JP2016155022A - Interdental brush - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an interdental brush that improves insertability of the brush part in-between molar teeth, effectively preventing breakage of the proximal part of the core material which is exposed from the neck part, that can be stably operated during the interdental cleaning and can prevent pain due to contact between the tip end of the handle part and the gum, and that can be manufactured at low cost.SOLUTION: The interdental brush 1 includes: a brush part 3 in which filaments are implanted on a core material 2 made of a wire; and a handle part 10 which serves as a grip. With the proximal part of the core material 2 held in the tip end of the handle part 10, the brush part 3 is supported on the handle part 10 in the interdental brush. The handle part 10 is composed of a handle body 11 and a neck part 12 that is provided in the tip end of the handle body 11. The neck part 12 is provided with a flat, narrow and long planar neck substrate 22 which is made of synthetic resin and bendable, with the proximal part of the core material 2 imbedded in the neck substrate 22.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an interdental brush in which a core material of a brush part is bent so that a bending angle of the brush part with respect to a handle part can be adjusted.

  As an interdental brush, in a state where the wire is folded in two and the filament is arranged between them, the wire is twisted, and the filament is radially implanted into the core made of the wire, and then the filament is cylindrical or truncated cone A brush portion cut into a desired shape such as a shape and a handle portion made of a long and thin synthetic resin rod-shaped member that can be gripped by hand, and insert-molding the base of the core of the brush portion at the tip, Widely used are those that have a handle part with a brush part integrally attached by heat-sealing in an embedded state with high frequency or ultrasonic waves, or fixed and held by physical locking (fitting) means, etc. doing.

  By the way, when the interdental brush having such a configuration is used to clean the interdental space, the core base portion is bent according to the cleaning site so that the insertion of the flocked portion between the interdental teeth to be cleaned is facilitated. Although the angle of the flocked part with respect to the member is adjusted, there is a problem that if the same portion of the core base is bent many times, the wire constituting the core breaks in a relatively short period of time.

  Therefore, an interdental brush configured to prevent breakage of the core material as much as possible by forming a small diameter portion covering the core base portion at the distal end portion of the handle portion and bending the core material at the small diameter portion. Is also widespread.

  However, even when a small-diameter portion is provided as described above, it is not yet satisfactory durability, so further improvement in durability is desired, and the small-diameter portion is molded with the same synthetic resin as the handle portion. Then, there was a problem that when the brush part was inserted between the teeth and the small diameter part contacted the gingiva, pain could be felt.

  As an interdental brush that can further improve durability, a brush part that sandwiches a filament between twisted wires, a neck part that holds the proximal end part of the wire, and a brush part connected via the neck part The base end portion of the wire is embedded in a base material made of a hard resin that integrally forms the handle portion and the neck portion, and the base portion of the wire exposed from the base material is the tip of the base material. The neck portion is made flexible by providing a constricted portion on a part of the base material, and at least the periphery of the constricted portion is covered with a coating material made of a soft elastomer resin. Has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In addition, the core of the brush part is made of rubber or the like between the lower end of the filament of the brush part and the tip of the handle part in order to further improve the durability and prevent pain due to the small diameter part coming into contact with the gingiva. An elastic tube, a spherical loosely fitting body made of an elastic resin (see, for example, Patent Documents 2 and 3), or a transition part made of an elastomer at the tip of the handle part (for example, Patent Document 4) has been proposed.

International Publication No. 2009/081783 JP 2002-253344 A JP 2011-152284 A Special table 2009-538653 gazette

  However, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, the neck portion is bent around the constricted portion made of a hard resin to adjust the angle of the brush portion with respect to the handle portion. However, the constricted portion has an elastic restoring action. For example, the brush portion can be bent only about 25 ° to 30 ° with respect to the handle portion, and is necessary for ensuring the insertion property of the brush portion between adjacent molar teeth. Since the bending angle cannot be adjusted to 50 ° or more, there is a problem that the insertability of the brush portion is lowered. In addition, since the cross-section of the constricted portion is circular, the neck portion can be bent in any direction around the constricted portion, but this makes the wire in the constricted portion easy to break and when the brush portion is inserted between the teeth. Also, when inserting and removing the brush part between the teeth, the neck part bends in the front and rear, left and right directions or unexpected directions around the constricted part, and the operability of the interdental brush is adversely reduced was there. In addition, since the neck portion bends in any direction of the front, rear, left and right or in an unexpected direction, a large bending stress is inevitably applied to the wire portion exposed from the neck portion, and the wire portion is relatively short-term. There is a problem that the brush part falls off and falls off. Furthermore, since the small diameter part of the front-end | tip of a handle | steering-wheel part is comprised with hard resin, there also exists a problem that a front-end | tip part contact | abuts gums and feels a pain at the time of insertion between teeth.

  In addition, in the interdental brush described in Patent Document 1, in order to prevent pain due to the tip portion of the handle portion coming into contact with the gingiva, the tip portion of the handle portion may be formed of an elastomer. Has the following molding problems. That is, the handle portion is formed by molding a handle base material made of synthetic resin in a mold, and then setting this in another mold to mold an elastomer part. The tip of the handle base material is cantilevered in the molding space, so that when the elastomer material is injected into the molding space, the tip of the handle base material is accurately placed at the desired location of the elastomer material. However, there is a problem that defective molding occurs.

  In the inventions described in Patent Documents 2 and 3, since it is necessary to separately manufacture an elastic tube and a loosely fitted body, and to externally fit this to the core material, the number of manufacturing steps increases as the number of parts increases, and the interval between teeth There is a problem that the production cost of the brush becomes high. Further, there is a concern that the swarf enters the gap between the elastic tube or loosely fitted body and the core material, and the bacteria propagate.

  In the invention described in Patent Document 4, since the transition portion is made of an elastomer, pain at the time of contact with the gingiva can be prevented, but the angle of the brush portion with respect to the handle portion is adjusted by bending the transition portion. Similar to the first aspect of the invention, there is a problem that a sufficient bending angle cannot be secured and the insertability of the brush portion between adjacent molars is lowered. Another problem is that the number of manufacturing steps increases and the manufacturing cost increases because the transition part and the handle part manufactured separately are combined and coupled together.

