JP2017119095A - Interdental cleaner and manufacturing process thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an interdental cleaner capable of preventing such a trouble that a core part is broken in use and a cleaning part is left in an oral cavity, and improving insertion properties between molar teeth and cleaning properties between the molar teeth as well as those between teeth other than the molar teeth by constituting it in such a manner as to retain a bent state of the cleaning part.SOLUTION: An interdental cleaner 1 including a cleaning part 2 and a handle part 3, includes a core base material part 12 that constitutes a part or the whole of the cleaning part 2 and is elongated in the extension direction, formed at a base material part 10 composed of a monoaxially-oriented and high-density polyolefin-based resin having a density of 0.968-0.980 g/cm.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an interdental cleaning tool and a method for manufacturing the same.

  As an interdental cleaning tool, a wire strand made of a fine metal wire is folded in half, and a filament is placed between the wires. The wire strand is twisted, and the filament is implanted into the wire strand. An interdental brush made of an elongated synthetic resin rod-shaped member that can be gripped by hand and a brush body that is cut and formed into a cylindrical shape or a truncated cone shape is widespread (for example, see Patent Document 1). .

  On the other hand, as an interdental cleaning tool, it has a handle part and a cleaning part, the handle part and the core body part connected to the handle part are made of a synthetic resin material, and the cleaning part is an elastic coating resin that covers the core body part and the core body part; The interdental cleaning tool comprised by is proposed (for example, refer patent document 2).

  In Patent Document 2, as a method for manufacturing an interdental cleaning tool, a primary molding step of injection-molding a base material portion having a handle portion and a core body portion using a synthetic resin material, and a central axis of the core body portion And a secondary molding step of forming the elastic coating resin so as to cover the core body portion while holding the free end of the core body portion so that the central axis of the mold overlaps with the center axis of the mold. Yes.

  As another manufacturing method of the interdental cleaning tool, a synthetic resin sheet made of an extruded product of a synthetic resin material is cut into a rectangular shape when viewed from the front, and a primary processed product is manufactured. A rod-shaped core base part is formed on one half of the direction, and a handle part connected to the core base part is formed on the other half of the short side direction. Produce a secondary processed product with multiple material parts, overmold the core body part on the tip side of the core base part of the secondary processed product with a thermoplastic elastomer, There has been proposed a method of manufacturing a plurality of interdental cleaning tools each having a cleaning part composed of a part and a covering part (see, for example, Patent Document 3).

  On the other hand, as a synthetic resin sheet, a shape-holding sheet made of a stretched polyolefin resin sheet that can be held in a bent shape has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 4).

JP 2011-152284 A Japanese Patent No. 4236571 Special table 2011-529729 gazette JP 2009-74223 A

  By the way, in the interdental brush of patent document 1, the core wire which consists of wires can be bent by hand, and the angle of the brush part with respect to a handle part can be adjusted to a desired angle according to the position between the teeth to clean. However, since the core wire is made of a metal material, there is a problem in that when the core wire comes into contact with the teeth or gums during the interdental cleaning, the contact with the teeth or gums is inevitably increased and a sense of incongruity occurs.

  On the other hand, in the interdental cleaning tool described in Patent Documents 2 and 3, compared to the interdental brush described in Patent Document 1, the contact between the teeth and the gingiva at the time of cleaning can be softened. However, since the base body part including the core body part is made of a synthetic resin material, when the core body part is thinned, the length that can be inserted between the teeth can be sufficiently secured and the cleaning property can be improved. There is a problem that the core body part breaks and it becomes easy to bend to the extent that the cleaning part can not be used. On the other hand, if the core body part is thick, the core body part can be prevented from being bent, but can be inserted between teeth. There was a problem that the length of the cleaning portion was shortened and the cleaning property was lowered.

  In addition, it is conceivable to add a fiber material such as glass fiber to the synthetic resin material constituting the base material part to increase its strength and make the core main body part thinner. However, since the elasticity of the core body part is reduced, if excessive external force acts on the core body part, it becomes easy to break at the middle part of the cleaning part in the length direction (part of the core body part), and the cleaning part breaks. When it did, there existed a problem that the broken cleaning part would remain in the oral cavity.

  The purpose of the present invention is not only to prevent the breakage of the core body part during use, the failure of the cleaning part to break, and the cleaning part remaining in the oral cavity, but also the state in which the core base part is freely bent The interdental cleaning tool capable of improving the insertion property of the cleaning part between the molars and the cleaning property between the molars, and the manufacturing method thereof, not to mention the interdental spaces other than between the molars Is to provide.

  As a result of earnestly examining the configuration that can prevent the cleaning portion that is broken or broken in the core main body from remaining in the oral cavity, the applicant of the present invention has found the core base material portion as in the design of the conventional interdental cleaning tool. The present invention is completed by designing on the premise that it can be used after the shape of the core base material portion can be freely changed in the same manner as an interdental brush having a metal wire. It came to. As a result, the insertability of the cleaning part into the interdental portion is increased and it becomes difficult for excessive external force to act on the core base material portion, and even when excessive external force acts on the core base material portion, the core base material portion is bent. Thus, the cleaning part can be prevented from being broken.

