JP2006223426A - Toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toothbrush capable of effectively preventing the warp of a head part by flat line bristle implantation, especially the warp of the head part in the toothbrush for which a flat line is driven in a direction vertical to a head part longitudinal direction. <P>SOLUTION: In the toothbrush for which the driving direction of the flat line 6 for doubling up, implanting and fixing a bristle tuft 4 for which a plurality of bristles 5 are bundled is the direction vertical to the longitudinal direction of the head part 1, for at least one set or more of implantation holes adjacent to each other along the head part longitudinal direction, which are the implantation holes at a part where an implantation hole array is a zigzag shape or a grid shape, the hole depth is made different. The implantation holes of the different hole depth are positioned at least near the center part of the head part longitudinal direction, the hole depth of the implantation holes is turned to be at least ≥2mm, and the total sum of cross sectional areas in the doubled-up state of the plurality of bristles constituting the bristle tuft is turned to be ≤1.0mm<SP>2</SP>. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a toothbrush that prevents warping of a head portion in flat wire flocking.

In the conventional toothbrush, 16 to 60 holes per hole (32 to 120 when folded) are formed in the flocked holes formed at a distance of 1.0 mm or more on the flocked surface of the toothbrush head. A thick bristle bundle of a plurality of brushes is fixed by driving with a flat wire so that the total cross-sectional area of the brush exceeds 1.0 mm ² . In the case of such a toothbrush, when the interval between the flock holes is narrowed and the flat lines are dense, the resin between adjacent flock holes is cracked or whitened. In particular, when the driving direction of the flat wire is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the head portion, the appearance of the toothbrush may be impaired, for example, the head portion may be warped due to deformation stress caused by driving the flat wire.

  Therefore, conventionally, in order to prevent cracks and whitening between adjacent flock holes or warping of the head portion when flocking a hair bundle at a high density in flat wire flocking, the thickness of the head portion is prevented. The ratio of the length from the bottom surface of the flocked hole to the bottom surface of the head part is specified (see Patent Document 1), the flat wire driving angle is devised (refer to Patent Document 2), the hair bundle by flat line flocking and the hair of adhesive flocking Bundles were alternately arranged (see Patent Document 3), or polyacetal having high resin strength was used as a handle material (see Patent Document 4).

  In addition, there is also known a method of flocking by changing the hole depth of the toothbrush hole of the toothbrush (see Patent Document 5). This is because the difference between the brush length and the hardness of the brush causes a brushing effect. It is expected to have a massage effect and is not intended to improve the head warpage.

JP-A-8-19423 (all pages, all figures) JP 2002-360343 A (all pages, all figures) JP 2001-314231 A (all pages, all figures) JP-A-7-143914 (all pages, all figures) JP-A-62-148609 (all pages, all figures)

  When using the above-described prior art, restrictions are imposed on the head shape, flocking hole shape, flat wire driving direction, etc., and this is not necessarily applicable to the intended toothbrush. Given the cost, it could not be a sensible option. In particular, when a flat wire is driven in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the head part, the implantation distortion of the flat line of the flock hole adjacent along the longitudinal direction of the head part accumulates, and warping occurs in the head part. The problem of ending up was left.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and warps the head part due to flat-line flocking, particularly the warp of the head part in a toothbrush in which a flat line is driven in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the head part. An object of the present invention is to provide a toothbrush that is effectively prevented.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors have conducted intensive experiments and examinations. As a result, in the case of a toothbrush in which the flat line is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the head, the toothbrush is along the longitudinal direction of the head. It has been found that if the hole depths of adjacent flock holes are different, accumulation of distortion due to adjacent flat lines can be reduced, and the occurrence of warping of the head portion can be prevented.

  That is, the toothbrush according to claim 1 is a toothbrush hole arrangement in a toothbrush in which a driving direction of a flat line for fixing a bunch of bristles bundled with a plurality of brushes in a folded manner is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the head portion. Is a staggered or lattice-shaped part of the flocked holes, wherein at least one set of flocked holes adjacent in the longitudinal direction of the head part have different depths. is there.

  The toothbrush according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in the toothbrush according to claim 1, the flock hole having a different hole depth is located at least near the center in the longitudinal direction of the head. is there.

  The toothbrush according to claim 3 is the toothbrush according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the flock hole has a depth of at least 2 mm.

The toothbrush according to claim 4 is the toothbrush according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the total cross-sectional area of the plurality of brushes constituting the bristle bundle in a folded state is 1.0 mm ² or less. It is characterized by this.

  When the flock holes are arranged in a staggered pattern or a lattice, if the hole depths of the flock holes are all the same as in a conventional toothbrush, the driven flat lines interfere with each other and the driving distortion due to the flat lines accumulates. Therefore, warping occurs in the head portion. Therefore, in the present invention, by making the hole depths of at least one or more adjacent flock holes arranged along the longitudinal direction of the head portion different, interference between adjacent flat wires is reduced, and distortion is accumulated. This suppresses the occurrence of warping of the head portion. In particular, if the depths of the flocked holes adjacent to each other in the vicinity of the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the head portion where warpage is most likely to occur are made different, the effect is greatest.

  The hole depth of the flocked hole is 2 mm or more, and at the depth of 2 mm or more, the hole depth is varied between the flocked holes, for example, 2 mm and 3 mm, 2.5 mm and 3 mm. When the hole depth is 2 mm or less, there is an effect on the warp, but the pressing of the hair bundle by the flat wire becomes insufficient, and the tensile strength of the hair bundle is lowered.

Moreover, the tufts are planted in planting pores, the total cross-sectional area in the folded state of the plurality of bristles constituting the bristle bundle is preferably 1.0 mm ² or less, more preferably 0.10~0.70mm ² range. Taking the case where the cross-sectional shape of the brush is circular as an example, a 7 mil (0.178 mm) brush corresponds to about 5 to 14 per hole (10 to 28 when folded). This number is an example, and can be set as needed depending on the toothbrush specifications, brush diameter, cross-sectional shape, and the like. If the total cross-sectional area exceeds 1.0 mm ² , the strength as a hair bundle is increased, resulting in a highly rigid hair bundle, and the flexibility of the hair bundle is extremely reduced.

The distance (hole edge distance) between the flocked hole in which the total cross-sectional area of the brush is flocked with a hair bundle of 1.0 mm ² or less and the other flocked hole closest to this is preferably 1.0 mm or less, more preferably It is the range of 0.25-0.70 mm. When the interval between the flock holes is too narrow, the hair bundle is too dense, so that the brush does not enter between the teeth, and interdental penetration is reduced. On the other hand, when the interval between the flock holes is too wide, the feeling of use as a toothbrush and the appearance discrimination are reduced. When the spacing between the flock holes exceeds 1.0 mm, the repulsive action of the hair bundle accompanying the brushing movement becomes strong, and the feeling of use is reduced due to the crusty feel of the hair bundle, and the adjacent hair bundles are continuous. The bending movement is not exhibited, and the plaque removal effect is also reduced.

  The hole shape of the flocked hole may be a generally used circle or rectangle, but may be a hole shape having a long axis (long side) and a short axis (short side), such as an ellipse, an oval, and a rectangle. In addition, by combining the orientations of the holes, it is possible to design specifications according to the desired interdental penetration, bristles, and brushing feeling. The hole arrangement of the flocked holes is preferably a staggered pattern or a lattice pattern in order to obtain a denser hole arrangement while avoiding interference between adjacent flat lines.

  There are no restrictions on the shape, size, or design of the head. The thickness of the head portion is generally about 3 to 6 mm in flat wire flocking as the minimum thickness.

  As handle materials, polystyrene resin (PS), polypropylene resin (PP), polyethylene terephthalate resin (PET), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin (ABS), cellulose propionate resin (CP), polyarylate resin, saturated polyester resin (PCTA) , PCTG), polycarbonate resin (PC), acrylonitrile styrene resin (AS), polyacetal resin (POM), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), etc., alone or in combination. It is also possible to provide a multicolor molded handle combined with thermoplastic elastomers. These are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these.

