JP2005170408A - Method for aligning toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for aligning toothbrushes, which is capable of automatically aligning orientations of the toothbrushes in a certain direction without being influenced by the shape of a toothbrush handle. <P>SOLUTION: Two guide bars including a first guide bar 301 coming into contact from above to a position toward a handle of a toothbrush neck 402 and a second guide bar 302 coming into contact from below to a position toward a head of the brush neck 402 and having a slope 302a facing the toothbrush at an upper position of a surface facing the toothbrush 4 are used to pinch the neck 402 of the horizontally laid toothbrush 4 from above and below to lift up. Thus, the toothbrush 4 is hung from the horizontal posture into a vertical posture, and while it is shifted from the horizontal to vertical postures, a bristle part 404 or the side face of the head 403 of the toothbrush 4 is slid down while coming into contact with the slope 302a of the second guide bar 302, whereby the bristle part 404 of the brush 4 automatically faces toward the first guide bar 301. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for aligning toothbrushes, and for example, relates to a method for aligning toothbrushes for aligning the direction of a brush portion in a specified direction when packaging one toothbrush at a time in the packaging process, which is the final process of toothbrush production. is there.

  Conventionally, as this kind of alignment method, the one described in Patent Document 1 proposed by the present applicant is known. In the alignment method described in Patent Document 1, a gap portion having a shape similar to the shape of a toothbrush handle portion is formed at the outlet portion on the downstream side of the hopper, and a large number of toothbrushes put into the hopper are agitated by a swinging plate. However, by supplying the gap portion to the gap portion, the toothbrushes oriented in the same direction as the gap portion are passed one by one and sent to the downstream side.

JP 54-126362 A (all pages, all figures)

  In the case of the above conventional alignment method, the shape of the gap portion has to be similar to the shape of the handle portion of the toothbrush. Therefore, when manufacturing a toothbrush, a large number of gap members having a shape corresponding to the handle portion of the toothbrush to be manufactured must be prepared, and the gap member of the device must be replaced each time the toothbrush to be manufactured is changed. was there. In addition, the replacement of the gap member requires a lot of time and labor, and the production line must be stopped during that time, and there is room for improvement in terms of production efficiency.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and its object is to automatically align the direction of the toothbrush in a certain direction without being affected by the shape of the handle portion of the toothbrush. It is to provide a method for aligning toothbrushes.

  In order to achieve the above object, a method for aligning toothbrushes according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a first guide bar that is in contact with the handle portion of the toothbrush neck from either the upper side or the lower side, and the head portion of the toothbrush neck. A second guide bar that is in contact with the position from the side opposite to the first guide bar and that has an inclined surface facing the toothbrush at a position above the surface facing the toothbrush. The toothbrush is placed in a horizontal state by a guide bar and lifted by holding the toothbrush from above and below to suspend the toothbrush from the horizontal state to the vertical state, and when moving from the horizontal state to the vertical state, the brush portion or head of the toothbrush The brush part of the toothbrush automatically faces the first guide bar by sliding it down while touching the inclined surface of the second guide bar. A.

  The toothbrush alignment method according to claim 2 is subdivided into a subdividing step of subdividing a plurality of toothbrushes that are input with the head and tail directions aligned so as to be arranged substantially in parallel along the toothbrush feed direction, and the subdividing step. The step of separating a plurality of toothbrushes one by one so that they do not overlap each other and aligning them in a single row, and the direction of the brush portion of the plurality of toothbrushes arranged in a single row in the leveling step A posture correcting step of correcting the posture so that all are in the same direction, and the posture correcting step includes a first guide bar that is in contact with the handle portion of the toothbrush neck from either the upper side or the lower side. And a second guide provided with an inclined surface that is in contact with the headbrush portion of the toothbrush neck from the side opposite to the first guide bar and that faces the toothbrush at a position above the surface facing the toothbrush. Each toothbrush is hung from a horizontal state to a vertical state by teaching and lifting the neck of each toothbrush aligned in a row in the leveling step by the two guide bars from above and below, When the position of the toothbrush is moved from the horizontal state to the vertical state, the brush portion of each toothbrush is automatically slid down while touching the inclined surface of the second guide bar. It is designed to face the guide bar.