The present invention includes the following inventions.
(1) An interdental cleaning tool having a cleaning part and a handle part, wherein a density of 0.968 to 0.980 g / cm ³ is formed on a base part made of a uniaxially stretched high-density polyolefin resin. An interdental cleaning tool, characterized in that a part of or all of the core base material portion that is elongated in the extending direction is provided.

  In this interdental cleaning tool, since the base material part is configured using the uniaxially stretched high-density polyolefin resin so that the longitudinal direction of the core base material part becomes the extending direction, the length direction of the core base material part When the middle part of the core is bent, the core base part is held in the bent shape, and the insertion of the cleaning part into the interdental part is enhanced, and excessive external force acts on the core base part. It becomes difficult to do. Moreover, by appropriately setting the density of the uniaxially stretched high-density polyolefin-based resin, it is possible to prevent the core base material portion, particularly the core main body portion from being bent when the cleaning portion is inserted into the interdental portion, and excessively. Even when the force acts on the core base material portion and the core base material portion is bent, the core base material portion is not broken, so that the broken cleaning portion can be prevented from remaining in the oral cavity. In addition, since the shape of the core base material portion can be maintained in a bent shape, for example, when cleaning between molars, the interdental cleaning can be performed while the core base material portion is bent and held at a desired angle. The insertion property between the molars of the cleaning part of the tool and the cleaning property between the molars can be greatly improved.

(2) The interdental cleaning tool according to (1), wherein the polyolefin resin is a polyethylene resin. As the polyolefin-based resin, a polyethylene resin, a polypropylene resin, or the like can be adopted, but a polyethylene resin is preferable because of its excellent shape retention.

(3) The interdental cleaning tool according to (1) or (2), wherein the tensile modulus of elasticity of the base material part with respect to the longitudinal direction of the core base material part is 9000 MPa to 16000 MPa. When the tensile elastic modulus is less than 9000 MPa, the core base material portion is bent when the cleaning portion is inserted between the teeth, and sufficient insertability between the teeth cannot be ensured. Since it becomes difficult to change the shape of the core base material part freely, the tensile elastic modulus of the base material part in the longitudinal direction of the core base material part 12 is preferably 9000 MPa to 16000 MPa.

  Here, a method for measuring the tensile modulus of the base material portion will be described. First, the base material portion is configured such that the handle base side end of the core base material portion becomes a fixed end and the front end side end of the core base material portion becomes a free end. After fixing the part to the fixture, the position of the base material portion is adjusted with respect to the fixture so that the core base material portion is held in the horizontal direction. Next, a load displacement curve is created by applying a load in the vertically downward direction to the core base material portion at a position of 10 mm from the fixed end to the tip side of the core base material portion, and further gradually increasing the load over time. . In addition, the cross-sectional area of the core base material portion at the fixed position is measured. The cross-sectional area of the test piece is assumed to be substantially the same as the cross-sectional area of the fixed position between the fixed position and the load position, or substantially the same part is extracted from the test piece. Using these results, the elastic modulus is obtained from the load variation curve. The straight line region was extracted by defining a load range of 20 to 40% with respect to the maximum load value in each load displacement curve based on the experimental results. This measurement corresponds to a compression test or a cantilever bending test. For example, a precision universal testing machine (manufactured by Shimadzu Corporation) can be used as a measuring device (compression testing machine).

(4) The tooth according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein a covering portion made of an elastomer material is provided on the core main body portion of the core base material portion, and a cleaning portion is configured by the core main body portion and the covering portion. Cleaning tool. The cleaning part can be composed only of the core base part, but if the core base part is coated with a covering part made of an elastomer material as in the present invention, the contact with the gums will be soft. preferable. The core body portion is a portion of the core base material portion where a coating portion made of an elastomer material is provided, and the core base material portion can be configured by the entire core base material portion. It is also possible to configure the core body part with only a part including the tip end side.

(5) In any one of (1) to (4), the core base material portion and a handle base material portion constituting part or all of the handle portion are integrally provided on the base material portion. Interdental cleaning tool. However, it is also possible to configure the interdental cleaning tool by configuring the base material portion only with the core base material portion and detachably fixing the core base material portion to a handle member made of another member. In addition, the handle portion can be constituted only by the handle base portion, but the handle base portion and the anti-slip portion are provided with a handle base portion and an anti-slip portion made of an elastomer material. It is also possible to configure the part.

(6) A method for manufacturing an interdental cleaning tool having a core base material portion having a cleaning portion and a handle portion, wherein a resin sheet made of a polyolefin resin has a density of 0.968 to 0.980 g / cm ³ . Stretching process to produce a stretched resin sheet by stretching in a uniaxial direction, and using the stretched resin sheet, a base material portion having an elongated core base material portion constituting part or all of the cleaning portion, And a processing step of processing so that the longitudinal direction of the core base material portion is the extending direction of the stretched resin sheet.

