JP2015160127A - toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toothbrush capable of improving fixing strength to a body of a replacement brush while suppressing the thickness of a connection part of the replacement brush.SOLUTION: A toothbrush 1 includes a replacement brush 2, and a body 4 including a shaft member 42 projecting from a fitting surface formed on one end, and is used by fitting the replacement brush 2 to the body 4. The replacement brush 2 has a brush part 21, and a connection part 3 detachably connected to the body 4. The connection part 3 has an inserted part 32 into which the shaft member 42 is inserted, and a plate spring part 33 abutting only on one side of the shaft member 42 inserted into the inserted part 32 and having an engaging part 33c engaged with the shaft member 42. A support projection 45 is projectingly provided to the fitting surface of the body 4 by providing an interval between itself and the shaft member 42. An inserted part 36 into which the support projection 45 is inserted is formed at the connection part 3. The support projection 45 abuts on a surface 33b opposite to a surface abutting on the shaft member 42 in the plate spring part 33, in a state of fitting the replacement brush 2 to the body 4.

Description

  The present invention relates to a toothbrush.

Conventionally, as a toothbrush, etc., it has an exchange brush and a main body that becomes a gripping part that is held in the hand when brushing teeth, and is used with the replacement brush attached to the main body, and the main body is repeatedly used by replacing the exchange brush Toothbrushes that can be used are known.
In such a toothbrush, it is required that the replacement brush does not come off from the main body during tooth brushing, while it is required that the replacement brush can be easily removed from the main body when replacing the replacement brush.
As a toothbrush in which the brush portion can be replaced, Patent Document 1 discloses that a support tube is provided concentrically around a shaft member protruding on an attachment surface formed at one end of the main body of the electric toothbrush, while a proximal end side portion of the replacement member Further, there has been proposed one provided with an inner cylinder that is externally fitted to the shaft member of the main body, an annular groove into which the support cylinder is inserted, and an outer cylinder that is externally fitted to the support cylinder.

  Similarly, as an electric toothbrush, Patent Document 2 includes an element for moving to the inside of the neck as a mounting part such as a mounting brush that is used by being connected to the neck of a toothbrush handle. Have been proposed in which an internal clamp element of a size suitable for the inner clamp of the neck is provided.

JP-A-8-299372 Special table 2011-524221 gazette

By the way, the connecting part of the replacement brush is generally made of a synthetic resin molded product, but the leaf spring is deformed by the force when the replacement brush is coupled to the main body, and the elastic restoring force of the leaf spring is used. In order to increase the engagement force between the head part and the main body, it is preferable to give the leaf spring strength. For example, the thickness of the leaf spring is increased, or the leaf spring is formed from a resin having high strength. It is preferable.
However, when the thickness of the leaf spring is increased, the connection part of the replacement brush connected to the main body and the main body are thickened, and inconveniences such as a decrease in feeling of use are likely to occur. In addition, when the toothbrush is an electric toothbrush, particularly a vibration type electric toothbrush that applies vibration to the brush part by rotating an eccentric weight with an electric motor, the amplitude of the brush part depends on the thickness of the replacement brush or the body. Tends to be small and the cleaning performance tends to decrease. Since the toothbrush of patent document 1 needs to thicken the connection part of an exchange brush like the case where a leaf | plate spring is thickened, when a toothbrush is an electric toothbrush, a fall of cleaning performance is caused. There is a fear. Moreover, in the technique of patent document 2, a structure becomes complicated by providing the element for a connection part to move to the inside of a neck.

  The present invention relates to providing a toothbrush capable of improving the fixing strength of a replacement brush to a main body with a simple configuration.

  The present invention is a toothbrush comprising an exchange brush and a main body provided with a shaft member protruding from an attachment surface formed at one end, and used by attaching the exchange brush to the main body, the exchange brush being a brush And a connecting portion that is detachably connected to the main body, the connecting portion including an inserted portion into which the shaft member is inserted, and the shaft member inserted into the inserted portion. And a leaf spring portion having an engaging portion that contacts only one side and engages with the shaft member, and is provided on the mounting surface of the main body with a space between the shaft member and a support protrusion. And an insertion portion into which the support protrusion is inserted is formed in the connection portion. When the replacement brush is attached to the main body, the support protrusion is connected to the shaft of the leaf spring portion. Contact the surface on the opposite side of the surface that contacts the member. Is, there is provided a toothbrush.

