JP2000201739A - Tooth brush - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the cleanability of a tooth brush against complex fine parts between teeth and gums keeping the cleanability against smooth parts such as a tooth surface by composing the tooth brush by making the bristle holes formed on the bristle planting part into almost rectangular shapes and inclining the bristle holes against the bristle planting face. SOLUTION: This tooth brush is composed by making bristle planting holes in almost rectangular shapes and the bristle planting holes are inclined against the bristle planting face. Five rows of bristle bundles 11, 12, 21-24, 31-34, 41-44 and 51 are arranged in the axis direction in the bristle planting part A and four rows of bristle bundles at maximum are arranged in the traverse direction. Bristle bundles are planted into and erected from almost rectangular bristle planting holes along the long side in the bundle axis direction inward inclining mutually facing bundles adjacent in the traverse direction of the bristle planting bed 1 to constitute the tooth brush in units of a pair of mutually facing bristle bundles. A plurality of bristle blocks R converging toward the tip end are equipped on the tip end.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toothbrush which has excellent cleaning properties for interdental parts and cervical parts and also has good cleaning properties for smooth surfaces such as tooth surfaces.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Toothbrushes are required to be able to clean smooth tooth surfaces and also to clean intricate details such as interdental portions, cervical portions, and occlusal surfaces. In particular, food residues and plaque tend to accumulate in the interdental area, which is the corner area, and this often causes dental caries and periodontal disease. For this reason, development of a toothbrush that enhances the cleaning effect on the interdental portion while maintaining the cleaning effect on the smooth surface has been awaited.

Hitherto, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-14 / 1990 by the applicant of the present invention has been developed to meet such a purpose.
No. 9815 discloses a toothbrush. This toothbrush has, in a bristle bundle forming a flocking portion, a bristle bundle having a substantially elliptical cross-sectional shape widened in the axial direction of a handle and having a tip converged in a roof shape. Are provided at least one or more. In such a hair bundle, the amount of accumulated filaments differs depending on the direction, and thus the bristle varies depending on the direction in which the bristle is pressed. Therefore, the direction in which the bristle is strong coincides with the brushing direction to enhance the smooth surface cleaning property. In addition to the fact that the tip of the hair bundle is converged, there is a great advantage in that it is excellent in detail insertion such as between teeth.

[0004] On the other hand, as a technique specializing in improving the insertability into the interdental portion, adjacent hair bundles are inclined so as to support each other, and the hair bundles are brought into contact with each other at their tips, so that a hair bundle converging portion is formed. Some are configured. Since the bristle bundle converging part has high density and strong bristle, and the bristle bundle is less likely to disperse, by setting the supporting direction corresponding to the brushing direction, the details on the interdental region and cervical region There is an advantage that a toothbrush with excellent insertability and improved cleanability for these parts can be obtained.

[0005]

However, although these toothbrushes achieve a certain degree of compatibility between cleaning of smooth surfaces such as tooth surfaces and cleaning of details between teeth, etc., they cannot be said to be sufficient yet. First, in the former, a sufficient number of filaments can be obtained because the number of filaments accumulated is large with respect to the pressing force in the width direction of the hair bundle, but the number of filaments accumulated in the hair bundle narrow direction is insufficient. The hair lumps are not sufficient, and the hair tresses are independent and independent of each other, so the pressure acting on these hair tresses must be supported by the single hair tress itself, There was a tendency for hair stiffness in the narrow direction to be insufficient. On the other hand, in the latter technique, since the adjacent hair bundles support each other, it is possible to obtain sufficient hair in the supporting direction, but the hair in the direction orthogonal to this direction. Was not enough and there was room for improvement. As described above, the conventional toothbrush has problems to be solved regarding the bristle stiffness and durability, and therefore, both the cleaning effect of the smooth surface and the cleaning property of the detail cannot be sufficiently satisfied. The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and has a cleaning property for intricate details such as between teeth and a cervical neck while maintaining a cleaning property for a smooth portion such as a tooth surface (hereinafter, referred to as a smooth surface cleaning property). It is an object of the present invention to provide a toothbrush with enhanced cleaning properties (hereinafter referred to as “detailed cleaning properties”), and particularly to provide a toothbrush that can maintain exceptionally excellent cleaning properties over a long period of time.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toothbrush in which a flocked hole formed in a flocked portion has a substantially rectangular shape, and the flocked hole is formed on a flocked surface. It is characterized by being inclined with respect to.