In this manufacturing method, the base material portion is manufactured using a stretched resin sheet stretched in a uniaxial direction so that the density is 0.968 to 0.980 g / cm ^3. The interdental cleaning tool described in 1) to (5) can be easily manufactured.

(7) The manufacturing method of the interdental cleaning tool according to (6), wherein the base material portion includes the core base material portion and a handle base material portion constituting part or all of the handle portion.

(8) Interdental cleaning according to (6) or (7), wherein in the processing step, the plurality of base material portions are processed in parallel so that a part of the adjacent base material portions are connected to the stretched resin sheet. Manufacturing method of the tool. This manufacturing method is preferable because a plurality of interdental cleaning tools can be manufactured at the same time, so that the manufacturing cost can be reduced and the packaging cost can be reduced as compared with the case of individual packaging.

(9) Any of (6) to (8) including a covering step of covering the core body portion of at least the core base material portion of the base material portion as a subsequent step of the processing step. The manufacturing method of the interdental cleaning tool of crab. With this manufacturing method, it is possible to manufacture an interdental cleaning tool that is soft against the gingiva.

(10) The method for manufacturing an interdental cleaning tool according to (9), further comprising a roughening step of roughening a surface of the base material portion to be coated with the elastomer material between the processing step and the covering step. In this manufacturing method, it is possible to improve the bonding strength between the base material portion and the elastomer material by roughening the surface of the base material portion. For example, it is possible to improve the bonding strength between the core body portion and the coating portion made of an elastomer material by roughening the surface of the core body portion of the base material portion.

  According to the interdental cleaning tool according to the present invention, the base part is configured using the uniaxially stretched high-density polyolefin resin, and the density of the uniaxially stretched high-density polyolefin resin is appropriately set, so that the cleaning part is toothed. The core base material part can be prevented from bending when inserted between them, and even if an excessive force is applied, the core base material part is bent and does not break, so the broken cleaning part remains in the oral cavity. Can be prevented. In addition, since the shape of the core base material portion can be maintained in a bent shape, for example, when cleaning between molar teeth, it is possible to clean the space between the molar teeth while the core base material portion is bent at a desired angle. The insertion property between the molars of the cleaning part of the tool and the cleaning property between the molars can be greatly improved.

  According to the manufacturing method of the interdental cleaning tool which concerns on this invention, the said interdental cleaning tool can be manufactured easily.

Front view of interdental cleaning tool assembly FIG. 2 (A) is a front view of the main part of the interdental cleaning tool assembly, and FIG. 2 (B) is a side view of the interdental cleaning instrument assembly. Sectional view along line III-III in Fig. 2 (B) Sectional view along line IV-IV in Fig. 2 (B) FIG. 5 (A) is a front view of the main part of the base part connection body, and FIG. 5 (B) is a side view of the base part connection body. Illustration of how to use the interdental cleaning tool Front view of main part of interdental cleaning tool connector including interdental cleaning tool of other configuration FIG. 8 (A) is a front view of the main part, and FIG. 8 (B) is a side view of an interdental cleaning tool assembly including an interdental cleaning tool of another configuration. Front view of an interdental cleaning tool of another configuration Explanatory drawing of drawing process and processing process Perspective view of the base material assembly manufactured in the processing process Explanatory drawing of the drawing process and processing process of other composition FIG. 3 equivalent view of the interdental cleaning tool of another configuration

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the interdental cleaning tool 1 is provided with a cleaning unit 2 for interdental cleaning and a handle unit 3 as a handle when distinguished by its function. A base material portion 10 made of uniaxially stretched high-density polyolefin resin and a soft portion 20 made of an elastomer material are provided. This interdental cleaning tool 1 is manufactured in the form of an interdental cleaning tool connector 5 formed by connecting a plurality of interdental cleaning tools 1 in parallel so as to be detachable, and the user can connect, for example, an interdental cleaning tool. The interdental cleaning tool 1 is cut off at the connecting portion 13 in order from one side of the body 5 and used sequentially. However, the connection number of the interdental cleaning tool 1 which comprises the interdental cleaning tool coupling body 5 can be set arbitrarily. Moreover, it is also possible to constitute separately, omitting the connection part 13 and not connecting the plurality of interdental cleaning tools 1.

(Base material part)
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the base material portion 10 has a flat and slender plate-like handle base material portion 11 that constitutes the handle portion 3, and an elongated shaft shape that is connected to the distal end portion of the handle base material portion 11. The core base material part 12 and the connecting part 13 for detachably connecting the adjacent handle base material parts 11 are provided. As shown in FIG. 5A, the base material part 10 is manufactured in the form of a base material part connection body 15 formed by connecting a plurality of base material parts 10 in parallel by connecting parts 13. However, the connection number of the base material part 10 in the base material part connection body 15 will be set according to the connection number of the interdental cleaning tool connection body 5, and when the interdental cleaning tool 1 is configured individually. Can omit the connecting portion 13 and individually configure the base material portion 10.

