JP3142898B2 - Electric dental floss - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dental floss used as an oral hygiene device, and more particularly to an electric dental floss in which the dental floss is electrically driven.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Dental floss for cleaning between teeth is known as one of the oral hygiene tools. This is formed by stretching both ends of a filament consisting of a fine fiber bundle on the bow-shaped part of the holder, and cleaning the interdental area by inserting the filament into the teeth and moving the hand holding the holder. I do.

[0003]

However, for cleaning between teeth, it is effective to move the filament finely.
It is difficult to obtain such a movement manually, and it is difficult to obtain a sufficient cleaning effect. Further, in cleaning a tooth surface, cleaning with a single thread-like body has large variations and is not efficient.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an electric dental floss which can perform the cleaning between teeth extremely efficiently and reliably.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Thus the present invention is its driving mechanism for causing reciprocating linear motion in the axial direction to the output unit, to the output section located at one end of the tubular body that contains the drive mechanism
First with the features of that and a reciprocating linear motion direction and filaments which are stretched in a direction intersecting, also a drive mechanism for causing a reciprocating linear motion in the axial direction to the output unit, a drive mechanism A second feature is that a plurality of thread-like bodies stretched in parallel with each other are provided at the output section located at one end of the accommodated tubular main body.

According to the present invention, the fibrous body can be finely vibrated by the reciprocating linear movement of the output unit by the driving mechanism. At this time, according to the first feature, the fibrous body is output. Since the thread is stretched in a direction intersecting the direction of the reciprocating linear motion of the portion , the filament moves along a certain area due to its vibration. According to the second feature, a plurality of filaments are moved. The thread will come into contact with the teeth at the same time.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiment. This is connected to an elongated cylindrical main body 1 containing a storage battery 5, a motor 40 and the like, and a drive shaft 4 protruding from the tip of the main body 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the motor 40 and the cam block 41 are provided inside the main body 1 with the covers 11 and 12 attached to the upper end and the lower end, respectively. Frame 13 with
And a battery holder 50 on which the storage battery 5 is mounted. The drive shaft 4 is also supported by the frame 13 and is connected to the motor 40 via the cam block 41. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 15 denotes a waterproof rubber for waterproofing the tip of the main body 1 and 2 denotes a switch, which is a seesaw operated by alternately operating a push-on switch 22 and a push-off switch 23 disposed on the front surface of the main body 1. And a contact portion (not shown) which is turned on and off in accordance 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 as shown in FIG. 5, a shaft 47 having both ends supported by the holder 13.
Gear 43 supported by the motor and engaged with a pinion 42 mounted on the output shaft of the motor 40, an eccentric shaft 44 formed integrally with the face gear 43, and an eccentric shaft 4.
And a cam follower 46 engaged with the cam follower 46. The cam follower 46 positions the eccentric shaft 44 inside the oblong hole.
Is provided at the lower end of the drive shaft 4 slidably mounted on the holder 13 in the axial direction. When the motor 40 rotates the eccentric shaft 44 via the pinion 42 and the face gear 43, the eccentric shaft 44 is rotated by the cam follower 46 and the drive shaft 4.
Is reciprocated up and down.

Since the drive shaft 4 reciprocates in the axial direction, it is necessary to mount the drive shaft 4 on the holder 13 through a bearing.
The drive shaft 4 is supported by rolling bearings 81 and 81 mounted on the drive shaft 4. As shown in FIG. 6, a rolling bearing 81 that supports the distal end side of the drive shaft 4 has an annular retainer 82.
And a plurality of axial grooves 8 formed in the retainer 82.
4 and an outer ring 85 surrounding the outer periphery of the portion of the retainer 82 where the ball 83 is disposed.
When the drive shaft 4 reciprocates in the axial direction,
The ball 83 can move in the axial direction.

An attachment 6 having a thread 7 and an attachment 6 'having a toothing 70 are selectively detachably attached to the tip of the drive shaft 4 which performs a reciprocating linear movement. The attachment 6 has a floss holder 95 in the form of a bow that is detachably attached to the tip of the attachment 6 and both ends of the thread 7 are stretched. As shown in FIG. The floss holder 95 can be attached to the attachment 6 by slidingly engaging a ridge 97 provided on the floss holder 95. When the floss holder 95 is attached to the attachment 6, the extending direction of the thread 7 is a direction intersecting the axial direction of the drive shaft 4, that is, the direction of the reciprocating linear motion at a certain angle.