[0007] The hair bundle is fixed to the flocking hole by using a flat line as in the past, but in the present toothbrush, the flocking hole is a substantially rectangular square hole and is inclined with respect to the flocking surface. The implanted hair bundle has a substantially rectangular cross section and is a hair bundle inclined with respect to the hair implantation surface. Since the inclination of the hair bundle is due to the inclination of the flocking hole itself, the inclined state is maintained even when stress is repeatedly applied during the use process. In addition, since the flocking holes have a substantially rectangular shape and the number of filaments constituting the bristle bundle differs between the wide and narrow directions of the bristle bundle, the strength of the bristle varies depending on the direction. Therefore, by setting the longitudinal direction of the flocking hole in the handle axis direction in consideration of the brushing method, a high bristle can be obtained, and an excellent cleaning effect can be obtained. Here, the hair stiffness is a concept expressed by the magnitude of the repulsive force (restoring force) that acts when the hair bundle is deformed under pressure.

[0008] A converging portion having a large repulsive force is formed at the tip of the converging block of the hair bundle formed by supporting the inclined hair bundles. This tip is easy to insert into intricate details such as between teeth and cervical neck, and it is possible to powerfully brush these inserted and positioned parts.

The flocked holes face each other and are inclined inward to each other,
It is preferable to form a pair of hair bundles and provide at least one or more of them.

The inclination of the inclined hole with respect to the vertical direction is 2 to 10.
It is desirable to set it in the range of °.

The arrangement direction of the substantially rectangular flocking holes is selected according to the brushing operation. For example, in a scrubbing method or a bath method in which reciprocation is mainly performed in the handle axis direction, the long side of the flocking hole is made to extend along the handle axis direction.

From the viewpoint of further enhancing the effect of the present invention, it is preferable to provide a plurality of convergence blocks each having a pair of leaning hair bundles as a unit.

[0013] The shape of the tip of each hair bundle is preferably processed into a mountain-cut shape from the viewpoint of improving the cleanability of details. By making the tip part a mountain-cut shape, the detail cleaning property is further enhanced. In particular, in the case of a mountain-cut shape in which inclined surfaces are formed on both sides in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which adjacent bristle bundles lean, fine cleaning in the handle width direction and fine cleaning in the handle width direction are also possible. Also increase.
Also, one bundle forming the mountain-cut shape is one bundle of two bundles that are normally seen.
It is composed of a larger number of filaments than the toothbrush forming the ridges, so that the bristle bundle repulsion is high and the effect is high.

Further, the number of converging blocks formed by leaning the pair of hair bundles and the arrangement thereof can be appropriately set, but it is preferable to provide at least a converging block at the front end or the rear end in the handle axis direction. It is.

[0015] It is preferable that the next row of converging blocks be positioned behind a gap formed between the converging blocks arranged in the front row in the handle axis direction. In this way, the portion of the converging block in the front row that is left unpolished will be polished by the converging block in the next row. , Will be polished over the whole area.

When the bristle bundle is fixedly supported in the flocked hole using a flat wire, the flat wire is driven in a position parallel to the long side or the short side of the flocked hole and at a position that bisects the opening area of the flocked hole. To do. By doing so, the filling state of the filaments pressed into the respective areas defined by the flat lines is uniform, and it is possible to eliminate hair loss due to the density of the filling density. The appearance after flocking is also beautifully arranged.

If the flat wires to be driven are aligned on a straight line, there is a possibility that a trapezoid crack may occur starting from the press-fitting point of the flat wire. To avoid this, it is conceivable that the centers of the flocking holes are not aligned in a straight line in the handle axis direction.

The existing range of the flocking hole is 10 to 30 mm in the handle axis direction and 5 to 15 mm in the handle width direction.
It is preferable to be within the range. By defining the range of the flocked holes in this manner, the size of the brush cleaning surface is determined as a result. If the range of the flocked holes is in the above range, the operability in the mouth does not decrease even though the smooth surface such as the front teeth can be efficiently polished.