  Polyolefin resins such as polypropylene resin and polyethylene resin can be adopted as the synthetic resin material constituting the base material portion 10, among which polyethylene that can be easily uniaxially stretched is preferable, and high-density polyethylene resin is particularly preferable.

As will be described later, the base material portion 10 is uniaxially stretched so that the density of the polyolefin resin sheet is 0.968 to 0.980 g / cm ^3, and the longitudinal direction of the core base material portion 12 is uniaxially stretched. It is manufactured to be in the stretching direction.

When the density of the base material portion 10 is less than 0.968 g / cm ³ , the polyolefin resin crystals cannot be sufficiently oriented in the stretching direction, and the strength of the core base material portion 12 against bending decreases. For this reason, when inserting the cleaning part 2 between teeth, the core base material part 12 becomes easy to bend, and the insertion property of the cleaning part between teeth cannot be ensured enough. On the other hand, when the density of the base material part 10 exceeds 0.980 g / cm ³ , it becomes too hard and it is difficult to freely change the shape of the core base material part. Is preferably adjusted in the range of 0.968 to 0.980 g / cm ³ .

  The draw ratio can be arbitrarily set within the range in which the shape retainability when bent is obtained, but if it is small, the shape retainability does not improve, and if it becomes large, it tends to tear along the longitudinal direction, so it is 10 to 40 times Preferably, 10 to 30 times is more preferable.

  The tensile elastic modulus of the base material portion 10 with respect to the longitudinal direction of the core base material portion 12 is preferably 9000 MPa to 16000 MPa. When the tensile elastic modulus is less than 9000 MPa, the core base material portion 12 breaks or breaks when the cleaning unit 2 is inserted between the teeth, so that sufficient insertion between the teeth cannot be secured, If it exceeds 16000 MPa, it becomes too hard and it becomes difficult to freely change the shape of the core base material portion, and therefore the tensile elastic modulus of the base material portion 10 with respect to the longitudinal direction of the core base material portion 12 is 9000 MPa. ~ 16000 MPa is preferred.

  If the weight average molecular weight of the polyolefin-based resin is too small, it becomes difficult to process the sheet material before uniaxially stretching, and if it is too large, it becomes difficult to stretch, so 100,000 to 500,000 is preferable. The melt index (MI) is preferably 0.1 to 20 (g / 10 minutes) and more preferably 0.2 to 10 (g / 10 minutes) in consideration of film moldability.

  Although the handle base 11 is formed in a long and narrow plate shape, it can be formed in a plate shape having an arbitrary shape such as a circular shape or an oval shape when viewed from the front as long as it is easily picked by a finger and cleaned between teeth. Although the dimension of the handle base material portion 11 can be arbitrarily set, for example, the width W1 is preferably 3.0 to 10 mm, and the thickness T1 is such that the tooth can be picked with a finger and the teeth can be cleaned while using as little material as possible. Is 0.2 to 5.0 mm, preferably 0.2 to 1.5 mm, more preferably 0.2 to 1.0 mm, and most preferably 0.3 to 0.8 mm.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the core base material portion 12 is formed in a substantially straight and elongated shaft shape having a substantially square cross section, and the tip side portion of the core base material portion 12 is covered with an elastomer material. A core main body 12a is formed, and a core exposed portion 12b that is exposed to the outside is formed on the base end side portion. However, the length of the core exposed portion 12b can be arbitrarily set, and the core exposed portion 12b can be omitted, and the core base material portion 12 can be configured by only the core main body portion 12a.

  The width of the core base material portion 12 is formed in a gradually tapered shape that becomes narrower as it goes to the front end side, and the width W2 of the front end portion inserted between the teeth of the core base material portion 12 is between the teeth. Is preferably 0.30 to 0.8 mm in order to ensure sufficient insertability.

  The thickness T2 of the core base material portion 12 is set to the same thickness as the thickness T1 of the handle portion 3, and is set to a uniform thickness over the entire length of the core base material portion 12. However, although the manufacturing cost is high, it is also preferable that the thickness of the core base material portion 12 is reduced stepwise or continuously as it goes to the distal end side in consideration of the insertion property between the teeth. .

  Although the cross-sectional shape of the core base material portion 12 can be arbitrarily set, it is preferably configured in a rectangular shape such as a rectangle or a square in consideration of processability by a manufacturing method described later. The cross-sectional dimension of the cleaning part at the tip side portion of the core base material part 12 is set to a dimension that can be inserted between teeth.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the connecting portion 13 is formed integrally with the handle base material portion 11 between the adjacent handle base material portions 11, and the base end side and the tip end side of the handle base material portion 11 are formed. A pair is provided at intervals in the longitudinal direction, and is formed in an isosceles trapezoidal shape in a front view. The number of connecting portions 13 can be arbitrarily set, and for example, only one connecting portion 13 can be provided. Further, the thickness of the connecting portion 13 can be set to the same thickness as that of the handle base material portion 11 and can be configured to be thinner than the handle base material portion 11 in order to facilitate separation or the length of the base material portion 10. A V-shaped groove or the like extending in the direction can also be formed. However, since the base material portion 10 is stretched in the longitudinal direction and is easily torn along the stretching direction, the handle base material portion 11 can be separated relatively easily at the connecting portion 13.

