JP2645047B2 - Reciprocating distance control toothbrush - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toothbrush, and more particularly to a toothbrush for making a reciprocating distance, that is, a stroke of brushing appropriate.

[Related Art] In recent years, it has been understood that plaque is not completely removed by a so-called rolling method of rotating a toothbrush as a method of brushing teeth with the toothbrush. At present, the toothbrush is reciprocated by a distance of about several mm. Vibration polishing (bath method, scrub method) is considered to be the most suitable for maintaining dental health.

However, at present, most people perform so-called horizontal polishing with a very large reciprocating movement distance or stroke of about 15 to 50 mm. At first glance, this side brushing gives a feeling that the response is sufficient and it is very well polished, but in fact the brush bristles of the toothbrush only hit the convex surface of the teeth, the boundary between teeth and the gums that need brushing, the space between teeth The brush bristles do not reach the concave parts of the teeth or the minute grooves of the teeth meshing surface, so that the teeth and the gums are worn out over a long period of time, resulting in a so-called wedge-shaped defect and cleaning of the borders etc. There is a problem that periodontal disease and cavity are caused by incompleteness.

Therefore, it is necessary to implement the above-mentioned vibration polishing, but it is very difficult for ordinary people to learn the procedure of vibration polishing, and even if they do, if they are not careful, the brushing stroke will increase suddenly. At present, it is so-called horizontal polishing.

Here, conventionally, for example, as described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-16664, there is a tooth brushing device for the purpose of correcting the way of brushing teeth, but this device brushes the reciprocating speed of the toothbrush at a low speed. It is proposed to make it possible, and is not intended for vibration brushing with a stroke of about several millimeters as described above. Therefore, this conventional brushing device does not allow a person to learn appropriate vibration brushing.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional technique, and an object of the present invention is to appropriately call attention to so-called horizontal polishing in which a reciprocating movement distance is large. It is an object of the present invention to provide a reciprocating-movement-distance control toothbrush capable of reliably performing a proper vibration polishing and maintaining the health of human teeth by facilitating the learning of the vibration polishing.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides a toothbrush having a brush portion on which brush bristles are planted and a handle portion continuous from the brush portion. An exercise chamber is provided in the exercise chamber, and an idler is disposed in the exercise chamber, and when the reciprocating speed of the toothbrush is normal, the reciprocating distance exceeds a certain range so that the idler collides with the end wall of the exercise chamber. It was done.

[Operation] With this configuration, the brush portion of the toothbrush is put in the mouth,
When brushing the teeth while shaking the hand with the handle, if the reciprocating distance is large, the mover in the exercise room tries to move relatively beyond the movable range of the exercise room due to the inertial force. Collides with the end wall and produces a continuous collision sound, which warns that a person is doing so-called horizontal polishing. When the reciprocating distance is reduced, the movement of the idler is reduced, and the collision of the vibration with only one end wall of the exercise room or no collision with the end wall is notified, thereby indicating that appropriate vibration polishing is being performed. As a result, the toothbrush can perform appropriate vibration polishing without any skill.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on examples shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. This toothbrush is mainly composed of a brush part 10 and a handle part 11 integrally extending from the brush part 10, and brush bristles 12 are planted on the brush part 10.

A hollow cylindrical exercise chamber 14 is formed in the handle portion 11, and a movable element 13 is arranged in the exercise chamber 14. In this embodiment, the movable element 13 has a columnar shape, and the exercise chamber 14 has a rectangular cross section. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Reference numerals 15 and 16 are end walls of the exercise room 14.