  The object of the present invention is to improve the insertability of the brush part between the molars, to effectively prevent the base part of the core material exposed from the neck part from being broken, to enable stable operation during interdental cleaning, and to handle part It is an object to provide an interdental brush that can be manufactured at a low cost and can prevent pain due to contact between the tip portion and the gingiva.

  An interdental brush according to the present invention has a brush portion in which a filament is implanted in a core material made of a wire, and a handle portion as a handle, and holds the base portion of the core material at the distal end portion of the handle portion. An interdental brush formed by supporting the brush portion on a handle portion, the handle portion including a handle body and a neck portion provided at a distal end portion of the handle body, and being combined with the neck portion A flat neck base material that can be bent made of resin is provided, and a base portion of the core material is embedded in the neck base material.

  In this interdental brush, the flat neck base material made of synthetic resin is bent together with the core material, and the bending angle of the brush portion with respect to the handle portion is adjusted, so the radius of curvature of the core material at the bent portion provides the neck base material. Since it becomes larger than the case where it does not exist, the durability of the core material when it is repeatedly bent can be improved.

  In addition, since the neck base material is formed flat, the neck portion is a direction centering on a line segment parallel to the width direction (hereinafter, this direction is referred to as the thickness direction for bending and bending of the neck portion). It becomes easy to bend only, and it becomes difficult to bend in the width direction of a neck part. For this reason, when adjusting the angle with respect to the handle | steering-wheel part of a brush part, an angle can be easily adjusted by bending a neck part to thickness direction. Moreover, since the neck portion has a certain length in the length direction, a finger can be pressed against the neck portion without touching the core member, and the angle of the brush portion can be easily adjusted around the neck portion. Also, during interdental cleaning, the brush part is inserted between the teeth, and the brush part is inserted and removed between the teeth, but the neck part tries to bend only in the thickness direction, and the interdental brush described in Patent Document 1 As the neck part does not bend in any direction of the front, rear, left and right or unexpected direction, it is possible to clean the space between the teeth with stability and prevent the load on the core material from acting in various directions. Thus, the core material can be prevented from breaking. In addition, since the neck part is thin in the folding direction and it is easy to maintain the folded state, the brush part can be adjusted to a desired angle with a minimum bending action, and the durability of the core material in the neck part can be improved. It can be further improved.

  Furthermore, since the neck part is easily bent in the thickness direction of the neck part centering on a line segment parallel to the width direction of the neck part, when a load is applied to the brush part in the direction of bending the neck part. In the core material, stress concentration occurs in the neck portion, not in the vicinity of the base portion of the exposed portion exposed from the neck base material. For this reason, when bending the neck part, even if a part of the finger hits the brush part and a pressing load acts on the brush part as well as the neck part, stress concentration occurs in the core in the neck part. It is possible to effectively prevent the core material from being broken near the base portion of the exposed portion. In addition, even during interdental cleaning, it is possible to generate stress concentration on the core in the neck, not in the vicinity of the exposed portion of the core, and due to stress concentration during interdental cleaning, near the base of the exposed portion It is possible to prevent the core material from being broken. Moreover, even if the core material breaks, the core material breaks in the neck portion, so the core material from the breaking position to the tip of the neck portion is maintained in a state of being embedded and held in the neck base material. The brush part can be prevented from falling into the oral cavity.

  Here, the handle portion includes a handle base material made of a synthetic resin and a coating material made of an elastomer coated on the handle base material. The handle base material has a rod-like handle main body base material and the handle main body. A foldable flat neck base material provided in a protruding manner at the tip of the base material, and a bulging portion provided at the tip of the neck base material, and the covering material includes the bulging part It is also a preferred embodiment to have a buffer portion that covers the tip of the neck substrate. In this case, the tip of the neck base material including the bulging part is covered with a buffer part made of elastomer, and even when the brush part is inserted deeply between teeth, the buffer part made of soft elastomer hits the gingiva. Since it contacts, the pain by the synthetic resin part contacting a gum directly can be prevented. On the other hand, a massage effect on the gingiva by contact with the buffer portion can be expected. In addition, since the tip of the neck base material is covered with a buffer made of an elastomer, the length of the core material from the tip of the neck base material to the flocked portion can be set long, while the neck base material is made thin, Unevenness of the core material in the neck base material and exposure of the core material from the neck base material can be prevented. In other words, when the handle base material is molded, the brush portion holds the portion to be held in the vicinity of the flocked portion of the core material with a mold and supports the base material of the core material in the molding space. By injection molding, it will be provided integrally with the handle base material, but if the length of the core material from the tip part of the neck base material to the flocked part is set long, the length of the held part is set long As a result, the base of the core material can be stably held in the molding space with a mold, and the neck base material is made thin, while the core base material is biased in the neck base material. Exposure of the core material can be prevented.

  As the covering material made of the elastomer, a non-slip portion that covers at least the tip portion of the handle body base material, a buffer portion that covers the tip portion of the neck base material including the bulging portion, and the anti-slip portion, It is a preferred embodiment to have a connecting portion provided on the neck base material that connects the buffer portion. By constituting in this way, slipping when the handle part is held by the hand by the anti-slip part can be prevented, pain caused by contact with the gingiva can be prevented by the buffer part, and the anti-slip part and the connecting part can be prevented by the connecting part. And the buffer portion can be formed easily and efficiently. Although it is possible to provide only the buffer part as the covering material, the buffer part is formed only at a very small part of the tip of the handle part, so that the molding accuracy is reduced and the waste of the elastomer material is increased. There is a problem that. On the other hand, when the anti-slip part, the connecting part, and the buffer part are provided as the covering part, the elastomer part is injected from the non-slip part side having a larger area compared to the buffer part, and the buffer part is injected with the elastomer material. Since it can be molded, the buffer portion can be accurately molded while reducing the waste of the elastomer material.

