JP3131272B2 - electric toothbrush - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toothbrush used as an oral hygiene tool, and more particularly to an electric toothbrush.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In most of conventional electric toothbrushes, the toothbrush portion reciprocates or rolls. Then, if only the reciprocating motion or the rolling operation is performed, the bristle tip is caught in the interdental portion of the back teeth, the stroke is reduced, and the cleaning effect is reduced. In addition, among conventional electric toothbrushes, there are brushes in which a brush portion repeatedly rotates or a brush bundle repeatedly rotates. In this case, it is necessary to apply one tooth, one tooth, or one place between teeth. There was a long time.

Further, since the brush portion is fixed to the brush surface of the handle of the toothbrush portion, the brush portion pressure may be too strong due to the unevenness of the tooth surface, and if the pressing force is weakened, the bristle tip may reach between the teeth. It was difficult. Further, in the movement direction of one operation, the brush area of the brush portion is constant unless the position where the brush portion is applied is changed, and it takes time to brush all the teeth.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object the following.
The brush section reciprocates and swings (rolls), making the path different between the forward path and the return path, so that the brush area is large and the brush section can be cleaned without getting caught in the interdental area. The brush can be efficiently cleaned between the teeth and gums and between the teeth, and the brush portion can be made to protrude by the pressing force against the tooth surface so that the pressing force is not too strong. An object of the present invention is to provide an electric toothbrush in which the tip of a hair reaches even in an intervening portion and which can be efficiently brushed well along irregularities of teeth and gums.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and achieve the object of the present invention, an electric toothbrush according to the present invention has an output portion capable of linearly reciprocating in an axial direction. Wherein the output portion reciprocates and simultaneously performs a swinging rotation about the axis center, and the reciprocating movement of the brush portion has different means between forward and backward movements.
Reciprocating means and oscillating rotational movement around the axis center
Means engages with a pinion mounted on the output shaft of the motor.
For reciprocating drive integrated into one mating face gear
Eccentric cam and cam for repetition of rotation, eccentric cam for reciprocating drive and
And the revolving cam
Composed of a return cam follower and a rotation repeat cam follower
It is characterized in that made be made by.

Further, the trajectory of the brush portion 36 may perform a linear motion either at the time of forward or backward movement of the reciprocating motion. In addition, it is also preferable that the locus of the brush portion 36 is configured to be a locus that traces the outer shape of a substantially figure eight. Further, the brush portion 36 may be configured such that it can be freely protruded by the pressing strength and can be inclined in an oblique direction.

[0007] The brush section 36 includes a plurality of brush blocks 3.
6a, and each brush block 36a is preferably configured so that it can freely protrude depending on the pressing strength and can be inclined in an oblique direction .

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided an electric toothbrush having an output portion capable of linearly reciprocating in an axial direction, wherein the output portion reciprocates and simultaneously performs a oscillating rotation about an axis center and a reciprocating brush portion. By having different means for the trajectory 36 between the forward and backward movements, the brush portion 36 can be brushed without the brush portion 36 being pinched even between the teeth. Further, the brush portion 36 can be brushed by a combined operation of reciprocating movement (bus) and swing rotation (rolling) in the axial direction.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. The electric toothbrush includes the storage battery 5 and the motor 40
And a toothbrush portion 6 connected to a drive shaft 4 protruding from the tip of the main body 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a frame 13 on which a motor 40 and a cam block 41 are mounted, and a storage battery 5 are mounted inside a main body 1 in which covers 11 and 12 are mounted on an upper end and a lower end, respectively. Battery holder 50 is stored. The drive shaft 4 is also supported by the frame 13 and is connected to the motor 40 via the cam block 41. In the figure, reference numeral 15 denotes a waterproof rubber for waterproofing a tip portion of the main body 1 and 2 denotes a switch, which performs a seesaw movement by alternately operating a push-on switch 22 and a push-off switch 23 arranged on the front surface of the main body 1. The switch plate 29 is formed of a switch plate 29 and a contact portion (not shown) that is turned on and off with the movement of the switch plate 29.

