long thin tapered end portion. The tapered end portion has a taper length and tip diameter comparable to chemically tapered filaments. The areal surface roughness of the tapered end portion however is greater than chemically tapered filaments thereby producing increased scrubbing action against the surfaces of the teeth. The foregoing taper and roughness characteristics of the present filament enhance inter-dental cleaning effectiveness.

Oral care implement and filament for the same

A system for forming an oral care implement and an oral care implement formed thereby. The system may include a first mold defining a first mold cavity having a first mold cavity axis; first and second injection orifices formed into the first mold and providing passageways directly into the first portion of the first mold cavity, the second injection orifice being spaced apart from the first injection orifice; first and second hot runner sub-systems fluidly coupled to the first and second injection orifices, respectively; wherein the system is configured to dispense the first material into the first portion of the first mold cavity via the first injection orifice, and after passage of a period of time, to subsequently dispense the second material into the first portion of the first mold cavity via the second injection orifice, the second material being injected into the first material to displace the first material.

An oral care implement () in one embodiment includes an elongated body () comprising a head portion () supporting plurality of tooth cleaning elements () and a handle portion () defining an outer surface (). A grip control component () is disposed on the handle portion () and includes a pair of transversely spaced apart control surfaces () separated by a longitudinally extending channel (). The control surfaces () are elevated above the outer surface () of the handle portion () and positioned to engage a user's thumb. The control component () is operable to tilt the head portion () at an upward or downward angle relative to a vertical plane of a user's teeth when the control component () is grasped between the user's thumb and forefinger for producing a proper brushing angle at the gum line.

A system or method of forming an oral care implement and an oral care implement formed thereby comprising a base structure having a handle portion and a head portion. The method may comprise providing a first mold that defines a first mold cavity having a first portion that corresponds to the handle portion and a second portion that corresponds to the head portion; injecting a first material into the first portion of the first mold cavity via a first injection orifice with a first hot runner sub-system; and injecting a second material into the first portion of the first mold cavity via a second injection orifice with a second hot runner sub-system, the second material being injected into the first material thereby forming the base structure, the second material forming a core component and the first material forming a shell component of the base structure that surrounds the core component.

Growing community of inventors

New Brunswick, NJ, United States of America

Stephen Nelson