  As the brush (filament) material constituting the hair bundle, polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate and polytrimethylene terephthalate, polyamides such as nylon 6, nylon 66, nylon 6-10, nylon 6-12 and nylon 12, Materials that can be melt-spun, such as polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene, and polyvinyl halides such as polyvinylidene fluoride are used. It is also possible to form these brushes into a double-core sheath shape and use them as composite filaments by combining brushes with different materials on the outside and inside, and brushes with different surface conditions.

  The thickness of the brush is 3 to 10 mil (0.076 to 0.254 mm), preferably 5 to 8 mil (0.127 to 0.203 mm). These may be used in combination in consideration of usability, cleaning feeling, cleaning effect, durability, and the like. In particular, in the case of a specification with a large number of holes, it is not easy to feel the usability by changing the thickness, material, length, color, cross-sectional shape, etc. It is also preferable in terms of appearance discrimination.

  As for the coloring of the brush, it can be used as it is (transparent), or transparent coloring or non-transparent coloring (including white) with a pigment or dye is appropriately selected in consideration of the commercial properties of the toothbrush appearance. If necessary, two or more of them may be used in combination in the hair bundle unit or in the hair bundle, and when the cross section of the same brush has a multi-core sheath structure, it is partially different It can also be used in combination with materials or colored ones.

  As a coloring method, the resin itself at the time of spinning may be colored as commonly used, or it may be colored from the surface after spinning or accompanying the spinning process. Moreover, only the front-end | tip part of a brush, or all the brushes can also be colored after the cut piece state (bundle of brush length of about 25-35 mm) before planting to a toothbrush head part, or after planting. Moreover, as long as the properties of the brush are not impaired, stabilizers against heat and light, flame retardants, fillers, surface lubricants, antistatic agents, sterilizing materials (antibacterial materials), etc. may be added. Other hard resins and elastomers may be appropriately blended or applied.

  The cross-sectional shape of the brush is usually circular, but may be a polygon such as an ellipse, a triangle, a quadrangle, a pentagon, and a hexagon. Moreover, as a shape with a partial depression, it may be a star shape, a three-leaf or four-leaf clover shape, or an indeterminate cross-section combining straight lines and curves. As the cross-sectional shape of the brush, an arbitrary shape is selected as necessary. From the viewpoint of physical strength, a circular cross-section is preferable because it is balanced.

  Examples of brush types include normal round brushes, taper brushes, diamond brushes (Tynex (registered trademark) Brilliance Collection filaments), feather brushes (Tynex FEATHERED Fillaments), and other irregular cross-section brushes (Tynex HEXAGONAL Fillaments, Tynex RECTANGULAR Fillaments). , Tynex GRAINY filaments, spiral catch brushes, indicator brushes and the like. These are merely examples, and are not limited to these.

  As the material of the flat wire for folding the hair bundle in two, hard plastic can be used in addition to metals such as brass and stainless steel. There is no restriction | limiting in particular in the width | variety and length of the flat line to be used, It can set arbitrarily. Further, if a groove is formed on the outer surface of the flat wire so as to be perpendicular to the direction in which the flat wire is driven, the flocking strength can be improved.

  With respect to the brush profile, an arbitrary shape such as a single flat shape, a mountain shape, or an uneven shape can be given by arbitrarily setting the shape of the free end and the length of the brush. Moreover, it is good also as a different brush profile by the outer side and inner side of a head part, a front-end | tip part, and a rear-end part.

  According to the toothbrush of Claim 1, it is a flock hole of the site | part made into the staggered pattern or the grid | lattice-like arrangement | positioning, Comprising: About at least 1 or more sets of flock holes adjacent along a head part longitudinal direction, the hole Since the depths are made different, accumulation of driving distortion due to the flat line of the adjacent flock holes can be reduced, and the occurrence of warping of the head portion can be prevented.

  According to the toothbrush according to claim 2, since the depth of the flock hole located near the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the head portion where warpage is most likely to occur is made different, the generation of the warp is more effectively performed. Can be prevented.

  According to the toothbrush according to claim 3, since the hole depth of the flocked hole is at least 2 mm or more, even if the hole depth of the flocked hole is varied, the pull-out strength of the hair bundle does not decrease. .

According to the toothbrush of the fourth aspect, since the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the plurality of brushes constituting the hair bundle in a folded state is 1.0 mm ² or less, each effect described above can be achieved even in a toothbrush with a small number of hair bundle specifications. Can be realized.

  FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a schematic enlarged plan view of the head part, (b) is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I in (a), (c) is a schematic enlarged plan view of a flocked hole part, and (c). FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a hair bundle and a flat wire. In addition, in (a) and (b), in order to make a figure intelligible, illustration was abbreviate | omitted about the hair | bristle bundle planted in the flock hole.

  In the figure, 1 is a head part, 2 is a flocked surface, 3 is a flocked hole, 4 is a bunch of hair, 5 is a brush constituting the bristles, 6 is a flat wire, and the short axis direction and the long axis as the flocked hole 3 An elliptical flock hole having a direction is employed, the elliptical flock holes 3 are arranged in a staggered pattern on the flocked surface 2, and the major axis direction of the ellipse is relative to the longitudinal direction of the head portion 1. The direction of the hole is arranged so as to be in the vertical direction, and the flat wire 6 for fixing the hair bundle 4 to the flock hole 3 in a folded manner is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the head portion 1, that is, an oval shape. It is driven along the long axis direction of the flocked hole 3 that has been treated.

In the case of the illustrated example, with respect to the flocked holes 3 located near the center in the longitudinal direction of the head and excluding the front end side of the head and near the neck, the depth of the flocked holes 3 adjacent to each other along the longitudinal direction of the head is determined. In addition to making them different, the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the plurality of brushes 5 (see FIG. 1 (d)) constituting each hair bundle 4 in a folded state is 1.0 mm ² or less. The depth of both the black-filled flocked hole 3 and the white flocked hole 3 is 2 mm or more, and the black-filled flocked hole 3 is white at the hole depth of 2 mm or more. It is set shallower than the unfilled flock hole 3 (for example, the hole depth of the flocked hole 3 painted black is 2.5 mm, the depth of the hollow flock hole 3 is 3.0 mm).

  As described above, by making the hole depths between the flocking holes adjacent along the longitudinal direction of the head portion different from each other, accumulation of driving distortion of the adjacent flat wires 6 can be reduced, which is a conventional problem. Further, warping of the head portion 1 can be prevented. Moreover, since the hole depth of the adjacent flock holes is changed after setting the hole depth of all the flock holes 3 to at least 2 mm or more, the decrease in the hair bundle strength due to the shallow holes is prevented. Hair loss caused by changing the depth can also be prevented.

Specific examples of the present invention are shown in FIGS.
Example 1 (see FIG. 2) employs an oblong hole with a minor axis of 0.64 mm and a major axis of 1.52 mm as the flocked hole 3. The total number of flocked holes = 76 holes, the hole depth of the flocked holes filled in black The thickness is 2.5 mm and the depth of the white flock hole is 3.0 mm.

  Example 2 (see FIG. 2) employs a substantially rectangular hole having a short side of 0.64 mm and a long side of 1.32 mm as the flocking hole 3, and the total number of flocking holes = 64 holes. The depth is 2.5 mm and the depth of the white flock hole is 3.0 mm.

  In Example 3 (see FIG. 2), as the flocked hole 3, an oblong hole having a minor axis of 0.64 mm × longer axis of 1.52 mm was adopted, and the total number of flocked holes = 79 holes, The hole depth is 2.2 mm, and the depth of the white flocked hole is 3.0 mm.

  Example 4 (see FIG. 2) employs an oblong hole with a minor axis of 0.64 mm and a major axis of 1.92 mm as the flocked hole 3, and the total number of flocked holes = 49 holes, the holes of the flocked holes filled in black The depth is 2.2 mm and the depth of the white flock hole is 3.0 mm.

  Example 5 (see FIG. 3) employs an oblong hole with a minor axis of 0.64 mm and a major axis of 1.52 mm as the flocking hole 3, and the total number of flocking holes = 61 holes. The depth is 2.5 mm and the depth of the white flock hole is 3.0 mm.

  In Example 6 (see FIG. 3), as the flocked holes 3, 2 circular holes with a diameter of 0.8 mm, 24 circular holes with a diameter of 1.0 mm, short side 0.64 mm × long side 1 .45 holes of approximately rectangular holes of 32 mm, with a round hole filled with black and a hole depth of approximately rectangular holes of 3.0 mm, a hole depth of white circular holes of 3.5 mm, white The hole depth of the substantially rectangular hole that is not formed is 3.8 mm, and the hole depth is varied in three stages.

  In Example 7 (see FIG. 3), as the flocked holes 3, two circular holes having a diameter of 1.0 mm and 39 substantially rectangular holes having a short side of 0.70 mm × long side of 2.0 mm were arranged. Therefore, the hole depth of a substantially rectangular hole filled in black is 2.5 mm, and the hole depth of a hollow substantially rectangular hole and a hollow white hole is 3.0 mm.

<Experimental example>
Using the products 1 to 3 of the present invention and the comparative examples 1 to 4 (conventional products) having the specifications shown in FIG. The results are shown in Table 1. As is apparent from the experimental results in Table 1, in the case of the inventive products 1 to 3, both the warp of the head portion and the hair bundle strength could be satisfied simultaneously.

(1) Warpage of head portion The warpage test of the head portion in Table 1 was performed by the following method.
The toothbrush handle in which the hair bundle is implanted is photographed from the side with a microscope (Keyence Corporation: VHX-100). The image of the evaluation toothbrush was overlaid on the image of the non-planted handle in which the hair bundle was not planted, and the deviation of the parting line at the tip of the head was measured with a digital caliper, and the head was warped. The warpage was evaluated according to the following three-step evaluation.
○: Less than 0.5 mm Δ: 0.5 mm or more, less than 0.7 mm ×: 0.7 mm or more

(2) Hair bundle strength The hair bundle strength test in Table 1 was carried out by the following method.
The entire brush in one hole was grasped with a dedicated instrument, and the maximum tensile stress until the brush was pulled out from the flocked hole was measured with an autograph manufactured by Shimadzu Corporation at a pulling speed of 20 mm / min. The evaluation of the hair bundle strength was based on the following four-step evaluation.
◎: Average 25N or more ○: Average 20N or more △: Average 15N or more ×: Average less than 15N

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a schematic enlarged plan view of a head part, (b) is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line II in (a), and (c) is a flocked hole. FIG. 2 is a schematic enlarged plan view of a portion, and FIG. 3C is a schematic perspective view of a hair bundle and a flat line. It is a figure which shows the head part structure of Example 1- Example 4, and its specification. It is a figure which shows the head part structure of Examples 5-7, and its specification. It is a figure which shows the head part structure of the toothbrush used for the comparative experiment, and its specification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Head part 2 Flocked surface 3 Flocked hole 4 Hair bundle 5 Brush which comprises a hair bundle 6 Flat wire

Claims (4)

In a toothbrush in which the striking direction of a flat line for fixing a bunch of bristles bundled with a plurality of brushes in a folded manner is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the head part,
It is a flock hole at a part where the flock hole arrangement is staggered or latticed, and at least one set of flock holes adjacent in the longitudinal direction of the head part have different hole depths. Toothbrush.   The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the flock holes having different hole depths are located at least near the center in the longitudinal direction of the head.   The toothbrush according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a hole depth of the flocked hole is at least 2 mm or more. The toothbrush according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the plurality of brushes constituting the bristle bundle in a folded state is 1.0 mm ² or less.

Images