The cam block 41 converts the rotation of the motor 40 into a reciprocating linear motion of the drive shaft 4, and is supported by shafts 47, both ends of which are supported by the frame 13, as shown in FIG. A face gear 43 meshing with a pinion 42 mounted on the output shaft, a reciprocating drive eccentric cam 44 and a rotation repetition cam 44 a formed integrally with the face gear 43, a reciprocation drive eccentric cam 44 and a rotation repetition A reciprocating cam follower 46a having a horizontally long hole and a cam follower 46a for repetition of rotation of a vertically long hole respectively engaging with the cam 44a. The cam follower 46a for repetition of rotation is integrally formed at the front of the reciprocating cam follower 46. The reciprocating cam follower 46 is provided at the lower end of the drive shaft 4 mounted on the frame 13 so as to be slidable in the axial direction. Here, the reciprocating drive eccentric cam 44 is perpendicular to the face gear 43 so as to be eccentric with respect to the center axis of the face gear 43, and the rotation repetition cam 44a
Has a circular outer periphery, and this circular rotation repeating cam 44
a is inclined with respect to the axis of the reciprocating drive eccentric cam 44 which is perpendicular to the face gear 43.

When the motor 40 rotates the eccentric shaft 44 via the pinion 42 and the face gear 43, the reciprocating drive eccentric cam 44 reciprocates up and down a reciprocating cam follower 46, and the repetition cam 44a rotates. The cam follower 46a is oscillatingly rotated, whereby the drive shaft 4 reciprocates up and down and at the same time performs oscillating rotation around the axis center.
Here, since the drive shaft 4 reciprocates in the axial direction,
The drive shaft 4 must be attached to the frame 13 via a bearing. Here, the drive shaft 4 is supported by rolling bearings 81 mounted on the frame 13.

Rolling bearing 8 for supporting the tip of drive shaft 4
As shown in FIG. 4, reference numeral 1 denotes an annular retainer 82, balls 83 arranged in axial grooves 84 formed in the retainer 82, and outer peripheries of both ends of the ball 83 in the retainer 82. When the drive shaft 4 reciprocates in the axial direction, the ball 8
3 can be moved in the axial direction.

A toothbrush part 6 is detachably attached to the tip of the drive shaft 4 which performs a reciprocating linear movement. A brush portion 36 is provided at the tip of the toothbrush portion 6 in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the toothbrush portion 6. 5 and 6 show examples of the operation of the toothbrush unit 6. Now, let the lower end position when the toothbrush part 6 performs a linear reciprocating motion be (a),
Assuming that the position in the middle of the forward path is (b), the upper end position is (c), and the intermediate positions in the return path are (d) and (e), respectively, in the embodiment of FIG. The swing rotation is performed while moving from the position (a) to the upper end position (c), and the swing rotation is not performed when returning from the upper end position (c) to the lower end position (a) on the return path.
In FIG. 6, the lower end position when the toothbrush portion 6 performs the linear reciprocating motion is (a), the position in the middle of the outward path is (b), the upper end position is (c), and the intermediate position in the return path is ( Assuming that d), the toothbrush part 6 swings rightward from the center while moving from the lower end position (a) to the upper end position (c) of the outward path, and moves from the upper end position (c) to the lower end position (a) on the return path. When returning to the center, the rocking rotation is performed to the left from the center. As described above, in the present invention, the output portion reciprocates and simultaneously performs the swinging rotation about the axis center, and the locus of the brush portion of the reciprocating motion is different between the forward movement and the return movement.

