FR2510391A1 - Oral hygiene cleaner for tongue - comprises thin flexible honeycomb plastics strip for use once only - Google Patents

Abstract

The oral hygiene accessory is for cleaning the tongue, and comprises a length (1) of thin flexible strip, for use once only. It can be of plastics honeycomb material, unwoven, of wood strip, aluminium or fibrous material sheet, with an antiseptic effective both against fungus and bacteria, and with which it can be coated or impregnated. A stack of cut strips can be accommodated in a box to protect them for soiling, and from which they are dispensed one by one.

Description

Oral hygiene accessory
The present invention relates to an oral hygiene accessory for use as a tongue cleaner.

 Tongue cleaners have been used for tongue hygiene, in order to avoid the build-up of fermentation which can cause infections and affect general mouth hygiene.

 They are also used in the treatment of fungal infections of the tongue to eliminate the infectious layer that forms in these conditions and other glossitis, as well as to fight against infections of the teeth, in particular by reducing dental plaque.

 Tongue cleaners have been used since antiquity in the form of small rigid blades, generally made of ivory or metal, more particularly gold or silver, or even wood or other plants.

 More recently, tongue cleaners have been proposed consisting of sorts of fitted squeegees, more or less flexible.

These conventional tongue cleaners have several drawbacks, in particular due to the need to disinfect them between each use, due to their reuse. They are, moreover, relatively expensive and bulky.

 The object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of conventional tongue cleaners.

The oral hygiene accessory for use as a tongue cleaner which is the subject of the invention is characterized in that it consists of a section of flexible and thin strip for single use. This strip can be made of various materials such as compact and cellular plastics, non-woven, unrolled wood, sheets of fibrous materials such as paper, cardboard, felt, aluminum
Advantageously, the strip can carry an oral antiseptic having, preferably, antifungal and antibacterial properties.

 Depending on its nature, the strip can be impregnated or coated with antiseptic.

 The antiseptic can be applied to the oral hygiene accessory according to the invention, in the form of an impregnation solution, the solvent of which is evaporated after impregnation, or can be incorporated into a binder and applied as a varnish as the then dried, or in micro-encapsulated form, applied to the outside of the strip using a suitable binder, or even trapped in the gaps of a fibrous material constituting the strip.

 Any conventional application method (dip, roller, doctor blade, transfer or other) may be suitable.

 As conventional antiseptics which may be suitable, there may be mentioned, inter alia, bexetidine, cblorbéxidine, acetarsol, glycyrrbetinic acid, hexamidine, nystanine, amyleine, salol, polyvinylpyrrolidone, tricliloraceous acid tick, as well as thymol, salicylic acid, chloral, trichloroacetic acid as well as quaternary ammoniums, silver seS and autolysates.

The oral hygiene accessory according to the invention can be packaged in the form of a stack of precut sections housed away from dirt in a box distributing them individually, like the conventional boxes used
or for packaging safety razor blades / toothpicks.

 The oral hygiene accessory according to the invention can also be packaged in the form of a sectionable strip in sections. Such a strip may advantageously have sectioning primers regularly separated by intervals # of intervals corresponding to the length or to the width of a section usable as a tongue picker. Such a strip can be rolled up and locked away from contamination in a reel dispenser of conventional type, such as those for. # oflant rolls of paper. Laband can also consist of a plate formed of several sections joined to each other by a breakable end.

 The invention will be better understood on reading the detailed description which follows and with the aid of the drawings which represent, by way of nonlimiting examples, several embodiments of the invention.

On these drawings
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view, in perspective, of an oral hygiene accessory for use as a tongue cleaner which is the subject of the invention,
FIG. 2 is a schematic front view showing the mode of use of the tongue cleaner of FIG. 1,
FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 are sllematic views, on a very large scale, in section, of different tongue picker skirts according to the invention,
FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view, in perspective, of a packaging in a roll in a reel of tongue pickers according to the invention, and
Figures 7 and 8 are schematic plan views of tongs according to the invention, packaged in the form of breakable plates.

 The tongue cleaner represented in FIGS. 1 and 2 essentially consists of a section 1 of flexible and thin strip, for example of cardboard, impregnated or soaked in a solution of an antiseptic based on Hexetidine, such as that sold under the trade name of "Hextril", then dried.