When the handle portion 11 is gripped by hand and the so-called horizontal polishing with a long stroke, that is, a long reciprocating movement distance, is performed,
Collides with both end walls 15 and 16 and informs that the stroke is too large due to the generation of a collision sound. If the vibration polishing with a small stroke is performed, the movement of the armature 13 becomes small,
It informs that the armature 13 collides with only one of 5 and 16 or does not collide with both end walls and that appropriate vibration polishing is performed.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, the brush portion 20 having the brush bristles 22 is
The brush 21 can be separated from the brush 21, thereby replacing only the brush portion 20 to improve the economy. Also, the left end wall 26 of the exercise chamber 24 of the handle 21 is formed of, for example, a low-hardness material,
The right end wall 25 is formed of a high-hardness material, and the right end wall 25 can be moved in the axial direction by an adjusting screw 28 so that the length of the exercise chamber 24, that is, the movable distance of the movable element 23 can be adjusted. The adjusting screw 28 is screwed into a female screw 29 formed at the outer end of the handle portion 21. By tightening and loosening the adjusting screw 28, the right end wall 25 contacting the adjusting screw 28 moves in the axial direction. ing. The idler 23 is loosely fitted on the support shaft 27 and is movable along the support shaft 27. The support shaft 27 has one end fixed to the adjusting screw 28 and the other end penetrates the left end wall 26. And is slidably inserted into the handle 21.

According to this embodiment, due to the difference in hardness between the left and right end walls 25 and 26, the magnitude, pitch, and timbre of the collision sound generated when colliding with each end wall of the mover 23 are different, and the magnitude of the stroke is small. The judgment is further facilitated. It is to be noted that the hardness of the both ends of the mover 23 may be changed by changing the material of the both ends, thereby making it possible to give a change in the magnitude of the collision sound when hitting the both end walls, high and low, and tone. Absent.

Further, in this embodiment, the movable distance of the movable element 23 can be adjusted in accordance with the learning condition of the person who brushes the teeth with the vibration brushing, thereby enabling more effective tooth cleaning work.

FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the exercise chamber 34 is opened on both sides and the floating member 33 is attached to the support shaft 37 in the axial direction. It is movably fitted, and both ends of the support shaft 37 penetrate through both end walls 35 and 36 of the exercise chamber 34 and are fixed to the handle portion 11.

According to this embodiment, since the exercise room 34 is open, the collision sound between the movable element 33 and the left and right end walls 35 and 36 is directly audible.

FIG. 4 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a case 49 for forming the exercise room 44 is separate from the handle 11 and this case 49 is
Is fixed with an adhesive or the like. 43 is a child, 4
5, 46 are both end walls.

According to this embodiment, since the exercise chamber 44 and the idler 43 are separate from the toothbrush main body, an ordinary commercially available toothbrush can be easily used as the toothbrush according to the present invention. In this case, in order to make the case 49 detachable from the handle 11, the case 49 may be attached to the handle 11 by a rubber pipe or other detachable connecting means. The front surface, the back surface, the rear end surface, etc. can be arbitrarily selected.

FIG. 5 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the idler 53 is formed in a pendulum shape swinging about a support shaft 57. This is the point that the exercise chamber 54 is formed to have a substantially fan-shaped cross section, and the end walls 55 and 56 are arranged in the swing radius direction of the movable element 53.

FIGS. 6 to 8 show a sixth embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that
Is made visible from the outside. That is, the exercise room
The both side walls of 64 are constituted by transparent covers 60, 60, through which the movement of the mover 63 can be seen by using a mirror or the like while brushing teeth. Therefore, it becomes much easier to learn the principles of vibration polishing. Reference numerals 65 and 66 indicate both end walls of the exercise room 64.
It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this, and if the entire handle is made of a transparent material, the movable element can be seen from the outside.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show a seventh embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that
Are formed in a spherical shape, and only one side surface of the exercise room 74 is constituted by the transparent cover 70. Reference numerals 75 and 76 denote both end walls of the exercise room 74. Note that the transparent cover 70 may have a curvature so that the movement of the movable element can be seen in an enlarged manner.