  It is a preferred embodiment that the connecting portions made of the elastomer are formed only on both side portions of the neck base material. The connecting portion can be formed over the entire surface of the neck base material, but when the neck portion is bent, the bending angle is reduced by the elastic restoring force of the elastomer, so that the bending angle is sufficiently secured. As described above, it is preferable to form the connecting portions only on both side portions of the neck base material.

  The bulging portion is provided on both surfaces of the tip portion of the neck base material, and the buffer portion is formed on the tip portion of the neck base material including the outer peripheral portion of the bulging portion excluding the top surface of the bulging portion. This is a preferred embodiment. In this case, the molding accuracy of the buffer portion relative to the bulging portion can be improved. That is, the handle portion is formed by filling a mold with a synthetic resin material, forming a handle base material, loading the handle base material into another mold, filling the elastomer material, and covering the handle base material integrally. In the present invention, the elastomer is not formed on the top surface of the bulging portion, and the handle base material is loaded into another mold and filled with the elastomer material. In doing so, the top surface of the bulging portion is held by the mold, and the elastomer material can be filled in a state in which the movement of the tip of the neck base material is restrained. On the other hand, it can be accurately molded.

  It is also a preferred embodiment that the handle portion is formed flat in the thickness direction of the neck base material. In this case, the interdental brush can be placed on a table or the like with good stability so as not to roll. Further, since the neck base material and the handle portion are flat in the same direction, the angle of the brush portion can be easily adjusted with one hand. In other words, since the interdental brush is used, when the handle part is held between the abdomen of the thumb and the middle phalanx of the index finger, the handle part is arranged so that both sides of the handle part are in contact with the index finger and the thumb. In this state, the angle of the brush portion can be easily adjusted by pressing the neck portion with the thumb while holding the handle portion with four fingers excluding the thumb. In addition, after the brush portion is inclined with respect to the handle portion, when the brush portion is inserted between adjacent molar teeth, the tip of the handle portion is gripped by the thumb of the thumb while holding the handle portion with four fingers excluding the thumb. Since the brush portion can be inserted between the teeth while receiving the portion, a force is easily applied to the interdental brush, and the insertion operability between the teeth can be improved.

  It is also a preferred embodiment to form a notch for bending guidance extending in the width direction in the middle of the neck base in the length direction. By forming such a notch, the bending of the neck portion around the notch is promoted, and the angle of the brush portion with respect to the handle body can be sufficiently secured.

  It is also a preferred embodiment that the neck portion is formed narrower as going to the tip side. In this case, it is possible to reliably prevent a problem that the operability of the interdental brush in the oral cavity is deteriorated because the tip of the neck portion becomes an obstacle.

  According to the interdental brush according to the present invention, the flat neck base material made of synthetic resin is bent together with the core material, and the bending angle of the brush portion with respect to the handle portion is adjusted, so that the radius of curvature of the core material in the bent portion is Since it becomes larger than the case where the neck base material is not provided, the durability of the core material when repeatedly bent can be improved.

  In addition, since the neck base material is formed flat, the neck portion is a direction centering on a line segment parallel to the width direction (hereinafter, this direction is referred to as the thickness direction for bending and bending of the neck portion). It becomes easy to bend only, and it becomes difficult to bend in the width direction of a neck part. For this reason, when adjusting the angle with respect to the handle | steering-wheel part of a brush part, an angle can be easily adjusted by bending a neck part to thickness direction. Moreover, since the neck portion has a certain length in the length direction, a finger can be pressed against the neck portion without touching the core member, and the angle of the brush portion can be easily adjusted around the neck portion. Also, during interdental cleaning, the brush part is inserted between the teeth, and the brush part is inserted and removed between the teeth, but the neck part tries to bend only in the thickness direction, and the interdental brush described in Patent Document 1 As the neck part does not bend in any direction of the front, rear, left and right or unexpected direction, it is possible to clean the space between the teeth with stability and prevent the load on the core material from acting in various directions. Thus, the core material can be prevented from breaking. In addition, since the neck part is thin in the folding direction and it is easy to maintain the folded state, the brush part can be adjusted to a desired angle with a minimum bending action, and the durability of the core material in the neck part can be improved. It can be further improved.

  Furthermore, since the neck part is easily bent in the thickness direction of the neck part centering on a line segment parallel to the width direction of the neck part, when a load is applied to the brush part in the direction of bending the neck part. In the core material, stress concentration occurs in the neck portion, not in the vicinity of the base portion of the exposed portion exposed from the neck base material. For this reason, when bending the neck part, even if a part of the finger hits the brush part and a pressing load acts on the brush part as well as the neck part, stress concentration occurs in the core in the neck part. It is possible to effectively prevent the core material from being broken near the base portion of the exposed portion. In addition, even during interdental cleaning, it is possible to generate stress concentration on the core in the neck, not in the vicinity of the exposed portion of the core, and due to stress concentration during interdental cleaning, near the base of the exposed portion It is possible to prevent the core material from being broken. Moreover, even if the core material breaks, the core material breaks in the neck portion, so the core material from the breaking position to the tip of the neck portion is maintained in a state of being embedded and held in the neck base material. The brush part can be prevented from falling into the oral cavity.

Interdental brush (a) is a front view, (b) is a side view II-II sectional view of Fig. 1 (a) 1A is a sectional view taken along line IIIa-IIIa, FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along line IIIb-IIIb, and FIG. 1C is a sectional view taken along line IIIc-IIIc. (A) of the handle base material provided with the brush part is a front view, and (b) is a side view. 4A is a sectional view taken along the line Va-Va, FIG. 4B is a sectional view taken along the line Vb-Vb, and FIG. 4C is a sectional view taken along the line Vc-Vc. Explanatory drawing of molding method of covering part (A)-(e) is explanatory drawing of the handle part of the interdental brush used by the evaluation test (A) (b) is explanatory drawing of the commentary result of the finite element analysis of the interdental brush 1A (A) (b) is explanatory drawing of the analysis result of the finite element analysis of the interdental brush 1B (A) (b) is explanatory drawing of the analysis result of the finite element analysis of the interdental brush 1C (A) (b) is explanatory drawing of the analysis result of the finite element analysis of the interdental brush 1F (A) (b) is explanatory drawing of the analysis result of the finite element analysis of the interdental brush 1A (A) (b) is explanatory drawing of the analysis result of the finite element analysis of the interdental brush 1

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the thickness direction of the handle portion is defined as the front-rear direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the interdental brush 1 includes an interdental cleaning brush portion 3 in which a filament is implanted in a core 2 made of a wire, and a handle that supports the brush portion 3. And a handle portion 10.

