JPH1066704A - Motor-driven toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily and surely remove materials clinging to the surfaces of teeth, such as calculus, plaque, and tar. SOLUTION: This toothbrush has a number of brushes 2 and a drive means for driving the brushes 2. The drive means moves only some of the brushes 2 back and forth in the direction of their axis. Since the other brushes that do not move back and forth in the direction of their axis can surely be held pressed against the surfaces of teeth, the brushes that move back and forth in the direction of their axis can surely be put into action to remove materials clinging to the surfaces of teeth.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric toothbrush.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As for the brushing method using tooth brushing, as shown in FIG. 22 (a), a rolling method in which the tooth brush is polished by making a half turn from the gum toward the tip of the tooth,
As shown in FIG. 22 (b), there is a bath method in which the tooth brush is finely moved in the longitudinal direction of the handle, and as shown in FIG. 22 (c), a Fons method in which the tooth brush is moved so as to draw a continuous circle. . The electric tooth brushing is also configured to drive the brush in accordance with these brushing methods.

[0003] The above-mentioned brushing methods move the brush along the surface of the tooth, and are not very effective in removing plaque and tartar firmly adhered to the tooth surface. On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-142508 discloses a brush for reciprocatingly driving a brush in its axial direction. This type, which makes the brush move in a direction perpendicular to the tooth surface, has a better result in removing foreign substances adhering to the tooth surface compared to moving the brush along the tooth surface. Can be.

[0004]

However, in the technique disclosed in the above publication, the brush is driven reciprocally in the axial direction, so that the brush is driven with the brush tip in contact with the tooth surface. If this is done, the state in which the root of the brush reciprocates remarkably will occur rather than the reciprocation of the brush tip, and it has been difficult to perform tooth brushing that effectively utilizes the movement of the brush.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and it is an object of the present invention to easily and reliably remove extraneous matter such as tartar, plaque, and tar on the tooth surface. To provide an electric toothpaste that can be.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided an electric toothbrush having a large number of brushes and driving means for driving the brushes, wherein the driving means reciprocates only some of the brushes in the axial direction. It is characterized by being moved. Another brush that does not reciprocate in the axial direction can reliably maintain the state in which the brush is applied to the tooth surface. Can be.

The brushes that reciprocate in the axial direction may be brushes in a predetermined row. However, if the brushes that reciprocate in the axial direction are mixed with other brushes, the brush can be held in contact with the teeth. Becomes easier. A driving means for causing the brush to perform another movement may be provided. It will also have the effect of brushing teeth with other movements.

The brushes reciprocating in the axial direction may be divided into a plurality of groups reciprocating in different phases.
Since the brush reciprocating in the axial direction hits the teeth and gums in a point-wise manner and in different places, the effect of removing the deposits can be expected more and the massage effect on the gums is provided. Will be.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIGS. 1 to 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a holder which is connected to a main body containing a motor and a driving mechanism in an electric toothbrush. The movable block 12 is housed inside the brush stand 11 at the tip. A part of the movable block 12 is exposed on the surface side of the brush stand 11 at the center in the width direction of the brush stand 11, and 3
Of the brushes 2 provided in a row, two rows of brushes 2 on both sides are planted on a brush base 11, whereas the brushes 2 in a central row are planted on a movable block 12.

The drive shaft 15 is connected to a drive mechanism when the holder 1 is connected to the main body, and rotates around the axis or reciprocates around the axis by driving by the motor and the drive mechanism. Is provided with a cam 16 having an elliptical cross section. The rear side of the movable block 12 is formed as a cam follower provided with a groove having a semicircular cross section with which the cam 16 slides. Further, the movable block 12 is attached to the movable block 12 by a resilient member 17 such as a spring or an elastomer disposed between the front surface of the movable block 12 and the inner surface of the brush stand 11 so that the cam follower portion contacts the cam 16. When the cam 16 rotates, the movable block 12 reciprocates in the front-rear direction of the brush stand 11 when the cam 16 rotates. That is, when the drive shaft 15 is rotated, the brushes 2 in the center row among the three rows of brushes 2 reciprocate in the axial direction.

