JP2009131695A - Interdental cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an interdental cleaner which can securely remove a food residue caught between teeth to obtain good cleaning effect. <P>SOLUTION: The interdental cleaner 1 is constituted of an insertion body 20 comprising a plurality of filaments 20a and a holder part 3 to retain the insertion body 20 in a state where both ends are pulled. The width of the insertion body 20 is set at 0.9-3.0 mm and the thickness 0.05-0.3 mm. Thereby contact areas between the insertion body 20 and teeth can be sufficiently secured to obtain good cleaning effect and the insertion body 20 can be easily inserted even into narrow interdentium. Further, when the insertion body 20 is formed of a bundle of filaments 20a twisted ≤20 times per length of 1 m, the interdental cleaner 1 can be easily manufactured. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

      The present invention relates to an interdental cleaning tool that removes food residue sandwiched between teeth.

      As a conventional interdental cleaning tool, a configuration in which one or two threads are stretched over both ends of a substantially U-shaped holder portion, or a configuration in which a film-like body is stretched over both ends of the holder portion. By inserting this thread or film-like body between the teeth and moving it back and forth or up and down, the food residue sandwiched between the teeth can be scraped and removed.

Design Registration No. 76355 US Pat. No. 5,226,435 International Publication No. 98/000073 (JP Family: JP 2001-524840 A) Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 06-315492 US Pat. No. 3,771,536

      In the interdental cleaning tool using the above-described yarn, generally, filaments 40a are firmly adhered to each other as shown in FIG. 4 by bundling hundreds of filaments and applying 50 or more twists per meter. Thread 40 is used. However, by applying a large number of twists, the cross section of the yarn 40 becomes a substantially circular shape as shown in the figure, so that there is a problem that the contact area with the teeth is not sufficient and the cleaning effect is not good.

      Furthermore, since the filaments 40a are firmly adhered to each other, it is difficult to insert the thread 40 along the tooth gap shape when the gap between the teeth is narrow. There was a problem that the effect was not good.

      On the other hand, in the interdental cleaning tool using the film-like body described above, since the film is thin, it can be easily inserted even if the interdental space is narrow, but because the surface of the film is smooth, food residue is attached. It is difficult to scrape. Furthermore, it is difficult to match the surface of the film with the surface shape of the teeth, and in this case as well, there is a problem that a satisfactory cleaning effect cannot be obtained because a sufficient contact area between the threads and the teeth cannot be ensured. .

      The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides an interdental cleaning tool that can reliably remove food residue sandwiched between teeth and can provide a good cleaning effect. is there.

      The present invention for solving the above problems comprises an insert composed of a plurality of filaments, and a holder portion that holds the insert in a state where both ends of the insert are pulled, and inserts the insert between teeth to break the food. The interdental cleaning tool is characterized in that the insert has a width of 0.9 mm to 3.0 mm and a thickness of 0.05 mm to 0.3 mm. Here, the reason why the width of the insert is 0.9 mm or more is that if the width is smaller than this, the contact area between the insert and the tooth is not sufficient, and a good cleaning effect cannot be obtained. The reason why the thickness is set to 3.0 mm or less is that if it is larger than this, handling during use becomes inconvenient, and it becomes difficult to remove food residue sandwiched between the back teeth. In addition, the thickness is set to 0.05 mm or more because if it is thinner than this, the effect of removing food residue deteriorates and the insert may be cut during use, while the thickness is set to 0.3 mm or less. This is because if it is thicker than this, it is difficult to insert the insert between narrow teeth.

      Moreover, it is preferable to form the said insertion body from the bundle | flux of the said filament twisted by the frequency | count of 20 times or less per 1 m length. The reason why the number of twists is set to 20 times / m or less is that when the number of twists is more than this, the adhesion between the filaments becomes strong, and it becomes difficult to insert the insert along the tooth gap shape.

      According to the present invention, since a substantially band-like insert having a width of 0.9 mm to 3.0 mm and a thickness of 0.05 mm to 0.3 mm is used, a sufficient contact area between the insert and the teeth is sufficient. It can be ensured, the cleaning effect can be improved, and the insert can be easily inserted even between narrow teeth.

In addition, when the insert is formed from a bundle of filaments twisted at a frequency of 20 times or less per 1 m length, the bundle of filaments is attached to the holder portion at the time of manufacture, so that interdental cleaning is performed. The tool can be manufactured easily. In addition, if the number of twists is about this level, the insert can be easily inserted between the teeth, and food waste can be sandwiched between the filaments, so that a good cleaning effect can be obtained. .

It is the front view which shows the interdental cleaning tool which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, a top view, and a bottom view. It is sectional drawing of the arrow AA direction in FIG. 1, and the enlarged view of the insertion body in this cross section. It is a top view of the test apparatus used in the Example. It is sectional drawing of the thread | yarn in the conventional interdental cleaning tool.

      Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view, a plan view, and a bottom view showing an interdental cleaning tool of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the interdental cleaning tool 1 is formed by passing an insert 20 over a cleaning tool body 10 having a grip portion 2 and a holder portion 3.

      The holder portion 3 is formed in a substantially U shape, and the holding portion 3a at both ends thereof holds the insert 20 so that it can be inserted in the width direction between the teeth.

      As shown in FIG. 2, the insert 20 is bundled with several hundreds of long filaments 20a and twisted. Then, the insert 20 is attached to the holding portion 3a in a state where the bundle is pulled. The attached filaments 20a are formed so as to be in a substantially parallel state by cutting in the vicinity of both outer sides, the width a is 0.9 mm to 3.0 mm, and the thickness b is 0.05 mm to It is formed in a substantially strip shape as a whole so as to be 0.3 mm. As the filament 20a, materials such as nylon (nylon 6, nylon 66, etc.), polyester (polyethylene terephthalate, etc.), polypropylene, polyethylene, vinylon, rayon, etc. can be used.

      According to the interdental cleaning tool configured in this way, the width of the insert is 0.9 mm to 3.0 mm, so that the contact area with the teeth is sufficiently large compared to a thread having a substantially circular cross section in the past. The food residue attached to the tooth surface can be surely removed to improve the cleaning effect.

      Further, since the thickness of the insert 20 is 0.05 mm to 0.3 mm, it is easy to insert and clean the insert 20 even between narrow teeth that are difficult to insert with a conventional thread having a circular cross section. become.

      Further, since the insert 20 is formed from a bundle of twisted filaments 20a, the filaments 20a are mounted on the holder portion 3 without being separated during manufacture. Therefore, the interdental cleaning tool 1 can be manufactured easily.

      The number of twists applied to the bundle of filaments 20a can be selected as appropriate in consideration of the properties of the filaments used, but is preferably 20 times / m or less. This is because when the number of twists is more than 20 times / m, the close contact between the filaments 20a in the insert 20 becomes strong, and the food residue removal effect deteriorates. That is, by setting the number of twists to 20 times / m or less, the insert 20 can be smoothly inserted along the gap shape of the teeth, and the food residue sandwiched between the roots of the teeth can be surely removed. Can do. Further, if the number of twists is 20 times / m or less, the food residue can be sandwiched between the filaments 20a without the filaments 20a being too close to each other. It becomes easy and the cleaning effect can be enhanced.

      It is also possible to form the insert 20 without any twisting, and in this case as well, a good cleaning effect can be obtained as described above.

      In order to determine the optimum width and thickness of the insert in the interdental cleaning tool according to this embodiment, the usability when actually used was evaluated using these as parameters. Here, evaluation of feeling of use is comprehensively determined including ease of insertion between teeth, ease of handling, cleaning effect, refreshing feeling after use, and the like. The results are shown in Table 1.

      As shown in Table 1, when the width is between 0.9 mm and 3.0 mm and the thickness is between 0.05 mm and 0.3 mm, a good feeling of use is obtained. It can be seen that the range should be set.

      Next, the interdental cleaning tool according to the present embodiment (hereinafter referred to as “Example”) and the conventional interdental cleaning tool (referred to as “Comparative Example 1”, “Comparative Example 2”, and “Comparative Example 3”, respectively)). In use, the following experiment was performed. Table 2 shows the width and thickness of the inserts of the examples and the yarns of the comparative examples. The cross-sectional shapes of the insert and the thread are as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, respectively, where a is the width and b is the thickness in each figure. The insert of the example is formed by twisting 20 times / m of a bundle of filaments made of polyethylene terephthalate.

      First, the pressing forces acting when inserting the insert and the thread between the teeth were compared by the following test methods. The test results are shown in Table 3.

(Test method)
By curving the central portion of a flat plate made of vinyl chloride having a width of 14 mm, two pseudo teeth 50 and 50 having the same shape are formed as shown in FIG. 3, and the curved surfaces of these pseudo teeth 50 and 50 are back to back. A pseudo interdental X is formed by contact. Then, after the pseudo teeth 50, 50 are pressed and fixed by the support bodies 51, 51 with a constant pressing force, the pressing force acting when the insert or the thread is inserted into the pseudo interdental X is measured. .

      As shown in Table 2, since the inserts of the examples are thinner than the yarns of each comparative example, it can be seen that the pressing force is small as shown in Table 3 and can be smoothly inserted even between narrow teeth. . Actually, when the insert of the example and the yarn of each comparative example were inserted between the teeth, the result of the example was most easily put between the teeth.

      Next, assuming an interdental insertion, a constant pressing force was applied to the insert and the thread in the thickness direction, and the width and width thus expanded were measured. The results are shown in Table 4.

      As shown in Table 4, even in the pressed state, the insert of the example is sufficiently wider than the yarn of each comparative example, so that the contact area between the insert and the teeth during interdental insertion can be increased. I understand.

      Next, 0.80 g of artificial dirt was uniformly applied to the surface of a flat plate having a width of 14 mm and a length of 30 mm, and the remaining amount of dirt after wiping three times with the above-mentioned test article was measured. The removal rate was calculated. The results are shown in Table 5.

      As described above, the insertion body of the example has a larger contact area with the flat plate than the yarn of each comparative example, so that the dirt removal rate is sufficiently higher than that of the yarn, as shown in Table 5, and excellent cleaning. It turns out that it has an effect. When it was actually used and the cleaning effect was confirmed, the result of the example was the highest.

      Furthermore, even if it compares by the usability | use_condition mentioned above, the result was that the Example was very excellent with respect to each comparative example.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Interdental cleaning tool 3 Holder part 20 Insert 20a Filament

Claims (1)

An interdental cleaning tool comprising an insert composed of a plurality of filaments and a holder portion that holds the insert in a state where both ends of the insert are pulled, and inserts the insert between teeth to remove food residue.
The width of the insert is 0.9 mm to 3.0 mm, the thickness is 0.05 mm to 0.3 mm,
The interdental cleaning tool, wherein the insert is formed from a bundle of filaments twisted at a frequency of 20 times or less per 1 m length.

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