(Brush part)
In the state where the wire is folded in half and a plurality of filaments are arranged therebetween, the brush unit 3 twists the wire to radially hold the plurality of filaments in the core 2 made of the wire, and then the filament Is a well-known structure formed by cutting the hair into a desired length to form the flocked portion 4. A bent anchor portion 2a is provided at the base end portion of the core material 2, and the anchor portion 2a is embedded in the handle main body 21 as described later, for example, the brush portion 3 is inserted between teeth. Even if the brush part 3 is rotated in the state, the brush part 3 is configured not to fall off the handle part 10.

  The outer shape of the flocked portion 4 can be formed in an arbitrary shape, and can be formed in a cylindrical shape as shown in FIG. It is also possible to form a barrel shape that is set larger than the outer diameter. The length and diameter of the flocked portion 4 can be arbitrarily set in consideration of the interdental size and cleanability, but the length of the flocked portion 4 is preferably set to 7 to 15 mm. It is preferable to set to 5 to 7 mm.

  As a wire constituting the core material 2, for example, a metal wire such as stainless steel or Co alloy can be employed. The diameter of the wire can be set to about 0.20 to 0.45 mm.

  As the filament material, for example, nylon, polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), and composite yarns thereof can be preferably used, but natural hair such as animal hair can also be used. It is also a preferred embodiment to perform a tip round process so that the tip of the filament is hemispherical, or to form a spherical part at the tip of the filament.

(Handle part)
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the handle portion 10 is distinguished from its function by a handle main body 11 as a handle, a foldable flat neck portion 12 provided at a distal end portion of the handle main body 11, and a neck An inter-tooth insertion restricting portion 13 provided at the tip of the portion 12 is provided. When distinguished from the material, a handle base material 20 made of a synthetic resin and a covering portion 30 made of an elastomer are provided. As shown in FIG. 6, after the handle base material 20 is formed by injection molding or the like, the handle portion 10 is set on the mold 40 for forming the cover portion 30 and the cover base portion 20 is formed by injection molding or the like. 30 is integrally formed with the handle base 20 by so-called two-color molding. However, a configuration in which the entire handle portion 10 is made of a synthetic resin is also within the scope of the present invention.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the handle base material 20 made of a synthetic resin includes an elongated rod-like handle main body base 21 and a flat plate-like neck provided in a protruding shape at the tip of the handle main body base 21. The base material 22 and the bulging part 23 provided in the front-end | tip part of the neck base material 22 are provided, and the brush part 3 uses the base part of the core material 2 as the front-end | tip of the neck base material 22 and the handle main body base material 21. It is supported by the handle body 11 so as not to fall off by being embedded by insert molding over the portion.

  Synthetic resin materials for the handle base 20 include polypropylene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polycyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate, saturated polyester resin, polymethyl methacrylate, cellulose propionate, polyurethane, polyamide, polycarbonate, ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene butadiene). A thermoplastic synthetic resin material such as styrene can be used. In particular, since it is excellent in durability when bent repeatedly, polyethylene can be suitably employed.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the covering portion 30 is integrally formed with the handle base material 20 using an elastomer, and includes a non-slip portion 31 that covers the outer peripheral portion of the handle main body base material 21, and a bulge. A buffer part 33 covering the tip of the neck base 22 including the outer periphery of the part 23; and a connecting part 32 provided on the neck base 22 connecting the anti-slip part 31 and the buffer part 33. .

  Examples of the elastomer constituting the covering portion 30 include thermoplastic elastomers such as styrene, olefin, and polyamide, nylon elastomers such as 6 nylon, 6-6 nylon, 6-10 nylon, and 6-12 nylon, and silicon. Thermosetting elastomers such as rubber, urethane rubber, fluoro rubber, natural rubber, and synthetic rubber can be used. In particular, a material having compatibility with the synthetic resin material constituting the handle base material 20 is preferable. For example, when the handle base material 20 is made of polyethylene, the covering material is preferably made of a polyolefin-based elastomer.

  Next, the structure of the handle body 11, the neck portion 12, and the insertion restricting portion 13 in the handle portion 10 will be described more specifically.

(Handle body)
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the handle main body 11 is formed in an elongated rod shape having an elliptical cross section that is flat in the front-rear direction, and the interdental brush 1 has the front side or the rear side of the handle main body 11 facing downward. In this way, it is configured not to roll easily by being placed on the upper surface of a table or the like. Further, the thickness of the handle body 11 is set to be larger than the diameter of the brush portion 3, and the outer peripheral surface of the brush portion 3 does not contact the upper surface of the table or the like when the interdental brush 1 is placed on the upper surface of the table or the like. It is configured as follows.

  The handle body 11 includes an elongated rod-like handle body base material 21 made of a synthetic resin, and a non-slip portion 31 made of an elastomer that covers the outer periphery of the handle body base material 21. The main body 11 is configured to be held by hand.

  A flange portion 21 a that protrudes outward is formed in the middle of the handle body base material 21 in the thickness direction. The flange portion 21 a is embedded in the anti-slip portion 31, so that the handle body base material 21 and the anti-slip portion are provided. It is comprised so that the coupling | bonding with the part 31 may be improved. However, the handle body base material 21 and the anti-slip portion 31 can be configured to increase the bonding strength by providing a plurality of protrusions instead of the flange portion 21a, for example, a structure other than the flange portion 21a. .