  According to the toothbrush of this invention, the fixing strength with respect to the main body of an exchange brush can be improved, suppressing the thickness of the connection part of an exchange brush.

FIG. 1 is a partially broken side view showing a toothbrush according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state immediately before connecting the replacement brush and the main body in the toothbrush shown in FIG. 1. FIGS. 3A to 3C are views for explaining a structure for connecting the replacement toothbrush and the main body in the toothbrush shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the attachment surface vicinity in which the support protrusion was provided, FIG.3 (b) is the III-III line expanded sectional view of FIG. 1, FIG.3 (c) is the state attached to the main body of an exchange brush It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the connection part vicinity. FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D are cross-sectional views of the leaf spring portion, the shaft member, and the support member, showing variations of the mode in which the leaf spring portion contacts only one side of the shaft member.

The present invention will be described below based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings.
The toothbrush 1 which is 1st Embodiment of this invention is provided with the exchange brush 2, and the main body 4 provided with the shaft member 42 which protrudes from the attachment surface 41 formed in the end, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the toothbrush is used by attaching the replacement brush 2 to the main body 4.

  For example, when the cleaning performance of the brush portion 21 is lowered due to use, the replacement brush 2 is replaced with a new one having the same configuration, or a plurality of replacement brushes 2 are prepared, and only the replacement brush 2 is replaced. In order to share the main body 4 with a plurality of people, the main body 4 is attached to the main body 4 and used. In addition, when the main body 4 is shared by a plurality of persons such as a couple or family, it is also preferable to write a name for personal identification or attach a member of a different color (ring, etc.) to the replacement brush 2 as a mark. It is also preferable to use different colors of resin for the brush part 21 and the neck part 24 to distinguish them by color.

  The toothbrush 1 will be described in more detail. The main body 4 is a portion that becomes a grip portion to be held in the hand when brushing teeth, has a long shape in one direction X, and a shaft member 42 is provided at one end thereof. A protruding mounting surface 41 is formed. The shaft member 42 is a rod-shaped body made of a metal such as stainless steel, and as shown in FIG. 3 (c), the lower end side thereof is fixed in a state of being buried in the main body 4 made of synthetic resin, and the rest A portion protrudes from the mounting surface 41 of the main body 4. The one direction X in which the main body 4 extends coincides with the height direction X of the shaft member 42. The mounting surface 41 is circular when viewed from the height direction X of the shaft member 42, and the shaft member 42 protrudes from the center of the mounting surface 41. The replacement brush 2 has a circular lower end surface 31 that is substantially the same diameter as the mounting surface 41. Although the shaft member of the present invention may be cylindrical, the shaft member 42 in the present embodiment is a flat spring portion abutting surface extending in the axial direction as shown in FIG. 42a and an outer peripheral surface 42b having a circular arc cross section. Further, an engagement convex portion 42c is formed on the spring portion contact surface 42a at the intermediate height position of the shaft member 42 so as to extend in the width direction of the flat spring portion contact surface 42a. The intermediate height position of the shaft member 42 is a position spaced from the base end of the shaft portion 42 and a position spaced from the distal end of the shaft portion 42.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the replacement brush 2 includes a brush portion 21 and a neck portion 24 including a connection portion 3 that is detachably connected to the main body 4. The brush portion 21 is formed by implanting a bristles bundle 23 composed of a plurality of bristles on a flocking table 22 formed integrally with a neck portion 24. As a method for planting the bristle bundle 23, various known methods can be employed without any particular limitation.
The neck portion 24 is made of a synthetic resin like the flocking table 22. A flocking table 22 is connected to one end of the neck portion 24, and a connection portion 3 having a structure for detachably connecting the replacement brush 2 to the main body 4 is formed on the other end side. .