(Soft part)
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the soft portion 20 is formed integrally with the base material portion 10 using an elastomer material, and includes a cleaning soft portion 21 that covers the core base material portion 12. .

  Examples of the elastomer material constituting the soft portion 20 include thermoplastic elastomer materials such as styrene, olefin, and polyamide, and thermosetting elastomer materials such as silicon rubber, urethane rubber, fluororubber, natural rubber, and synthetic rubber. Can be adopted. In particular, a material having compatibility with the synthetic resin material constituting the base portion 10 is preferable. For example, when the base portion 10 is made of polyethylene resin and the soft portion 20 is formed using an injection molding method, It is preferable to comprise a polyolefin-based elastomer material or a styrene-based elastomer material. When the soft portion 20 is formed using a thermosetting resin, a silicone rubber or the like is used to provide safety and softness during use. It is preferable to comprise a silicon-based material.

  The cleaning soft portion 21 includes a covering portion 21a that covers the core body portion 12a, and a plurality of protruding portions 21b that are formed on the covering portion 21a so as to protrude outwardly at intervals in the length direction. . An annular insertion restricting protrusion protruding outward is provided at the base end portion of the covering portion 21a, and the insertion restricting portion restricts the maximum insertion length of the cleaning portion 2 between the teeth. It is also possible.

  If the thickness of the covering portion 21a is too thick, the outer dimension of the covering portion 21a becomes large and the insertion property between the teeth decreases, and if it is too thin, it is easy to peel off from the core body portion 12a during interdental cleaning. .1 mm to 0.3 mm is preferable.

The protrusions 21b are formed at intervals in the length direction of the covering portion 21a, and are arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction of the covering portion 21a. The cross-sectional area, length, number, and arrangement pitch of the base end portion of the protruding portion 21b can be arbitrarily set, but in consideration of moldability and cleanability, the cross-sectional area of the base end portion of the protruding portion 21b is 0.03 mm ^{2 to} 1.5 mm ² is preferable, the length of the protruding portion 21b is preferably about 0.1 mm to 2.0 mm, the number of the protruding portions 21b is preferably 20 to 100, and the protruding portion 21b The arrangement pitch is preferably 0.1 mm to 1.5 mm. Moreover, although the rod-shaped cone-shaped thing was employ | adopted as this projection part 21b in this Embodiment, it is not limited to this at all, The cross-sectional shape is also arbitrary cross-sectional shapes, such as an ellipse and a polygon other than circular. Can be adopted. Furthermore, the protrusion 21b can be formed in any shape other than a rod shape, and can be formed in a plate shape such as a flat plate shape or a corrugated plate shape, and is flat in the axial direction. A flat plate-like taper shape or a semicircular plate shape continuously extending in the circumferential direction can also be adopted.

  In this interdental cleaning tool 1, since the base material part 10 is comprised using the uniaxial stretching high-density polyolefin-type resin so that the longitudinal direction of the core base material part 12 may become the extending | stretching direction in uniaxial stretching, FIG. As shown in phantom lines, when the intermediate portion in the length direction of the base material portion 10 is bent, the base material portion 10 is held in the bent shape. Moreover, since the density of the uniaxially stretched high-density polyolefin resin is set appropriately, when the cleaning part 2 is inserted between the teeth, the core base material part 12 can be prevented from being bent, and an excessive force acts. In this case, since the core base material portion 12 is bent and not broken, the broken cleaning portion 2 can be prevented from remaining in the oral cavity. In addition, as shown by a solid line in FIG. 6, the interdental cleaning tool 1 can be cleaned between adjacent central incisors and between the central incisors and the side incisors in a state where the core base material portion 12 is linear. Insertion between the teeth and cleaning performance can be improved. Further, as shown by phantom lines in FIG. 6, the gap between the molar teeth can be cleaned in a state where the core base material portion 12 is bent at a preferred position in the middle of the length direction at a preferred angle. The insertion property between the molar teeth of the interim cleaning tool 1 and the cleaning property can be improved.

  In the present embodiment, as in the interdental cleaning tool 1A shown in FIG. 7, as the soft portion 20, in addition to the cleaning soft portion 21, a non-slip portion 22 covered with the handle base material portion 11 is provided, The handle base portion 11 and the anti-slip portion 22 can constitute the handle portion 3A.

