JP2007295979A - Toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toothbrush which can make bristle tips reach an interdental area and the back of a cervical area by long bristles and for which the reachability of dentifrice and the excellence of foaming are improved without obstructing the performance of removing bacterial plaque or the like. <P>SOLUTION: The toothbrush includes a floss tuft 15b composed of the long bristles 14b and a main body tuft 15a composed of short bristles 14a, the floss tuft 15b is positioned at the center part of each polygonal area R where the main body tuft 15a is arranged at a corner part and is planted at one part each, and the length of the bristles 14b of the floss tuft 15b is longer than the longest length of the bristles 14a of the main body tuft 15a by 1.5-2.5 mm. The ratio of the total area of entire bristle planting holes 13a and 13b to the area of a planting area A is ≥35%. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a toothbrush, and more particularly to a toothbrush in which tufts formed by bundling bristles are respectively implanted in a plurality of flock holes of a flocking table.

  A toothbrush is made from a plurality of tufts by fixing a tuft formed by bundling a plurality of bristles into a plurality of flock holes formed in a flocking table by, for example, implanting a flat wire or fusing it with heat. It is obtained by forming a brush part. In addition, the toothbrush efficiently performs appropriate brushing according to the tooth part such as the tooth surface part, interdental part, and tooth neck part, and the tooth type such as the front tooth and the back tooth, and has a desired feeling of use and the like. For this purpose, various ideas have been made on the arrangement of tufts, the shape of the brush portion, and the like.

For example, a toothbrush in which floss hairs are implanted by projecting upward by about 1 mm to several millimeters from a brush surface in which the tips of tufts constituting the brush portion are connected is disclosed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In such a toothbrush, the tip of the floss hair is made to reach the back of a narrow part such as an interdental part or a tooth neck part, and a scraping effect such as plaque at the innermost part is obtained. Further, for tufts that are planted in a plurality of rows in the longitudinal direction of the flocking table, tufts having a bundle diameter smaller than the bundle diameter of the tufts in the outermost row and higher than the tuft length in the outermost row A toothbrush in which the rows are provided inside the tufts of the outermost row is disclosed (Patent Document 2).
Design Registration No. 1050137 JP 2001-309819 A

  In the toothbrush described in Patent Document 1, only a few of the bristles constituting each tuft protrude as floss hair having a long hair length, and a bundle together with many other bristles shorter than the floss hair. Each tuft is formed. Therefore, each floss hair is surrounded by the lower bristle in the lower part where it overlaps with many other lower bristle, and its movement is restricted.For example, when brushing along the tooth surface, Only the part of the length that protrudes upward from the lower bristle surrounding it and the vicinity thereof will bend, and many of the surrounding main bristle will contact the tooth surface, interdental part, tooth neck part, etc. It tends to inhibit the removal performance of plaque and the like.

  Further, in the toothbrush described in Patent Document 1, since the number of long floss hairs is small, the floss hair can reach the back of a narrow part such as an interdental part or a tooth neck part. It is difficult to deliver the dentifrice to the back with the floss hair. Furthermore, since the toothbrush of patent document 2 has planted the tufts of several bundle diameters, the flock density of the tuft or bristle planted in the flocking area | region of a flocking table becomes low, and the foaming property of dentifrice is good. In some cases, it cannot be secured sufficiently.

  The present invention enables the hair tip to reach the back of the interdental part and the neck part of the tooth, does not impair the removal performance of plaque and the like, and removes the dentifrice from the back part of the interdental part and the tooth neck part. It is an object of the present invention to provide a toothbrush that can be easily delivered to a toothpaste and that can improve the foaming quality of a dentifrice.

  The present invention is a toothbrush in which tufts formed by bundling bristles are respectively planted in a plurality of follicle holes of a flocking table, and a plurality of frostafts having high bristles and having a small bundle diameter, A plurality of main tufts each having a large bundle diameter made of bristle having a low bristle length, and the frustaft is located at a central portion of each of the polygonal regions having three or more triangles in which the main body tufts are arranged at corners. The bristle height of the bristle that is planted one by one and that constitutes the frustaft is 1.0 to 3.0 mm higher than the longest bristle length of the bristle that has the lower bristle length that constitutes the main body tuft, A region surrounded by an annular line connecting the outer edges of the flock holes arranged on the outermost periphery is defined as a flocking region of the flocking table, and the total area of the flock holes is divided with respect to the area of the flocked region. There By providing a toothbrush has become 35% or more, and has achieved the above objects.