As shown in FIG. 2, the connection portion 3 has an insertion portion 32 into which the shaft member 42 of the main body 4 is inserted near the center of the cross section of the neck portion 24. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the connecting portion 3 abuts only on one side of the shaft member 42 inserted into the inserted portion 32 and has a leaf spring portion 33 having an engaging portion 33 c that engages with the shaft member 42. And have.
More specifically, the connecting portion 3 has a hollow portion 34 that opens to the lower end surface 31 of the replacement brush 2 and in which a leaf spring portion 33 is disposed. The hollow portion 34 has a top surface 34a (see FIG. 2) having a base portion of the leaf spring portion 33, and a central surface 34c having a groove portion 34b having an arcuate cross section with which an outer peripheral surface 42b having an arcuate cross section of the shaft member 42 abuts. 3B] and an outer surface 34d having a circular arc shape in cross section, and a leaf spring portion 33 is disposed between the center surface 34c and the outer surface 34d. The inserted portion 32 of the shaft member 42 is a space sandwiched between the groove portion 34b of the central surface 34c and the leaf spring portion 33. In the state where the replacement brush 2 is attached to the main body 4 as shown in FIG. The shaft member 42 inserted into the inserted portion 32 is sandwiched between the groove portion 34b of the central surface 34c and the leaf spring portion 33, and the leaf spring portion 33 contacts only one side of the shaft member 42. . Further, the space between the leaf spring portion 33 and the outer side surface 34d having a circular arc cross section of the cavity portion 34 functions as a space that allows the spring portion 33 to be deformed so as to approach the outer side surface 34d. It also functions as a support protrusion insertion portion 36 into which a support protrusion 45 described later is inserted. Note that the “cross section” refers to a cross section of a plane perpendicular to the height direction of the shaft member 42 (see 3 (b)) with respect to the outer peripheral surface 42 d having a circular arc cross section of the groove portion 34 b and the circular arc outer surface 34 d of the hollow portion 34. ).

As a mode in which the leaf spring portion 33 abuts only on one side of the shaft member 42, modes as shown in FIGS. 4B to 4D are available in addition to the mode in the present embodiment shown in FIG. Can be mentioned. In the circumferential direction of the shaft member 42, the length that the leaf spring portion 33 contacts the circumferential surface of the shaft member 42 (the total length when there are a plurality of leaf spring portions 33) is the length of the entire circumference of the shaft member 42. , Preferably less than 50%, more preferably 45% or less, still more preferably 40% or less.
In addition, the connection part 3 in this embodiment is a shaft part in which the cross-sectional shape substantially coincides with the cross-sectional shape of the shaft part 42 on the brush part 21 side further than the cavity part 34 in which the leaf spring part 33 is arranged. A tip accommodating portion 35 is provided. In addition, the connection portion 3 is formed with two hollow portions 37 for weight reduction that are opened in the lower end surface 31 of the replacement brush 2 so as to extend in the insertion direction of the shaft member 42.

  In the toothbrush 1 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, a support protrusion 45 is provided on the mounting surface 41 of the main body 4 in addition to the shaft member 42 described above. As described above, the engaging convex portion 42 c is formed on the shaft member 42, and the engaging concave portion 33 c that engages with the engaging convex portion 42 c is formed on the leaf spring portion 33. The “engagement portion that engages with the shaft member” in the present invention may be an engagement recess portion 33 c that engages with an engagement projection portion 42 c provided on the shaft member 42 as in the present embodiment. The engaging convex part which engages with the provided engaging concave part may be sufficient. Further, the engaging convex portion and the engaging concave portion may be circular in a front view.

The support protrusion 45 is formed on the mounting surface 41 with a space between the support member 45 and the shaft member 42. The distance between the shaft member 42 and the leaf spring portion 33 is the same. The support protrusion 45 has an arcuate inner surface 45a that abuts on the outer surface of the leaf spring portion 33 having an arcuate cross section, and an arcuate outer surface 45b that abuts on the outer surface 34d of the hollow arcuate portion 34a. Yes.
It is preferable to provide a tapered portion 45t that serves as a guide when the leaf spring portion 33 is inserted between the shaft member 42 and the support projection 45 on the distal end side of the support projection 45. The taper portion 45 t gradually decreases in thickness toward the tip of the support protrusion 45. The tip of the taper portion 45t of the support protrusion 45 may be positioned on the tip side of the engagement protrusion 42c in the height direction of the shaft member 42. Moreover, it is preferable that the lower end of the taper part 45t is located below the engagement convex part 42c in the height direction of the shaft member 42.