In practice, such a tongue picker can have, for
17 cm example, approximately 14 to / long by 8 mm wide and 0.4 mm thick.

 To use the tongue cleaner in Figure 1, the user bends it, as shown in Figure 2, and pulls it in contact with the tongue in the direction of arrow 2.

 After use, the tongue cleaner is discarded. The same tongue cleaner can allow several scrapings during the same use before becoming unusable due to its softening.

Such softening is a guarantee of single use.

 Figure 3 shows a section through the thickness of a tongue cleaner according to the invention consisting of a support 3 of cardboard, aluminum or other, solid and flexible.

 This support 3 is coated on each face with a layer of antiseptic 4, deposited for example with a roller.

 Figure 4 is a section similar to that of Figure 3 of another embodiment of the invention wherein the ~ support 5 is constituted by a cellular plastic material whose cells such as 6 contain an antiseptic in the state solid or not.

 FIG. 5 is a view similar to that of FIG. 4 of another embodiment in which the support strip 7 consists of a fibrous material such as non-woven glun, a felt or a rough cardboard, the fibers of which, such as 8, retain microcapsules, such as 9, of coated antiseptic.

 When the pressure exerted on the tongue, # the microcapsules burst and release the antiseptic hitherto preserved from any alteration by the envelope of the microcapsules.

 In the packaging mode shown in FIG. 6, a strip 10 constituted by a succession of tongue cleaners 11, 12 separated by breaking caps 13, 14 facilitating their separation, is wound in the form of a coil housed in a classic reel 15.

 Another such reel can advantageously be housed in a plastic or metal boot preserving the content of any stains.

 In the packaging mode represented in FIG. 7, several tongue cleaners 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 are partially precut in a plate 30, from a heel 45 to which they are connected by reduced parts facilitating breakage 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, separated by openings 26, 27, 28, 29.

 This packaging is similar to that of well-known matchbooks.

 Such a plate can be advantageously preserved from stains by insertion into a # pocket or case.

 In the packaging mode of FIG. 8, several tongue cleaners 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 are partially precut in a plate 36, and are joined to each other only at their ends by thin frangible legs 37 , 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44.

 As in the embodiment of FIG. 7, several plates 36 can be inserted separately or together in pockets or cases preserving them from stains.

 Of course, the invention is in no way limited to the embodiments described and shown, it is capable of numerous variants accessible to those skilled in the art, depending on the applications envisaged and without departing from the scope of the invention. 'invention.

 Thus each tongue cleaner can be enclosed separately with an antiseptic liquid in a waterproof pouch in plasticized aluminum or similar material, such as papers impregnated with toilet water or commercial stain remover.

These pouches are often presented in plates, strips or rolls having breaking points for the separation on demand of each pouch individually.

Claims (11)

 1. Oral hygiene accessory for use as a tongue cleaner, characterized in that it consists of a section 1 of flexible and thin strip for single use.  2. Accessory according to claim 1, characterized in that the strip is made of a material from the group comprising compact and cellular plastics, non-woven, unrolled wood, sheets of fibrous materials, aluminum.  3. Accessory according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the strip carries an oral antiseptic.  4. Accessory according to claim 3, characterized in that the oral antiseptic is both antifungal and antibacterial.  5. Accessory according to one of claims 3 and 4, characterized in that the strip is impregnated with antiseptic.  6. Accessory according to one of claims 3 and 4, characterized in that the strip is coated with antiseptic.  7. Accessory according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it is packaged in the form of a stack of precut sections housed sheltered from soiling in a box dispenser unit.  8. Accessory according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it is packaged in the form of a strip 10 sectionable into sections 11, 12.  9. Accessory according to claim 8, characterized in that the strip has regularly spaced sectioning primers 13, 21, 37, 41 of intervals corresponding to the length or to the width of a section 11, 16, -31 usable as a tongue cleaner.  10. Accessory according to one of claims 8 and 9 characterized in that the strip is wound and locked away from contamination in a reel dispenser 15.  11. Accessory according to one of claims 8 and 9, characterized in that the strip constitutes a plate 30, 36 formed of several sections 16, 31 joined to each other by a breakable end 21, 37, 41.