  An exposed surface 21b that is exposed to the outside that is elongated in the length direction of the handle body base material 21 is formed at the center in the width direction of both the front and rear surfaces of the handle body base material 21. Is formed with a positioning hole 21c penetrating in the thickness direction, and as shown in FIG. The positioning pins 41 are fitted into the positioning holes 21 c to position the handle base material 20 in the mold 40 and hold the exposed surface 21 b with the mold 40. It is configured so that it can be positioned and held.

  The anti-slip portion 31 only needs to be provided at least on the distal end side portion of the handle main body base material 21, and the other portions may be configured such that an exposed surface 21b is formed at least around the positioning hole 21c. For example, it can be formed at an arbitrary position. For this reason, it is also possible to comprise so that a character, a symbol, a figure, etc. may be formed by the non-slip | skid part 31. FIG.

(Neck part)
The neck portion 12 includes an elongated plate-like neck base material 22 having a rectangular cross section that is flat in the front-rear direction made of synthetic resin, and a connecting portion 32 made of an elastomer that connects the anti-slip portion 31 and the buffer portion 33. The notch 22a extending over the entire length in the width direction is formed in the middle of the longitudinal direction of the front and rear surfaces of the neck base material 22, and the neck portion 12 is bent together with the core 2 to the front side or the rear side around the notch 22a. As shown in FIG. 2, the bending angle θ of the brush part 3 with respect to the main body of the handle part 10 can be adjusted.

  The width of the distal end portion of the neck portion 12 is set to be smaller than the width of the proximal end portion, and the neck portion 12 is configured to become narrower toward the distal end side. The width of the distal end portion of the neck portion 12 is preferably set smaller than the diameter of the proximal end portion of the flocked portion 4 so that both side portions of the distal end portion of the neck portion 12 do not directly contact the inner surface of the oral cavity. Further, the width of the neck base material 22 is set so that the width of the tip end portion is smaller than the width of the base end portion, and the neck base material 22 becomes narrower toward the tip end side, as with the neck portion 12. It is configured. However, the width of the neck base material 22 can be set to a uniform width from the front end portion to the base end portion.

  The thickness, width and length of the neck base material 22 and the depth of the notch 22a are determined by bending the neck portion 12 around the notch 22a and releasing the hand in order to ensure sufficient insertion of the brush portion 3 between the molar teeth. In this state, the maximum value of the bending angle θ of the brush portion 3 with respect to the handle portion 10 is set to be maintained at 50 ° or more. Specifically, the thickness of the neck base material 22 is preferably set to 0.8 to 2.5 mm, and the width of the neck base material 22 in the portion where the notch 22a is formed is set to 1.5 to 5.0 mm. The length of the neck base material 22 is preferably set to 2.5 to 12 mm, and the depth of the notch 22a is preferably set to 0.1 to 0.5 mm.

  However, one notch 22a is formed on the surface side and the rear surface side of the neck base material 22, but it is formed only on the surface side or the rear surface side, or a plurality of notches 22a are formed in parallel with each other on the surface side and the rear surface side. It is possible to form them so that the number is different between the front side and the rear side. Furthermore, although it formed over the full width of the neck base material 22, it is also possible to form it in a part of the width direction of the neck base material 22. Furthermore, the notch 22a can be omitted by configuring the neck base material 22 to be thin or narrow. Moreover, you may fill an elastomer in the recessed part of the notch 22a.

  The connecting portion 32 is formed by an elastomer supply path from the anti-slip portion 31 to the buffer portion 33 when the covering portion 30 made of elastomer is formed. In the present embodiment, both side portions of the neck base material 22 are formed. However, if the anti-slip part 31 and the buffer part 33 are provided so as to be connected to each other, the anti-slip part 31 and the buffer part 33 may be provided on the front surface side and the rear surface side of the neck base material 22, It is also possible to do. However, since the bending angle θ is reduced by the elastic restoring action by the elastomer, it is preferably formed on the side portion of the neck base material 22 so that the elastic restoring action by the elastomer does not act as much as possible.

(Insertion restriction part)
The insertion restricting portion 13 is made of a bulging portion 23 made of a synthetic resin provided in a projecting manner at the front and rear of the neck base material 22 and an elastomer that covers the tip portion of the neck base material 22 including the bulging portion 23. A buffer portion 33, and when the insertion restricting portion 13 abuts on the gingiva and the maximum insertion position of the brush portion 3 is restricted, the buffer portion 33 made of an elastomer abuts on the gingiva, thereby damaging the gingiva. On the contrary, the cushioning portion 33 is configured to provide a gingival massage effect.

  The bulging portion 23 is provided in a protruding manner on both surfaces of the tip portion of the neck base material 22, and the buffer portion 33 includes a peripheral portion of the bulging portion 23 excluding the top surface 23 a of the bulging portion 23. 22 is formed so as to cover the tip portion. Thus, since an elastomer is not formed in the top surface 23a of the bulging part 23, the shaping | molding precision of the buffer part 33 with respect to the bulging part 23 can be improved for the following reasons. That is, when the buffer portion 33 made of elastomer is molded, as shown in FIG. 6, the handle base material 20 is loaded into the mold 40 for molding the covering portion 30 and filled with the elastomer material. When the top surface 23a of the bulging portion 23 is held by the holding surface 42 of the mold 40, the movement of the tip portion of the neck base material 22 is restrained, and the elastomer material can be filled in this state, so that it is held in a cantilever shape. The buffer portion 33 can be accurately formed at the tip of the neck base material 22 including the bulged portion 23 that has been made. Moreover, since the tip part of the neck base material 22 is covered with the buffer part 33 made of an elastomer, the length of the core material 2 from the tip part of the neck base material 22 to the flocked part 4 can be set long, and the neck base material 22 is While constituting thin, the bias of the core material 2 in the neck base material 22 and the exposure of the core material 2 from the neck base material 22 can be prevented. That is, the brush part 3 is the state which hold | maintained the to-be-held part of the hair core part 2 vicinity of the core material 2 with a metal mold | die at the time of shaping | molding of the handle base material 20, and supported the base part of the core material 2 in shaping | molding space. Then, the handle base material 20 is injection-molded to be provided integrally with the handle base material 20, but when the length of the core material 2 from the tip portion of the neck base material 22 to the flocked portion 4 is set long. Since the length of the held portion can be set to be long, the base portion of the core material 2 can be stably held in the molding space with a mold, and the neck base 22 is made thin, The bias of the core material 2 in the material 22 and the exposure of the core material 2 from the neck base material 22 can be prevented.