In the case of using the tooth brush, as shown in FIG. 4, the brushes 2 in the central row are reciprocated in the axial direction with the tips of the brushes 2 abutting against the surfaces of the teeth 5 in an oblique direction. By brushing the tips of the two rows of brushes 2 against the teeth 5, it is possible to keep the tooth brushing in a stable state. The reciprocation in the axial direction allows the brush 2 to bite between the teeth 5 and the deposits 50 on the surfaces of the teeth 5, and the removal of the deposits 50 can be performed simply and reliably. In this regard, it is preferable that the brush 2 that reciprocates in the axial direction has a sharpened tip, but when the brush tip is rounded, the contact is soft and is gentle on the gums. And it has a massage effect. For this reason, it is also preferable to prepare a brush having a different brush tip that reciprocates in the axial direction between the case where importance is attached to removal of attached matter and the case where importance is attached to the massage effect. It is preferable that the brush 2 that reciprocates in the axial direction protrudes by about 3 mm from the other brushes 2 when it protrudes.

In FIG. 5, the brushes 2 in the center row are planted on the brush stand 11 of the holder 1, and the brushes 2 in both rows are arranged.
Is provided on the movable block 12. 6 and 7, the brushes 2 planted on the movable block 12 are arranged between the brushes 2 planted on the brush stand 11 in the longitudinal direction of the holder 1. When the brush 2 that reciprocates in the axial direction is mixed between the brushes 2 that do not move in this way, a state in which the tip of the brush 2 is applied to the tooth surface can be more easily obtained. The operation of removing the deposits by the reciprocating brush 2 can be easily obtained.

FIGS. 8 to 10 show a brush 2 of a central row of tooth brushes which performs a movement for brushing the bath as a whole.
Is further reciprocated in the axial direction. The rotation of the motor 30 is controlled by a pinion 3 as a drive mechanism built in the body.
The two eccentric cam portions 33, 34 are provided on the face gear 32 received through the
Connecting shafts 3 that perform reciprocating linear motion together in response to the movement of
The connecting shafts 35 and 36 are arranged concentrically, and the distal end of the connecting shaft 35 on the outer peripheral side is connected to the base end of the holder 1 as shown in FIG. Connecting shaft 3
The tip of 6 is connected to the drive shaft 15 via a joint 37. Further, the drive shaft 15 shown here has a cam 16 having a thin shaft portion, a tapered portion, and a thick shaft portion at the tip, and the movable block 12 is reciprocated in the axial direction to move the movable block 12 to the holder 1.
Of the brush stand 11 from the surface.

The reciprocating motion of the connecting shaft 35 causes the entire holder 1 to reciprocate, causing the brush 2 to move for polishing the bus, and the reciprocating motion of the connecting shaft 36 causes the movable block 1 to move.
The brushes 2 arranged in the center 2 are further reciprocated in the axial direction. Note that the stroke of the drive shaft 15 with respect to the holder 1 is made larger than the stroke of the connection shaft 36 by making the axial reciprocation of the connection shaft 36 and the axial reciprocation of the connection shaft 35 have opposite phases. Thus, the axial movement of the brushes 2 in the central row can be surely performed.

FIGS. 11 to 14 show a brush 2 in a central row of toothless teeth which performs a movement for rolling polishing as a whole, and further reciprocate in the axial direction.
The drive mechanism (not shown) on the side uses a mechanism that causes the connecting shaft 35 to simultaneously perform reciprocating motion in the axial direction and reciprocating rotation about the axis. It should be noted that such a driving mechanism is already known, so that the description thereof is omitted here.

On the other hand, using a holder 1 in which a brush base 11 is rotatably connected to a handle 10 fixed to the main body 3, a pin 19 provided on a drive shaft 15 is provided on the brush base 11. The connecting shaft 35
The rotational motion about the axis of the drive shaft 15 connected via a joint 39 to the brush base 11 is transmitted to the brush base 11 via the pin 19, so that the brush base 11 performs a reciprocating rotary movement for rolling polishing. I have. A cam 16 similar to the above example is provided at the tip of the drive shaft 15, and the axial reciprocation of the drive shaft 15 further causes the two rows of brushes 2 implanted in the movable block 12 to reciprocate in the axial direction. Let it do.