FIG. 8 shows the movement of the brush portion 36 shown in FIG. 6 represented by a substantially O-shaped locus, the movement of the drive shaft 36, and the relationship between the rotation repetition cam 44a and the rotation repetition cam follower 46a. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the vertical movement of the toothbrush portion 6 and the relationship between the eccentric cam 44 for reciprocating drive and the cam follower 46 for reciprocating motion. In the above embodiment, the embodiment in which the axial linear reciprocating means and the oscillating rotating means around the axis center are provided inside the main body 1 is shown. However, FIGS. 9 and 10 show the axial linear reciprocating means. In the main body 1 and a detachable attachment 10 with swinging and rotating means around the axis center. That is, in this embodiment,
The cover 11 constitutes the attachment 10 that can be attached to and detached from the main body 1. FIG. 11 is a view showing a linear reciprocating means provided in the main body 1. The eccentric cam 44 for reciprocating drive is formed integrally with a face gear 43 meshing with a linear reciprocating motion in the axial direction. Eccentric cam 44
The reciprocating cam follower 46 is engaged with the cam follower 46. A guide groove 90 is provided on the inner wall of the attachment 10, and the guide groove 90 has a vertical groove 90a and a lower end communicating with an upper end of the vertical groove 90a, and an upper end having a vertical groove 9a.
0b is formed in an endless shape with a substantially arcuate arc-shaped groove portion 90b communicating with the upper end of the toothbrush portion 6b.
To fit the toothbrush portion 6 into the guide groove 90.
The guide projections 91 provided on the base are movably fitted. When the drive shaft 4 performs a linear reciprocating motion, the guide protrusion 91 moves in the guide groove 90, so that the guide protrusion 91 passes through the arcuate groove 90 b on one side of the guide groove 90 during the outward stroke, and the drive shaft 4 rotates. The upward movement is performed, and at the time of the return stroke, it is set so that only the downward return movement is performed through the vertical groove portion 90b on the other side of the guide groove 90.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show a driving mechanism in which the brush portion 36 operates so as to trace an approximately eight-shaped outer shape. In this embodiment, the cam follower 46a for repetition of rotation is a four-lobe cam groove as shown in FIG. In FIG. 12, the lower end position when the toothbrush unit 6 performs the linear reciprocating motion is (a), and is 1/4 from the lower end of the outward path.
Is the position of (b), the position of 2/4 from the lower end of the outward path is (c), and the position of 3/4 from the lower end of the outward path is (d). Position, rotation repetition cam 44a and rotation repetition cam follower 4
6a, the vertical movement position of the toothbrush part 6,
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an engagement position between a reciprocating drive eccentric cam and a reciprocating cam follower; In this embodiment, the drive shaft 4 rotates one stroke when the drive shaft 4 moves only from the bottom to the top, and the drive shaft 4 rotates one stroke when the drive shaft 4 moves only from the top to the bottom. It is supposed to. That is, when the drive shaft 4 performs the reciprocating linear motion for one stroke, the drive shaft 4 performs the swing rotation for two strokes.

FIG. 13 shows that the brush portion 36 has one flocking base 32.
The toothed brush base 32 is fitted into the concave portion 6a at the tip of the toothbrush portion 6 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction and does not protrude outside due to the contact portion 6c at the front end of the concave portion 6a. Is urged forward by a spring 6b. When a pressing pressure is applied to the brush portion 36, the brush portion 36 is bent by the repulsive force of the spring 6b. As the spring 6b, a spring as shown in FIG.
FIG. 13 (c) is conceivable.
When the support portions of the spring 6b are provided at a plurality of positions as shown in (b) and (c), the brush portion 36 can freely project in the oblique direction even with a load in the oblique direction. FIG. 14 shows an embodiment in which the brush portion 36 is divided into a plurality of small blocks. The brush portion 36 can be bent for each of the plurality of divided brush blocks 36a, and can cope with smaller irregularities. It is possible to freely project in an oblique direction corresponding to small irregularities.

[0017]

According to the present invention, as described above, in the electric toothbrush having the output portion capable of linearly reciprocating in the axial direction, the output portion reciprocates and simultaneously performs the oscillating rotation about the axis center. And a means for causing the trajectory of the brush portion of the reciprocating motion to be different between the forward and backward movements, and for reciprocating the brush linearly in the axial direction.
The means for oscillating rotational movement around the step and shaft center is the motor
One shaft that meshes with the pinion mounted on the output shaft of
Eccentric cam for reciprocating drive integrally formed with
Cam for repetition of rotation, eccentric cam for reciprocating drive, and cam for repetition of rotation
Integrally formed reciprocating camforms that engage with
Since it was composed of a lower and a cam follower for repetition of rotation ,
The brush portion is not pinched even between the teeth, and the brush portion can be brushed by a combined operation of reciprocating movement (bus) and swinging rotation (rolling) in the axial direction. As a result, the brushing can be performed efficiently. At the same time as the number of parts of the electric toothbrush
Less, cost reduction, synchronous positioning cam
Can be uniquely determined by mutual angles
Thus, a simple structure can be obtained.