  The toothbrush alignment method according to claim 3 is the alignment method according to claim 2, wherein the subdividing step is performed along the toothbrush feeding direction after a plurality of toothbrushes are placed in the delivery hopper with the head and tail aligned. By dividing one or a plurality of partition plates arranged in parallel from the bottom surface of the hopper into the hopper, the hopper is divided into a plurality of small blocks parallel to the toothbrush feed direction. The plurality of inserted toothbrushes are subdivided into blocks so that the toothbrushes are arranged substantially in parallel along the toothbrush feed direction.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the toothbrush alignment method according to the second or third aspect, wherein the leveling step includes a plurality of toothbrushes aligned substantially in parallel along the toothbrush feeding direction in the subdividing step. In this mounting state, the leveling plate is vibrated in the vertical direction, and by this vibration, the handle portion of each toothbrush is fitted into the recess formed on the leveling plate, so that a plurality of It is characterized in that the toothbrushes are separated one by one on the leveling plate and arranged in a line.

  According to the toothbrush alignment method according to claim 1, by using the two guide bars of the first guide bar and the second guide bar, the toothbrush is not affected at all by the shape of the handle portion of the toothbrush. Can be automatically aligned in a certain direction. For this reason, it is possible to prepare a large number of gap members having a shape corresponding to the handle portion of the toothbrush to be manufactured as in the conventional method, and to eliminate the need to replace the gap member of the device every time the toothbrush to be manufactured is changed. . Moreover, since it is not necessary to replace parts and members even if the toothbrush to be manufactured is changed, it is not necessary to stop the production line for a long time even if the toothbrush to be manufactured is changed, and the manufacturing efficiency of the toothbrush can be improved.

  According to the toothbrush alignment method of the second aspect, the directions of the plurality of toothbrushes can be simultaneously aligned in a certain direction. For this reason, in addition to the effect of the toothbrush alignment method according to the first aspect, the manufacturing efficiency can be further improved when employed in an actual manufacturing line.

  According to the toothbrush alignment method according to claim 3, the inside of the delivery hopper is divided into small blocks by the partition plate, and a plurality of toothbrushes are subdivided by the divided blocks, whereby each toothbrush is moved in the toothbrush feeding direction. As a result, the toothbrush can be rearranged in a single row in the next leveling process, and the posture correction of the toothbrush in the final stage of the posture correction process is more reliable. Can be done.

  According to the toothbrush alignment method of claim 4, the toothbrush can be surely rearranged in a single line on the leveling plate by vibrating the leveling plate up and down, which is the final stage. The posture correction of the toothbrush in the posture correction process can be more reliably performed.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a toothbrush aligning apparatus configured by applying the method of the present invention. The toothbrush aligning device according to this embodiment is roughly divided into three parts: a subdivision mechanism 1, a leveling mechanism 2, and a posture correction mechanism 3.

  The subdivision mechanism 1 is arranged so that a plurality of inserted toothbrushes (for example, about 10 to 15) are subdivided substantially in parallel along the toothbrush feed direction X, and the next leveling mechanism 2 makes it easy to arrange them in one row. A delivery hopper 101 for loading a plurality of toothbrushes to be aligned, and a pair of closures that are positioned on the front and rear surfaces of the delivery hopper 101 and are movable in the vertical and longitudinal directions. Plates 102 and 103, three partition plates 104a, 104b, and 104c that are located on the bottom surface of the delivery hopper 101 and are provided in parallel along the toothbrush feed direction X and that can be moved up and down in the vertical direction. It is comprised from the raising / lowering apparatus 105 to control.

  As shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C, the three partition plates 104a, 104b, and 104c are arranged in a predetermined order after the plurality of toothbrushes 4 are put into the delivery hopper 101, or in triplicate. At the same time, the delivery hopper 101 is divided into four small blocks along the toothbrush feed direction X by projecting into the hopper, and a plurality of pieces fed into the delivery hopper 101 by the division into the elongated small blocks. The toothbrushes 4 are arranged substantially in parallel along the toothbrush feed direction X.

  The leveling mechanism 2 separates the plurality of toothbrushes 4 arranged substantially in parallel by the subdivision mechanism 1 one by one so as not to overlap each other and rearranges them in a single line, and then moves to the next posture correction mechanism 3. A mechanism for supplying a pair of leveling plates 201a and 201b arranged on the front side, a pair of leveling plates 202a and 202b arranged on the rear side, and vibrating these leveling plates in the vertical direction And a vibration device 203 to be controlled.

