MICHAEL EDWARD KOSSAK, D.D.S
Dentist in Washington, DC

5678578, Oct 21, 1997

Apr 22, 1996

8/635854

Michael Kossak - Washington DC
Richard Daley - Scituate RI
Ted Lubin - Boston MA
Douglas Schultheis - Cumberland RI
Paul Kotowski - Foster RI
Bernard A. Fitzmorris - Washington DC

A61C 1500

132322

A dental flossing device is characterized by a flossing circuit comprising a floss supply spool and a take-up spool mounted to a housing containing a gear train assembly adapted to rotate the take-up spool in a winding direction. The floss feeds from the supply spool along a pair of prongs forming a forked extension of the handle and is stretched across the forked prongs and appropriately tensioned to be inserted into a user's mouth for flossing. To maintain hygiene, the take-up spool is mounted outside the housing. In a manually operated embodiment, a manually depressible trigger projecting from the housing is operable to rotate the take-up spool with reverse rotation thereof being prevented with a ratchet mechanism. Release of the manually depressible trigger reversely rotates the supply spool through a short arcuate interval to remove slack and then locks the supply spool against unwinding rotation through gear teeth. In a preferred manually operated embodiment, first and second ratchet mechanisms are utilized to prevent reverse rotation of the supply and take-up spools while sufficiently tensioning the floss circuit.