The short side of the substantially rectangular flocking hole is 0.8 to
It is preferable to set the length to 2.0 mm and the long side to 1.5 to 5.0 mm. If the size of one flocking hole is within the above range, the size of the tip of the converging portion formed by supporting adjacent hair bundles is not sufficient for realizing both smooth portion cleaning performance and detail cleaning performance. It will be optimal.

It is preferable that the separation distance at the base of the pair of hair bundles constituting the convergence block is set in the range of 0.2 to 4.0 mm. By setting the inclination angle of the bristle bundle constituting the convergence block to the range of 2 to 10 ° as described above and the separation distance to 0.2 to 4.0 mm,
The collapse of the convergent shape can be prevented even during long-term use.

As a more specific configuration of the toothbrush thus obtained, five rows of bristle bundles are provided in the longitudinal direction of the flocking table, and the first and fifth rows converge at the center in the width direction of the flocking table. One block, two converging blocks on both sides across the center of the flocking table width in the second and fourth rows, and one converging block at the center of the flocking table width in the third row. It is also conceivable that one independent hair bundle is arranged outside the convergence block in the same direction as the hair bundle constituting the convergence block and inclined at an angle range in which the tip does not contact the convergence block.

[0022]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. In the following description, the axial direction means the axial direction of the handle, and the width direction indicates the width direction of the handle unless otherwise specified. The handle axis direction is the same direction as the flocking table longitudinal direction, and the handle width direction is the same direction as the flocking table width direction. FIG.
The handle before hair bristle implantation is shown. The toothbrush of the present invention is characterized by the mode of the flocked portion shown by A in the figure, and the shape of the neck portion B and the grip portion C is arbitrary. Hereinafter, the configuration of the flocking portion A will be described.

FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the flocked portion of the first embodiment as a typical embodiment, FIG. 3 is a plan view of the flocked portion, FIG. 4 is a front view, and FIG. 5 is a view of the flocked portion viewed from the front end side. It is a side view. In the flocking part A, the hair bundles 11, 12, 21 to 24, 31 to 34,
Five rows 41 to 44, 51, and 52 are arranged in the axial direction, and a maximum of four rows of hair bundles are arranged in the width direction. 7 to 11 show the cross-sectional shapes of the flocking holes in which the bristle bundles are planted by adding “a” to the reference numerals of the corresponding bristle bundles.

Each bristle bundle is erected from a substantially rectangular flocking hole with its long side extending along the handle axis direction, and the bristle bundles adjacent to each other in the width direction of the flocking table 1 are inclined inward to each other. Was made as a unit of a pair of hair bundles facing each other,
The configuration is such that a plurality of blocks of hair bundles that converge toward the tip (hereinafter, referred to as convergence blocks R) are provided. This convergence block R alternates the formation position of the convergence block R in the front row and the rear row so that the entire tooth surface which is a smooth surface can be uniformly cleaned when a brushing operation for reciprocating the handle in the longitudinal direction is performed. I'm staggered. In the longitudinal center row of the handle, the inner hair bundles 32, 33 are provided.
As a result, the hair bundles 31 and 34 located outside are isolated hair bundles. Here, the hair bundles 31 and 34 are slightly inclined inward, but may be upright. Further, the interval W between the converging blocks R adjacent in the flocking table width direction is set to a dimension slightly smaller than the average tooth width,
When brushing is performed by reciprocating the handle in the axial direction, the teeth to be cleaned are pinched between the converging blocks R, and both sides of the teeth are sufficiently cleaned.

The hair bundle is inclined by inclining the hair implantation hole itself and press-fitting the hair bundle into the inclined hair implantation hole using a flat line. As a result of inclining the flocking hole itself, even when an action force that breaks the inclining posture of the bristle bundle is repeatedly applied during brushing, the inclining posture of the bristle bundle can be firmly maintained. The inclination of the flocking hole is described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 shows the arrangement of the flocking holes on the flocking table 1. The cross-sectional views of each of the five rows arranged in the longitudinal direction of the flocking table 1 are shown in FIGS.
11. The inclination angle of the flocking hole may be set according to the strength of the hair to be obtained, but is usually set in the range of 2 ° to 10 ° with respect to the vertical direction of the inclined hole. Slope 2
If the angle is smaller than °, it is necessary to make the hair length extremely long in order to bring the tips of the opposed hair bundles into contact with each other, which is not preferable. On the other hand, if it is larger than 10 °, it is difficult to form the handle. Further, it is preferable that the separation distance at the base between the hair bundles constituting the converging block R is set in the range of 0.2 to 40 mm. By setting the inclination and the separation distance to such values, sufficient durability is exerted against a pressing force that repeatedly acts during the use process, and the converged shape can be maintained for a long period of time. The inclination angle of the flocking hole may be changed depending on the position of the converging block R, or may be the same as in this embodiment.