  As shown in FIG. 3 (c), the front leveling plates 201a and 201b and the rear side leveling plates 202a and 202b are spaced so that the handle 401 of the toothbrush 4 is placed between them. And arranged in a direction orthogonal to the toothbrush feed direction X. Further, on the upper edge portion of these four leveling plates, the required number of concave portions 204a, 204b and 205a, 205b, which are large enough to fit the handle portion 401 of the toothbrush 4, are formed at the front and rear positions.

  The front and rear leveling plates 201a and the rear side leveling plate 202a move up and down together with the front and rear leveling plates 201b and the rear side leveling plate 202b. When the leveling plates 201a and 202a are raised by the vibration device 203, the leveling plates 201b and 202b are lowered and the leveling plates 202a and 202a are lowered. Sometimes, vibration control is performed so that the leveling plates 201b and 202b move up and down with a phase difference of 180 ° between them.

  The posture correction mechanism 3 is a mechanism for correcting the posture of the plurality of toothbrushes 4 aligned in a single line by the leveling mechanism 2 so that the directions of the brush portions 404 are all aligned in the same direction. The guide bar is composed of two guide bars 301 and 302 arranged in a direction orthogonal to the direction X, and a guide bar position control device 303 that freely moves and controls the positions of the two guide bars.

  In the case of the illustrated example, the first guide bar 301 is composed of a rod-shaped body having a circular cross section, and the second guide bar 302 has an inclined surface 302a toward the toothbrush side at a position above the surface facing the toothbrush 4. It is composed of a rod-shaped body having a substantially trapezoidal cross section. Then, the two guide bars are moved from the upper side of the toothbrush 4 toward the handle portion of the neck portion 402 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 under the position control of the guide bar position control device 303. By contacting the position, and by contacting the second guide bar 302 from the lower side of the toothbrush 4 to a position closer to the head part of the neck 402, the neck 402 of the toothbrush 4 is sandwiched from above and below, and in this sandwiched state, As indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 5, the position of the toothbrush 4 is suspended from the horizontal state to the vertical state by moving the two guide bars upward.

  Next, the toothbrush aligning operation of the toothbrush aligning device will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

(1) Subdivision Step First, as shown in FIG. 2A, a predetermined number (for example, about 10 to 15) of toothbrushes 4 are delivered with their heads and tails aligned so that the brush portion 404 is on the head side. Put into hopper 101. The insertion of the toothbrush 4 into the hopper 101 may be automatically performed by an automatic supply device or may be manually performed by an operator.

  When the toothbrush 4 is inserted, the front closing plate 102 is lowered to close the front side of the delivery hopper 101 so that the inserted toothbrush 4 does not jump out of the hopper 101 to the front side. At the same time, it is desirable that the rear closing plate 103 is also closed at the end of the insertion of the toothbrush so that the toothbrush does not jump out of the hopper during the subdividing processing of the toothbrush 4 by the partition plates 104a to 104c described below.

  When a plurality of toothbrushes 4 are put into the delivery hopper 101, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), among the three partition plates 104a to 104c provided on the bottom surface of the hopper, first, the middle partition plate 104 b is lifted by the lifting device 105 and protrudes into the delivery hopper 101. The protrusion of the partition plate 104b divides the inside of the hopper into two small blocks, and the plurality of inserted toothbrushes 4 are divided into left and right parts.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2C, the left and right partition plates 104a and 104c are raised and protruded into the hopper. Due to the protrusions of the left and right partition plates 104a and 104c, the inside of the hopper is further divided into four blocks, and the plurality of toothbrushes 4 divided into two by the middle partition plate 104b are further divided into two and divided into four. Is done.

  In this way, when the inside of the delivery hopper 101 is divided into four small blocks by the partition plates 104a to 104c, the direction of the toothbrush that is inclined at the time of loading is restricted, and as shown in FIG. The direction of the toothbrush 4 is aligned substantially parallel to the toothbrush feed direction X in each block.

  In this subdivision process, it is only guaranteed that the plurality of toothbrushes 4 are arranged in a direction substantially parallel to the toothbrush feed direction X. Until each toothbrush is completely separated and arranged in parallel. Is not guaranteed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2C, when the number of toothbrushes is large, the toothbrushes may be arranged substantially in parallel with other toothbrushes placed thereon.

  As described above, when the subdivision processing of the plurality of toothbrushes is completed, the partition plates 104a to 104c are lowered and retracted from the bottom surface of the hopper, the front side closing plate 102 is pulled up, and the front side of the hopper is opened. The side closing plate 102 and the rear side closing plate 103 are driven and pushed out toward the front side. As a result, the plurality of toothbrushes 4 aligned substantially in parallel along the toothbrush feed direction X are fed into the next-stage leveling mechanism 2.