  According to the toothbrush of the present invention, the bristle that constitutes the main body portion of the brush part and the bristle having a higher bristle height form different tufts so that the total area in the flocked region is increased ( (Or so that the density becomes high), the tip of the hair can reach the back of the interdental part and the neck part of the tooth, and does not impair the removal performance of plaque and the like, and the dentifrice Can be easily delivered to the back of the interdental region and the neck of the tooth, and the foaming quality of the dentifrice can be improved.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, in each figure, the same code | symbol represents the same or equivalent component. FIG.1 and FIG.2 (a) is the toothbrush which concerns on preferable one Embodiment of this invention. The toothbrush 10 is composed of a toothbrush body 17 including a gripping part (not shown), a hair transplant table 11 and a neck 12 connecting them, and the brush unit 16 of the toothbrush 10 includes a plurality of plantings formed on the hair transplant table 11. Tufts (hair bundles) 15a and 15b formed by bundling a plurality of bristles 14a and 14b are respectively implanted in the pores 13a and 13b.

  That is, the toothbrush 10 is a toothbrush in which tufts 15a and 15b formed by bundling bristles 14a and 14b are respectively implanted in a plurality of flocking holes 13a and 13b of the flocking table 11, and includes a bristle 14b having a high bristle length. It includes a plurality of frost shafts 15b having a small bundle diameter and a plurality of main body tufts 15a having a large bundle diameter composed of bristle 14a having a hair length lower than that of the frost shaft 15b. In addition, the frustaft 15b is positioned at a central portion of each of the polygonal regions R of a triangular shape or more, preferably a pentagonal to hexagonal shape in which the main body tuft 15a is arranged at a corner, and is planted one by one. The bristle 14b having a high bristle 14b constituting the frustaft 15b has a hair length t = 1.0 to 3.0 mm higher than the longest bristle 15b having a low bristle 15b constituting the main body tuft 15a. It is preferable that the height is 5 to 2.5 mm higher. Moreover, when the area | region enclosed by the annular line 18 which tied the outer edge of the flock hole (flock hole 13a) arrange | positioned in the outermost periphery is made into the flock area A of the flock base 11, the flock holes 13a and 13b with respect to the area of this flock area A The total area ratio is 35% or more.

  The toothbrush body 17 is made of, for example, a synthetic resin such as polypropylene or ABS resin, and the flat surface of the flocking table 11 has a large number of circular planar shapes corresponding to the arrangement positions of the tufts 15a and 15b ( A plurality of flocking holes 13a and 13b are distributed and arranged over substantially the whole flocking table 11, and are formed to have an opening with a depth of 2 to 5 mm, for example. Tufts 15a and 15b are planted in the flock holes 13a and 13b, respectively, so that the hair height, which is the height from the surface of the flocking table 11, is preferably a desired height to be described later, preferably by a method of driving a flat wire. Is done. And in this embodiment, the diameter (in FIG.1 and FIG.2 (a), (b) diameter) of the flock hole 13a, 13b corresponded to the bundle diameter in the root part of tufts 15a, 15b is a main body with low hair length. The flock hole 13a having a large bundle diameter (hereinafter referred to as a large diameter flock hole) in which the tuft 15a is implanted is, for example, 1.4 to 2.0 mm, preferably 1.4 mm, and the frustaft 15b having a high bristle length is implanted. The bristles 13b having a small bundle diameter (hereinafter referred to as small-diameter flock holes) are, for example, 0.8 to 1.2 mm, preferably 1.0 mm.

  The bristle 14a and 14b constituting the tufts 15a and 15b can be made of a synthetic resin such as nylon or a natural material such as pig hair. A filament material having a thickness is preferable, and tufts 15a and 15b are formed by bundling, for example, several to several tens of filament materials. The tip portions of the bristle 14a and 14b can be tapered as required. In the present embodiment, the bristle length of each bristle is, for example, 9.0 to 10.5 mm, which is the low bristle 14a constituting the main body tuft 15a, and the bristle 14a of the high bristle 14a constituting the frustaft 15b. The length is preferably 11.0 to 12.5 mm, for example.