The tips of the hair bundles are formed into a mountain-cut shape having a slope along the long side of the flocked hole to further improve the insertability into interdental details, and the tip is made into a sharp mountain-cut shape. ,
Increases the effect of scraping plaque and food residues in the invading details.

As shown in FIG. 2, the dimensions of the substantially rectangular flocking holes are such that the short side S is 0.8 to 2.0 mm and the long side L is 1.5 to 2.0 mm.
The dimensions are 5.0 mm. Although the direct surface pressure on the tooth surface depends on the shape of the tip of the hair bundle, if the size of the flocking hole is smaller than the above range, the pressing force to be transmitted to the tip of the hair bundle becomes insufficient.
In the present invention, the reason why a substantially rectangular square hole is used as a flocking hole is that the number of accumulated filaments has a difference depending on the direction, and the repulsive force when the hair bundle is pressurized, that is, the hair waist has directionality. Thereby, in order to obtain a strong hair stiffness according to the brushing direction, specifically, by forming the long side of the flocking hole along the handle axis direction,
When brushing is performed mainly by reciprocating motion in the axial direction of the handle, strong hair is obtained.

The range in which the flocking holes exist is set to a range of 10 to 30 mm in the handle axis direction and 5 to 15 mm in the handle width direction. If the flocked area is smaller than this, the contact area with the tooth surface is small and the cleaning efficiency is reduced.

The hair bundle is fixed to the flocking hole by driving a flat wire in the same manner as in a conventional toothbrush. The flat line is 1.
A metal plate having a size of about 6 mm × 0.22 mm, which is sandwiched between U-shaped bristles and driven into the flocking holes together with the bristle bundles, so that both ends in the longitudinal direction are cut into the circumferential wall of the flocking holes. By doing so, the hair bundle is fixed in the flocking hole. In the conventional toothbrush, the flocked hole H was circular, and therefore, the flat line was driven along the diameter of the flocked hole as shown in FIG. 14, but in the present invention, as shown in FIG. Set the opening area of the flocking hole in a section H1,
A flat line P is inserted into a position bisecting H2. Also, in order to avoid the possibility that the broken flat lines P are aligned in a straight line, and the possibility of a base crack is increased, the position where the flocked holes are formed is slightly shifted in the width direction. By accurately driving a flat line so as to bisect the opening area, the number of filaments accommodated in each of the sections H1 and H2 defined by the flat line P is not biased, and the occurrence of hair loss is significantly reduced. Let me. In addition, since the filament can be uniformly filled, the appearance after implantation is beautiful.

Although the processing of the hair bundle tip into a mountain-cut shape has already been described, FIG. 15 shows the hair bundle tip processed into a mountain-cut shape. In this example, the slopes r, r towards the top are:
It is provided along the hair bundle wide direction. In the embodiment of the present invention,
As described above, it is also characteristic that one hair bundle constitutes a chevron top. The slopes r, r toward the top of the chevron are perpendicular to the direction in which the hair bundles lean. By making the slope of the mountain-cut shape into this form, in addition to the convergence due to the leaning of the hair bundles, by squeezing the tip in the direction orthogonal to the convergence direction by the mountain-cut shape, up and down operation of the handle, In the brushing in either direction of the left and right operation, it is possible to realize the insertability to the details, and by obtaining a sharp and strong hair tip, it is possible to effectively scrape food residues and plaque It is devised as follows.
If a slight decrease in insertability into details during brushing operation in the narrow direction of the hair bundle can be tolerated, it is also possible to form a slope along the direction in which the hair bundle leans. Also, various shapes may be considered as long as they fall into the category of the mountain-cut shape. For example, as shown in FIG. 16, a trapezoidal slope r is formed on the front and back sides in the direction in which the hair bundles lean against each other.
1 or an isosceles triangular slope r2 as shown in FIG. 17, and a right triangle triangular slope r3 as shown in FIG.