FIGS. 15 to 18 show a combination of the brush 2 which rotates about the axis and the brush 2 which reciprocates in the axial direction as a whole. The bevel gear 18 and the cam 16 are provided, and the bevel gear 18 is meshed with the bevel gear 21 attached to the turntable 13 provided on the brush stand 11, thereby rotating the turntable 13 on which the brush 2 is implanted. Rotate around. The cam 16
The brush 2 planted on the movable block 12 that engages with the brush 2 is arranged at the center of the group of brushes 2 planted on the turntable 13.
Most of the brushes 2 rotate by the rotation of the turntable 13, but only the brush 2 located at the center reciprocates in the axial direction.

FIGS. 19 to 21 show still another example. Here, the drive shaft 15 which rotates around the axis has a different eccentric direction.
In addition to providing different types of cams 16a, 16b, and 16c, three types of movable blocks 12a, 12b, and 12c corresponding to the respective cams 16a, 16b, and 16c are provided, and brushes implanted in these movable blocks 12a, 12b, and 12c. 2 is designed to reciprocate in the axial direction with different phases.

[0019]

As described above, in the present invention, only a part of the brushes is reciprocated in the axial direction, and the other brushes which do not reciprocate in the axial direction apply brushes to the tooth surface. To ensure that the applied state can be maintained, that is, the brush that reciprocates in the axial direction can reliably obtain a state in which the tip reciprocates, so that the brush that reciprocates in the axial direction is attached. The kimono removing operation can be reliably and easily obtained.

The brushes that reciprocate in the axial direction may be brushes in a predetermined row, but if the brushes that reciprocate in the axial direction are mixed with other brushes, the brush can be held in contact with the teeth. Is more easily performed, and the effect of removing attached matter at the place where the brush reciprocates in the axial direction is easily obtained. A driving means for causing the brush to perform another movement may be provided. It can also have a brushing effect by other movements.

When the brushes reciprocating in the axial direction are divided into a plurality of groups reciprocating in different phases, the brushes reciprocating in the axial direction hit the teeth and gums in a point-wise manner and in different positions. As a result, the effect of removing extraneous matter can be more expected, and a very favorable massage effect can be obtained for the gums.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1A and 1B show an operation in an example of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 1A and 1B are cross-sectional views.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the same.

3A is a front view of the same, FIG. 3B is a side view of the same, FIG.
Is a longitudinal sectional view of the same.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation at the time of brushing the tooth.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show an operation in another example, and FIGS. 5A and 5B are cross-sectional views.

FIG. 6 shows the operation in still another example, and (a) and (b) are longitudinal sectional views.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are cross-sectional views of the same.

FIG. 8 shows another example, in which (a) is a partial front view and (b) is a longitudinal sectional view.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a driving mechanism of the above.

FIGS. 10A and 10B show the same operation, and FIGS. 10A and 10B are cross-sectional views.

FIG. 11 is a front view of still another example.

FIG. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the connecting shaft according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of the above, both of which are (a) and (b).

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a different example.

FIG. 16 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 17 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same.

18 (a) and 18 (b) are cross-sectional views showing the operation of the above.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of still another example.

20 (a) is a longitudinal sectional view of the same, and FIG. 20 (b) is a transverse sectional view of the same.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of the same cam.

FIGS. 22 (a), (b) and (c) are explanatory diagrams of a brushing method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Holder 2 Brush 12 Movable block 15 Drive shaft 16 Cam

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An electric toothbrush having a number of brushes and driving means for driving the brushes, wherein the driving means reciprocates only some of the brushes in the axial direction. Electric toothpaste. 2. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the brush reciprocating in the axial direction is a brush of a predetermined row. 3. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the brush reciprocating in the axial direction is mixed with another brush. 4. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, further comprising a driving means for causing the brush to perform another movement. 5. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the brushes reciprocating in the axial direction are divided into a plurality of groups reciprocating in different phases.