JP2017063955A - toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toothbrush which is effective for sterilization of microbes in an oral cavity.SOLUTION: A toothbrush comprises: a semiconductor light emission element for emitting ultraviolet light having a peak light emission wavelength in a range from 250 nm to less than 400 nm; a light guide part 14 which the ultraviolet light emitted from the semiconductor light emission element enters from one end 18a and exits from the other end; and a housing accommodating the semiconductor light emission element and the light guide part 14. The light guide part 14 is configured so that the one end 18a of the light guide part contacts a light emission plane 12a of the semiconductor light emission element.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a toothbrush.

  Conventionally, an optical sterilization toothbrush using an optical fiber has been devised (see Patent Documents 1 to 3). These toothbrushes allow ultraviolet light emitted from a light source to enter one end of an optical fiber or brush bristles (hereinafter referred to as “optical fiber or the like”) located away from the light source, and enter the oral cavity from the other end. The light is emitted to a predetermined area.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-140454 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-155638 JP 2010-213831 A

  However, since the above-described toothbrush is separated from the light source and the end of the optical fiber or the like, it is difficult to efficiently enter the ultraviolet light emitted from the light source into the optical fiber or the like. As a result, the amount of ultraviolet light emitted from the optical fiber or the like is reduced, and it is difficult to sufficiently sterilize oral bacteria such as periodontal disease bacteria.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a condition, The place made into the objective is to provide a toothbrush effective in disinfection of bacteria etc. in an oral cavity.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a toothbrush according to an aspect of the present invention includes a semiconductor light-emitting element that emits ultraviolet light having a peak emission wavelength in a range of 250 nm or more and less than 400 nm, and ultraviolet light emitted from the semiconductor light-emitting element is incident from one end. The light guide part which radiate | emits from an end, and the housing | casing which accommodates a semiconductor light-emitting device and a light guide part are provided. The light guide is provided so that one end of the light guide contacts the light emitting surface of the semiconductor light emitting element.

  According to this aspect, since the ultraviolet light emitted from the semiconductor light emitting element is directly incident on the light guide part without passing through the air layer, the ultraviolet light can be emitted from the other end of the light guide part with a reduced loss.

  The housing may include a brush head portion provided with a light guide portion, and a main body portion that supplies power to the semiconductor light emitting element. The brush head part may be detachably fixed to the main body part. This makes it easy to replace only the brush head regardless of the lifetime of the semiconductor light emitting device.

  The main body unit may include a power source unit and a light source unit having a wiring for supplying power supplied from the power source unit to the semiconductor light emitting element. The light source unit may be detachably fixed to the power source unit. As a result, replacement due to the end of the life of the semiconductor light-emitting element and replacement with another semiconductor light-emitting element having a different peak emission wavelength or output can be performed only by the light source unit.

  The light source unit may be arranged at a position where the plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements face one end of the light guide unit. Thereby, the end of a light guide part and the light emission surface of a semiconductor light-emitting element can be made to contact with a comparatively simple structure.

  The light source part is provided with a wiring path for supplying power to the semiconductor light emitting element, and the wiring path is provided with a pair of spaced apart electrodes, and the brush head part is detachably fixed to the light source part. It may have a conduction part which conducts a pair of electrodes in the state fixed to the light source part. As a result, when the brush head unit is fixed to the light source unit, the wiring path for supplying power to the semiconductor light emitting element becomes conductive, and ultraviolet light can be emitted from the semiconductor light emitting element. In other words, since the power cannot be supplied to the semiconductor light emitting element unless the brush head part is fixed to the light source part, it is possible to prevent the ultraviolet light from being irradiated with the semiconductor light emitting element exposed.

  The light guide unit may include a plurality of optical fibers. One end of the plurality of optical fibers may be in contact with the light emitting surface of the semiconductor light emitting element. Thereby, an ultraviolet-ray can be permeate | transmitted without waste from the one end of a light guide part to the other end.

  The optical fiber may be a fluororesin. Thereby, the transmittance | permeability of an ultraviolet-ray can be improved compared with an acrylic type or nylon type optical fiber. More preferably, it may be an amorphous fluororesin.

  It should be noted that any combination of the above-described constituent elements and a representation of the present invention converted between a method, an apparatus, a system, etc. are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the toothbrush effective in disinfection of bacteria etc. in an oral cavity is realizable, reducing the influence which acts on a human body.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the toothbrush which concerns on this Embodiment. It is an enlarged view of the contact part of UV-LED and a light guide part. It is a front view of the brush head part seen from the A direction of FIG. It is a side view of the brush head part seen from the B direction of FIG. It is a side view which shows the whole structure of a main-body part. It is the exploded sectional view showing typically the toothbrush concerning this embodiment. It is the figure which looked at the light source part shown in FIG. 5 from the C direction. It is a figure which shows the state which attached the light source part and the power supply part to the power supply part.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated descriptions are omitted as appropriate. Moreover, the structure described below is an illustration and does not limit the scope of the present invention at all.