  Here, the difference t between the hair length of the bristle 14b having a high bristle length constituting the frustaft 15b and the longest bristle length of the bristle 14a having a low bristle length constituting the main body tuft 15a is 1.0 to 3.0 mm. It is preferable to set the thickness to 1.5 to 2.5 mm from the viewpoint that the interdental portion and the back of the tooth neck portion can be reached and the bristle can contact the tooth surface and sufficiently remove plaque and the like. If the difference t in hair length is less than 1.0 mm, there will be a drawback that the bristle 14b will not reach the interdental part or the back of the neck part, and if the difference t in hair length exceeds 3.0 mm. In this case, the bristle 14a is difficult to hit the tooth surface.

  Moreover, it is preferable to arrange | position the frost shaft 15b so that one or more rows may be formed in the longitudinal direction X of the flocking table 11. Furthermore, it is preferable that the frustaft 15b and the main body tuft 15a arranged in a polygonal shape surrounding them are arranged so as to form a row in the longitudinal direction X of the flocking table 11, and the flock holes in adjacent rows are in the longitudinal direction. It is preferable that they are arranged so as not to overlap in a direction perpendicular to X.

  In FIG. 2 (a), the frustaft 15 b is planted at a total of 8 locations by being arranged in 4 rows and 2 rows at intervals in the longitudinal direction X of the flocking table 11 in the flocking region A of the flocking table 11. Has been. On the other hand, a part of the main body tuft 15a is arranged along the outermost peripheral portion of the flocked area A, and is arranged in a row in the longitudinal direction X between the two rows of the frustaft 15b. Every other row of frustafts 15b in the row is arranged and planted. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), the eight frostafts 15b are located at the center of each pentagonal or hexagonal polygonal region R in which the main body tufts 15a are arranged at the corners. Each one will be planted. In addition, the main body tuft 15a arrange | positioned at the corner | angular part of the polygon area | region R may be arrange | positioned overlapping with the polygon area | region R of several adjacent locations.

  Further, the interval between the main body tuft 15a and the frostaft 15b in each polygonal region R is such that the outer edge of the large-diameter flock hole 13a at the corner where the main body tuft 15a having a large bundle diameter is implanted and the frustaft 15b having a small bundle diameter are planted. An interval s of preferably 0.3 to 1.5 mm is maintained between the outer edge of the small-diameter flock hole 13b provided at the center portion (see FIG. 2B). In particular, it is preferable to maintain an interval s of 0.5 to 1.0 mm from the point that the dentifrice can be sufficiently delivered by reaching the tip of the interdental portion and the back of the tooth neck portion, and the dentifrice sufficiently foams. If the distance s is less than 0.3 mm, the frustaft 15b cannot move freely, and the bristle 14b that has lost its place will interfere with the brushing operation of the bristle 14a. If the thickness exceeds 0.5 mm, the density of the dentifrice will be reduced as a whole, and foaming of the dentifrice will be suppressed, resulting in the disadvantage that the dentifrice will not be sufficiently delivered to the back of the interdental or cervical region.

  Furthermore, the ratio of the total area of all the large-diameter flock holes 13a and small-diameter flock holes 13b (flock density) to the area of the flocked region A needs to be 35% or more. From the point of effectively removing etc., it is preferable to be 35 to 55%. If the ratio of the total area of the flocked holes 13a and 13b to the area of the flocked region A is less than 35%, foaming of the dentifrice is suppressed, and the dentifrice is not sufficiently delivered to the back of the interdental part and the tooth neck part. There will be drawbacks. Here, the area of each flock hole 13a, 13b means a substantial effective area for planting tufts 15a, 15b formed by bundling bristles 14a, 14b. For example, tufts 15a, 15b are flat. In the case of planting by implanting a line, this is an area excluding the cross-sectional area of the flat line in the part crossing the flock holes 13a and 13b.

  In addition to the above-described configuration, the relationship between the large-diameter flock hole 13a and the small-diameter flock hole 13b in the toothbrush 10 is the sum of all the large-diameter flock holes 13a and the small-diameter flock holes 13b in the flocking area A of the flock base 11. It is preferable that the ratio of the total area of all small-diameter flock holes 13b to the area (the ratio of floss hair) is 5 to 20%. That is, the ratio of floss hair = [area of small diameter flocking hole 13b / (area of large diameter flocking hole 13a + area of small diameter flocking hole 13b)] × 100 is 5 to 20%. The benefit is that the dentifrice is fully delivered by the bristle 14b of the tuft 15b.