(2) Leveling process When a plurality of toothbrushes 4 are fed into the leveling mechanism 2, each of the toothbrushes 4 that have been fed is leveled on the front and rear four sheets in which the handle portion 401 is arranged at a predetermined interval. It will be in the state overlaid on board 201a, 201b, 202a, 202b.

  When a plurality of toothbrushes 4 are placed on the front and rear leveling plates, driving of the vibration device 203 is started, and as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), one set of leveling plates. When 201a and 202a are raised, the other set of leveling plates 201b and 202b is lowered, and when the other set of leveling plates 201b and 202b is raised, one set of leveling plates 201a and 202a is lowered. Thus, the leveling plates are vibrated up and down at a predetermined speed while giving a phase difference of 180 ° (reverse phase).

  The toothbrush 4 rolls on the leveling plate due to the vertical vibration giving the phase difference of 180 °, and the handle 401 is naturally placed in the recesses 204a, 204b and 205a, 205b of the leveling plate. As shown in FIG. 3 (c), each toothbrush 4 fits into each recess and is aligned in a row on the leveling plate. Is done.

  In this leveling process, it is only guaranteed that a plurality of toothbrushes 4 are separated from each other in a single row, and the brush portions 404 of each toothbrush 4 are all in the same direction. It is not guaranteed until it is in line. That is, in general, the weight of the brush portion 404 often causes the brush portion 404 to be stuck in the recess in a downward posture, but not all toothbrushes are stuck in the downward posture, As shown in FIG. 3C, each toothbrush 4 is aligned in a single row with its brush portion 404 facing downward, upward, or sideways.

(3) Posture Correction Step When the toothbrushes 4 are aligned in a single line in the leveling mechanism, the driving of the guide bar position control device 303 of the posture correction mechanism 3 is started, and the first guide bar 301 and the second guide bar are driven. 4 and FIG. 5, that is, the first guide bar 301 is in contact with the position of the neck portion 402 from the upper side of the toothbrush 4, and the second guide bar 302 is the position of the toothbrush 4. The movement is controlled so as to contact the head portion of the neck portion 402 from the lower side, and the neck portion 402 of each toothbrush 4 is sandwiched from above and below by two guide bars.

  Next, in a state where the neck portion 402 of each toothbrush 4 is sandwiched between the two guide bars, the guide bars 301 and 302 are moved up from the position of the solid line in FIG. Suspend vertically.

  In the process of moving the position from the horizontal state to the vertical state, each toothbrush 4 is caused by the action of the drop force due to its own weight and the rotational force applied from the inclined surface 302a of the second guide bar 302 according to the posture at that time. The orientation is changed, and the postures are corrected so that the brush portions 404 of all the toothbrushes 4 face the first guide bar 301 as shown in FIG. Hereinafter, this posture correction will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory view of posture correction when the brush portion 404 of the toothbrush 4 faces the first guide bar 301. As described above, when the brush portion 404 is directed toward the first guide bar 301 from the beginning, the toothbrush 4 is moved in the positions 7 (a) and (b) along with the position movement from the horizontal state to the vertical state. Even when falling as indicated by the arrow A, the head portion 403 and the brush portion 404 of the toothbrush 4 do not contact the inclined surface 302 a of the second guide bar 302. For this reason, the toothbrush 4 falls while maintaining its posture, and as shown in FIG. 7C, the toothbrush 4 is suspended in a suspended state when the lower end portion of the brush portion 404 contacts the first guide bar 301. It is done.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic explanatory view of posture correction in the case where the brush portion 404 of the toothbrush 4 is lateral to the first guide bar 301. As described above, when the brush portion 404 is oriented sideways with respect to the first guide bar 301, the toothbrush 4 is moved to the arrow in FIGS. 8A and 8B as the position is moved from the horizontal state to the vertical state. When falling like a, the side surface of the head portion 403 protruding outward during the fall comes into contact with the inclined surface 302a of the second guide bar 302.