Further, in the case where the trajectory of the brush portion performs a linear motion in either of the forward and backward movements of the reciprocating motion, the gap between the teeth is surely polished, and a swinging motion about the axis center is also performed. Therefore, the brush portion can be rolled and brushed even in a portion between the teeth, and the brush can be brushed evenly. Further, in a configuration in which the locus of the brush portion traces the outer shape of the figure of eight, the upper and lower teeth are simultaneously polished between the teeth and the gums and between the teeth and the teeth are efficiently polished to every corner. .

Further, in the case where the brush portion can be freely changed in projection and can be inclined in the oblique direction by the pressing strength, the brush can be brushed with a constant pressing pressure, and the brush portion can well follow the uneven portion. It can be cleaned efficiently. In addition, the brush part is divided into a plurality of brush blocks,
In the case where each brush block can be freely protruded according to the pressing strength and can be freely inclined in the oblique direction, the brush portion can be efficiently cleaned along the fine uneven portion well.

[0020]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the main body.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the above drive block.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the bearing.

FIG. 5 is a lower end position, an intermediate position, an upper end position,
It is explanatory drawing of an example which shows the rocking | swiveling rotation position of the brush part in the middle position of a return path.

FIG. 6 shows a lower end position, an intermediate position, an upper end position,
It is explanatory drawing of the other example which shows the rocking | swiveling rotation position of the brush part in the middle position of a return path.

7A is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 3 when engaged, and FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view taken along line YYY of FIG. 3 when engaged.

8 (a), (b), (c), and (d) are the swing rotation position of the brush portion and the rotation of the drive shaft at the lower end position, the intermediate position, the upper end position of the forward path, and the intermediate position of the return path in FIG. FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory diagram showing a moving position, a relationship between a rotation repeating cam and a rotation repeating cam, a vertical movement position of a toothbrush portion, and a relationship between a reciprocating drive eccentric cam and a reciprocating drive eccentric cam.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a driving block according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view showing a drive shaft, an attachment, and a toothbrush part according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a driving block according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

12 (a), (b), (c), and (d) are positions at a lower end position of the forward path in FIG. 11, 1/4 from the lower end, and 2/4 from the lower end.
, The swinging rotation position of the brush portion at a position 3/4 from the lower end, the rotation position of the drive shaft, the relationship between the rotation repeating cams and the rotation repeating cams, the vertical movement position of the toothbrush portion, the reciprocating drive bias. FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a core cam and an eccentric cam for reciprocating drive.

FIG. 13A is an exploded perspective view of the toothbrush part according to the first embodiment, and FIG.
(C) is a perspective view of the spring used for (b).

14 (a) is an exploded perspective view of a toothbrush portion of another embodiment of the above, and FIG. 14 (b) is a cross-sectional view of a different case of the above spring, and FIG. 14 (c) is a spring used in FIG. It is a perspective view of.

[Explanation of symbols]

 36 brush part 36a brush block 44 eccentric cam for reciprocating drive 44a cam for repetition of rotation 46 cam follower for reciprocation 46a cam follower for repetition of rotation

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A46B 1/00-17/08 A46D 1/00-9/06 A61C 15/00-17/04

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electric toothbrush having an output portion capable of linearly reciprocating in an axial direction, wherein the output portion reciprocates and simultaneously oscillates and rotates about an axis, and the locus of the reciprocating brush portion moves forward and backward. Have different means at different times ,
The means for linear reciprocation and the oscillating rotation about the axis
The pinion attached to the output shaft of the motor
Reciprocating drive integrated into one face gear that meshes with
Eccentric cam for movement and cam for repetition of rotation, and eccentric cam for reciprocating drive
Integrally formed to engage with the
Reciprocating cam follower and rotating repetition cam follower
An electric toothbrush characterized by comprising: 2. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the trajectory of the brush portion performs a linear motion in one of forward and backward movements of the reciprocating movement. 3. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the trajectory of the brush portion is a trajectory that traces an outer shape of a substantially figure eight. 4. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the brush portion is configured such that it can freely protrude depending on the pressing strength and can be inclined in an oblique direction. 5. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the brush portion is divided into a plurality of brush blocks, and each of the brush blocks can be freely protruded by a pressing force and freely tilted in an oblique direction.