NL2018148B1 - Electric toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

Electric toothbrush comprising a housing, and a replaceable brush head that is mounted or mountable on the housing, where-in in the housing a motor and a battery unit is provided as well as a transmission between the motor and the brush head, and wherein the brush head, the transmission, and the motor are essentially built in-line, and the battery unit or units is/are positioned in the housing next or adjacent to the motor and/or transmission and parallel to the built in-line brush head, transmission, and motor.

Description

Octrooicentrum

Nederland

© 2018148 (21) Aanvraagnummer: 2018148 © Aanvraag ingediend: 10/01/2017 © BI OCTROOI © Int. CL:

A61C 17/22 (2017.01)

0 Aanvraag ingeschreven:	© Octrooihouder(s):
25/07/2018	Milton Edward Aguirre Jr. te Den Haag.
© Aanvraag gepubliceerd:
-	© Uitvinder(s):
	Milton Edward Aguirre Jr. te Den Haag.
© Octrooi verleend:
25/07/2018
	© Gemachtigde:
© Octrooischrift uitgegeven:	mr. ir. J. van Breda c.s. te Amsterdam.
31/07/2018

© Electric toothbrush © Electric toothbrush comprising a housing, and a replaceable brush head that is mounted or mountable on the housing, where-in in the housing a motor and a battery unit is provided as well as a transmission between the motor and the brush head, and wherein the brush head, the transmission, and the motor are essentially built in-line, and the battery unit or units is/are positioned in the housing next or adjacent to the motor and/or transmission and parallel to the built in-line brush head, transmission, and motor.

NL Bl 2018148

Dit octrooi is verleend ongeacht het bijgevoegde resultaat van het onderzoek naar de stand van de techniek en schriftelijke opinie. Het octrooischrift komt overeen met de oorspronkelijk ingediende stukken.

Electric toothbrush

The invention relates to an electric toothbrush comprising a housing, and a replaceable brush head that is mounted or mountable on the housing, wherein in the housing a motor and a battery unit are provided as well as a transmission between the motor and the brush head, and wherein the brush head, the transmission, and the motor are essentially built in-line .

Such an electric toothbrush is well known; see for an arbitrary example for instance US 5,524,312. In the known electric toothbrush the brush head, the transmission, the motor and the battery unit are all built in-line.

The construction of the known electric toothbrush poses a variety of problems to its user, who is most of the time not even aware of these problems. The background of these problems can be explained as follows.

The known electric toothbrush design generates a culture of users that apply excessive mechanical loads and motions on the teeth and gums. Over time, excessive mechanical loading has been shown to deteriorate gum lines and teeth enamel. This results in sensitive nerves and/or teeth causing physical discomforts to end-users.

The problem stems from the design of the electric toothbrush which closely follows the design of the old manual toothbrush. The indisputable similarities between the two communicate to end-users that the principles of use are complementary, whether intentional or not. The known electric toothbrush includes ergonomic features that inherently influence how a user will apply it, that is to say consistent with how a manual toothbrush is applied with the housing of the electric toothbrush lying in the palm of the user's hand.

As a conseguence of this implied teaching how to use the known electric toothbrush, this will replicate the loading conditions of a mechanical lever. The toothbrush' long stiff configuration supports the development of large transverse forces directed and transferred onto the user's teeth and gums. The method of gripping the electric toothbrush within the hand per se thus significantly impacts the applied loads on the teeth and gums. Similar observations apply to shear loading forces on the teeth and gums that occur during use of an electric toothbrush when its user moves the toothbrush up and down and from left to right and back along its teeth and gums. These problems are even worse when brushing is done in a rush or are performed anxious for a deep clean.

It is an object of the invention to provide a solution for the said problems.

Accordingly an electric toothbrush is proposed with the features of one or more of the appended claims.

Essentially the invention is about redesigning the known electric toothbrush into an ergonomic design that naturally induces the user of the toothbrush to stay away from its old habits that lead to undesirable loads applied to the user's teeth and gums.

According to one aspect of the invention the battery unit or units of the electric toothbrush is/are positioned in the housing next or adjacent to the motor and/or transmission and parallel to the built in-line brush head, transmission, and motor. With this design it is made possible that the housing has a length which is greater than the length of the built in-line transmission and motor, yet smaller than the length of the built in-line transmission and motor and the length of the battery unit or units added together.

The invention is in particular about providing the housing with a breadth which is dimensioned to accommodate placement of a user's four fingers in their natural position next to each other resting on the housing. This provides a natural posture of the hand wherein the toothbrush can be supported by said hand and form as it were a natural extension of the user's lower arm, wrist and hand. Accordingly the toothbrush of the invention prevents, or reduces the impact of a mechanical lever wherein the thumb acts as the pivot point of the toothbrush. The construction with the battery unit or units of the electric toothbrush positioned in the housing next or adjacent to the motor and/or transmission and parallel to the built in-line brush head, transmission, and motor supports this design wherein the housing has a breadth which is dimensioned to accommodate placement of a user's four fingers next to each other and resting on the housing, but the features can also be realized independent from each other. It is however preferred to combine both features.

The benefits of the invented electric toothbrush are particularly achieved when the housing is dimensioned to accommodate simultaneous placement of a user's four fingers in their natural position next to each other resting on the housing on a first surface, and simultaneous placement of a user's thumb resting on the housing on a second surface which is opposite to the first surface. In this design it is quite unnatural to produce a large pivot point with the thumb, and use of the toothbrush implies than that the brush head can simply be placed softly and gently on the user's teeth and gums.

The intended use and handling of the electric toothbrush according to the invention can be further promoted by arranging that the housing is dimensioned to accommodate a size of a user's hand, in particular the fingers, such that during use the housing is substantially or predominantly within the palm of the user's hand and manipulated by the distal phalanges of the user's preferred fingers. Typical toothbrushes of the prior art rest on the palm of the hand. Actuation with the toothbrush of the invention is no longer controlled by the palm of the hand but instead actuated by the distal phalanges of the fingers. This hand placement enhances the user's sensitivity to force while brushing.

The invention will hereinafter be further elucidated with reference to the drawing of an exemplary embodiment of an electric toothbrush according to the prior art and according to the invention that is not limiting as to the appended claims .

In the drawing:

-figure 1 shows an electric toothbrush according to the invention while being held in the palm of the user's hand;

-figure 2 shows an electric toothbrush according to the prior art;

-figure 3 shows an exploded view of the electric toothbrush according to the invention; and

-figure 4 shows comparatively an electric toothbrush according to the prior art and an electric toothbrush accord4 ing to the invention standing next to each other.

Whenever in the figures the same reference numerals are applied, these numerals refer to the same parts.

Making first reference to figure 2, it shows an electric toothbrush 1 of the prior art, which comprises a housing 2 that for clarity purposes is shown in worked open condition. The electric toothbrush 1 further comprises a replaceable brush head 3 that is mounted or mountable on the housing 2, wherein in the housing 2 a motor 4 and a battery unit 5 are provided as well as a transmission 6 between the motor 4 and the brush head 3. The battery unit 5, the motor 4, the transmission 6 and the brush head 3 are essentially built in-line.

The differences between the electric toothbrush 1 of the prior art and the electric toothbrush 1' of the invention are probably best shown in figure 4, which shows both variants of the electric toothbrush in one and the same figure next to each other. It shows that with the toothbrush 1' of the invention that is placed on the right side of the toothbrush 1 according to the prior art, the battery unit or units 5 is/are positioned in the housing 2 next or adjacent to the motor 4 and/or transmission 6 and parallel to the built in-line brush head 3, transmission 6, and motor 4. This is further clearly shown in figure 3 which provides an exploded view of the electric toothbrush 1' of the invention.

Figure 4 also clearly shows that the housing 2 of the electric toothbrush 1' of the invention has a length which is greater than the length of the built in-line transmission 6 and motor 4, yet smaller than the length of the built in-line transmission 6 and motor 4 and the length of the battery unit or units 5 added together. One thing and another is arranged such that the housing 2 has a breadth which is dimensioned to accommodate placement of a user's four fingers 7 in their natural position next to each other resting on the housing 2. In fact it is preferred that the housing 2 is dimensioned to accommodate simultaneous placement of a user's four fingers 7 in their natural position next to each other resting on the housing 2 on a first surface 2', and simultaneous placement of a user's thumb 8 resting on the housing 2 on a second surface 2' ' which is opposite to the first surface 2'. Depending on the user's preferences the use of only 3 fingers (e.g., index, middle, ring fingers) or combinations thereof for handling the housing 2 of the toothbrush is of course also possible.

Finally figure 4 shows that the housing 2 is dimensioned to accommodate a size of a user's hand 9, in particular the fingers 7, such that during use the housing 2 is substantially or predominantly within the palm 10 of the user's hand

9. The construction of the toothbrush 1' of the invention encourages the user to grip the housing at a 90° offset which requires manipulation of the toothbrush 1' predominantly with the use of the tips of the fingers 7 and thumb 8 only, offering superior sensitivity and awareness of applied loads to one's teeth and gums.

As will be clear from the discussion above the electric toothbrush 1' of the invention comprises basically the same components as the electric toothbrush 1 of the prior art, yet rearrangement of these components provides a novel and compact handle construction which is embodied in the housing 2 of the electric toothbrush 1'. This new configuration kind of naturally prevents that it's user applies the adverse mechanical forces and motions on its teeth and gums due to the inherent transformation of the way that the user will grip and operate the toothbrush 1' of the invention. Particularly the mechanical leverage that is known from the known electrical toothbrush 1 is significantly reduced with the tooth brush 1' of the invention. The clear shortening of the length and repositioned handling of the toothbrush 1' of the invention in comparison with the known toothbrush 1 is important for the achievement of these results. The ergonomic design of the toothbrush 1' that results from the invention encourages the user to grip the housing at a 90° offset which requires manipulation of the toothbrush 1' predominantly with the use of the tips of the fingers 7 and thumb 8 only, offering superior sensitivity and awareness of applied loads to one's teeth and gums .

Although the invention has been discussed in the foregoing with reference to an exemplary embodiment of the electric toothbrush of the invention, the invention is not restricted to this particular embodiment which can be varied in many ways without departing from the invention. The discussed exemplary embodiment shall therefore not be used to construe the appended claims strictly in accordance therewith. On the contrary the embodiment is merely intended to explain the wording of the appended claims without intent to limit the claims to this exemplary embodiment. The scope of protection of the invention shall therefore be construed in accordance with the appended claims only, wherein a possible ambiguity in the wording of the claims shall be resolved using this exem- plary embodiment.

Claims (5)

CONCLUSIONS An electric toothbrush (1, 1 ') comprising a housing (2), and an exchangeable brush head (3) mounted or mountable on the housing (2), wherein in the housing (2) a motor (4) and a battery unit (5) and a transmission (6) are provided between the motor (4) and the brush head (3), and wherein the brush head (3), the transmission (6), and the motor (4) are substantially in -line, characterized in that the battery unit or units (5) is / are positioned in the housing (2) adjacent to or adjacent to the motor (4) and / or transmission (6) and parallel to the in- line built brush head (3), transmission (6), and motor (4). Electric toothbrush according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing (2) has a length that is greater than the length of the in-line transmission (6) and motor (4), but smaller than the length of the In-line transmission (6) and motor (4) and the length of the battery unit or units (5) added together. An electric toothbrush according to the preamble of claim 1, or according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the housing (2) has a width which is dimensioned for the placement of a user's four fingers (7) in their natural position rest side by side on the housing (2). An electric toothbrush according to claim 3, characterized in that the housing (2) is dimensioned for simultaneously placing a user's four fingers (7) resting in their natural position on the housing next to each other (2) on a first surface (2 '), and the simultaneous placement of a user's thumb (8) resting on the housing (2) on a second surface (2' ') opposite the first surface (2'). Electric toothbrush according to one of the preceding claims 1-4, characterized in that the housing (2) is dimensioned to a size of a user's hand (9), in particular the fingers (7), so that during use the housing (2) is substantially or substantially within the palm (10) of a user's hand (9). 1/3 Figure 1. 2/3 Lfl on ^{F ure2} · Figure 3. 3/3 Figure 4.