The configuration of the representative embodiment has been described above. Next, the operation of the toothbrush of this embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 19, the toothbrush of the present invention has an excellent cleaning effect on the smooth surface Z1, and has an intricate portion between adjacent teeth Z2, an occlusal surface Z3 of a molar, etc., as shown in FIG. It has an excellent cleaning effect on any of the tooth necks Z4 as described above, but a particularly remarkable cleaning effect is exerted on the interdental Z2.

FIG. 20 shows how a toothbrush is cleaned using the toothbrush of this embodiment, for example. As shown in this figure, a gap SP exists between the convergence blocks R, R constituting each row of the flocking portion, and a corresponding position of the next row, which is a position behind the gap SP, has A convergence block R is present. Therefore, when brushing is performed in which the handle is reciprocated in the direction of the arrow in the drawing, the portion of the hair bundle of the front row that is left unpolished will be brushed by the next row of hair bundles, and the toothbrush does not need to be moved up and down in the handle width direction. It is understood that the entire tooth surface can be efficiently cleaned without leaving unpolished.
Since the brushing of these tooth surfaces is performed by the tip portion of the converging block having strong bristle, the scraping ability is excellent. Also, if you perform the pressing action against the tooth surface,
Deformation force acts on the bristle bundle, but the converging block can be restored even if it is once deformed because the facing bristle bundles support each other in their inclined posture and reinforce their shapes. On the way, its cleaning ability does not deteriorate early.

FIG. 21 shows how the cervical portion Z4 is cleaned. As shown in the figure, the converged tip of the convergence block enters the cervix, and the food residue and plaque deposited on the cervical portion can be effectively scraped out. The cleaning of the inter-tooth Z2 is performed by reciprocating the toothbrush in the up-down direction. The reciprocating operation may be performed with the handle axis direction along the dentition direction, or in a posture perpendicular to the dentition direction. May go.
In the former case, the fact that the tip portion of the hair bundle has a mountain-cut shape greatly contributes to the improvement of the insertion between teeth. On the other hand, in the latter case,
By the converging shape of the tip of the bristle bundle that is leaning, the insertability between the teeth is ensured, and the deposit between the teeth is scraped out.

FIG. 22 shows that the occlusal surface Z3 of the molar is the third portion of the flocked portion.
It shows a state of being brushed by the second row of hair bundles. In this case, the tip of the converged hair bundle of the converging block R formed by the two bundles leaning inside penetrates deeply into the intricate groove of the occlusal surface Z3, and scrapes off the deposit on the occlusal surface Z3 with strong hair. The two bundles function to hold the molars and to clean both sides of the molars. Here, the third row which exerts the most effective action in cleaning the occlusal surface Z3 has been described as an example. However, although there is a slight difference in the action, other hair bundle rows are also inserted into the occlusal face. It can demonstrate its properties.

The toothbrush of this embodiment also has the following characteristic cleaning action. For example, when brushing a molar, etc., the mechanism shown in FIG. 23 works. For example, when the occlusal surface is brushed along the dentition, the molar first contacts the first row of convergence blocks R1 at the first position indicated by P1 in the figure, and the front surface in the traveling direction is cleaned. Then, after the occlusal surface is cleaned by the convergence block R1 that has climbed onto the occlusal surface, the target molar is moved to the second position indicated by an imaginary line in the figure while pushing the second row of hair bundles to both sides as indicated by the arrow in the figure. Move to P2. In this position, the target molar is surrounded by a bristle bundle, and the front surface in the advancing direction is cleaned by the central convergence block R3 in the third row, while the side surface is swept to both sides in the width direction of the handle. The hairs in the second row are cleaned. The same operation is performed at the time of the next shift to the third position P3, so that the target molar is sufficiently cleaned.

In the above embodiment, the second, third, and fourth rows of the hair bundle row constituting the flocking section are arranged in two pairs of converging blocks or in the center. And a pair of hair bundles that are slightly inclined inward on both sides are provided. However, the configuration of each hair bundle row is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 24A, the configuration is such that the hair bundles located on both sides of the hair bundle row are inclined outward, or as shown in FIG. All of the bundles of hair may be inclined outward.