  In general, the cross-sectional shape of the head portion 403 is a rounded rectangular cross-section that is curved or rounded at sides or corners. For this reason, when the side surface of the head portion 403 slides down while being in contact with the inclined surface 302a, as shown in FIG. 8B, a rotational force M is generated in the head portion 403 due to its roundness. Therefore, the toothbrush 4 falls while rotating around the major axis of the handle 401 by the rotational force M, and when the toothbrush 4 falls to a position in contact with the first guide bar 301 as shown in FIG. Thus, the brush portion 404 is directed toward the first guide bar 301, and the toothbrush 4 is suspended with the brush portion 404 facing the first guide bar 301.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic explanatory diagram of posture correction when the brush portion 404 of the toothbrush 4 faces the side opposite to the first guide bar 301. As described above, when the brush portion 404 faces the side opposite to the first guide bar 301, the toothbrush 4 is moved as shown by an arrow A in FIG. 9A as the position is moved from the horizontal state to the vertical state. As it falls, the tip of the brush portion 404 falls while coming into contact with the inclined surface 302a of the second guide bar 302.

  The brush portion 404 is made of synthetic tree hair such as nylon and is soft and elastic. Therefore, the portion in contact with the inclined surface 302a is bent due to its elasticity, but the state of the dent differs depending on the posture of the toothbrush at that time, and does not become completely symmetrical. . For this reason, as shown in FIG. 9A, the falling toothbrush 4 is subjected to a rotational force M from the side with a small dent to the side with a large dent, and the toothbrush 4 rotates around the long axis of the handle 401. It falls and becomes sideways with respect to the 1st guide bar 301 at the time of 90 degree rotation, as shown in FIG.9 (b).

  When the brush portion 404 is oriented sideways with respect to the guide bar 301, the same state as in FIG. 8B described above is obtained, and the brush portion 404 is further rotated by the rotational force M generated when the side surface of the head portion 403 contacts the inclined surface 302a. 9B. As shown in FIG. 9C, the brush portion 404 faces the first guide bar 301 at the time when it falls to a position in contact with the first guide bar 301, and the toothbrush 4 is the brush portion. 404 is hung in a state of facing the first guide bar 301.

  As described above, the toothbrushes 4 aligned in a single line in the leveling mechanism are moved in the posture correcting mechanism 3 from the horizontal state to the vertical state, and the brush portions 404 of all the toothbrushes 4 are the first ones. The direction is changed to the state of facing the guide bar 301 and the posture is corrected (see FIG. 6).

  Each toothbrush 4 is conveyed to a subsequent blister packaging machine or the like by a conveying device (not shown) with the direction of the brush portion 404 aligned in a certain direction, and blister-packed one by one.

  In the above embodiment, the first guide bar 301 is in contact with the toothbrush neck portion from above and the second guide bar 302 is in contact from below. On the contrary, the first guide bar 301 is in contact with the toothbrush neck portion. The bar 301 may contact from below, and the second guide bar 302 may contact from above.

  In the above embodiment, a guide bar having a substantially trapezoidal cross section having a linear inclined surface 302a is used as the second guide bar 302. However, the cross sectional shape of the second guide bar 302 is as follows. The present invention is not limited to this, and an inclined surface that can slide down while the brush portion 404 and the head portion 403 of the toothbrush 4 are in contact with each other may be provided. As an example of such a cross-sectional shape, for example, as shown in FIG. 10 (a), the radius r has a circular cross-section having the same or higher radius as the hair length h of the brush portion 404, FIG. 10 (b). As shown in (c), an oval or oval cross section having a thickness D up to the center of the brush section 404 that is the same as or higher than the bristle length h can be used.

  Furthermore, in the embodiment, a guide bar having a circular cross section is used as the first guide bar 301. However, the cross-sectional shape of the first guide bar is not limited to this, and the second guide bar is not limited thereto. Any cross-sectional shape that can hang the neck of the toothbrush 4 in cooperation with 302 can be employed, and various cross-sectional shapes such as an elliptical cross-section, an oval cross-section, a square cross-section, and a polygonal cross-section can be adopted.

