Toothbrush head and method for producing the same

Abstract

A toothbrush head including multiple elastic cleaning elements attached to a holder in clusters. Each elastic cleaning element includes film strips, which can be manufactured, for example, from a sheet of film.

1 - 34 . (canceled) 
   
   
       35 . A toothbrush head including
 a holder; and   a plurality of elastic cleaning elements attached to the holder in a cluster, each elastic cleaning element including a plurality of film strips.   
   
   
       36 . The toothbrush head of  claim 35 , wherein each of the plurality of cleaning elements includes a substantially rectangular cross section. 
   
   
       37 . The toothbrush head of  claim 35 , wherein each of the plurality of film strips has a thickness between 10 μm and 500 μm. 
   
   
       38 . The toothbrush head of  claim 35 , wherein the width of each of the plurality of film strips is at least ten times the thickness of each corresponding film strip. 
   
   
       39 . The toothbrush head of  claim 35 , wherein at least one of the plurality of cleaning elements is made of plastic film. 
   
   
       40 . The toothbrush head of  claim 35 , wherein at least one of the plurality of cleaning elements is formed from a mixture of plastic and a non-plastic material. 
   
   
       41 . The toothbrush head of  claim 35 , wherein at least one of the plurality of cleaning elements comprises a multilayer laminated film. 
   
   
       42 . The toothbrush head of  claim 35 , wherein each of the plurality of film strips comprises at least one applicator substance. 
   
   
       43 . The toothbrush head of  claim 35 , wherein each of the plurality of film strips comprises a surface coating containing at least one applicator substance. 
   
   
       44 . The toothbrush head of  claim 35 , wherein each of the plurality of cleaning elements differ in one or lore mechanical properties along different transverse directions. 
   
   
       45 . The toothbrush head of  claim 35 , wherein each of the plurality of cleaning elements comprises a corresponding plurality of tips. 
   
   
       46 . The toothbrush head of  claim 35 , wherein the plurality of cleaning elements are joined together on a base section. 
   
   
       47 . The toothbrush head of  claim 35 , wherein film strips of different materials are combined to form a film strip cluster. 
   
   
       48 . The toothbrush head of  claim 35 , wherein bristles arc arranged next to the cleaning elements. 
   
   
       49 . The toothbrush head of  claim 35 , wherein the plurality of film strips are arranged to form a plurality of film strip composites. 
   
   
       50 . The toothbrush head of  claim 49 , wherein the plurality of film strips is arranged in rows to form the plurality of film strip composites. 
   
   
       51 . A method of manufacturing a toothbrush head comprising:
 forming a plurality of elongated elements from a plurality of film strips;   combining the plurality of elongated elastic cleaning elements into clusters; and   attaching the clusters to a holder, the elongated cleaning elements protruding away from the holder.   
   
   
       52 . The method of  claim 51 , further comprising separating at least some of the plurality of film strips from at least one film sheet. 
   
   
       53 . The method of  claim 52 , wherein at least some of the plurality of film strips are at least partially punched from the at least one film sheet. 
   
   
       54 . The method of  claim 52 , wherein at least some of the plurality of film strips are laser cut from the at least one film sheet. 
   
   
       55 . The method of  claim 52 , further comprising applying a surface coating containing at least one applicator substance to the at least one film sheet before the film strips are separated from the at least one film sheet. 
   
   
       56 . The method of  claim 52 , further comprising introducing at least one applicator substance into the at least one film sheet. 
   
   
       57 . The method of  claim 51 , wherein forming the cleaning elements from the film strips comprises stacking the film strips one above the other. 
   
   
       58 . The method of  claim 57 , wherein at least a portion of the stacked film strips are bonded together. 
   
   
       59 . The method of  claim 51 , further comprising arranging the film strips side-by-side and joining the film strips to a common base section to form a film strip composite. 
   
   
       60 . The method of  claim 59 , further comprising folding the film strip composite to form a film strip stack and joining the film strip stack to the holder. 
   
   
       61 . The method of  claim 51 , further comprising stacking the plurality of film strips one above the other and forming film strip clusters by attaching the stacked plurality of film strips to the holder. 
   
   
       62 . The method of  claim 61 , further comprising joining together base sections of the plurality of film strips. 
   
   
       63 . The method of  claim 51 , further comprising fastening the plurality of film strips to the holder by tamping the plurality of film strips into a recess in the holder.