In order to confirm the cleaning effect of the present toothbrush, the present inventor compared a conventional toothbrush with a conventional toothbrush using a jaw model for smooth surface cleaning performance and detail cleaning performance. For the comparative test, the toothbrush of the present invention was used as a toothbrush having the hair implantation mode shown in FIG.
On the other hand, a commercially available toothbrush which is a substantially rectangular hole flocking and is conventionally known as a toothbrush forming a mountain-cut shape in two bundles is used as a comparative product A, and a substantially rectangular hole flocking is used for each flocking hole row in the handle axis direction. A commercial product known as a toothbrush having a stepped hair notch was used as Comparative Product B. The lower right first first molar was selected as a target site for comparison of cleanability. In addition, the detail cleaning property means the cleaning property for intricate parts such as interdental, cervical, occlusal surfaces, etc. Here, only the corner part cleaning property for cleaning between teeth was verified. The test method and test results are as follows.

First, a tooth occlusion check spray (trade name "Oclude": manufactured by Pascal) is applied to the jaw model, and the front surface of the molar teeth of the jaw model in the vertical occlusion state is brushed with a test toothbrush using a brushing simulator.
Brushing is a posture in which the axial direction of the handle is aligned with the direction of the teeth (almost horizontal posture), and this toothbrush is reciprocated in the axial direction of the handle.
Static load 250g, brushing time 6
Seconds, amplitude 10mm, brushing speed 37 per second
mm and one stroke time were set to 0.225 seconds. After brushing the anterior teeth under such conditions, the cleaning result of the lower right first first molar, which was the test target site, was evaluated. At the time of evaluation, as shown in FIG.
%, And the portions occupying both sides of the "smooth surface" and occupying 15% are defined as "corner portions" (portions indicated by K in the figure). Then, the cleanability of these two parts was evaluated. The cleaning property is obtained by subtracting the "area of the dirt after the cleaning test" from the "area of the dirt before the cleaning test", and dividing the result by the "area of the dirt before the cleaning test" to represent a percentage. Table 1 shows the results
26 and Table 2, and the average value is shown in FIG.
27 and 28.

[0039]

[Table 1]

[0040]

[Table 2]

As can be seen from the above results, the cleanability of the corners was 32.8% for the comparative product A and 43.6% for the comparative product B.
%, Whereas the prototype as the product of the present invention is 5%.
The cleaning performance as high as 4.5% is achieved, and the cleaning performance of the comparative product A is 64.6% and that of the comparative product B is 63.8% with respect to the smooth surface cleaning performance. In the prototype as an example, a high cleaning performance of as high as 84.8% is achieved. Here, only the cleaning of the corner portion was evaluated as the cleaning property of the detail, but it is presumed that the cleaning action of the cervical part, the occlusal surface, and the like has the same excellent effect as the interdental area.

Although the above comparative test was conducted using a jaw model, the present inventors conducted a trial of the prototype and the comparative product A at the Faculty of Dentistry for the purpose of actually verifying the effects in the oral cavity in detail. The clinical trials used were also performed. The test method was evaluated by measuring the amount of plaque before and after brushing, and measuring the plaque removal rate by brushing after 21 days of subjecting the subject to brushing twice or more per day and using it for 7 days. For the evaluation of plaque, six teeth were selected as representative teeth in the oral cavity, and the test teeth were stained with a plaque stain, and the height at which plaque was attached to six sites per tooth was measured in 0.5 mm units. Measured. Table 3 shows the results.

[0043]

[Table 3]

As shown in Table 3, the results of the prototype according to the present invention were superior to those of the comparative product A at all the sites. In addition, it was confirmed that there was a significant difference (risk rate P <0.05) in all parts except the lower jaw.

[0045]

The toothbrush of the present invention can provide a difference in the repulsive force of the bristle bundle in the longitudinal direction and the lateral direction of the flocking hole because the flocking hole is a substantially rectangular square hole. The brushing effect can be enhanced by adjusting the direction along the long side. In addition, since the flocking hole is inclined with respect to the flocking surface, the brushing force in a specific direction can be increased by controlling the inclination direction. And since the flocking hole itself is inclined, even when the pressing force accompanying the brushing operation repeatedly acts, the inclined posture does not collapse, and a stable brushing force can be obtained for a long time, and the brushing direction can be obtained. By setting the long side direction of the flocking hole and the inclination direction of the hair bundle according to the above, a toothbrush that has improved both the fine cleaning property for interdental, cervical and occlusal surfaces and the smooth surface cleaning property for the tooth surface Obtainable.

When at least one set of paired flocking holes that incline inward is provided as described in claim 2, the bristle bundles that lean against each other support each other to reinforce the bristle, and furthermore, at the tip end thereof. Has a converged shape, so that it is possible to provide a toothbrush that can be inserted into details between teeth, cervix, and occlusal parts, and can strongly scrape food residues and plaque deposited on these parts.

When the inclination of the inclined hole with respect to the vertical direction is set in the range of 2 to 10 ° as described above, excellent insertability can be obtained while having an appropriate pressing force between teeth, cervix and occlusal surface. Is obtained.

When the long side of the substantially rectangular flocking hole is arranged along the handle axis direction, the toothbrush is suitable for a scrubbing method or a bath method in which reciprocation is mainly performed in the handle axis direction. .

According to a fifth aspect, when a plurality of converging blocks are provided in units of a pair of leaning hair bundles,
Since a plurality of portions that can exhibit strong hair stiffness while having excellent detail cleaning properties in the hair transplant portion are formed, more efficient brushing can be performed.

When the tip of each hair bundle is processed into a mountain-cut shape as in claim 6, the detail cleaning performance is further enhanced.
In particular, in the case of a mountain-cut shape in which an inclined surface is formed before and after in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which adjacent bristle bundles lean against each other, fine cleaning in the handle width direction and fine cleaning in the handle width direction are performed. Also increase.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, at least a convergence block is provided at the front end and the rear end in the handle axis direction, and the convergence blocks are arranged in the front row in the handle axis direction. If the convergence block of the next row is positioned behind the gap formed between the blocks, the convergence block of the next row will polish the remaining part of the convergence block of the front row, and the bristle is strong and the brushing force is reduced. A smooth surface such as a tooth surface is formed by the tip of an excellent convergence block.
You can polish it all over.

The flat line used for driving the bristle bundle into the flocking hole as described in claim 9 is placed in a position parallel to the long side or the short side of the flocking hole and at a position where the opening area of the flocking hole is bisected. When driving is performed, the filling state of the filaments is made uniform, and as a result, hair loss due to uneven filling density is eliminated, and the appearance of the flocked portion becomes beautiful.

In the case where the centers of the flocking holes are not arranged in a straight line in the axial direction of the handle as in the tenth aspect, the occurrence of a base crack can be prevented.

According to the eleventh aspect, when the existing range of the flocking hole is set to a range of 10 to 30 mm in the handle axis direction and 5 to 15 mm in the handle width direction, the smooth surface can be polished efficiently. Also, the operability in the mouth does not decrease.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, the short side of the substantially rectangular flocked hole is 0.8 to 2.0 mm and the long side is. When the size is set in the range of 5 to 5.0 mm, the size of the tip of the converging portion formed by the slack of the bristle bundle is optimal for realizing both the smoothness cleaning property and the detail cleaning property. Become.

The inclination angle of the bristle bundle forming the convergence block is in the range of 2 to 10 ° as described above, and the separation distance is set to 0.2 to 4.0 mm as in claim 13. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the convergent shape from being broken even during long-term use.

In the case where the hair bundle row is specifically configured as in claim 14, the target portion is cleaned on the front surface in the traveling direction by the first row of convergence blocks, and then gets over the hair bundle to form the second section.
The bristle bundles on both sides in the width direction constituting the row are swept away, and both sides are brushed by the bristle bundles in the second row, and the front face thereof is moved to the third place.
The toothbrush is brought into contact with the row, and the same state is repeated even when shifting from the third row to the fourth row, so that a toothbrush with a high cleaning effect can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of a toothbrush according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a flocking portion according to a representative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the flocking portion.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the flocked portion.

FIG. 5 is a left side view of the flocking portion as viewed from the front end side.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the shape and arrangement of flocking holes formed in the flocking table.

7 is a sectional view taken along the line II in FIG. 6;

8 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG.

9 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG.

10 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG.

11 is a sectional view taken along line VV in FIG.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a mode of driving a flat line into a flocking hole and an arrangement of the flocking holes into which the flat line is driven.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view showing a mode of driving a flat line into a flocking hole and an arrangement of the flocking holes into which the flat line is driven.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory view showing a mode of driving a flat line into a flocking hole in a conventional toothbrush and an arrangement of the flocking holes into which the flat line is driven.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view showing a hair bundle tip portion having a mountain-cut shape.