According to this embodiment, the spherical mover 73 has both end walls 75 and 76.
A collision sound is generated by colliding with, and an alarm for so-called horizontal brushing can be issued. In addition, as in the sixth embodiment, it is easy to visually observe the movable element 73 and to make the brushing stroke appropriate vibration polishing. I have. Not limited to the above embodiment, it goes without saying that the exercise room may be formed by forming a bottomed hole by hollowing out the handle of the toothbrush from the base end in the axial direction and plugging the opening.

Next, FIG. 11 is a graph showing the results of an experiment conducted by the inventor. The vertical axis indicates the reciprocating distance, ie, stroke (mm), of the handle of the toothbrush, and the horizontal axis indicates the reciprocating speed of the handle. (Cycles / minute).

Here, the curve K shows the case where the toothbrush corresponding to the first embodiment is used. A stainless steel roller having a diameter of about 4 mm and a length of about 10 mm is used. The relationship between the reciprocating speed and the stroke based on actual measurement when the cross-sectional dimension was set to 4.2 mm square was 25 mm. Curve A used a ball having a diameter of 4 mm as a play element, and the length of the exercise chamber was 17 mm. And a similar curve when the cross-sectional dimension is 4.2 mm square. Here, a region above the curve A or K is a sound generation region in which the movable element collides with both end walls of the exercise chamber to generate a continuous collision sound. Shows a so-called horizontal polishing zone having a large stroke currently being performed. Among these, the high-density shaded area indicates the zone that is most often performed by a person as horizontal polishing. On the other hand, the lower region of the curve A or K and close to these curves is silent without the movable element colliding with the end wall of the exercise room, or emits a small irregular sound by colliding with only one end wall. The lower region sufficiently distant from the curve A or K indicates a silent region where there is no collision sound of the movable element. This lower region is a region for vibration polishing necessary for maintaining dental health.

20mm brushing stroke as shown at point C,
If a person brushing at a reciprocating speed of 260 cycles / minute uses a toothbrush that operates on curve K, the user will initially hear a loud continuous impact sound as the apron impacts against both end walls of the exercise chamber. By reducing the hand movement so as to reduce the stroke so as to eliminate the collision sound and repeating the training, the position of the point C is gradually moved downward as shown by the arrow B, and the stroke is reduced to 10 mm or less. Then, the curve K is exceeded. In the vicinity of the lower region of the curve K, a small discontinuous sound is generated, in which the movable element still collides with one side. With further training, the point E below the curve K
Position, stroke about 5mm, speed 260 cycles /
When it comes to the minute, almost no impact sound is heard, and it can be confirmed that the tooth brushing is in a proper condition.

If vibration brushing can be obtained, using a toothbrush operating with curve A, brushing can be performed at any point on line H connecting point E with point G, for example, a stroke of 3 mm, and a speed of 300 cycles / minute. It will be easy. This means that the movement distance of the hand per minute at the point C (stroke 20, speed 260) is 20 × 2 × 260 = 10,400 (mm).
If 0.2 and this movement distance is divided by 3mm stroke of point G, It is understood from that. These are numerical values confirmed from experiments as described above.

Needless to say, brushing may be performed on the left side of the point E, that is, at a somewhat lower reciprocating speed. However, if the reciprocating speed is too low, the effect of cleaning the teeth may be reduced.

In this connection, as a comparative example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No.
The transition in the case of using the one described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H11-206 will be examined based on FIG. Since this conventional device is intended to reduce the reciprocating speed of the toothbrush, a person using this device can maintain the stroke speed of 20 mm along the dotted arrow D based on the position of the point C. Only lower,
You will learn to brush your teeth around point F. That is, the ideal curve for this prior art device would be a substantially vertical line segment that exists between the low speed range and the non-low speed range. As described above, it is understood that the prior art is similar to the present invention in that it achieves a brushing state in a silent range, but has completely different purposes and effects.