(how to use)
Next, the usage method of this interdental brush 1 is demonstrated.
When cleaning between incisors and between incisors and canines with the interdental brush 1, for example, the front and rear surfaces of the handle portion 10 are picked with the thumb and forefinger, the brush portion 3 is inserted between the teeth, and the brush portion 3 is inserted in the inserted state. By moving the back and forth, the space between the teeth can be cleaned.

  When cleaning between the molars or between the molars and the canines, the neck portion 12 is bent around the notch 22a and the bending angle θ of the brush portion 3 with respect to the handle portion 10 is adjusted to a desired angle before the handle portion. 10 is hold | maintained, the brush part 3 is inserted between teeth, and between the teeth can be cleaned by moving the brush part 3 back and forth in the insertion state. More specifically, when the bending angle θ of the brush portion 3 is adjusted, the neck portion 12 is first bent around the notch 22a, but the neck base material 22 and the handle portion 10 are both in the front-rear direction. The angle of the brush part 3 can be easily adjusted with one hand. That is, when the handle portion 10 is held between the belly of the thumb and the middle phalanx corresponding to the middle phalanx of the index finger, the handle portion 10 is arranged so that both surfaces of the handle portion 10 are in contact with the index finger and the thumb. The angle of the brush part 3 can be easily adjusted by pushing the neck part 12 with the thumb while grasping the handle part 10 with four fingers excluding. Further, when the brush part 3 is inserted between the molars, while holding the handle part 10 with four fingers excluding the thumb, the brush part is pressed while pressing the flat surface on the tip side of the handle part 10 with the belly of the thumb. 3 can be inserted between teeth.

  Thus, in this interdental brush 1, the flat neck base material 22 made of synthetic resin is bent together with the core material 2 to adjust the bending angle θ of the brush part 3 with respect to the handle part 10, so that Since the curvature radius of the core material 2 becomes larger than the case where the neck base material 22 is not provided, the durability of the core material 2 when repeatedly bent can be improved. Since the neck base material 22 is formed flat, the neck portion 12 is easily bent only in the thickness direction around a line segment parallel to the width direction, and is not easily bent in the width direction of the neck portion 12. For this reason, when adjusting the angle with respect to the handle | steering-wheel part 10 of the brush part 3, an angle can be easily adjusted by bending the neck part 12 to thickness direction. Moreover, since the neck portion 12 has a certain length in the length direction, a finger is pressed against the neck portion 12 without touching the core material 2, and the angle of the brush portion 3 is easily adjusted around the neck portion 12. can do. Further, during the interdental cleaning, the brush part 3 is inserted between the teeth, and the brush part 3 is put in and out between the teeth. However, the neck part 12 tries to bend only in the thickness direction, and the neck part is front, rear, left and right. Since it does not bend in any direction or unexpected direction, it is possible to clean the space between the teeth with good stability and to prevent the load on the core material 2 from acting in various directions to break the core material 2. Can be prevented. Further, since the neck portion 12 is thin in the bending direction and is easily maintained in the bent state, the brush portion 3 can be adjusted to a desired angle with a minimum bending action, and the core material in the neck portion 12 can be adjusted. The durability of 2 can be further improved.

  Further, since the neck portion 12 is easily bent in the thickness direction of the neck portion 12 centering on a line segment parallel to the width direction of the neck portion 12, a load is applied in a direction in which the neck portion 12 is bent with respect to the brush portion 3. When applied, stress concentration occurs in the core member 2 in the neck portion 12, not in the vicinity of the base portion of the exposed portion exposed from the neck base material 22. For this reason, when the neck portion 12 is bent, even if a part of the finger hits the brush portion 3 and a pressing load acts on the brush portion 3 as well as the neck portion 12, Since stress concentration occurs, it is possible to effectively prevent the core material 2 from breaking near the base of the exposed portion. Further, even during interdental cleaning, stress concentration can be generated not in the vicinity of the base portion of the exposed portion of the core material 2 but in the core portion 2 in the neck portion 12, and exposure is caused by stress concentration during interdental cleaning. It is possible to prevent the core material 2 from breaking near the base of the portion. Moreover, even if the core material 2 is broken, the core material 2 is broken in the neck portion 12, so that the core material 2 from the broken position to the tip portion of the neck portion 12 is embedded and held in the neck base material 22. Therefore, the brush part 3 can be prevented from falling into the oral cavity.

  Further, since the tip of the neck base material 22 including the bulging portion 23 is covered with the buffer portion 33 made of elastomer, the brush portion 3 is inserted deeply between the teeth so that the buffer portion 33 contacts the gingiva. Even in this case, it is possible to prevent the gum from being damaged, and conversely, a massage effect on the gum by contact with the buffer portion 33 can be expected. Since the connecting portion 32 is formed only on both sides of the neck base material 22, the bending angle of the neck portion 12 can be set large. Further, since the notch 22a for bending guide extending in the width direction is formed in the middle part in the length direction of the neck base material 22, the bending of the neck part 12 around the notch 22a is promoted, and the handle body 11 The angle of the brush part 3 with respect to can be set larger.

(Evaluation test)
Next, the evaluation test of the interdental brush according to the present invention will be described. In FIG. 7, a portion made of ethylene / propylene rubber (EPDM) is shown by hatching.

