GB2250428A

GB2250428A - Electric toothbrush

Info

Publication number: GB2250428A
Application number: GB9026276A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ram Shalvi; Sagayama Kenji
Original assignee: Solar Wide Industrial Ltd
Current assignee: Solar Wide Industrial Ltd
Priority date: 1990-12-03
Filing date: 1990-12-03
Publication date: 1992-06-10
Anticipated expiration: 2010-12-03
Also published as: GB2250428B; GB9026276D0

Abstract

A toothbrush, having a handle (12) and a head (11), is provided with an electric motor or piezo electric transducer (20) located within the head of the toothbrush in close proximity to the bristles for imparting vibrations thereto. The handle of the toothbrush accommodates a battery (16) for operating the motor and an operating switch (17). <IMAGE>

Description

VIBRATING TOOTHBRUSH This invention relates to toothbrushes particularly of the vibrating type.

In the past, manufacturers have been developing toothbrushes which aid the users in cleaning their teeth. Generally, these toothbrushes have been electrically operated and have included a motor and a battery for powering the motor which are both incorporated in a handle for the toothbrush. The motor may drive the bristles of the toothbrush in a rotational fashion about their longitudinal axes or drive the toothbrush back and forth along the longitudinal axis of the handle.

According to the invention, there is provided a toothbrush comprising a handle and a head arranged to support an array of brush bristles, and electrical vibrating means mounted adjacent the bristles and arranged to vibrate the array of bristles.

The vibrating means may be a motor located within the head. The motor may have a rotationally unbalanced rotor mounted to urge the remote ends of the bristles to move in a circular planar path substantially at right angles to their longitudinal axes.

A battery may be provided within the handle electrically connected to the vibrating means via a switch. The switch may be a push switch and the toothbrush may include a timer for automatically turning the switch off after a predetermined period of time.

The vibrating means may be a piezo electric transducer located within the head and may be arranged to operate in the sonic or ultrasonic frequency ranges. The array of brush bristles may be replaceably mounted to the brush head.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a toothbrush according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a side view of the head of the toothbrush of Figure 1; Figure 3 is an exploded sectional side view of the embodiment of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a plan view of a motor used in the toothbrush; and Figure 5 is a diagrammatic representation of a vibration device.

Referring to the drawings, in Figures 1 to 3 the toothbrush 10 comprises a head 11 connected to a handle 12 by a shank 13. The head of the toothbrush carries an array of brush bristles 14 for cleaning purposes.

A vibrating motor 20 is incorporated into the head 11 of the toothbrush for imparting vibrations from the motor to the bristles 14 in order to aid the cleaning functions of the bristles. The vibration is arranged to urge the bristles to move through a circular path in a plane substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axes of the individual bristles enhancing their cleaning affect.

Located within the handle 12 of the toothbrush is a battery 16 for powering the motor. The battery may be a standard or rechargable 'AA' or 'AAA' type battery.

Smaller types of batteries may be used if smaller handles are desired.

A switch 17 is used to switch the motor on or off and is also located in or on the handle 12. Electrical wires (not shown) complete the electrical circuit between the battery, motor and the switch and are located within the toothbrush. A timer 18 is associated with the switch to automatically turn the motor off after it has been turned on for a predetermined period of time, e.g. 3 minutes. The switch may be arranged to control or vary the intensity or frequency of the vibrations. An LED indicator 19 is provided to indicate the proper operation of the timer circuit. It may also be used to indicate that the battery power is low.

From Figure 3, it can be seen that the array of bristles 14 is detachably mounted to the head 11 of the toothbrush to enable the bristles to be replaced. This enables the brush or bristles to be replaced when they are worn out rather than having to replace the entire toothbrush, thus extending the effective life of the toothbrush.

The motor 20 is located within the head 11 of the toothbrush directly behind and adjacent the bristle array as shown in figures 2 & 3. In this position maximum vibration can be imparted by the motor to the brush.

The motor 20, shown in figure 4, is a flat vibrating type of motor. The motor is principlely a "flat" motor with an eccentic weight 21 fitted to the rotor 22 of the motor which provides a rotationally unbalanced rotor to cause vibrations as it rotates. One advantage of the flat vibrating motor is that it can be conveniently fitted to the toothbrush such that its rotor has an axis of rotation parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bristles. This provides, as explained, vibrations from the motor to urge the bristles to move through circular paths to aid brushing the teeth.

The vibrating means may comprise other forms of minature motors having eccentrically weighted rotors or driving other vibrating devices incorporated within the toothbrush to impart vibrations to the head and hence to the bristles of the toothbrush.

In an alternative embodiment, the vibrating means comprises a piezo electric transducer 30 as shown in figure 5. The transducer is located in a cavity in the head of the toothbrush directly behind and adjacent the bristles to vibrate the bristles. The transducer is supported in the cavity by supports 31 and preferably operates in the sonic or ultrasonic frequency ranges.

Claims

1. A toothbrush comprising a handle and a head arranged to support an array of brush bristles, and electrical vibrating means mounted adjacent the bristles and arranged to vibrate the array of bristles.

2. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 1 wherein the vibrating means is a motor located within the head.

3. A toothbrush according to claim 2, in which the motor has a rotationally unbalanced rotor mounted to urge the remote ends of the bristles to move in a circular planar path substantially at right angles to their longitudinal axes.

4. A toothbrush as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, including a battery within the handle electrically connected to the vibrating means via a switch.

5. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 4 wherein the switch is a push switch, and including a timer for automatically turning the switch off after a predetermined period of time.

6. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 1 wherein the vibrating means is a piezo electric transducer located within the head.

7. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 6 wherein the piezo electric transducer is arranged to operate in the sonic or ultrasonic frequency ranges.

8. A toothbrush according to any one of claims 1 to 7, in which the array of brush bristles is replaceably mounted to the brush head.

9. Vibrating toothbrushes substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one or more of figures 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.