  Moreover, like the interdental cleaning tool 1B shown in FIG. 8, it is also possible to provide the cleaning part 2B provided with the cleaning soft part 21B made of only the covering part 21a by omitting the protruding part 21b. In this case, the cleaning soft portion 21B can be easily formed by dipping or coating.

  Further, the interdental cleaning tool can be configured only from the base material portion 10 by omitting the cleaning soft portion 21. In this case, an uneven portion is formed on the surface of the core base material portion 12 to improve the cleaning property, or the tip portion of the core base material portion 12 can be inserted between adjacent surfaces of adjacent teeth. It can be configured in a spatula shape so that the adjacent surface can be cleaned at the tip of the core base material portion 12 in the same manner as the dental floss.

  Furthermore, like the interdental cleaning tool 1D shown in FIG. 13, the configuration of the core base material portion 12 in the base material portion 10 may be partially changed to be configured as follows. Substrate part 10D of this interdental cleaning tool 1D is replaced with core base part 12, and is spaced apart in the length direction of core body part 12a, and has a plurality of protrusions that protrude laterally from core body part 12a. A core base material portion 12D provided with 40 is provided. Moreover, the cleaning part 2D of this interdental cleaning tool 1D is formed by covering and forming the soft soft part 21D for cleaning by injection molding, dipping, spraying or application on the core body part 12a together with the plurality of protrusions 40. Has been. The cleaning part 2D is formed with a plurality of protrusions 41 formed by covering the protrusions 40 with the cleaning soft part 21D, and the plurality of protrusions 41 enhance the cleaning performance between the teeth. However, the interdental cleaning tool which consists only of base-material part 10D can also be comprised, omitting the soft part 21D for cleaning. In addition, if the shape of the processus | protrusion 40 is a shape which does not damage a gum at the time of interdental cleaning, it can be comprised in arbitrary shapes.

  Moreover, like the interdental cleaning tool 1C shown in FIG. 9, a core base material portion 12C in which the handle portion 3 of the base material portion 10 is omitted is provided, and the core base material portion 12C and the cleaning soft portion 21 are provided. The cleaning tool main body 30 and the handle member 31 as the handle portion 3 are configured as separate members, and the base portion 12c of the core base material portion 12C is detachably fixed to the mounting hole 32 of the handle member 31. It is also preferable to do. In this case, only the core base material portion 12C is made of a uniaxially stretched high-density polyolefin resin, and the handle member 31 can be made of any material and any shape. In this interdental cleaning tool 1C, only the cleaning tool main body 30 can be replaced and the handle member 31 can be used repeatedly, which is economical and can reduce waste after use.

<Manufacturing method>
Next, the manufacturing method of the interdental cleaning tool 1 is demonstrated.
This manufacturing method includes an extrusion process, a stretching process, a processing process, a surface treatment process, and a coating process, and is configured as follows. However, in the case where the interdental cleaning tool is configured only from the base material portion 10, the covering step is omitted.

  First, in the extrusion process, a resin sheet made of a polyolefin resin material is extruded using a known extruder.

Next, in the stretching step, the resin sheet extruded from the extruder, as shown in FIG. 10, is uniaxial direction (extrusion direction) indicated by an arrow A so that the density is 0.968 to 0.980 g / cm ^3. Then, the stretched resin sheet 40 is manufactured by stretching at a stretch ratio of 10 to 40 times, preferably 10 to 30 times. At this time, the width of the resin sheet and the thickness T3 of the stretched resin sheet 40 are slightly wider than the width of the base material part link body 15 and the same thickness as the thickness of the base material part 10. Set the thickness and set the draw ratio. However, it is also possible to manufacture a wide stretched resin sheet 40 and to cut the stretched resin sheet 40 so that it is slightly wider than the width of the base material part linked body 15 after stretching.

  Next, in the processing step, the stretched resin sheet 40 is used, and the base material part connection body 15 in which a plurality of base material parts 10 are provided side by side, the longitudinal direction of the core base material part 12 is the stretch direction of the stretched resin sheet 40. To be processed. Specifically, as shown in phantom lines in FIG. 10, the stretched resin sheet 40 is punched out by a press, cut with a machining blade, or cut by wire cutting or laser cutting, and the base shown in FIG. The material part connection body 15 is manufactured.

  Next, in the surface treatment step, the core body portion 12a covered with the cleaning soft portion 21 of the core base material portion 12 is subjected to a surface treatment for roughening the surface thereof, and is made of an elastomer material. The joint strength between the soft part 21 and the core body part 12a is improved. Specifically, fine irregularities are formed on the surface of the core body 12a by performing chemical or physical surface treatment such as primer treatment, plasma treatment, corona discharge treatment, flame treatment, ultraviolet irradiation treatment, blast treatment, etc. To do. In place of this surface treatment step or in combination with the surface treatment step, embossing or the like is preferably performed on the core body 12a in the machining step. In addition, this surface treatment is performed to increase the bonding strength between the base material portion 10 and the soft portion 20, and when the soft portion 20 is formed in addition to the cleaning soft portion 21, the corresponding base material portion is formed. It is preferable to perform the same surface treatment on the ten surfaces. For example, when the anti-slip part 22 is provided like the interdental cleaning tool 1 </ b> A, a surface treatment is performed on a portion of the handle base material part 11 corresponding to the anti-slip part 22. In addition, it is possible to perform surface treatment only on a necessary portion of the surface of the base material portion 10, to perform a surface treatment on a desired region including the necessary portion, or to treat the entire surface of the base material portion 10 with the surface It is also possible to perform processing.