As is evident from FIG. 11, the high-density shaded area where the majority of people brush their teeth at high frequency, that is, 200 to 3
Starting from a tooth brushing state of 15 to 50 mm at 20 cycles / minute, using the toothbrush of the embodiment of the present invention represented by the curve K, people can get a stroke of less than 10 mm at 200 to 320 cycles / minute, that is, a curve. You can learn to polish in the lower region of K. If the toothbrush represented by the curve A is used, brushing with a smaller stroke than in the case of the curve K can be acquired and continued, and more ideal correct brushing can be performed.

The above describes the case where the ideal stroke target value "several mm" of vibration polishing is executed in the dentistry community, but the following is an example of the correspondence based on the difference between the reality and the ideal Will be described.

First, the current state of human brushing will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. Here, the horizontal axis represents the reciprocating speed (cycles / minute) of the toothbrush as in the case of FIG. In this reciprocating speed, 120-150 is "very slow", 150-200 is "slow", 200-260 is "normal", 260-320 is "fast", and the normal speeds are "normal" and " 200-3 combined with "fast"
20 cycles / minute. Very little brushing is performed at 120-200 cycles / minute, including "very slow" and "slow".

The vertical axis in FIG. 12 indicates the distance of reciprocation of the toothbrush, ie, the stroke (mm). Regarding the stroke, the area indicated by the symbol P of 30 to 50 mm is a "so-called horizontal polishing" area where polishing is easy and strong, and the area indicated by the symbol Q of 20 to 30 mm is an area where "political polishing is considered necessary and carefully polished". The region indicated by the symbol R of 15 to 20 mm is a region where "I intend to do vibration polishing of about 5 mm", and the region indicated by the symbol S of 15 mm or less is "the ideal vibration polishing achieved by the toothbrush according to the present invention." Area. In addition, although the S region was set to 15 mm or less in FIG. 12 with respect to the ideal stroke target value of “several mm”, the difference between the ideal target and the actual in the dentistry world is too large. Because of its large size, the goal was to set the stroke to 15 mm or less as a realistic and achievable goal.

Next, the values of the coefficient of friction μ between the mover and the exercise room, the coefficient of restitution e between the mover and the end wall of the exercise room, and the movable distance 1 of the mover in the exercise room in the above-described embodiment will be discussed. I do.

First, FIG. 13 is a graph showing the relationship between the reciprocating speed and the stroke when the friction coefficient changes, and the horizontal axis and the vertical axis are the same as those in FIG. The performance curves T, L, M and N have μ of 0.577, 0.364, 0.176 and 0.03, respectively.
5 shows the relationship between the stroke and the speed when the movable distance 1 is 22 mm. The upper part of each curve is a sound generation area due to collision with both end walls of the exercise room, and the lower part is a sound generation or no sound area due to one end wall collision. θ is the friction angle corresponding to each friction coefficient. It can be seen that the smaller the coefficient of friction, that is, the smaller the angle of friction, the closer the performance curve becomes to a horizontal level, and the larger the angle of friction, the sharper the upward rise in a low reciprocating speed region. here,
Considering the fact that the reciprocating speed of toothbrushing performed by a normal person is reduced to a certain stroke or less while maintaining the reciprocating speed, the performance curve is at a reciprocating distance of 200 to 320 cycles / min performed by a normal person. Is preferably nearly horizontal. This is because, if the curve is non-horizontal, both ends of the collision may or may not occur only by changing the reciprocating speed even if a constant stroke is maintained, and the stroke is not determined. It can be said that the L, M and N curves in FIG. 13 achieve this demand.

On the other hand, since the one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-16664 is for lowering the reciprocating speed, the performance curve is non-horizontal. As this curve should be close to vertical, a high coefficient of friction would be desirable.
As proof of this, the publication stipulates the installation of a resistance portion in order to prevent the mover from moving too much in the exercise room.

Next, the difference between the strokes at 200 cycles / minute and 300 cycles / minute of each performance curve is shown in Table 1.

As described above, it is ideal that the difference between the strokes in Table 1 is small. However, as shown in Table 1, as the friction coefficient μ changes, the stroke difference also changes, and the limit value of the friction coefficient can be determined based on the stroke difference.

Now, assuming that the maximum value of the stroke in the S region is 15 mm as a reference value, the respective curves are translated in the vertical axis direction by changing the movable distance l (22 mm) of the idler in FIG. The center point of the difference is a 15mm stroke.
Thus, in the case of the T curve, the stroke difference is 8.5m
When 4mm, which is about half of m, is assigned to the stroke target value of 15mm, the maximum value of 200 cycles is 19mm, and the minimum value of 300 cycles is 11mm, which is a deviation of ± 27% from 15mm. This deviation can be determined to be impractical because a deviation value or deviation of 25% or more is not considered good. On the other hand, in the case of the curve L, a maximum of 17
mm, 13 mm minimum, which is ± 13% of the target value of 15 mm
And can be determined as a practical range.

Therefore, in the present invention, the T shown by the dotted line in FIG.
The curve is not used, and the maximum limit value of the friction angle is defined as T
Θ between the curve friction angle θ = 30 ° and the L curve θ = 20 °
= 25 ° and the friction coefficient μ = 0.466 corresponding to this friction angle
Is the maximum limit.

In this connection, as a practical value of the target stroke,
The maximum value is an intermediate value 18 mm between the maximum value 19 mm of the T curve and the maximum value 17 mm of the L curve, and the minimum value is an intermediate value 12 mm between the minimum value 11 mm of the T curve and the minimum value 13 mm of the L curve. That is, it is understood that 15 ± 3 mm is obtained based on 15 mm.

Next, the coefficient of restitution e at the time of collision between the mover and both end walls of the exercise chamber will be described.

When calculating the numerical value of the coefficient of restitution, when the mover falls vertically in the fixed exercise room, the height before falling is h, the rebound height after falling and hitting the end wall of the exercise room Is h ′, the restitution coefficient e is It can be obtained by the following equation.

In the case of the present invention, ideally, there is no such rebound, that is, a completely inelastic collision (plastic collision) having a coefficient of restitution e = 0.
In the kinetic energy before collision, deformation and vibration at the time of collision,
It is good to change all to energy such as sound and heat. Practically, it is desirable that the value of the coefficient of restitution e be small and the rebound be small.

When the coefficient of restitution e is large and the rebound is large, even if the friction coefficient μ is within 0.466, the behavior of the idler may be inaccurate and the initial purpose may not be achieved.

That is, according to the experiment of the inventor, the coefficient of restitution e is about 0.
In the case of 74, even when the person is brushing in the S region, for example, the stroke instantaneously increases and enters the sounding region above the performance curve, or even if the person is in the lower region of the curve, Due to a single-sided collision, the stroller rebounds greatly due to elastic collision with the end wall of the exercise chamber, and this causes repeated collisions with the both end walls to occur,
The user will be mistaken for horizontal polishing.

On the other hand, it was understood that such a problem did not occur when the coefficient of restitution e was about 0.55 or less.

Therefore, the upper limit of the coefficient of restitution e is set to 0.65, which is an intermediate value between 0.55 and 0.74. In general, the repulsion coefficient is larger when the shape of the mover is spherical than when it is cylindrical.

Next, the movable distance 1 of the idler in the exercise room will be described.

According to the experiments of the inventor, when the movable element is a steel ball having a diameter of 6 mm with a movable distance l = 22 mm, a coefficient of friction μ ≒ 0.035 (friction angle θ ≒ 2 ゜), and a reciprocating speed of 200 cycles / min, both ends are determined. The colliding stroke is about 15 mm as shown by the N curve in FIG. That is, the stroke is about 7 mm shorter than the movable distance of 22 mm.

Therefore, the maximum value of the stroke is set to 18 mm which is an intermediate value between the maximum value of the T curve of 19 mm and the maximum value of the L curve of 17 mm based on the target stroke of 15 mm obtained when the maximum value of the friction coefficient is determined. The maximum limit value of the movable distance 1 is 25 mm obtained by adding 7 mm to.