  Moreover, the main body brush surface 19 which connected the front-end | tip of the bristle 14a with the low bristle length which comprises the main body tuft 15a is 2-6 mm when the toothbrush 10 is seen from the side surface facing the transversal direction Y of the flocking table 11. It is preferable that the concave and convex portions are continuous at the intervals of and the concave and convex surface has a depth of 0.5 to 2.5 mm. When the main body brush surface 19 is such an uneven surface when the toothbrush 10 is viewed from the side surface side, there is an advantage that air enters and foaming of the dentifrice is improved. As the shape of the concavo-convex surface, as shown in FIG. 1, in addition to a shape in which a plurality of circular arc surfaces are continuous in the longitudinal direction X of the flocking table 11, for example, concavo-convex continuity is provided on the concavo-convex surface and corrugation in which chevron triangles are continuous. An uneven surface or the like may be used.

  Further, when the toothbrush 10 is viewed from the side facing the short direction Y of the flocking table 11, the bristle 14b having a high bristle length of the frustaft 15b is located above the convex portion 19a of the main body brush surface 19 which is an uneven surface. It is preferable that the frustaft 15b is disposed so as to protrude in the direction. Since the frustaft 15b is disposed so as to protrude upward from the convex portion 19a of the main body brush surface 19, the bristle 14b can easily reach the interdental portion and the back of the neck portion, and the dentifrice due to the unevenness of the brush surface 19 The advantage that the foaming of the water is improved is obtained.

  And according to the toothbrush 10 provided with the above-mentioned structure, the bristle 14a which comprises the main-body part of the brush part 16, and the bristle 14b whose hair length is higher than that form separate tufts 15a and 15b, respectively. By arranging so that the density in the flocked area A is high, the hair tip can reach the back of the interdental part or the tooth neck part, and the removal performance of plaque and the like is not hindered, and the toothbrush The agent can be easily delivered to the back of the interdental region and the neck of the tooth, and the foaming quality of the dentifrice can be improved.

  That is, since the bristle 14b having a hair length higher than that of the bristle 14a of the main body tuft 15a constitutes the frustaft 15b in each polygonal region R and is planted with a considerable distance from the surrounding main body tuft 15a. The bristle 14a of the main body tuft 15a is not easily obstructed from coming into contact with the tooth surface, the interdental portion, the neck portion, etc. The removal performance is not deteriorated. In addition, since the bristle 14b having high bristle is composed of a plurality of frustafts 15b and the density of the brush part as a whole is also moderate, the back of a narrow part such as an interdental part or a tooth neck part is formed. Dentifrice can be easily delivered. Furthermore, the ratio of the total area of the flock holes 13a and 13b to the area of the flocked area A is 35% or more, and the flocking density of the tufts 15a and 15b and the bristle 14a and 14b planted in the flocked area A of the flocking table 11 Therefore, combined with the fact that the frustaft 15b protrudes upward from the main body brush surface 19 and preferably the main body brush surface 19 is an uneven surface, the foaming of the dentifrice can be improved. It becomes possible to secure enough.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, each flock hole does not necessarily have a circular planar shape, and may have various other planar shapes such as a quadrangle and a polygon. In this case, the diameter of the flocked hole means twice the cross-sectional secondary radius. Further, in addition to the main body tuft and the frostaft, other auxiliary tufts and the like may be implanted in the brush portion.

  Hereinafter, although the toothbrush of this invention is demonstrated in detail by an Example and a comparative example, this invention is not limited to these.

[Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1-2]
A toothbrush having the same configuration as that of the toothbrush 10 of the above embodiment was used as the toothbrush of Example 1. A toothbrush having the same configuration as the toothbrush described in Patent Document 1 in which tufts having floss bristles are arranged as shown in FIG. A toothbrush in which a tuft having a circular cross-sectional shape and the same height as shown in FIG. In each toothbrush, the ratio of the total area of the flocked holes to the area of the flocked area (flocking density), the small diameter planting in which the frustaft is planted with respect to the total flocking area of the bristle (the total area of the large diameter flocking hole 13a and the small diameter flocking hole 13b) Table 1 shows the ratio of the pore area (ratio of floss hair) and the distance between the large-diameter flock hole and the small-diameter flock hole, together with the numerical range applied to the present invention.

  About the toothbrush of Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1-2, the delivery test of the dentifrice was done by the following method, and the delivery property of the dentifrice was evaluated. The evaluation results are shown in FIG.

[Delivery test for dentifrice]
A brushing test was performed on each toothbrush using an interdental model and a brushing machine, and the relationship with the deliverability of the dentifrice to the interdental region was quantitatively evaluated. As shown in FIG. 4, an interdental model was used in which cylinders having a diameter of 5 mm were fixed facing each other at intervals of 0.2 mm. The brushing operation of each toothbrush by the brushing machine was a stroke of 20 mm, a load of 100 to 400 gf, a speed of 120 times / min, a number of brushes of 60 times, and a brush angle of 90 degrees. After applying about 1 g to an interdental model using a fluoride-containing dentifrice (trade name: Clear Clean Plus Xylitol (manufactured by Kao)) as a dentifrice, Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1-2 Brushing was performed using each toothbrush. After the brushing, the amount of the dentifrice (the amount of the dentifrice supplied) that reached the back side through the gap between the columns of the interdental model was measured to evaluate the deliverability of the dentifrice.

  According to the evaluation result shown in FIG. 5, it becomes clear that the toothbrush of Example 1 concerning this invention is excellent in the delivery property of a dentifrice.

It is a principal part side view of the toothbrush which concerns on preferable one Embodiment of this invention. (A) is a principal part top view of the toothbrush which concerns on preferable one Embodiment of this invention, (b) is the elements on larger scale of (a) explaining the polygonal area | region R. FIG. (A) is the principal part top view and principal part side view explaining the arrangement state of the tuft in the toothbrush of the comparative example 1, (b) is the principal part top view explaining the arrangement state of the tuft in the toothbrush of the comparative example 2. And it is a principal part side view. It is explanatory drawing of the delivery test of a dentifrice. It is a chart which shows the evaluation result of the delivery property of the dentifrice with respect to the toothbrush of Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1-2.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Toothbrush 11 Flocking base 12 Neck part 13a Large-diameter flock hole 13b Small-diameter flock hole 14a Low bristle bristle 14b High bristle bristle 15a Main body tuft 15b Frostaft 16 Brush part 17 Toothbrush main body 18 The outer edge of the flock hole arranged on the outermost periphery Annular wire 19 connecting the main body brush surface (uneven surface)
A Rooted area R Polygonal area s Distance t between large diameter follicle hole and small diameter flock hole in the polygon area Difference in hair length between the frustaft bristles and the body tuft bristles X Longitudinal direction of flocking table Y Short of flocked table direction

Claims (5)

A tuft made of bristles is a toothbrush planted in each of a plurality of follicle holes of a flocking table,
A plurality of small flustafts made of bristle having a high bristle length, and a plurality of main tufts having a large bundle diameter made of bristle having a lower bristle length than the flostaft,
The frostaft is planted one by one at a central part of each polygonal region of a triangle or more in which the main body tuft is arranged at a corner,
The bristle length of the bristle that constitutes the frustaft is 1.0 to 3.0 mm higher than the longest bristle length of the low bristle that constitutes the main body tuft,
And the area surrounded by the annular line connecting the outer edges of the flock holes arranged on the outermost periphery is the flocking area of the flocking table, and the ratio of the total area of the flock holes to the area of the flocked area is 35% or more. Toothbrush.   The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein a ratio of a total area of the small-diameter flock holes in which the frostaft is implanted to a total area of the flock holes in the flocked region is 5 to 20%.   0.3-1.5 mm between the outer edge of the large-diameter flock hole at the corner where the main body tuft is implanted in each polygonal region and the outer edge of the small-diameter flock hole at the central portion where the frostaft is implanted The toothbrush of Claim 1 or 2 with which the space | interval is hold | maintained.   When the toothbrush is viewed from the side of the main body brush surface connecting the tips of the bristle having a low bristle length constituting the main body tuft from the side surface facing the short direction of the flocking table, irregularities are continuous at intervals of 2 to 6 mm. The toothbrush according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the uneven surface has an uneven surface depth of 0.5 to 2.5 mm. When the toothbrush is viewed from the side facing the short direction of the flocking table, the frothaft is arranged so that the bristle with a high bristle length of the frothaft protrudes upward from the convex part of the uneven surface. The toothbrush according to claim 4.

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