(toothbrush)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic structure of a toothbrush according to the present embodiment. The toothbrush 10 according to the present embodiment includes a UV-LED 12 as a semiconductor light emitting element, a light guide unit 14, and a housing 16 that accommodates the UV-LED 12 and the light guide unit 14.

(light source)
The toothbrush according to the present embodiment uses a semiconductor light emitting element that emits ultraviolet rays having a peak emission wavelength in a range of 250 nm or more and less than 400 nm as a light source. The semiconductor light emitting element is a light emitting diode or a laser. Therefore, the light source can be reduced in size.

  In the present embodiment, a light emitting diode that emits deep ultraviolet rays (hereinafter referred to as “UV-LED”) is used as the semiconductor light emitting element. The UV-LED according to the present embodiment includes a substrate made of sapphire, an AlGaN-based light emitting layer, and a lattice irregular buffer layer made of AlN stacked between the substrate and the light emitting layer. Thereby, a small and highly efficient sterilization toothbrush can be realized.

(Light guide part)
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a contact portion between the UV-LED and the light guide. The light guide unit 14 according to the present embodiment has a plurality of optical fibers 18. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the optical fiber 18 emits ultraviolet light emitted from the UV-LED 12 from one end 18 a and exits from the other end 18 b. The optical fiber 18 is provided so that one end 18 a of the optical fiber is in contact with the light emitting surface 12 a of the UV-LED 12. Here, the light emitting surface 12a is a surface such as a sapphire substrate, for example.

  Thereby, since the ultraviolet-ray which UV-LED12 emits enters into the optical fiber 18 directly without passing through an air layer, an ultraviolet-ray can be radiate | emitted from the other end 18b of the optical fiber 18 suppressing loss. In particular, when a sapphire substrate is used for the UV-LED 12, since the refractive index of the sapphire substrate is higher than that of a general glass substrate, loss due to total reflection or the like increases when there is an interface with the air layer. Therefore, like the toothbrush 10 according to the present embodiment, the ultraviolet light emitted from the UV-LED 12 is directly incident on the optical fiber 18 so that the ultraviolet light emitted from the UV-LED 12 can be guided to the tip of the optical fiber 18 without waste. The irradiation amount of ultraviolet rays can be increased without making the output of the UV-LED 12 excessive.

(Casing)
As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 16 according to the present embodiment includes a brush head unit 20 provided with a light guide unit 14 and a main body unit 22 that supplies power to the UV-LED 12. . The brush head part 20 is detachably fixed to the main body part 22. Thereby, irrespective of the lifetime of UV-LED12, only replacement | exchange of the brush head part 20 can be made easy.

(Brush head)
FIG. 3 is a front view of the brush head portion viewed from the direction A in FIG. FIG. 4 is a side view of the brush head portion viewed from the direction B of FIG.

  The brush head unit 20 includes an ultraviolet irradiation unit 24 in which optical fibers 18 processed into a conical shape whose tip is gradually narrowed are arranged, and a brush unit 26. The ultraviolet irradiation unit 24 is provided with a plurality of optical fibers 18 at intervals in the longitudinal direction at the center of the brush head unit 20. The brush unit 26 is provided with brushes on both sides of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 24 in parallel with the ultraviolet irradiation unit 24. Each optical fiber 18 of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 24 is provided so that the length protruding from the brush head unit 20 is several millimeters longer than the brush of the brush unit 26, and the tip enters the periodontal pocket. Can sterilize periodontal bacteria. At the same time, the brush portion 26 can brush the teeth and gums.

(Main body)
FIG. 5 is a side view showing the overall configuration of the main body. FIG. 6 is an exploded cross-sectional view schematically showing the toothbrush according to the present embodiment.

  The main body unit 22 includes a power source unit 28 that stores a rechargeable battery or a dry battery, and a light source unit 30 having wiring for supplying the power supplied from the power source unit 28 to the UV-LED 12. The light source unit 30 according to the present embodiment is detachably fixed to the power supply unit 28. As a result, replacement due to the end of the life of the UV-LED 12 and replacement with another UV-LED 12 having a different peak emission wavelength or output can be performed only by the light source unit 30.

  FIG. 7 is a view of the light source unit 30 shown in FIG. 5 as viewed from the C direction. As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, in the light source unit 30, the plurality of UV-LEDs 12 are arranged at positions facing the one end 18 a of the optical fiber 18 in the light guide unit 14. Thereby, the end 18a of the optical fiber 18 and the light emitting surface 12a of the UV-LED 12 can be brought into contact with each other with a relatively simple configuration. In the light source unit 30 according to the present embodiment, a total of four UV-LEDs 12 each having a light emitting surface of 1 × 1 mm are arranged in two vertical and horizontal directions. The plurality of UV-LEDs may include a plurality of types of UV-LEDs having different wavelengths (emission spectra).

