Toothbrush with two segments of bristles

Claim 1

A toothbrush made of a thermoplastically deforming plastic comprising an elongate handle having a grip portion, a front end segment with a tapered portion directed away from the grip portion, a back end, an upper side, and a longitudinal axis, the handle having defined therethrough a first, center plane containing said longitudinal axis, a pair of bristle-bearing segments; a plurality of bristle bundles mounted in said pair of bristle-bearing segments, each bundle having free ends of bristles, and a pair of short, thermoplastically shaped connection arms joining said pair of bristle-bearing segments to said front end segment at said tapered portion, said connection arms, bristle-bearing segments and handle forming a fork having two prongs, each prong containing one bristle-bearing segment and one connection arm, said prongs being located on opposite sides of said first center plane and substantially below a second center plane perpendicular to said first center plane and containing said longitudinal axis, said bristle-bearing segments having mutually facing inside surfaces sloping toward each other in a gable-manner, planar extensions of said inside surfaces intersecting above said upper side of said handle at a first angle of less than 55°, said plurality of bristle bundles being mounted on said inside surfaces, said free ends of said bristle bundles bounding a gap and defining side surfaces for contact in use with teeth, said side surfaces sloping in a gable-manner toward each other, planar extensions of said side surfaces intersecting above said gap at a second angle which is less than said first angle.