In the toothbrush 1 of this embodiment, in order to attach the replacement brush 2 to the main body 4, the axial direction of the neck portion 24 is set to the axial direction (height direction of the shaft member 42 of the main body 4 as shown in FIG. 2. In accordance with X), the shaft member 42 is inserted into the insertion portion 32 of the replacement brush 2.
In the middle of the insertion, the lower end of the leaf spring portion 33 rides on the engagement convex portion 42c of the shaft member 42, and the leaf spring portion 33 is inclined so as to approach the outer side surface 34d having a circular arc cross section of the cavity portion 34 ( The support protrusion 45 is inserted into the support protrusion insertion portion 36 formed between the leaf spring portion 33 and the outer side surface 34d of the cavity portion 34 by being further inserted.
As shown in FIG. 1, in a state where the replacement brush 2 is completely attached to the main body 4, the engagement protrusion 42 c of the shaft member 42 and the leaf spring portion 33 are engaged as shown in FIG. The joint recess 33c is engaged, and the lower end 33d side of the leaf spring portion 33 from the engagement recess 33c is supported by the support protrusion 45 and is in close contact with the shaft member 42. As described above, in a state in which the replacement brush 2 is attached to the main body 4, the support protrusion 45 is configured to contact the surface of the leaf spring portion 33 opposite to the surface that contacts the shaft member 42. In the present embodiment, the surface of the leaf spring portion 33 with which the support protrusion 45 abuts is located on the radially outer side of the replacement brush 2 as compared to the surface of the leaf spring portion 33 that abuts against the shaft member 42.

According to the toothbrush 1 of the present embodiment, the leaf spring portion 33 is supported by its own elastic restoring force and the support protrusion 45, so that the contact state of the leaf spring portion 33 with the shaft member 42 is stably maintained. The engagement state between the engagement convex portion 42c of the shaft member 42 and the engagement concave portion 33c of the leaf spring portion 33 is also stably maintained.
Therefore, according to the toothbrush 1 of this embodiment, when the replacement brush 2 is attached to the main body 4 and the toothbrushing operation is performed, the problem that the replacement brush 2 is detached from the main body 4 can be prevented for a long time. .

  In addition, unlike the support cylinder in Patent Document 1, the leaf spring portion 33 abuts only on one side of the shaft member 42 and supports the support protrusion 45 on the leaf spring portion 33. The thickness of 24 can be suppressed, the operability in the oral cavity when brushing teeth is improved, and there is no need to widen the mouth when reaching the back teeth, etc. Yes.

  The diameter of the lower end portion of the replacement brush 2 (equivalent circle diameter when not circular) is preferably 16 mm or less, more preferably 13 mm or less, and preferably 6 mm or more.

  As a synthetic resin which comprises the exchange brush 2, a conventional thing is used without a restriction | limiting in particular. As the resin constituting the connection part 3 of the exchange brush 2, a resin having high strength such as polyacetal (POM) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) may be used from the viewpoint of fixing strength to the main body of the head part. A polyolefin resin such as polypropylene which is relatively flexible from the viewpoint may be used.

Although the toothbrush 1 of this embodiment may be a manual toothbrush, it is preferably an electric toothbrush, and an oscillation type electric toothbrush that applies vibration to the brush portion 21 by rotating an eccentric weight by an electric motor. More preferably. As the eccentric weight or the electric motor, for example, a configuration similar to that of Patent Document 1 can be arranged in the hollow portion 44 in the main body 4.
When the toothbrush of this embodiment is an electric toothbrush, especially a vibration type electric toothbrush, the following effects are also exhibited.
(1) Since the thickness of the connecting portion 3 and the neck portion 24 can be suppressed by the support protrusion 45 that contacts only one side of the shaft member 42, the vibration width of the brush portion 21 can be increased, and the toothbrush 1 The cleaning performance can be improved.
(2) Since the replacement brush 2 is unlikely to be detached from the main body 4 due to the support protrusion 45, a polyolefin resin, which is a relatively flexible resin, can be used as the synthetic resin constituting the connection portion 3 and the replacement brush 2. Thus, the vibration width of the brush portion 21 can be increased as compared with the case where a resin having high strength such as POM or ABS is used. Thereby, the cleaning performance of the toothbrush 1 can be further improved.
From such a viewpoint, preferred examples of the polyolefin-based resin include polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE). In addition, examples of polypropylene (PP) include homopolymers, block polymers, and random polymers. Among these, homopolymers and block polymers are more preferable in terms of compatibility between fitting force (strength) and flexibility.

Further, in the toothbrush of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, in a state where the replacement brush 2 is attached to the main body 4, the support protrusion 45 is in the brush protruding direction D <b> 1 of the brush portion 21 with respect to the shaft member 42. It is formed so that it may be located on the same side.
Thereby, even if it uses polyolefin resin, the loosening prevention of the fitting with respect to the amplitude of a brush protrusion direction is exhibited more, and the loosening of a fitting part can be prevented also to the bending of the brush and neck at the time of brushing.