Example 1
As Example 1, an interdental brush 1A as shown in FIG. The handle portion 10A of the interdental brush 1A has the same configuration as the handle portion 10 of the interdental brush 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 except that the notch 22a is omitted. The portion 30 (shown by hatching in FIG. 7A) is made of ethylene / propylene rubber (EPDM), the dimensions of each portion of the handle portion 10A are set as shown, and the thickness of the neck portion 12A is 1.5 mm. Is set. Further, as the brush part 3, a nylon filament is implanted in a core material 2 made of a stainless steel wire having a diameter of 0.25 mm, the filament is cut into a cylindrical shape, and a flocked part 4 having a diameter of 2.0 mm is obtained. Formed.

(Example 2)
As Example 2, an interdental brush 1B as shown in FIG. The handle portion 10B of the interdental brush 1B has the dimensions of the respective portions as shown in the figure, the entire handle portion 10B is made of polyethylene, and a flat neck portion having a thickness of 1.5 mm is formed at the tip of the handle portion 10B. 12B is formed. Further, as the brush portion 3, the brush portion 3 having the same configuration as that of the first embodiment is used. The brush portion 3 is attached to the distal end portion of the handle portion 10B with the base portion of the core member 2 embedded in the neck portion 12B. It has been.

(Comparative Example 1)
As Comparative Example 1, an interdental brush 1C as shown in FIG. The handle portion 10C of the interdental brush 1C has dimensions as shown in the drawing, the handle portion 10C is made of polyethylene, a conical neck portion 12C at the tip of the handle portion 10C, and a neck portion A cylindrical small-diameter portion 5C is formed at the tip of 12C. Further, as the brush portion 3, the brush portion 3 having the same configuration as that of the first embodiment is used, and this brush portion 3 has the base portion of the core material 2 embedded in the neck portion 12C and the small diameter portion 5C, and the handle portion 10C. It is attached to the tip.

(Comparative Example 2)
As Comparative Example 2, an interdental brush 1D as shown in FIG. In the handle portion 10D of the interdental brush 1D, the dimensions of the respective portions are set as shown in the figure, and the handle portion 10D is hatched in a rod-like handle main body 11D made of ethylene / propylene rubber (EPDM) (FIG. 7 (d)). And a conical neck portion 12D made of polyethylene provided in a projecting manner at the distal end portion of the handle body 11D, and a columnar small diameter portion 5C provided at the distal end portion of the neck portion 12D. . Further, as the brush portion 3, the brush portion 3 having the same configuration as that of the first embodiment is used. The brush portion 3 has the base portion of the core material 2 embedded in the neck portion 12D and the small diameter portion 5C, and the handle portion 10D. It is attached to the tip.

(Comparative Example 3)
As Comparative Example 3, an interdental brush 1E as shown in FIG. The handle portion 10E of the interdental brush 1E has dimensions as shown in the figure, and the handle portion 10E is provided integrally with a rod-like handle body 11E made of polyethylene and a tip portion of the handle body 11E. A conical neck portion 12E (illustrated by hatching in FIG. 7E) made of ethylene / propylene rubber (EPDM) is used. Further, as the brush portion 3, the brush portion 3 having the same configuration as that of the first embodiment is used. The brush portion 3 has a base portion of the core member 2 embedded in the neck portion 12E and the distal end portion of the handle main body 11E, and a handlebar. It is attached to the tip of the part 10E.

  And using the interdental brush of Example 1, 2 and Comparative Examples 1-3, the endurance test with respect to the bending of a core material and the evaluation test of the insertability between molars were done.

(An endurance test)
The interdental brushes of Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 were subjected to an endurance test by a test method based on ISO16409. The results are shown in Table 1.

(Insertion test)
Moreover, in order to evaluate the insertion property between molars about the interdental brush of Examples 1, 2 and Comparative Examples 1-3, the sensory evaluation test by 15 testers was done. The results are shown in Table 2. Further, regarding the interdental brushes of Example 1 and Comparative Example 1, the pain when the tip portion of the handle portion contacted the gingiva was evaluated by 15 testers. The results are shown in Table 3.

  In the sensory evaluation test, the tester evaluated the score for the insertability in the following five stages “1” to “5”, and determined the average value. In addition, since the evaluation is made in three stages: easy to polish, difficult to polish, and not to polish, the average value is 4 or more and easy to polish is indicated with “○”, and the average value is 2 or more and less than 4, difficult to polish. Items were represented by “Δ”, and those with an average value of less than 2 and not polished were represented by “x”.

“1”: Very difficult to polish “2”: Difficult to polish “3”: Neither “4”: Easy to polish “5”: Very easy to polish

  As shown in Table 1, it can be seen that the interdental brush 1A of Example 1 is remarkably superior in durability compared to Example 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2. Moreover, as shown in Table 2, it turns out that the largest bending angle (theta) is large and it is excellent in the insertion property between molars. In addition, as shown in Table 3, since the tip of the handle portion 10A is made of an elastomer, even if the tip of the handle portion 10A comes into contact with the gingiva, there is no pain and massage is performed on the contrary. Since the effect was obtained, it was evaluated that all the examiners felt comfortable.

  Further, as shown in Table 1, the interdental brush 1B of Example 2 has the same durability as that of Comparative Example 1, but as shown in Table 2, the maximum bending angle θ is large, and between the molars. It can be seen that the insertability is excellent.