16A and 16B show a modification of a mountain-cut shape, wherein FIG. 16A is a front view, and FIG.

17A and 17B show a modification of a mountain-cut shape, wherein FIG. 17A is a front view, and FIG.

18A and 18B show a modified example of a mountain-cut shape, wherein FIG. 18A is a front view, and FIG.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing a dentition.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a flocked portion is applied to the front surface of the dentition.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory view showing a state where a tooth surface and a cervical part are brushed.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory view showing a state in which a molar is brushed.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory view showing the movement of molars that move sequentially between hair bundles.

24 (a) and 24 (b) show a modified example of a hair bundle array, where (a) shows a specific hair bundle array in which a convergence block is left and hair bundles on both sides thereof are inclined outward. When the convergence block is eliminated in the column

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram of a verification portion of a smooth surface cleaning property and a detail cleaning property.

FIG. 26 is a graph showing an overall evaluation of smooth surface cleaning performance and corner cleaning performance.

FIG. 27 is a graph showing an evaluation of corner portion cleaning performance.

FIG. 28 is a graph showing evaluation of smooth surface cleaning property.

FIG. 29 is a graph showing the evaluation of the plaque removal rate by brushing.

[Explanation of symbols]

A flocked portion B neck portion C grip portion 11, 12, 21 to 24, 31 to 34, 41 to 44, 5
1,52 hair bundles 11a, 12a, 21a to 24a, 31a to 34a, 4
1a-44a Flocked holes 51a, 52a Flocked holes 1 Flocked table R Converging block S Short side L Long side H Flocked holes H1, H2 Section P Flat line r Slope r1, r2, r3 Slope Z1 Smooth surface Z2 Between teeth Z3 Occlusal surface Z4 Cervical SP Air gap P1 First position P2 Second position P3 Third position R1, R2, R3, R4 Converging block F Smooth surface K Corner

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A toothbrush in which a flocking hole formed in a flocking portion is substantially rectangular, and the flocking hole is inclined with respect to the flocking surface. 2. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein at least one set of a pair of flocking holes inclined inwardly from each other is provided. 3. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the angle of the slanted flocking hole with respect to the vertical direction is 2 to 10 °. 4. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the long sides of the substantially rectangular flocking holes are arranged along the handle axis direction. 5. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of convergence blocks of a pair of hair bundles are provided in a plurality of pairs. 6. The toothbrush according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a tip portion of each of the implanted bristle bundles is processed into a mountain-cut shape. 7. The toothbrush according to claim 5, wherein the converging block is provided at least at a front end or a rear end in a longitudinal direction of the flocking table. 8. The convergence block of the next row is positioned at a position behind a gap formed between the convergence blocks arranged in the front row in the handle axis direction.
The toothbrush according to the item. 9. A posture parallel to the long side or the short side of the flocking hole,
The toothbrush according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein a flat wire for fixing the hair bundle is driven into a position that bisects the opening area of the flocking hole. 10. The toothbrush according to claim 9, wherein the centers of the flocking holes are not aligned on a straight line in the axial direction of the handle. 11. The area in which a flocking hole exists is 10 to 30 mm in the handle axis direction and 5 in the handle width direction.
The toothbrush according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the toothbrush has a size in the range of 15 to 15 mm. 12. The short side of the substantially rectangular flocking hole has a length of 0.8 to 0.8.
The toothbrush according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the toothbrush has a size of 2.0 mm and a long side of 1.5 to 5.0 mm. 13. The toothbrush according to claim 2, wherein a separation distance at a base of a pair of bristle bundles constituting the converging block is 0.2 to 4.0 mm. 14. Hair bristle rows are provided in five rows in the longitudinal direction of the flocking table, one converging block at the center in the width direction of the flocking table in the first row and the fifth row, and flocking in the second row and the fourth row. Two converging blocks on both sides of the center in the table width direction,
In the row, one converging block is arranged at the center of the flocking table in the width direction, and the outer side of the converging block is in the same direction as the hair bundle constituting the converging block, and in an angle range where the tip does not contact the converging block. The toothbrush according to any one of claims 5 to 13, wherein one slanted independent bristle bundle is arranged.