JP2007097850A - Bristle material for brushes, and toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide bristle material for brushes, which maintains soft feel and interdental insertability of bristle ends, has excellent ability of brushing out foreign substance and dental plaque adhering to gaps between teeth and is improved in massage effect to gums, and toothbrushes using the bristle material. <P>SOLUTION: The bristle material for brushes, which is made of asynthetic resin monofilament, has flat cross-sectional parts 4 and non-flat cross-sectional parts 5 alternately formed in the fiber axial direction of the bristle material and has a tapered part 2 at least on one end of the bristle material. Therefore, the bristle material for brushes 1 and a toothbrush using the bristle material for brushes 1 at least at part are provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a brush bristle material having high cleaning properties and a massage effect while maintaining a soft feel and interdental insertability when used in a brush, and a toothbrush using the bristle material. Is.

  Brush applications include general household applications such as toothbrushes, body brushes, and cosmetic brushes, and industrial applications such as cleaning brushes and polishing brushes that clean and polish steel plates and LCD screens. Various types of bristle materials for brushes are used depending on the brush application.

  In particular, as a bristle material for brushes used for toothbrushes, body brushes, cosmetic brushes, etc., bristle materials made of synthetic resin monofilaments have been widely used, and among them, nylon 6/10, nylon 6/12, and polybutylene. Since terephthalate has little elasticity change due to moisture absorption and is excellent in durability, terephthalate is often used as a bristle material for toothbrushes.

  Furthermore, in recent years, various processing has been applied to the brush bristle material for the purpose of improving cleanability. For example, the tip of the brush bristle material made of polybutylene terephthalate is used with an alkaline solution or the like. There is known a toothbrush bristle material (for example, see Patent Document 1) which can be cleaned even by narrow gaps by melting and processing the tip part into a tapered shape.

The hair with a tapered tip has a soft feel when used in a toothbrush and is easy to insert into the gap between teeth, so it can clean narrow gaps that cannot be reached with conventional brush hair. However, since the ability to scrape dirt is weak and the massage effect cannot be said to be sufficient, higher cleaning properties and massage effects are required than conventional tapered hair materials.
JP-A-6-141923

  The present invention has been achieved as a result of studying the solution of the problems in the prior art described above as an issue.

  Therefore, the object of the present invention is to maintain the soft feel of the hair tip and the interdental insertion property, while being excellent in the ability to scrape foreign matter and plaque adhering to the gap between the teeth and having a massage effect on the gums. An object is to provide an improved brush bristle and a toothbrush using the bristle.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a bristle material for a brush made of a synthetic resin monofilament is formed by alternately forming a flat cross section and a non-flat cross section in the fiber axis direction of the bristle. In addition, there is provided a bristle material for a brush characterized by having a tapered portion at at least one end of the bristle material.

In the brush hair material of the present invention,
Preferred conditions are that the length in the fiber axis direction of the flat cross-section and the non-flat cross-section is in the range of 1 to 5 mm, respectively, and that the synthetic resin monofilament is a polyester monofilament, which satisfies these conditions By this, a further excellent effect can be obtained.

  Further, the toothbrush of the present invention is characterized in that the brush bristle material is used for at least a part of the bristle material, and has a soft tactile sensation and interdental insertion, and has a conventional taper. It becomes a brush that is superior in cleaning ability compared to a hair-like bristle.

  According to the present invention, as described below, when the bristle material for brushes of the present invention is used as a toothbrush, the hair tip is likely to enter a narrow gap, and the ability to scrape off foreign matter and plaque adhering to the gap between the teeth And a brush hair material with improved massage effect on the gums.

  The brush bristle material of the present invention exhibits the best effect particularly when applied to a toothbrush, but also exhibits the above characteristics sufficiently when used as various brushes such as a body brush. is there.

  Below, the bristle material for brushes and toothbrush of this invention are demonstrated in detail according to drawing.

  FIG. 1 is a side view showing an example of a bristle material for a brush according to the present invention, wherein 1 is a bristle material for a brush, 2 is a tapered portion, 3 is a straight portion, 4 is a flat cross section, and 5 is a non-flat cross section. Each is shown.

  2 (a) and 2 (b) are cross-sectional views taken along lines II and JJ, respectively, of the brush bristle material 1 of FIG. 1, and W and H are the major axis and the minor axis of the flat cross section 4 respectively. The diameter is shown.

  Further, FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an example of a method for forming the cross-sectional shape of FIG. 2B, wherein 6 is a monofilament, 7 is a supply roller, 8 is a gear, and 9 is a take-up roller.