If the motor 40 is operated by attaching the attachment 6 'provided with the toothing 70 to the tip of the drive shaft 4 protruding from one end of the main body 1, brushing the teeth with the toothing 70 is performed. If the attachment 6 is connected and the motor 40 is operated, the thread 7 provided on the attachment 6 performs fine reciprocating vibration. However, the extending direction of the thread 7 intersects the axial direction. As shown in FIG. 8, the thread 7 moves over a certain area A, so that the tooth surface can be cleaned and the thread 7 is It is effective for removing plaque because it often comes into contact with the surface.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show an in-plane formed by a bow-shaped floss holder 95 in a state where the two filaments 7, 7 are inclined in directions opposite to each other with respect to the axial direction of the drive shaft 4. In this case, since the area in which the filaments 7, 7 move during the reciprocating movement increases, the tooth surface can be more efficiently cleaned. As shown in FIG. 11, the two filaments 7, 7 are arcuate floss holders 95.
May be arranged so as to cross each other in the width direction. When arranged in this manner, the filaments 7, 7 are
When inserted between the teeth, the arrangement of the teeth T is a curved connection, so that the surfaces of a pair of adjacent teeth T can be efficiently and simultaneously cleaned. As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the same effect can be expected by setting the inclination of the thread 7 in the width direction of the floss holder 95 even when the number of the thread 7 is one.

FIGS. 15 and 16 show another embodiment. Here, two parallel filaments 7, 7 are attached to floss holder 95.
Are arranged side by side in the width direction. These filaments 7, 7 which are substantially parallel to the axial direction of the drive shaft 4, have both teeth T
When it is inserted between the teeth T, it follows the surface of the tooth T in an X-shape around the narrowest part between the teeth T, so that the cleaning of the tooth T surface can be performed efficiently. As shown in FIG. 17 and FIG. 18, the two filaments 7 may be arranged so as to be parallel in steps. In this case, it is easy to insert the two filaments 7, 7 between the teeth T. Further, as shown in FIG. 19 and FIG. 20, a number of thread members 7 may be arranged in parallel along the bow shape of the floss holder 95. Since several portions of the teeth T in the vertical direction can be cleaned at the same time, and the stress applied to one thread 7 is reduced, the life of the thread 7 is prolonged.

[0014]

In the present invention as described above, according to the present invention, the reciprocating linear motion of the output portion by the drive mechanism, which can be finely vibrated filament, especially filament output
If the thread is stretched in a direction that intersects the direction of the reciprocating linear movement of the part , the thread moves in a direction that intersects the longitudinal direction.
Move the position where the thread is in contact with the teeth
You can get the movement to wipe the required area of the tooth without
In the case of a device having a plurality of filaments stretched in parallel with each other, a plurality of the filaments come into contact with the teeth at the same time .
You can have those that can be easily carried out efficiently and reliably cleaned between the teeth.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cutaway side view of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main body.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main body.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a drive block.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the bearing.

7A is a perspective view of an attachment, and FIG. 7B is an exploded perspective view.

8A is a side view of the attachment, and FIG. 8B is an explanatory view of the operation of the thread.

FIG. 9 shows another embodiment, wherein (a) is a side view and (b)
Is a front view.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an operation.

FIG. 11 shows another embodiment, in which (a) is a side view,
(b) is a front view.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of the above operation.

FIGS. 13A and 13B show still another embodiment, in which FIG. 13A is a side view and FIG. 13B is a front view.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of the above operation.

FIG. 15 shows another embodiment, in which (a) is a side view,
(b) is a front view.

16A is a perspective view, and FIG. 16B is an explanatory diagram of an operation.

FIGS. 17A and 17B show still another embodiment, in which FIG. 17A is a side view and FIG. 17B is a front view.

FIGS. 18 (a) and (b) are explanatory diagrams of the above operation.

FIG. 19 shows another embodiment, in which (a) is a side view,
(b) is a front view.

20A is a perspective view, and FIGS. 20B and 20C are explanatory diagrams of the operation. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Drive shaft 6 Attachment 7 Filament

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A drive mechanism for causing an output section to perform reciprocating linear motion in the axial direction, and an output section located at one end of a cylindrical main body containing the drive mechanism, extending in a direction intersecting the reciprocating linear motion direction. An electric dental floss, comprising: 2. The electric dental floss according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of filaments are stretched crossing each other. 3. A drive mechanism for causing the output section to perform a reciprocating linear motion in the axial direction, and a plurality of thread-like bodies stretched parallel to each other at the output section located at one end of the cylindrical body containing the drive mechanism. An electric dental floss comprising: