Technical Field The present invention relates to a toothbrush provided with a tongue cleaner having a foul breath removal function, wherein the tongue cleaner can effectively remove a coated tongue, etc. , that is adhered to the flat of the tongue within the mouth to cause a foul breath.

Background Art A method of keeping the mouth clean may include cleaning the teeth and the gum using a toothbrush, removing an alien substance got caught between the teeth using dental floss, removing a coated tongue generated on the flat of the tongue and food dregs adhered after eating food using a coated tongue removal means, and the like.

The present invention is contrived to provide a toothbrush for cleaning the teeth and the gum, which is provided with a coated tongue removal means for cleaning the flat of the tongue, i. e. , a tongue cleaner.

Conventionally, there was disclosed a toothbrush for cleaning the teeth, which has a coated tongue removal means for removing a

coated tongue. Representative ones are Korean Laid-Open Utility Mode No. 1998-14213 entitled"Toothbrush Having Means for Removing Flat of Tongue", Korean Laid-Open Utility Mode No. 1999-4051 entitled"Toothbrush Having Unit for Cleaning Flat of Tongue and Reflective Unit"and Korean Utility Mode Registration No. 0344239 entitled"Toothbrush Having Tongue Cleaner".

Korean Laid-Open Utility Mode No. 1998-14213 discloses a common toothbrush, which has space formed within a toothbrush pole, i. e. , a handle, and a brush element having brushes implanted into the space in a longitudinal direction. In this structure, the brush element is rubbed against the flat of the tongue. As the brushes are formed in the longitudinal direction, they cannot be moved from the root of the tongue to the tip of the tongue when cleaning the flat of the tongue but has to be moved right and left.

For this reason, a coated tongue or an alien substance could not be easily removed and slips out between the brushes. Therefore, there is a problem that the coated tongue or the alien substance could not be effectively removed.

Furthermore, Korean Laid-Open Utility Mode No. 1999-4051 discloses a common toothbrush in which an element for cleaning the flat of the tongue is fixed to a toothbrush pole, i. e. , the distal end of the handle. In this case, the element for cleaning the flat

of the tongue has a support pole, being integrally formed with a saw-toothed coated tongue removal means, integrally formed at the distal end of the handle. In this structure, however, as the height of the coated tongue removal means of the saw tooth shape is too low, saliva generated from the tongue is introduced into the coated tongue removal means and then slides on the flat of the tongue. As a result, the capability of removing the coated tongue is lowered. As the width of the coated tongue removal means is too narrow, scratched coated tongue deviates out of the coated tongue removal means. It is difficult to effectively discharge the coated tongue. Furthermore, as the support pole is too thin, it is difficult to apply a great force to the pole. Due to this, there is a problem that the coated tongue cannot be effectively removed.

If a force is forcibly applied to the support pole, there are problems that the support port may be deformed or broken and thus lose the coated tongue removal function.

Korean Utility Mode Registration No. 0344239 discloses a toothbrush having a tongue cleaner in which a tongue cleaner unit for supporting the tongue cleaner by a support means is contained within the handle or adhered/detached to/from the end of the handle.

In the toothbrush having the conventional tongue cleaner formed as above, however, the tongue cleaner unit has a circular

arc and is wider than the handle of the toothbrush. Accordingly, there is a problem that it is difficult to easily clean the edges of the tongue when cleaning the flat of the tongue.

Disclosure of Invention Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a toothbrush provided with a tongue cleaner.

The toothbrush of the present invention includes an upper cleaner unit and a lower cleaner unit. The upper cleaner unit is formed to have a parabolic shape in a lateral direction of a handle at the end of the handle on the opposite side of a head unit. The lower cleaner unit is formed to have an arc shape toward the head unit at the rear side of the upper cleaner unit, thereby removing a coated tongue at portions deeply into the tongue. Alien substances being removed are thus dragged and exhausted by the moving cleaner. It is thus possible to enhance the capability of removing the alien substances.

To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a toothbrush having a tongue cleaner, including a handle of a given length that is held by a person who cleans the teeth, a head unit formed at one end of the handle, and

a number of brushes formed in the head unit, comprising : an upper cleaner unit formed to have the same width as the handle at the other end of the handle on the opposite side of the head unit, the upper cleaner unit serving to remove a coated tongue ; and a lower cleaner unit formed at the rear side of the upper cleaner unit to effectively remove a coated tongue generated at portions deeply into the flat of the tongue.

Brief Description of Drawings Further objects and advantages of the invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a toothbrush provided with a tongue cleaner according to the present invention ; Fig. 2 is a plane view showing a toothbrush provided with a tongue cleaner according to the present invention ; Fig. 3 is a bottom view showing a toothbrush provided with a tongue cleaner according to the present invention ; Fig. 4 is a lateral cross-sectional view showing a toothbrush provided with a tongue cleaner according to the present invention ; Fig. 5 illustrates how an upper cleaner unit of a toothbrush provided with a tongue cleaner is used according to the present

invention and Fig. 6 illustrates how a low cleaner unit of a toothbrush provided with a tongue cleaner is used according to the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention The present invention will now be described in detail in connection with preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a toothbrush provided with a tongue cleaner according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plane view showing the toothbrush provided with the tongue cleaner according to the present invention, Fig. 3 is a bottom view showing the toothbrush provided with the tongue cleaner according to the present invention and Fig. 4 is a lateral cross-sectional view showing the toothbrush provided with the tongue cleaner according to the present invention.

Referring to Fig. 1, the toothbrush according to the present invention includes a handle 10. The handle 10 is a portion that is held by a person who cleans the teeth. The handle may have various shapes. It is, however, preferred that the handle has a little curved shape. A head unit 20 is formed at one end of the handle 10.

A number of brushes 22 are implanted into one side of the head unit 20. The brushes 22 are portions that directly contact a human's teeth in order clean the teeth. As can be seen from Fig. 1, the toothbrush of the present invention may have the similar shape as a common toothbrush.

An upper cleaner unit 30 and a lower cleaner unit 40, being a tongue cleaner, are formed at the other end of the handle 10 on the opposite side of the head unit 20. The tongue cleaner serves to clean the flat of the tongue after rinsing mouth using the toothbrush. The tongue cleaner scratches an alien substance adhered to the flat of the tongue and then makes it removed. The upper cleaner unit 30 of the tongue cleaner is formed at the end of the handle 10 on the opposite side of the head unit 20. The lower cleaner unit 40 is formed at the rear side of the upper cleaner unit 30.

The upper cleaner unit 30 includes an upper protrusion 32 of a parabolic shape, a cleaning face 34 formed at the inner side of the upper protrusion 32, guide elements 36,36'formed at both ends of the upper protrusion 32, for preventing a coated tongue from being leaked outwardly, and a groove 38 of a given depth along which the bottom of the handle having the upper protrusion 32 formed thereon is extended from the cleaning face 34 in order to exhaust a lot of

coated tongues. In the upper protrusion 32, the axis of the parabola and the axis of a longitudinal direction of the handle 10 are formed to go awry so that the coated tongue can be more easily removed. The cleaning face 34 is formed to have a curved slant shape that is extended from the top of the upper protrusion 32 to the bottom of the handle 10. The guide elements 36,36'have a given length that is more bent than the parabola toward the inner side of the upper protrusion 32.

The lower cleaner unit 40 includes a lower protrusion 42 of an arc (semicircular) shape, a cleaning face 44 formed at the inner side of the lower protrusion 42, guide elements 46,46'formed at both ends of the lower protrusion 42, for preventing leakage of the coated tongue outwardly, and a groove 48 of a given depth along which the bottom of the handle having the low protrusion 42 formed thereon is extended from the cleaning face 44 in order to exhaust a lot of coated tongues. In the above, the lower protrusion 42 has an inner side of the arc shape formed toward the head unit 20 of the handle 10. The cleaning face 44 has the curved slant shape extended from the top of the lower protrusion 42 to the bottom of the handle 10. The guide elements 46,46'have a given length so that they are in equilibrium with the side of the handle 10 at the distal end of the lower protrusion 42. It is preferred that the

entire top portion of each of the upper protrusion 32 and the lower protrusion 42 is made rounded so that a taste bud on the surface of the tongue is not damaged when the flat of the tongue is cleaned.

The inner side of the parabola of the upper cleaner unit 30 is obliquely formed on the basis of the longitudinal direction of the handle 10 depending on the hands being used, preferably at an angle of 30° to 60° so that the inner side is oriented toward the other side of the handle 10. It thus further facilitates the cleaning.

How to use the toothbrush having the tongue cleaner according to the present invention will now be described.

As shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, in a state where the upper protrusion 32 of the upper cleaner unit 30 is oriented toward the inner side of the mouth and the cleaning face 34 of the upper cleaner unit 30 is oriented toward a lower side, the toothbrush is inserted into the mouth. After the cleaning face 34 is oriented toward the end of the flat of the tongue, the upper protrusion 32 is brought into contact with the flat of the tongue. In this state, if the toothbrush is pulled as if the force is applied downward, an alien substance such as food dregs, etc. as well as a coated tongue generated in the flat of the tongue is removed/exhausted by the upper protrusion 32.

In particular, in a state where the lower protrusion 42 of the

lower cleaner unit 40 is oriented toward the inner s-ide of the mouth and the cleaning face 44 of the lower cleaner unit 40 is inserted into the mouth with it oriented downward, if the lower protrusion 42 is brought into contact with the flat of the tongue and is pulled as if a force is applied downward, an alien substance such as food dregs, etc. as well as a coated tongue generated in the flat of the tongue is removed/exhausted by the upper protrusion 42. The coated tongue formed deeply into the flat of the tongue can be thus effectively removed.

Industrial Applicability As described above, according to the present invention, an upper cleaner unit is formed at the end of a handle on the opposite side of a head unit. An inner side of an upper protrusion is obliquely formed to have a parabolic shape, thus oriented toward the other side of the handle. Guide elements of a given length are formed at both ends of the upper protrusion to prevent a coated tongue from being leaked outwardly. A wide area of the upper cleaner unit is brought into contact with the flat of the tongue.

Therefore, the present invention has an effect that it can enhance the capability of removing an alien substance.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, a lower cleaner unit has a lower protrusion of an arc (semicircular) shape

formed toward a head unit at the rear side of the upper cleaner unit. Guide elements of a given length are formed at both ends of an upper protrusion to prevent a coated tongue from being leaked outwardly. It is therefore possible to effectively remove a coated tongue generated a lot deeply into the flat of the tongue.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.