  As can be seen from FIG. 1, the bristle material 1 for brushes of the present invention is composed of a tapered portion 2 and a straight portion 3, and further, a non-flat cross-sectional portion 5 ((a) of FIG. 2) in the fiber axis direction. And the flat cross section 4 (FIG. 2B) are alternately formed.

  That is, the brush bristle material 1 of the present invention has a tapered portion 2 at least at one end thereof, so that it has a soft feel and interdental insertion when used with a toothbrush, and further in the fiber axis direction. Since the non-flat cross section 5 and the flat cross section 4 are alternately formed, the uneven shape appearing on the surface of the bristle material 1 for brushes has the ability to scrape foreign matter and plaque adhering to the gap between the teeth. As well as exerting, a moderate massage effect on the gums can be obtained.

  The synthetic resin used for the bristle material 1 for brushes of the present invention is not particularly limited and can be arbitrarily selected from thermoplastic resins that can be melt-spun. Polyester resins such as polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate (hereinafter referred to as PBT), and polypropylene terephthalate are preferred.

  Further, the brush bristle material 1 may optionally contain additives such as a heat-resistant agent, a light-resistant agent, an antioxidant, an antistatic agent, an antibacterial agent, a colorant, and a plasticizer as long as the effects of the present invention are not impaired. It can be included.

  Furthermore, the outer diameter of the bristle material 1 for brushes of the present invention is appropriately selected according to its use and is not particularly limited. However, the overall balance of the feeling of use and the ability to effectively remove dirt when used for a brush is used. Is taken into account, 0.05 to 0.30 mm, preferably 0.07 to 0.25 mm.

  Furthermore, the cross-sectional shape of the bristle material 1 for brushes of the present invention is processed into a shape having alternately flat cross-sectional portions 4 and non-flat cross-sectional portions 5 by a processing method to be described later, and the length of each portion is processed. Although there is no limitation, in order to obtain a more excellent cleaning capability, the length of the flat cross-sectional portion 4 in the fiber axis direction is preferably 1 to 5 mm, more preferably 2 to 4 mm, and the non-flat cross-sectional portion 5 The length in the fiber axis direction is preferably 1 to 5 mm, and more preferably 2 to 4 mm.

  On the other hand, the major axis W and minor axis H of the flat cross section 4 are not particularly limited, but the minor axis H is set to 50 to 90%, and further 60 to 80% of the outer diameter of the brush bristle material 1. It is preferable.

  That is, by setting the major axis and minor axis of the flat cross section 4 as described above, an uneven shape effective for cleaning can be continuously formed in the fiber axis direction of the bristle material. The ability to scrape foreign matter and plaque adhering to the gaps between teeth is fully exhibited, and a massage effect on the gums can be obtained even better.

  Next, the manufacturing method of the bristle material 1 for brushes of this invention is demonstrated concretely.

  In addition, the manufacturing method demonstrated below is only an example for obtaining the bristle material 1 for brushes of this invention, and all are not limited to this method.

  As shown in FIG. 3, first, the monofilament 6 obtained by a known spinning method is passed through the gap between the pair of upper and lower gears 8 set smaller than the outer diameter of the monofilament 6 from the supply roller 7. The flat cross section 4 and the non-flat cross section 5 are alternately and continuously formed in the fiber axis direction 6, and taken up by the take-up roller 9.

  Next, the monofilament 6 in which the flat cross section 4 and the non-flat cross section 5 are continuously formed is bundled and further cut to a desired length, and then one end or both ends thereof are tapered.

  Here, as the taper-shaped processing method, physical treatment such as polishing or chemical treatment such as acid / alkali dissolution method can be adopted. Particularly, the alkali dissolution method can easily form a taper shape. In addition, it is advantageous because a desired tapered shape can be easily formed by appropriately adjusting the concentration of the alkali solution, the temperature of the alkali solution, the immersion depth in the alkali solution, the immersion time, and the like.

  And the obtained bristle material 1 for brushes is used suitably especially as a toothbrush. In addition, the manufacturing method in particular of a toothbrush does not have a restriction | limiting, For example, normal methods, such as bend | folding the longitudinal direction center part of the bristle material 1 for brushes, and planting this in the flocking hole provided in the toothbrush base, are employ | adopted. .

  Moreover, the bristle material 1 for brushes of this invention can be applied also to other brush uses, such as a body brush, besides a toothbrush.

  Hereinafter, the brush bristle material of the present invention and the toothbrush using the same will be described in more detail with reference to examples. Moreover, evaluation of each bristle material for brushes in Examples and Comparative Examples was performed by the following method.

  In addition, the toothbrush used in each evaluation is obtained by implanting the brush bristle material obtained in Examples and Comparative Examples into a 34-hole toothbrush handle and aligning the bristle length to 11 mm.

[Cleanability]
First, a pseudo tooth model was prepared by providing a groove-like gap having a width of 1.0 mm between two acrylic plates. Then, after a plaque staining solution (plaque check solution) was adhered to the pseudo tooth model, brushing was performed for 3 minutes using a toothbrush under conditions of a toothbrush vertical load of 350 g, an amplitude of 30 mm, and a speed of 180 rpm. Thereafter, the area of the removed plaque staining solution was measured, and this area was expressed as a percentage of the plaque staining solution adhesion area before brushing, and this value was used as an evaluation value for cleaning performance. It shows that it is excellent in the cleaning property, so that this value is large.

[Massage effect on gums]
The stage where the most evaluation was made among the results of requesting the use of the toothbrushes obtained in the examples and comparative examples to 15 monitors and having the massage effect on the gums evaluated in the following three stages. Indicates.
1 ... The gingiva of the hair was not good and the massage effect was small.
2 ... Good contact with gingiva of hair material, and massage effect was recognized not a little,
3 ... The hitting of the hair material against the gums was very good, and the massage effect was also excellent.

[Example 1]
A PBT resin (1200S manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc.) was supplied to an extruder-type spinning machine, and the PBT resin was melt extruded and then cooled and stretched to produce a monofilament having an outer diameter of 0.200 mm.

  Subsequently, the obtained monofilament was passed through a gap between a pair of upper and lower gears, and a non-flat cross section having a length of 3 mm and a flat cross section having a short diameter of 0.14 mm and a length of 3 mm were alternately provided on the monofilament.

  Further, this monofilament was cut into a desired length, and then one end of the monofilament was processed into a taper shape by an alkali dissolution method to prepare a brush hair material.

[Example 2]
In Example 1, the bristle material for the brush and the brush were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the monofilament was alternately provided with a non-flat cross section having a length of 1 mm and a flat cross section having a short diameter of 0.18 mm and a length of 1 mm. A toothbrush was created.

[Example 3]
In Example 1, the bristle material for brush and the same method as in Example 1 except that the monofilament was alternately provided with a non-flat cross section having a length of 5 mm and a flat cross section having a short diameter of 0.10 mm and a length of 5 mm. A toothbrush was created.

[Comparative Example 1]
In Example 1, a brush bristle material and a toothbrush were created in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the obtained monofilament was not processed into a taper shape.

[Comparative Example 2]
In Example 1, a brush bristle material and a toothbrush were created in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the obtained monofilament was not provided with a flat cross section.

  As is apparent from the results in Table 1, the bristle material for brushes of Examples 1 to 3 and the toothbrush using the brush material are superior to those of Comparative Examples 1 and 2 in terms of cleanability, and the bristle material hits the gums. The massage was also good and the massage effect was excellent.

  The toothbrush using the brush bristle material of the present invention has an excellent tactile sensation because it is soft against the gums, and has an extremely high ability to clean foreign matter and plaque adhering to the gap between the teeth, Furthermore, the hitting of the hair material against the gums is good and the massage effect is excellent.

  Moreover, the bristle material for brushes of the present invention can be used satisfactorily for other brush applications such as body brushes, utilizing the outstanding effects when used for toothbrushes.

It is a side view which shows an example of the bristle material for brushes of this invention. (A) And (b) is sectional drawing of the non-flat cross-section part and flat cross-section part of the bristle material for brushes of this invention, respectively. It is the schematic diagram which showed an example of the processing method of the non-flat cross-section part and flat cross-section part of the bristle material for brushes of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Brush hair material 2 Tapered part 3 Straight part 4 Flat cross-section part 5 Non-flat cross-section part W Long diameter (mm)
H minor axis (mm)
6 Monofilament 7 Supply roller 8 Gear 9 Take-up roller

Claims (4)

It is a bristle material for brush made of synthetic resin monofilaments, in which flat cross-sectional portions and non-flat cross-sectional portions are alternately formed in the fiber axis direction of the bristle material, and at least one end of the bristle material has a tapered portion. Brush material characterized by. The bristle material for a brush according to claim 1, wherein the length in the fiber axis direction of each of the flat cross section and the non-flat cross section is in the range of 1 to 5 mm. The brush hair material according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the synthetic resin monofilament is a polyester monofilament. A toothbrush characterized by using the brush bristle material according to any one of claims 1 to 3 for at least part of the bristle material.

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