  Next, in the covering step, the base part link body 15 is set in a mold, and the soft part 20 such as the cleaning soft part 21 made of an elastomer is formed by insert molding. However, when manufacturing the interdental cleaning tool 1B shown in FIG. 8 in which the protrusion 21b is omitted, or the interdental cleaning tool 1D shown in FIG. 13 in which the protrusion 40 is formed on the core main body 12a of the base 10D. Are manufactured, a dipping method in which the core body 12a is immersed in the molten elastomer material, a method in which the melted elastomer material is sprayed on the core body 12a, and the molten elastomer material is immersed from the rotating roller. The cleaning soft portions 21B and 21D can be formed by a method of applying the coating while performing the process.

  In the case where the thickness of the core base material portion 12 is made thin continuously or stepwise as it goes to the tip side, the core base material of the stretched resin sheet 40 is between the stretching step and the surface treatment step. A taper processing step of cutting or polishing the surface of the portion corresponding to the portion 12 or the surface of the core base material portion 12 is provided.

  Moreover, in the said manufacturing method, although comprised so that the interdental cleaning tool coupling body 5 formed by connecting the interdental cleaning tool 1 in series was manufactured, the base-material part 10 was manufactured separately in a process, and individually The interdental cleaning tool 1 can also be manufactured individually by applying a surface treatment to the core body 12a of the manufactured base material 10 and then coating the elastomer material.

  Furthermore, as shown by the phantom line in FIG. 10, when manufacturing the base material part connection body 15 from the stretched resin sheet 40 by punching or the like, when punching so that the adjacent base material part connection bodies 15 are in the same direction, Since the yield of the stretched resin sheet 40 is deteriorated, as shown by the phantom line in FIG. 12, the adjacent base material part connection body 15 is in the reverse direction, and the adjacent handle part 3 of the adjacent base material part connection body 15 is adjacent. In the preferred embodiment, it is also preferable to produce the base material part link body 15 from the stretched resin sheet 40 by punching or the like so that the core base material part 12 of the other adjacent base material part link body 15 is disposed therebetween. is there.

Next, an evaluation test of the interdental cleaning tool will be described.
Example 1
Using a stretched resin sheet obtained by uniaxially stretching a resin sheet made of high-density polyethylene resin so that the tensile elastic modulus in the stretching direction is 15300 MPa, the thickness is 0.2 mm, and the density is 0.973 g / cm ^3. 5, a base portion having a shape as shown in FIG. 5 is manufactured, and a soft cleaning portion made of a polyolefin elastomer material is formed on the core body portion of the base portion by dipping. The interdental cleaning tool of Example 1 was manufactured. The density was measured by a floatation method using a mixed solution of water-ethanol.

(Example 2)
Except for using a stretched resin sheet that was uniaxially stretched so that the tensile modulus in the stretching direction was 12400 MPa, the thickness was 0.4 mm, and the density was 0.970 g / cm ³ , as the stretched resin sheet. In the same manner as in Example 1, the interdental cleaning tool of Example 2 was produced.

(Example 3)
Except for using a stretched resin sheet that was uniaxially stretched so that the tensile elastic modulus in the stretching direction was 10700 MPa, the thickness was 0.8 mm, and the density was 0.970 g / cm ³ as the stretched resin sheet. In the same manner as in Example 1, the interdental cleaning tool of Example 3 was produced.

Example 4
Except for using a stretched resin sheet that is uniaxially stretched so that the tensile elastic modulus in the stretch direction is 9240 MPa, the thickness is 1.0 mm, and the density is 0.968 g / cm ³ as the stretched resin sheet. In the same manner as in Example 1, the interdental cleaning tool of Example 4 was produced.

(Comparative Example 1)
In place of the stretched resin sheet, the same as Example 1 except that a polyethylene resin sheet having a tensile modulus of elasticity of 20 MPa, a thickness of 0.4 mm, and a density of 0.920 g / cm ³ was used. An interdental cleaning tool was produced.

(Comparative Example 2)
An interdental cleaning tool of Comparative Example 2 was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a polyethylene terephthalate resin sheet having a tensile modulus of 2236 MPa and a thickness of 0.3 mm was used instead of the stretched resin sheet.

(Comparative Example 3)
An interdental cleaning tool of Comparative Example 3 was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a polypropylene resin sheet having a tensile elastic modulus of 1900 MPa and a thickness of 0.2 mm was used instead of the stretched resin sheet.