  As shown in FIG. 6, the light source unit 30 is provided with a pair of wiring paths 32 (32 a and 32 b) for supplying power to the UV-LED 12. One wiring path 32a is provided with a pair of spaced apart electrodes 34a and 34b. The wiring path 32a has one end connected to the UV-LED 12 and the other end connected to the anode 36a. The other wiring path 32b has one end connected to the UV-LED 12 and the other end connected to the cathode 36b. A projection 38 is formed on the side of the light source unit 30.

  The brush head unit 20 includes a conducting unit 40 that conducts the pair of electrodes 34 a and 34 b of the wiring path 32 while being fixed to the light source unit 30. A recess 44 is formed on the inner wall of the hole 42 into which the light source unit 30 of the brush head unit 20 is inserted. When the brush head unit 20 is attached to the light source unit 30, the protrusion 38 and the concave portion 44 of the light source unit 30 are engaged with each other, so that the brush head unit 20 is detachably fixed at a predetermined position.

  The power supply unit 28 has a hole 46 into which the light source unit 30 is inserted. A waterproof rubber ring 48 is provided on the inlet side end face of the hole 46. A vibration unit 50 is provided on the back side of the hole 46. A pair of electrodes 52 a and 52 b are provided on the bottom of the recess 50 a of the vibration unit 50.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the light source unit 30 and the power source unit 28 are attached to the power source unit 28. In the present embodiment, when the brush head unit 20 is fixed to the light source unit 30, the electrodes 34 a and 34 b that are separated via the conducting unit 40 are conducted, whereby the wiring path 32 a that supplies power to the UV-LED 12 is formed. It becomes conductive, and it becomes possible to irradiate ultraviolet rays from the UV-LED 12. In other words, if the brush head unit 20 is not fixed to the light source unit 30, power cannot be supplied to the UV-LED 12, and therefore it is possible to prevent ultraviolet rays from being irradiated with the UV-LED 12 exposed.

  The optical fiber 18 according to the present embodiment is a fluororesin. Thereby, the transmittance | permeability of an ultraviolet-ray can be improved compared with an acrylic type or nylon type optical fiber. More preferably, an amorphous fluororesin is used as the optical fiber 18.

  As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to the above-described embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the present invention can be appropriately combined or replaced with the configuration of the embodiment. It is included in the present invention. In addition, it is possible to appropriately change the combination and processing order in the embodiment based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art and to add various modifications such as various design changes to the embodiment. The described embodiments can also be included in the scope of the present invention.

  10 toothbrush, 12 UV-LED, 12a light emitting surface, 14 light guide, 16 housing, 18 optical fiber, 18b other end, 18a one end, 20 brush head, 22 main body, 24 UV irradiation, 26 brush, 28 power supply unit, 30 light source unit, 32 wiring path, 36a anode, 36b cathode, 38 projection, 40 conduction unit, 42 hole unit, 44 recess, 46 hole unit, 48 rubber ring, 50 vibration unit.

Claims (7)

A semiconductor light emitting device emitting ultraviolet rays having a peak emission wavelength in a range of 250 nm or more and less than 400 nm;
UV light emitted from the semiconductor light emitting element is incident from one end and is guided from the other end;
A housing that houses the semiconductor light emitting element and the light guide,
The said light guide part is provided so that the end of this light guide part may contact the light emission surface of the said semiconductor light-emitting element. The housing includes a brush head part provided with the light guide part, and a main body part for supplying power to the semiconductor light emitting element,
The brush head part is detachably fixed to the main body part,
The toothbrush according to claim 1. The main body includes a power source unit, and a light source unit having a wiring for supplying power supplied from the power source unit to the semiconductor light emitting element,
The light source unit is detachably fixed to the power source unit.
The toothbrush according to claim 2.   The toothbrush according to claim 3, wherein the light source unit is arranged at a position where a plurality of the semiconductor light emitting elements are opposed to one end of the light guide unit. The light source unit is provided with a wiring path for supplying power to the semiconductor light emitting element,
The wiring path is provided with a pair of spaced apart electrodes in a part thereof,
The brush head part is detachably fixed to the light source part, and has a conduction part that conducts the pair of electrodes in a state of being fixed to the light source part.
The toothbrush according to claim 3 or 4 characterized by things. The light guide has a plurality of optical fibers,
The toothbrush according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein one end of the plurality of optical fibers is in contact with a light emitting surface of the semiconductor light emitting element.   The toothbrush according to claim 6, wherein the optical fiber is a fluororesin.

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