It is a partial cutaway perspective view of one embodiment of a toothbrush alignment device constituted by applying the method of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing of the subdivision process of the toothbrush by a subdivision mechanism, (a) is the schematic plan view which shows the state with which several toothbrush was thrown in in the delivery hopper, (b) was the partition plate in the middle raised The schematic plan view which shows a state, (c) is a schematic plan view which shows the state which all the partition plates raised. It is explanatory drawing of the leveling process of the toothbrush by a leveling mechanism, (a) The schematic explanatory drawing which looked at the toothbrush under leveling process from the head part side, (b) The toothbrush after leveling process completion | finish is a head part. It is the schematic explanatory drawing seen from the side, (c) is the schematic explanatory drawing which saw the toothbrush after the end of the leveling process from the upper side. It is a schematic plan view showing a state where the neck portion of each toothbrush subjected to the leveling process is sandwiched from above and below by a first guide bar and a second guide bar. It is explanatory drawing of the position movement from the horizontal state of a toothbrush by a 1st guide bar and a 2nd guide bar to a vertical state. It is a figure which shows the state of the toothbrush which the position was moved from the horizontal state to the vertical state. It is a model explanatory drawing of posture correction in case a brush part has faced the 1st guide bar. It is a schematic explanatory drawing of posture correction in the case where the brush portion is lateral to the first guide bar. It is a model explanatory drawing of posture correction in case a brush part has faced the opposite side to the 1st guide bar. The other example of the cross-sectional shape of the 2nd guide bar is shown, (a) is a figure showing an example of a circular section, (b) is a figure showing an example of an elliptical section, (c) is an example of an oval section. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Subdivision mechanism 2 Leveling mechanism 3 Posture correction mechanism 4 Toothbrush 101 Delivery hoppers 102 and 103 Closing plates 104a to 104c Partition plate 105 Lifting devices 201a and 201b Front side leveling plates 202a and 202b Rear side leveling plate 203 Vibration device 204a, 204b Concave portion 205a, 205b Concave portion 301 First guide bar 302 Second guide bar 302a Inclined surface 303 Guide bar position control device 401 Handle portion 402 Neck portion 403 Head portion 404 Brush portion

Claims (4)

A first guide bar that is in contact with the handle portion of the toothbrush neck from either the upper side or the lower side; a head guide portion of the toothbrush neck that is in contact with the head portion from the side opposite to the first guide bar; and Using a second guide bar provided with an inclined surface toward the toothbrush at a position above the surface facing the toothbrush,
The toothbrush is hung from the horizontal state to the vertical state by lifting and holding the neck of the toothbrush placed horizontally by the two guide bars from above and below,
By sliding the toothbrush brush portion or the head portion side surface in contact with the inclined surface of the second guide bar during the movement from the horizontal state to the vertical state, the toothbrush brush portion automatically moves to the first guide bar. A method of aligning toothbrushes, characterized in that it is directed toward the direction. A subdivision process for subdividing a plurality of toothbrushes with the head and tail aligned in a line so that they are arranged substantially in parallel along the toothbrush feeding direction;
A plurality of toothbrushes subdivided in the subdivision step are separated one by one so that they do not overlap each other, and are arranged in a line formation;
A posture correction step of correcting the posture of the plurality of toothbrushes arranged in a line in the leveling step so that the brush portions all have the same orientation,
The posture correction step includes
A first guide bar that is in contact with the handle portion of the toothbrush neck portion from either the upper side or the lower side, a head guide portion of the toothbrush neck portion that is in contact with the head portion from the side opposite to the first guide bar, and Using a second guide bar provided with an inclined surface toward the toothbrush at a position above the surface facing the toothbrush,
The toothbrushes are suspended from the horizontal state to the vertical state by teaching and lifting the neck portions of the toothbrushes arranged in a single line in the leveling step by the two guide bars from above and below,
When the position of the toothbrush is moved from the horizontal state to the vertical state, the brush portion of each toothbrush is automatically slid down while touching the inclined surface of the second guide bar. A method for aligning toothbrushes, characterized by facing the guide bar. The method of aligning toothbrushes according to claim 2,
The subdivision process includes
After throwing a plurality of toothbrushes into the delivery hopper with the head and tail aligned, one or more partition plates arranged in parallel along the toothbrush feed direction are projected from the bottom of the hopper into the hopper. By dividing the inside of the hopper into a plurality of small blocks parallel to the toothbrush feed direction,
A method of aligning toothbrushes, wherein the plurality of inserted toothbrushes are subdivided by the divided blocks so that the toothbrushes are arranged substantially in parallel along the toothbrush feed direction. The toothbrush alignment method according to claim 2 or 3,
The leveling step is
Place a plurality of toothbrushes arranged substantially parallel along the toothbrush feeding direction on the leveling plate in the subdividing step,
The leveling plate is vibrated in the up-and-down direction in the placement state, and the toothbrush handle portion is fitted into the recess formed on the leveling plate by the vibration, whereby a plurality of toothbrushes 1 on the leveling plate. A method for aligning toothbrushes, characterized in that they are separated one by one and arranged in a line.

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