(Comparative Example 4)
An interdental cleaning tool of Comparative Example 4 was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a base material part formed by injection molding a glass fiber-containing polypropylene resin was used.

  Using the interdental cleaning tools of Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4, the following four types of evaluation tests were performed. The test results of the evaluation tests 1 to 3 are shown in Table 1.

(Evaluation Test 1)
It was inspected whether or not the tip of the interdental cleaning tool could be inserted without bending between the second molar and the third molar in the Nissin jaw model (D16D-500H). The case was represented by “◯”, and the case where it could not be inserted was represented by “X”.

(Evaluation test 2)
When the middle part of the core base material part was bent by 90 °, the core base material part was inspected for breakage. When the core base material part was not broken, it was indicated by “◯”, and when it was broken, it was indicated by “x”.

(Evaluation Test 3)
After the middle part of the core base material part is bent by 90 °, it is inspected whether the core base material part is maintained in the bent shape even if the hand is released. The case of returning to the original shape is represented by “x”. Further, when the shape is maintained, the case where the bent portion is whitened is represented by “Δ”, and the case where the shape is restored to 65 ° is described as “× (65 degrees)”.

(Evaluation Test 4)
The strength of the core base material portion when the core base material portion is repeatedly switched between the first state in which the core base material portion is folded by 180 ° to be folded in two and the second state in which the core base material portion is restored to the original linear shape decreases. The number of repetitions was measured. The case where the strength does not decrease even after repeating 10 times or more is indicated by “◯”, and the case where the strength decreases after less than 10 times is indicated by “x”. Moreover, about the thing which intensity | strength falls in less than 10 times, the frequency | count that intensity | strength fell was described. In addition, since it returned to the original shape in the evaluation test 3 regarding the comparative example 1, it was excluded from evaluation object, and since the core base material part fracture | ruptured about the comparative example 4, it was not able to evaluate.

  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 cleaning tool 2 Cleaning part 3 Handle part 5 Interdental cleaning tool coupling body 10 Base material part 11 Handle base material part 12 Core base material part 12a Core main-body part 12b Core exposure part 13 Connection part 15 Base material part connection body 20 Soft part 21 Cleaning soft part 21a Cover part 21b Projection part 30 Cleaning tool body 31 Handle member 32 Mounting hole 40 Stretched resin sheet 1A Interdental cleaning tool 3A Handle part 1B Interdental cleaning tool 2B Cleaning part 21B Cleaning soft part 22 Slip Stop part 1C Interdental cleaning tool 12C Core base part 12c Base part 1D Interdental cleaning tool 2D Cleaning part 10D Base part 12D Core base part 21D Cleaning soft part 40 Protrusion part 41 Protrusion part

Claims (10)

An interdental cleaning tool having a cleaning part and a handle part,
An elongated core substrate portion is provided in the stretching direction, constituting a part or all of the cleaning portion, on a substrate portion made of a uniaxially stretched high-density polyolefin-based resin having a density of 0.968 to 0.980 g / cm ³ . ,
An interdental cleaning tool characterized by that.   The interdental cleaning tool according to claim 1, wherein the polyolefin resin is a polyethylene resin.   The interdental cleaning tool according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a tensile elastic modulus of the base material portion with respect to a longitudinal direction of the core base material portion is 9000 MPa to 16000 MPa.   The interdental cleaning tool of any one of Claims 1-3 which provided the coating | coated part which consists of elastomer materials in the core main-body part of the said core base material part, and comprised the cleaning part with the said core main-body part and the coating | coated part.   The interdental cleaning according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the core base material portion and a handle base material portion constituting part or all of the handle portion are integrally provided on the base material portion. Ingredients. A method for producing an interdental cleaning tool having a cleaning part and a handle part,
A stretching process for producing a stretched resin sheet by stretching a resin sheet made of a polyolefin-based resin in a uniaxial direction so as to have a density of 0.968 to 0.980 g / cm ³ ;
Using the stretched resin sheet, a base material portion having an elongated core base material portion constituting a part or all of the cleaning portion is arranged such that the longitudinal direction of the core base material portion is the stretch direction of the stretched resin sheet. Processing steps to process;
A method for producing an interdental cleaning tool, comprising:   The manufacturing method of the interdental cleaning tool of Claim 6 with which the said base material part was provided with the said handle | steering-material base part and the handle | steering-material base part which comprises a part or all of the said handle part.   The manufacturing method of the interdental cleaning tool of Claim 6 or 7 which processes a some base material part in a parallel shape so that a part of adjacent base material part may be connected with the stretched resin sheet in the said process process.   9. The coating process according to claim 6, further comprising a coating step of coating an elastomer material on at least a core main body portion of the core base material portion of the base material portion as a subsequent step of the processing step. Manufacturing method of interdental cleaning tool.   The manufacturing method of the interdental cleaning tool of Claim 9 provided with the roughening process of roughening the surface of the base material part coat | covered with the said elastomer material between the said process process and a coating process.

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