DE8807968U1 - Brush head - Google Patents

Description

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Description

The invention relates to a brush head for use on an electric toothbrush according to the preamble of claim 1.

Motor-driven, electric toothbrushes with rotating brush heads are often used by people who value particularly thorough cleaning of the teeth and massage of the gums. The brush heads of these toothbrushes have a large number of elastic bristle tufts distributed around the circumference in a brush body that is usually made of plastic. These bristles

IS of the teeth clean, but can also penetrate into the interdental spaces due to their elasticity.

However, the cleaning effect in the approximal spaces is not entirely satisfactory, particularly in older people whose gums have already receded somewhat.

The present invention therefore aims to further develop a brush head according to the preamble of claim 1 in such a way that an improved cleaning of the approximal spaces is achieved.

This object is achieved according to the invention by a brush head according to claim 1.

The brush head according to the invention has an additional central tuft of bristles which, due to its greater length and/or higher rigidity, penetrates better into the spaces between the teeth and cleans them reliably when it rotates.

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Advantageous further developments of the invention are specified in the subclaims.

With the development of the invention according to claim 2, it is achieved that the central bristle tuft has a high overall rigidity even when the individual bristles are made of relatively soft material. In addition, the increased diameter of the central bristle tuft is also advantageous with regard to increasing the contact pressure when cleaning the interdental spaces.

The development of the invention according to claim 3 makes it easier for the central tuft of bristles to find their way into the interdental spaces, which the user can only roughly visualize, and to clean interdental spaces of varying widths.

With a brush body according to claim 5, cleaning fluid can be directed directly to the central tuft of bristles, from where it is released into the otherwise difficult-to-access interdental spaces.

The development of the invention according to claim 6 is advantageous in terms of particularly good cleaning of pockets that form at the point of contact between gums and teeth in old age or with the onset of periodontitis. In addition, the specified arrangement of the off-center bristle tufts on two concentric circles with different diameters also provides flexible and yet reliable support for the outermost bristle tufts against strong stresses.

The further development of the invention according to claim 7 is advantageous in terms of well-uniform elastic support of the outer bristle tufts.

Bsmätt Claim 8 is achieved that the off-center

2405.5 ' i '· .-!3!«'· '!!"!I* 21.06.1988

Bristle tufts are particularly good at profiling the Can adapt to the surface of a row of teeth. |

The further development gömiS claim 9 is advantageous with regard to OS the influence on the stiffness of the central bristle tuft and with regard to the supply of liquid to the tip of the central bristle tuft&bgr;.

The invention is explained in more detail below using an embodiment example with reference to the drawing. In this

Figure Ii is an axial view of a brush head for

Use on an electric toothbrush \ IS and

Figure 2e shows an axial section through the brush head according to Figure 1.

The brush head shown in Figures 1 and 2 and designated overall by 10 for use on an electric toothbrush has a disk-shaped brush holder 12, onto which a hub 14 that can be connected to a drive shaft is formed.

Outer bristle tufts 16 are inserted into the brush holder 12 in the immediate vicinity of the circular edge, which are arranged in a regular manner on a circle concentric with the brush axis. Inner bristle tufts 18 are also arranged at regular intervals one after the other on a slightly smaller circle concentric with the brush axis, the number of these tufts being the same as the number of bristle tufts 16. As can be seen from Figure 1, the bristle tufts 18 are offset by half a pitch from the bristle tufts 16 and are shorter than the latter. The bristle tufts 16 and the bristle tufts 18 are equally

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arranged at an angle of approximately 15* to the brush axis.

Arranged exactly on the brush axis is a central bristle tuft 20, which has a conically widening rear tuft section 22 and a conically converging front tuft section 24. The latter ends in a dome 26.

As can be seen from Figure 2, the central bristle tuft

20 has a considerably larger maximum cross-section than the bristle tufts 16 and 18. In addition, the front tuft end section 24 protrudes significantly beyond the area defined by the ends of the bristle tufts 16.

The rear end face of the central bristle tuft 20 is connected to an axial channel 28 which is formed in the bristle carrier 12 and can be supplied with a cleaning fluid during operation.

To better convey this liquid to the tip of the central bristle brush 20, this can be provided with a central channel 30. The cross-section of the channel 30 can also be used to adjust the strength of the hollow central bristle brush, given the strength and stiffness of the bristles used for the central bristle brush.

The burr head 10 described above is used in such a way that the tuft of bristles 20 is placed against an interdental space, which is then cleaned thoroughly by this tuft of bristles. The tufts of bristles 16 and 18 run simultaneously on the adjacent front or back surfaces of the teeth, whereby the outer bristle brushes 116 bend more strongly so that their front surface moves against the front surface of the inner bristle brushes 18. Due to the corresponding bending, the tufts of bristles 16 can

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then engage well in pockets that have formed between the gums and the tooth. The inner bristle tufts 18 limit the bending and kinking of the outer brush tufts 16 and at the same time support the latter in the circumferential OS direction.

In practice, the bristle tufts 16 and 18 can each have a diameter of 0.8 mm, with the length of the bristle tuft 16 being 7 mm and that of the bristle tuft 18 being 5 mm. The central bristle tuft then has a length of about 12 mm and a maximum thickness of about 1.8 mm. The tufts consist of individual plastic wires, e.g. nylon wires with a diameter of 0.1 mm.

Claims (9)

2405.5 *": '! +"t.x! ·'.'."'.'.· 21.06.1988 ■ a at aa «a Claims 1. Brush head for use on an electric toothbrush, with a round brush body that can be connected to a rotating drive shaft and in which a plurality of bristle tufts are inserted distributed in the circumferential direction, characterized by a central bristle tuft (20), the tip (22, 24) of which projects beyond the tips of the other, eccentrically arranged bristle tufts (16, 18) and/or has greater rigidity than the eccentric bristle tufts (16, 18). 2. Brush head according to claim 1, characterized in that the central bristle tuft (20) has a larger maximum diameter than the off-center bristle tufts (16, 18). 3. Brush head according to claim 2, characterized in that the central bristle tuft (20) has a conical I tapered end portion (24). \ 4. Brush head according to claim 3, characterized in that the conical end portion (24) is in a dome (26) expires. 5. Brush head according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by a Fluid channel (28) leading to the central bristle tuft (20). 6. Brush head according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the eccentric bristle brushes (16, 18) are arranged on two concentric circles with different diameters, the bristle tufts (18) located on the inner circle having a smaller height than the bristle tufts located on the outer circle. 2405.5 ' : 'I -4 3«. '.."..' 21.06.1989 tuft (16). 7. Brush head according to claim 6, characterized in that the bristle tufts lying on the inner circle (18) are offset by half a pitch compared to the tufts of bristles (16) located on the outer circle. 8. Brush head according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the eccentric bristle tufts (16, 18) are set at an angle of approximately 15° to the brush axis. 9. Brush head according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the central bristle tuft (20) is a hollow bristle tuft (30).