(Finite element analysis)
Next, the result of finite element analysis of the stress distribution acting on the core material 2 will be described.
Finite element analysis was performed on the interdental brushes 1A to 1C shown in FIGS. Specifically, based on the external data of the interdental brushes 1A to 1C, the nodes were moved and the mesh was subdivided to produce a finite element analysis model. And about interdental brush 1A, 1B, in the state which supported interdental brush 1A, 1B horizontally so that the flat wide surface of neck part 12A, 12B may become up and down, neck part of the core material 2 The stress acting on the core material 2 is analyzed when a load of 1N is applied downward at a position 5 mm away from the tips of 12A and 12B. Regarding the interdental brush 1C, the interdental brush 1C is analyzed. The stress acting on the core material 2 when a load of 1 N is applied downward to a position 5 mm away from the tip of the neck portion 12C of the core material 2 in a state where the core material 2 is supported horizontally. Analyzed. The results are shown in FIGS. Further, as an interdental brush according to the present invention typified by an interdental brush 1A, as in the interdental brush 1F shown in FIG. 11, the thickness of the neck portion 12F is set to 1.0 mm, and FIG. As in the interdental brush 1 shown, the finite element analysis was performed in the same manner as described above even when the notch 22a was formed in the width direction at the center in the length direction of both flat and wide surfaces of the neck portion 12. . The results are shown in FIGS. Further, for comparison with the interdental brush 1F of FIG. 11, FIG. 12 shows the analysis result of the finite element analysis of the interdental brush 1A. In addition, in FIG.8 (b), FIG.9 (b), FIG.10 (b), FIG.11 (b), FIG.12 (b), FIG.13 (b), the stress which acts on the core material 2 becomes large. Therefore, the color of the core material 2 is expressed so that the density continuously changes from white to black. Further, in FIG. 8A, the synthetic resin portion of the handle portion is shown in light gray, and the elastomer portion is shown in dark gray.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, in the interdental brushes 1 </ b> A and 1 </ b> B of the present invention in which the neck portions 12 </ b> A and 12 </ b> B are configured flat, a portion embedded in the base portion side of the neck portions 12 </ b> A and 12 </ b> B in the core material 2. In contrast, as shown in FIG. 10, in the conventional interdental brush 1 </ b> C in which the neck portion 12 </ b> C is not flattened, the exposed portion from the neck portion 12 </ b> C of the core material 2. It can be seen that stress concentration occurs at the base of the plate. It can also be seen that the interstitial brushes 1A and 1B have a wider range of stress concentration than the interdental brush 1C. As described above, in the interdental brushes 1A and 1B, since the stress concentration range is widely dispersed, the core material in the neck portions 12A and 12B is caused by a lateral load acting on the brush portion during interdental cleaning. Since a load acts on 2, it can be seen that breakage of the core material 2 is suppressed as compared with the interdental brush 1 </ b> C. Further, in the interdental brushes 1A and 1B, even if the core material 2 is broken, the core material 2 is broken in the base portions of the neck portions 12A and 12B, so that from the breaking position to the tip portions of the neck portions 12A and 12B. Since the core material 2 is maintained in the state of being embedded and held in the neck base material, it can be seen that the brush portion can be prevented from falling into the oral cavity.

  Further, as in the interdental brush 1F of the present invention shown in FIG. 11, when the neck portion 12F is made thinner, the neck portion 12F is bent more, but basically, it is the same as the interdental brushes 1A and 1B. In addition, it can be seen that stress concentrates on the core material 2 over a relatively wide range in the neck portion 12F, so that breakage of the core material 2 can be suppressed and the brush portion can be prevented from falling into the oral cavity. Further, when the notch 22a is formed as in the interdental brush 1 of the present invention shown in FIG. 13, the stress is concentrated around the notch 22a forming position, and the desired position depends on the notch 22a forming position. It can be seen that the design can concentrate the stress on the surface.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that the configuration can be changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Interdental brush 2 Core material 2a Anchor part 3 Brush part 4 Flocking part 10 Handle part 11 Handle main body 12 Neck part 13 Insertion restriction part 20 Handle base material 21 Handle main body base material 21a Flange part 21b Exposed surface 21c Positioning hole 22 Neck base Material 22a Notch 23 Swelling portion 23a Top surface 30 Cover portion 31 Non-slip portion 32 Connecting portion 33 Buffer portion 40 Die 41 Positioning pin 42 Holding surface 1A Interdental brush 10A Handle portion 12A Neck portion 1B Interdental brush 10B Handle portion 12B Neck portion 1C Interdental brush 5C Small diameter portion 10C Handle portion 12C Neck portion 1D Interdental brush 10D Handle portion 11D Handle body 12D Neck portion 1E Interdental brush 10E Handle portion 11E Handle body 12E Neck portion 1F Interdental brush 12F Neck portion

Claims (13)

It has a brush part in which a filament is implanted in a core material made of a wire, and a handle part as a handle, and a base part of the core material is held at a tip part of the handle part, and the brush part is handled as a handle part An interdental brush that is supported by
The handle portion is
A handle body and a neck provided at the tip of the handle body;
A flat and slender plate-shaped neck base material that can be bent is formed of a synthetic resin on the neck portion,
The base of the core material was embedded in the neck base material,
An interdental brush characterized by that.   The handle portion includes a handle base material made of a synthetic resin and a coating material made of an elastomer coated on the handle base material. The handle base material includes a rod-shaped handle main body base material, and a handle main body base material. A neck base material having a foldable flat neck base material provided in a projecting manner at the front end part and a bulging part provided at the front end part of the neck base material, wherein the covering material includes the swelled part. The interdental brush of Claim 1 which has a buffer part which coat | covers the front-end | tip part.   The covering material includes a non-slip portion that covers at least a tip portion of the handle body base material, a buffer portion that covers a tip portion of the neck base material including the bulging portion, and the anti-slip portion and the buffer portion. The interdental brush of Claim 2 which has the connection part provided in the said neck base material to connect.   The interdental brush according to claim 3, wherein the connecting portion made of the elastomer is formed only on both side portions of the neck base material.   The bulge portion is provided on both surfaces of the tip portion of the neck base material, and the buffer portion is formed on the tip portion of the neck base material including the outer peripheral portion of the bulge portion excluding the top surface of the bulge portion. The interdental brush of any one of 2-4.   The interdental brush according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the handle portion is formed flat in the thickness direction of the neck base material.   The interdental brush according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the neck base material is made of polyethylene.   The interdental brush according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a thickness of the neck base material is set to 0.8 to 2.5 mm.   The interdental brush according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein a width of the neck base material is set to 1.5 to 5.0 mm.   The interdental brush according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein a notch for bending guidance extending in the width direction is formed in the middle of the length direction of the neck base material.   The interdental brush according to claim 10, wherein a depth of the notch is set to 0.1 to 0.5 mm.   The interdental brush according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the neck portion is formed so as to narrow toward the tip side.   The interdental brush according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein a diameter of the wire is set to 0.20 to 0.45 mm.