According to further experiments by the inventor, the movable distance l = 23 mm,
In the case of a stainless steel ball with a friction coefficient μ ≒ 0.035 and a stirrer diameter of 4.8 mm, the stroke at which both ends collide at 200 cycles / minute is about 9 to 11 mm. That is, the stroke is about 12 to 14 mm shorter than the movable distance 1 = 23 mm. Therefore,
A maximum limit value of the movable distance 1 of 32 mm, which is obtained by adding 14 mm out of 12 to 14 mm to the above-described 18 mm, may be used.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, when the user brushes at a normal reciprocating speed of 200 to 320 cycles / minute, for example, when the stroke is larger than 15 mm, the idler is continuously connected to both end walls of the exercise chamber. A collision generates a collision sound, and if it is smaller than 15 mm, a one-sided collision or a collision-free state is provided, so that the user can perform vibration polishing at, for example, 15 mm or less.

In practice, the use of such a toothbrush will allow one to learn vibration brushing several millimeters below rather than brushing directly below the performance curve.

The above description is for the case where the handle of the toothbrush is operated horizontally, and the user learns ideal vibration polishing when the handle is horizontal. When brushing the back side of the teeth, the handle may be used in a non-horizontal state such as brushing the handle vertically, but in such a case, the vibration polishing with a small stroke learned by using the handle in the horizontal state will be used in the vertical state of the handle. In this case, a good brushing effect can be obtained.

It should be understood that when the handle portion of the toothbrush body is reciprocated at an inclination (non-horizontal), the stroke for both-end collision is larger than that in the case of horizontal.

[Effects] As described above, according to the present invention, in recent years, vibration polishing, which is the best brushing method for dental health, cannot be reliably performed by the user's own attention alone with skill. In view of the above, it is especially possible to warn the user to keep the reciprocating movement distance of the vibration polishing within a predetermined range or less, and the excellent effect that the user can gradually perform the ideal vibration polishing to contribute to the maintenance of the dental health. is there.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view showing a first embodiment of a reciprocating distance controlling toothbrush according to the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway side view showing the third embodiment, FIG. 3 is a partially cutout side view showing the third embodiment, FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view showing the fourth embodiment. Is a partially cutaway side view showing the fifth embodiment, FIG. 6 is a partially cutout side view showing the sixth embodiment, FIG. 7 is a front view of the sixth embodiment, and FIG. 6
FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII, FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway side view showing the seventh embodiment, FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line XX of FIG. 9, and FIG. Graph in an ideal state showing the relationship between the reciprocating speed of the handle and the stroke by the experiment of
FIG. 12 is an evaluation chart in which the stroke is evaluated for each area according to the value, and FIG. 13 is a graph showing a performance curve when the friction coefficient is changed. 10, 20… brush part 11, 21… handle part 12, 22… brush bristles 13, 23, 33, 43, 53, 63, 73… mover 14, 24, 34, 44, 54, 64, 74 …… Exercise room

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A toothbrush having a brush portion on which brush bristles are implanted and a handle portion continuous from the brush portion, wherein an exercise chamber is provided in the handle portion, and a movable element is arranged in the exercise chamber. The coefficient of friction with the wall of the exercise chamber is set to a certain value, and the reciprocating distance of the toothbrush that the user moves during brushing exceeds about 15 mm, so that the idler collides with the end wall of the exercise chamber. A reciprocating distance control toothbrush that allows a user to make the reciprocating distance of the toothbrush excessive. 2. The coefficient of friction between the mover and the wall of the exercise room is 0.466.
The reciprocating distance control toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein 3. The coefficient of restitution between the mover and the end wall of the exercise room is
The reciprocating distance control toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the toothbrush is 0.65 or less. 4. The distance that the mover can move in the exercise room is 25 mm.
The reciprocating distance control toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein