JP2000139568A - Toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toothbrush capable of effectively removing the plaque/ coloring on teeth and improved in the feeling of use at the time of tooth brushing. SOLUTION: Bristle bundles composed of plural bristles 1, 1... are respectively planted in plural planting holes 21, 21... formed on a planting part 2. In that case, concerning the bristles 1,1... 10% at least, its axial part 13 has an almost circular cross section and its top end part 12 is formed into conical trapezoid.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toothbrush which can effectively remove plaque and coloring of teeth when brushing the teeth and has an excellent usability.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A bristle of a toothbrush is generally formed of a synthetic resin, has a circular cross section having a flat or semicircular tip, and is formed by bundling a plurality of metal plates. Is bent at the center thereof so as to sandwich the flat wire, and the flat wire is fitted into the above-described flocking hole so that the bristle bundle is implanted in the flocking hole. The horizontal length of the flat wire is formed slightly larger than the diameter of the flocking hole, and the bristle bundle is held by fitting the flat wire into the flocking hole.

The bristle is formed by its material, shape and length, the number and arrangement of the bristle bundles, and the upper end of the bristle in order to improve the cleaning property, the massage property, the plaque removing property or the coloring prevention property. Various shapes of the brush surface or the shape of the flocking hole have been proposed.

[0004]

However, it has been difficult to achieve both excellent plaque / coloring removal performance of teeth and excellent feeling in use.

An object of the present invention is to provide a dental plaque /
An object of the present invention is to provide a toothbrush that can effectively remove coloring and has a good feeling in use.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a bristle bundle composed of a plurality of bristles 1, 1... Is implanted into a plurality of implanted holes 21, 21. In the toothbrush comprising:
At least 10% of 1... Achieves the above object by providing a toothbrush whose shaft portion has a substantially circular cross section and whose tip portion 12 is formed in a frustum shape. It is. Here, the “frustum shape” refers to a shape in which the tip of a shaft having a substantially circular cross section is thinned or thinned into a cone (spatial shape) and the top has an elongated flat portion. The length of the flat portion in the longitudinal direction is equal to or less than the diameter of the shaft portion.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the toothbrush of the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a bristle bundle including a plurality of bristles 1, 1... Is inserted into a plurality of flocked holes 21, 21. , Each one is planted.

Thus, in the toothbrush of the present embodiment, all of the bristles 1, 1... Is a bristle formed in a frustum shape.
The ratio of the bristles 1, 1... Having the frustum-shaped tip is preferably all (100%) as in the toothbrush of the present embodiment, but is at least 10% or more of all the bristles. good. This ratio is 10
%, It is difficult to achieve both excellent plaque / coloring removal performance of teeth and excellent feeling of use.

The toothbrush according to the present embodiment will be described in more detail. The toothbrush according to the present embodiment comprises a plurality of bristles 1, 1... And a neck to connect.

Each of the bristle bundles in the present embodiment is composed of a plurality of bristles 1, 1...
The thickness of the shaft portion 13 of each bristle 1, 1... Is the same. As shown in FIG. 1, each bristle 1 is formed as a pair on both sides of the central portion by bending the bristle base material 10 into two at the central portion. That is, by fitting the bent portion at the center of the bristle base material 10 into the flocking holes 21 while holding the flat lines 11, two bristles 1, 1 are provided for each bristle base material. Protruding from. Each flat line 11 is the axis L of the toothbrush.
Is inserted into the flocking hole 21 so as to be perpendicular to In FIG. 1, in order to show the configuration easily,
Although only one bent bristle base material is shown, a plurality of such bristle base materials 10 are bundled when a bristle bundle composed of a plurality of bristles 1 and 1 is implanted in the flocking holes 21. The hair is implanted in the hair implantation hole 21.

The flocked portion 2 has a flat shape with no steps formed on the upper surface. On the upper surface of the flocking portion 2, a plurality of flocking holes 21, 21... Are arranged in a row along the width direction of the flocking portion 2 (direction perpendicular to the axis L of the toothbrush).
It is arranged so that a plurality may be formed in the longitudinal direction of the flocked portion 2. More specifically, the rows of the flocking holes 21 each composed of two or three flocking holes 21
Are formed in the longitudinal direction.

The spacing between the flocking holes 21, 21...
The longitudinal interval of the flocked portion 2 indicated by P1 in FIG.
3 mm to 2.5 mm, preferably 0.6 mm to 2 mm
Is more preferable. Further, the interval in the width direction of the flocked portion 2 indicated by P2 in FIG. 1 is preferably 0.5 mm to 4 mm, and more preferably 0.7 mm to 3 mm. When the distances P1 and P2 are within the above preferred ranges, the density of the bristle is sufficient, while a space for appropriately bending each bristle is ensured, so that a particularly excellent plaque and coloring removal effect is obtained. can get.

The height of each bristle 1 (the height from the upper surface of the flocked portion 2 to the upper end of the bristle 1) is improved by appropriately bending the bristle to improve the performance of removing plaque and coloring and to provide excellent massage properties. 8 from the viewpoint of obtaining
mm to 13 mm is preferable, and 9 to 12 mm is more preferable.
In addition, it is preferable to provide a difference in the length of the bristles 1, 1... Implanted in the flocking section 2, and to make the brush surface formed by the upper ends of the 1, 1. In this case, it is preferable that the height of the highest bristle 1 is within the above-mentioned range.

As shown in FIG. 2, each of the bristles 1, 1... Has a substantially circular cross-section at its shaft, and its tip 12 is formed in a frustum shape. As shown in FIG. 2, the distal end portion 12 of each of the bristles 1, 1... Has an elongated flat surface portion 12 a at the top and a pair of tapered surface portions having both side edges of the flat surface portion 12 a as upper ends. 12
b, 12b. The pair of tapered surface portions 12b, 12b are symmetrically inclined, and the distance between the tapered surface portions 12b, 12b becomes narrower toward the tips of the bristles 1, 1,.

The flat portion 12a has a substantially rectangular shape. As shown in FIG. 2B, the length L1 in the longitudinal direction is the diameter of the shaft portion 13 of the bristles 1, 1,... It has the same length as L2, and when forming the tip of the bristle by grinding, it is sufficient to cut and form only a pair of surfaces. The length L1 in the longitudinal direction of the flat portion 12a is 0.1 mm to 0.1 mm from the viewpoint of particularly efficiently removing plaque and coloring in the gap between the teeth.
It is preferably 4 mm, more preferably 0.15 mm to 0.3 mm. The length L3 of the flat portion 12a in the width direction is set to be the trapezoidal shape in the side view as shown in FIG. Part 13
Is formed to be shorter than the diameter L2. The length L3 of the flat portion 12a in the width direction is preferably 0.01 mm or more from the viewpoint of not damaging the gums and the like, and the touch at the tip of the bristle is soft, and the bristle is formed in the gap between the teeth. Is preferably 0.2 mm or less from the viewpoint of facilitating the occurrence of cracks. In the present embodiment, the edge in the longitudinal direction of the flat portion 12a has an arc shape, and has a shape that does not easily damage the gums and the like.

The tip 1 thus formed into a frustum shape
2 is preferably 5 to 80% of the length of the bristle 1 protruding from the flocking hole 21.
60% is more preferred. When the length h in the vertical direction of the tip portion 12 is 5 to 80%, the tip portion 12 can be given a soft feel and an appropriate elasticity, and particularly, the plaque / coloring removal performance and the feeling of use of the teeth can be provided. It will be excellent. Note that the diameter of the shaft portion 13 in the present embodiment is the same at any of the upper and lower positions.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the bristles 1, 1...
Each of them is arranged such that the longitudinal direction of a) is perpendicular to the axis L of the toothbrush. Top part (plane part 12
If the longitudinal direction of a) is perpendicular to the axis L of the toothbrush, the tips of the bristles 1, 1... are smoothly inserted between the teeth, so that the food residue between the teeth and the plaque on the tooth surface are removed. The effect of removing coloring is particularly excellent. At the time of manufacturing the toothbrush of the present embodiment, the bristle base material 10 whose tip is not frustum-shaped is implanted in the flocking hole 12 as a bristle bundle composed of a plurality of bristles, and then the tip of each bristle 1 12 is cut into a frustum shape. By doing so, the bristle 1 in which the longitudinal direction of the top portion (the flat portion 12a) of the tip portion 12 is perpendicular to the axis L of the toothbrush.
Can be easily formed.

The bristles 1,1,... Implanted in the implanted holes 21,21... Are made of polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), nylon (6-12,6-10,6-6), polypropylene, etc. Is preferably formed.

The toothbrush of the present embodiment is configured as described above. When brushing the teeth, the frustum-shaped tip 12 of each bristle 1 acts like a spatula so that the abrasive of the dentifrice is efficiently removed from the teeth. While painting on the surface, the tip 12
As shown in FIG. 4 (a), when the toothbrush slides smoothly into the gap between the teeth and slides the toothbrush, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), the bristles 1, 1,. Efficiently scrapes food debris, plaque, coloring, etc. in tooth gaps. for that reason,
According to the toothbrush of the present embodiment, it is possible to effectively remove food debris clogged between teeth, plaque and coloring adhered between teeth and on a wavefront. Also, when the toothbrush is moved up and down along the gap between the teeth, the tip 12 of the bristle 1
It acts like a toothpick and effectively removes food debris between teeth. Even when using a brushing method that moves the bristle without direction during brushing, such as the Phones method or the drawing circle method, the side surfaces of the bristles 1, 1,... Can move smoothly without a specific direction as a whole. Therefore, the usability is good. Further, since the frustum-shaped tip portion 12 abuts against the teeth and gums on the surface, the feel of the bristle tip at the time of use is soft, and an excellent feeling of use is obtained.

Although the preferred embodiment of the toothbrush of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, the cross-sectional shape of the shaft portion 13 of the bristle 1 may be an elliptical shape, a track circular shape, an egg shape, or the like, in addition to a perfect circular shape. The shape of the flocking hole 21 may be any shape as long as the bristle bundle can be flocking, and may be, for example, a perfect circle, an ellipse, a track circle, an egg, or a rectangle.

Also, the flat portion 12a at the top of the bristles 1, 1... May have curved side edges along the longitudinal direction. Also, as shown in FIG. 5, the frustum-shaped tip of the bristles 1, 1,... Has a length L1 in the longitudinal direction of the plane portion 12a larger than the diameter of the shaft portion 13 of the bristles 1, 1,. It may be short. In this case, the length L1 in the longitudinal direction of the flat portion 12a is preferably 90% to 30%, more preferably 80% to 50% of the diameter of the shaft portion 13. Further, in one toothbrush, two or more kinds of bristles having different frustum-shaped tips may be mixed. Also, the diameter of the shaft portion 13 of the bristle having a frustum-shaped tip portion is
The diameter may be reduced toward the distal end, or the diameter may be partially reduced or increased. Further, each bristle 1 may be implanted in the flocking hole 12 as a bristle bundle after the tip 12 is processed into a predetermined frustum shape.

Also, at least 10% of the total bristle
The above description may be any bristle having a shaft portion having a substantially circular cross section and a frustum-shaped tip, and other bristle shapes are not particularly limited. For example, another bristle may be a bristle having a shaft portion having a rectangular cross section and a frustum-shaped tip portion, or a shaft portion having a substantially circular cross section and a semicircular shape. It may be a bristle having a shaped tip. In addition, each of the above bristles 1, 1 ...
May be carried out by fusing the bristle bundle to the flocked portion 2.

It is also possible to provide a step on the upper surface of the flocking portion 2 to adjust the ease of bending of the bristle bundle depending on the flocking portion, and to tune the color removal property, massage property and cleaning property. Further, the toothbrush of the above-described embodiment is formed in a form in which the grip is gripped by hand, but may be formed in a form having no grip, such as a detachable head of the electric toothbrush. good. The uneven brush surface formed by the upper ends of the plurality of bristles may be formed in a hook shape, a mountain shape, a saw blade shape, a corrugated shape, or the like.

[0024]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a toothbrush which can effectively remove plaque and coloring of teeth during brushing and has a good feeling of use.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a flocked portion of a toothbrush according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are views showing a bristle in the toothbrush of one embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 2A is a perspective view, FIG. 2B is a front view, and FIG. 2C is a side view.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view showing a bristle bundle flocking state in the toothbrush according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a state of a part of bristles when the toothbrush of one embodiment of the present invention is used, and (a).
Shows a state in which the bristle is inserted into a gap between the teeth, and FIG. 4B shows a state in which the bristle is plaque and coloring.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a bristle in a toothbrush according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bristle 12 Tip part 13 Shaft part 2 Hair implantation part 21 Hair implantation hole L axis

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Koji Maeda 2-1-3 Bunka, Sumida-ku, Tokyo F-term in Kao Corporation Research Laboratory (reference) 3B202 AA03 AA06 EA01 EB14

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A toothbrush in which bristles bundles comprising a plurality of bristles 1, 1... Are implanted in a plurality of implanted holes 21, 21... Formed in an implanted portion 2, respectively. , 1..., At least 10% of the toothbrushes, the shafts of which have a substantially circular cross section and the tip 12 of which is formed in a frustum shape. 2. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the length of the frustum-shaped tip portion 12 in the longitudinal direction is 5 to 80% of the length of the bristle projecting from the flocked hole 21. 3. The bristles 1, 1... Are arranged so that the longitudinal direction of the top of the frustum-shaped tip 12 is perpendicular to the axis L of the toothbrush. Or the toothbrush according to 2. 4. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the bristles 1, 1... Are planted by flat wire or fusion.