  Further, in the toothbrush 1 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, the support protrusion insertion portion 36 into which the support protrusion 45 is inserted is provided when the support protrusion 45 is inserted. The support protrusion 45 includes a support surface 34 d that contacts the surface opposite to the surface that contacts the leaf spring portion 33. The support protrusion 45 that supports the leaf spring portion 33 is further supported by a support surface 34d that is the outer surface of the cavity portion 34, whereby the leaf spring portion 33 is in close contact with the shaft member 42 and the shaft member 42 is engaged. The engagement state between the convex portion 42c and the engagement concave portion 33c of the leaf spring portion 33 is maintained more stably.

From the viewpoint of ensuring that one or more of the effects described above are more reliably exhibited, the support protrusion 45 has a protrusion height t1 from the mounting surface 41 from which the support protrusion 45 protrudes, preferably 0.8 mm or more. More preferably, it is 1.0 mm or more, Preferably it is 10 mm or less, More preferably, it is 8 mm or less.
The protrusion height t1 of the support protrusion 45 is determined from the attachment surface 41 of the shaft member 42 to the engagement convex portion 42c from the viewpoint of ease of attachment of the replacement brush 2 to the main body 4 and stability after attachment. The height t2 is preferably lower than the height t2, more preferably, the protruding height t1 is 10% or more and 90% or less of the height t2, and more preferably 30% or more and 80% or less.
Further, the length of the leaf spring portion 33 in the direction along the axial direction of the shaft member 42 is preferably 2 mm or more, more preferably 3 mm or more, and preferably 25 mm or less, more preferably 20 mm or less.

As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on the preferable embodiment, this invention is not restrict | limited to the said embodiment.
For example, the toothbrush of the present invention may be a reciprocating type electric toothbrush that converts the rotational motion of the electric motor to the reciprocating motion of the replacement brush or the brush part via a crank mechanism or the like.
Further, the shape of the shaft member viewed from the axial direction (height direction) may be other shapes such as a circle, a quadrangle, a triangle, and an ellipse. The shaft member may be made of resin.
In addition, the leaf spring portion may have a cross-sectional shape of a rectangle or an arc instead of a semi-circular cross-sectional shape. Further, the shaft member 42 may be eccentric rather than the central portion of the mounting surface 41. Moreover, as shown in FIG.4 (c) and FIG.4 (d), the leaf | plate spring part 33 and the support protrusion 45 may be multiply formed in the aspect which exists only in the one side of the shaft member 42. FIG.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Toothbrush 2 Replacement brush 21 Brush part 24 Neck part 3 Connection part 31 Lower end surface 32 Inserted part 33 Leaf spring part 33c Engagement recessed part 34 Cavity part 34a Top surface 34b Groove part 34c Center surface 34d Outer side surface (support surface of a support protrusion)
36 support protrusion insertion portion 4 main body 41 mounting surface 42 shaft member 42a spring portion contact surface 42b outer circumferential surface having an arcuate cross section 42c engagement convex portion 42c engagement convex portion 44 hollow portion 45 in the body 45 support protrusion 45a inner surface 45b outer surface D1 Brush protruding direction

Claims (5)

A toothbrush comprising an exchange brush and a body provided with a shaft member protruding from an attachment surface formed at one end, and used by attaching the exchange brush to the body,
The replacement brush has a brush part and a connection part that is detachably connected to the main body, and the connection part is inserted into the insertion part into which the shaft member is inserted and the insertion part. And a leaf spring portion having an engaging portion that engages only with one side of the shaft member and engages with the shaft member,
A supporting projection is provided on the mounting surface of the main body with a space between the shaft member and an insertion portion into which the supporting projection is inserted is formed on the connection portion.
A toothbrush in which, in a state in which the replacement brush is attached to the main body, the support protrusion is in contact with a surface of the leaf spring portion that is opposite to the surface that contacts the shaft member.   The toothbrush according to claim 1, which is an electric toothbrush.   The said support protrusion is formed so that it may be located in the same side as the protrusion direction of the brush of the said brush part with respect to the said shaft member in the state which attached the said exchange brush to the said main body. Toothbrush as described in.   The toothbrush according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the connection portion of the head is made of a polyolefin-based resin.   The inserted portion into which the support protrusion is inserted includes a support surface that comes into contact with a surface of the support protrusion opposite to the surface that comes into contact with the leaf spring portion when the support protrusion is inserted. The toothbrush according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

Images