Mouth Douche

My present invention relates to a device for oral hygiene adapted to be used as a mouth douche.

Conventional mouth douches generally have a base provided with a water reservoir communicating with a water pump which in turn is connected, generally via extensible flexible tubing, with a hand-held nozzle or applicator designed to be inserted into the oral cavity of a user. In order to drive the pump, a motor in the base is connectable through a suitable adapter and a cable to a utility outlet. Reference in this connection may be made, for example, to a device designated "Water-Pik-Touch-Tonic" toothbrush ZT10 as described on page 206 of Vol. XXII, issue No. 17 (Sept. 1, 1971) of the German periodical for the dental profession termed "Zahnarztliche Praxis".

The use of a water-handling device connected to a high-voltage outlet in a bathroom is not without risks. In fact, a number of countries forbid the presence of such outlets in bathrooms for reasons of safety.

The general object of my present invention, therefore, is to provide an appliance of this type which can be used without any electrical connection to a utility outlet.

A more particular object is to provide an appliance of this sort which also has another function related to oral hygiene, specifically the cleaning of teeth.

A device according to my invention comprises a mouth douche of generally conventional character whose base, however, does not contain an electric motor but is instead provided with a socket for the insertion of a battery-operated power unit detachable therefrom. Upon its insertion, the power unit is operatively linked with the water pump by coupling means in the base whereby water will be propelled from the reservoir to the nozzle.

Advantageously, in accordance with a more particular feature of my invention, the power unit comprises a body or stem of an electric toothbrush of the type having a drive shaft adapted to be fitted with a bristle-carrying head. The drive shaft is positively engageable with the coupling means in the base of the mouth douche upon insertion of the body into the aforementioned socket in an upside-down position.

Electric toothbrushes of this nature, powered by batteries, are well known and are widely available on the market. In many instances these batteries are automatically recharged when the hand-held body is placed upright in a holder connected via a cable to a wall outlet, not necessarily in the bathroom in which the toothbrush is to be utilized. My present invention, in its preferred mode of realization, takes advantage of such a toothbrush body as a means for driving the water pump of a mouth douche in addition to its normal function of serving as a carrier for a detachable bristle head. The holder with its recharging connection may be designed as a preferably separable extension of the base of the mouth douche; the toothbrush may also operate on a dry cell or primary battery, rather than on a secondary or rechargeable one, in which case there will of course be no connection to any wall outlet.

In either case, the provision of a common power source for the toothbrush and the mouth douche represents a considerable simplification in such a double-duty appliance, thus reducing its overall cost.

The above and other features of my invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic side-elevational view of a device embodying my invention; and

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, illustrating a modification.

The device shown in FIG. 1 comprises a base 1, designed to rest on a shelf or to be screwed onto a wall in a bathroom, which supports a water reservoir 10 and a hand-held nozzle or applicator 11 of generally conventional structure. A pump 9 inside base 1 has an inlet connected to reservoir 10 and an outlet linked via flexible tubing 14 with nozzle 11, the tubing being coiled into a reel from which it can be elastically payed out when the nozzle is withdrawn from the base.

A socket or seat 2 at an end of base 1 remote from nozzle 11 accommodates the body or stem 3 of an electric toothbrush in an upright position, this stem including a power stage with a battery 15 for imparting rotation and/or axial reciprocation to a drive shaft 4 projecting from its upper end; the operation of the shaft 4 is controlled by a switch 5. A bristle-carrying head to be fitted to shaft 4 for tooth-cleaning purposes has not been illustrated.

Another socket 6 in base 1 is designed to receive the toothbrush stem 3 in an upside-down position, as illustrated in phantom lines, with its drive shaft 4 positively engaging a coupler 7 which is linked by a transmission 8 with water pump 9. Depending on the type of motion executed by drive shaft 4, as well as on the nature of water pump 9 (whether rotary or piston-operated); coupler 7 will have a structure converting the movement of shaft 4 into a pumping action delivering water from reservoir 10 to one or more orifices of nozzle 11; thus, for example, the coupler may include a pawl-and-ratchet drive translating a reciprocating motion into a rotary one.

In a simplified device, socket 2 could be eliminated and socket 6 may be modified to accommodate the toothbrush assembly including body 3 also in its full-line upright position. In the case of a rechargeable battery, the toothbrush-holding part of base 1 can be equipped with the usual step-down and rectification circuitry connectable through a cable to a wall outlet whereby recharging will take place whenever the self-contained power unit 3 is in the full-line position of FIG. 1. Especially in situations where no utility outlet is available in a bathroom, that part may be designed as a separable extension of base 1 or may be completely independent thereof as illustrated at 1a in FIG. 2; according to this modification, holder 1a formed with socket 2 is provided with a cable 12 terminating in a plug 13. The foreshortened base, equipped only with socket 6 and coupler 7 in addition to the components of the mouth douche, has been designated 1b in FIG. 2.

It should be noted that, even if parts 1a and 1b were structurally integral with each other, there would never exist an electrical connection between the high-voltage side 12, 13 and the pump drive so that the risk of a shock to the user in the event of a malfunction would be greatly reduced. By way of additional precaution, especially where wall outlets in bathrooms are permissible, the user in that case may be instructed to avoid insertion of plug 13 into such an outlet while rinsing his mouth. Such a precaution may also be advisable when, in a simplified device having only one socket for receiving the stem 3 in its upright as well as in its inverted position, the socket is designed to recharge the battery or batteries of the stem in its normal (full-line) position.