Toothbrush having signal producing means

Claim 1

A tooth brushing apparatus comprising: a bristle part, a handle, signal producing means in said handle for producing acoustic signals within the audible range of the human ear, said signal producing means being held in a structural module and including a circuit formed by an integrated circuit chip, a battery, and a switch, said battery being replaceable and having a life of approximately three months when said tooth brushing apparatus is employed for a predetermined length of time twice a day so as to signal the end of the recommended life of said bristle part, said predetermined length of time being substantially two minutes to coincide with the optimum time for which teeth should be brushed, said chip being programmed to emit pulses when the circuit is closed and having timing means for keeping said circuit closed for said predetermined length of time after activation of the switch, said length of time being based upon an optimum time for which teeth should be brushed upon actuation of said switch, a sound generator connected with said chip and formed of a piezoelectric resonator which converts the electrical pulses delivered from said chip into acoustic energy, and a sound amplifier for amplifying said acoustic energy outside of said apparatus.