Dental flosser

Claim 1

Powered apparatus for cleaning interproximal tooth surfaces with dental floss, comprising an elongated hollow body having a rear end and a front end, a motor mounted adjacent the rear end of the body, a pair of spaced arms, means within the body pivotally mounting said arms on the body to rock about an axis extending transversely of the length of the body, said arms having rear portions extending from said axis toward the motor and longer forward portions extending from said axis to project beyond the front end of the body, means connecting said arms so that they move together as a unit, drive means connecting the motor to rock the arms about the said pivotable axis to a limited extent, said drive means comprising means having a slot therein elongated generally parallel to said pivotal axis, means connecting said slotted means to the rear portion of the arms, an element extending slideably into said slot, means rotatable by the motor about an axis of rotation extending in the same direction as the elongation of said body, said rotatable means mounting said element to extend parallel to, but eccentrically offset, relative to said access of rotation, means to suspend the length of floss between the projecting ends of the forward portion of the arms, said suspended floss being carried by the arms without endwise movement, and the distance between the suspended floss and the pivotal access being very much longer than the amplitude of limited movement of the arm ends where the floss is suspended, whereby the suspended floss is caused to reciprocate laterally in a substantially flat plane, and resilient means in said connection between the slotted means and the rear portions of the arms, said resilient means being connected to transmit rocking motion to the arms, whereby the arm drive can yield when the suspended floss encounters more than a predetermined resistence.