SPECIFICATION

The present invention relates to a pocket or purse toothbrush. Pocket toothbrushes are already known in the art, and some of them incorporate a toothpaste reservoir in the handle.

In certain cases, once the toothpaste is finished, the toothbrush is disposed of, or the reservoir is replaceable; in the latter case, the reservoir is not easy to find, as an item of very little commercial interest .

Toothbrushes are only known, in which the handle telescopically collapses for size compaction. For the toothbrush to be extended or shortened, the handle pieces shall slide into each other, whereby a certain clearance is needed and the two open and closed positions are locked by friction.

The connection of the pieces of the above handle does not ensure an effective lock during use of the toothbrush, as the handle is subjected to axial and torsional stresses that friction forces cannot oppose.

The object of the present invention is to allow two or more telescopic handle pieces to slide off, to ensure a stable position of the handle during use of the toothbrush while affording a minimized pocket size while it is non used.

These objects and advantages are achieved by the pocket toothbrush of this invention, which is characterized by the content of the annexed claims.

This and other features will be more apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment, which is shown by way of example and without limitation in the accompanying drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 is a front view of the toothbrush in the closed non operating position;

- Figure 2 shows the same toothbrush as shown in Figure 1 in its operating position;

- Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 are longitudinal cross sections of the toothbrush in the various handle sliding steps.

Referring to the figures, numeral 1 generally designates a toothbrush having an extensible handle 2.

Namely, the handle is composed of a containment body 3 incorporating a cylindrical chamber 4, with a first helical groove 5 formed on its side wall, for receiving a pin 6 that extends from the outer surface of a cylindrical tube 7.

Particularly the cylindrical tube 7 acts as a first sliding arrangement.

A second helical groove 8 is formed within the cylindrical tube 7, for receiving a pin 9 supported by the outer surface of a tubular element 10 which holds a bristle 12 supporting stem 11 therein.

The stem 11 has a tooth 13 adapted to be received in seats 14 that define the two end positions of the stem in the tube 10. The containment body 3 has a ring nut 15 with a cap 16 being press fitted thereon for enclosing the movable parts when the toothbrush is not used.

A small box 17 is formed above the cap 16, which is closed by a lid 18 for possibly containing a tootpaste or capsules.

While reference has been made in the above description of one embodiment to two sliding arrangements with two helical grooves formed in two tubular elements, a single sliding arrangement might be provided, using rotation.

In a possible variant embodiment, the stem 11 may be manually slid off the tube 10 for bristle replacement .

The above toothbrush may have a clip cap 16, like a pen, to allow accommodation thereof in a pocket or may be used as a key holder.