JP3145213B2 - 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 which has a high effect of cleaning hard-to-removal plaque accumulated between teeth and between teeth and gums, has a soft gum contact and is excellent in usability. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art To prevent periodontal disease and dental caries, two major dental diseases, it is important to remove plaque using a toothbrush. In recent years, brushing methods such as scrubbing and bathing have been used. It has been found to be effective in removing plaque. Also, regarding toothbrushes using synthetic filament brushes, in order to avoid damage to the gums due to the bristles in brushing such as the bath method,
Thin, soft brush toothbrushes have been used. However, such a brush has a soft feeling, but has a drawback that the bristle of the hair is weak, so that the power for scraping plaque is insufficient and the brush does not last long. On the other hand, a toothbrush is known in which the tip of the hair is tapered so that the tip of the hair enters a concave portion such as a boundary between the tooth and the gum. However, the length of the tapered portion is at most one.
Because of the short length of about mm, the cleaning effect and the soft feeling were not improved, and there was almost no difference from a regular round brush. Further, it is also known to implant a brush having a tapered portion elongated and sharpened by a chemical treatment on a synthetic monofilament as brushes for brushes, cosmetics, face-washing, etc. Kaisho 57-6
No. 5632).

[0003]

However, these brushes have improved touch, durability, hygiene, etc. by replacing the brushes of natural brushes, which are exclusively made of natural animal hair, with sharp tapered brushes. However, these sharply tapered brushes are too soft to be implanted for a toothbrush as they are due to an inappropriate taper shape, and the cleaning effect is significantly inferior to that of a normal non-tapered brush. Conversely, if the maximum diameter of the tapered brush is increased in order to make the brush have an appropriate hardness, there is a problem that the bristle tip becomes hard and the gums are damaged. The present invention solves this conventional drawback, the bristle reaches the interdental region and the boundary between the teeth and the gums sufficiently,
An object of the present invention is to provide a toothbrush using a synthetic filament which has a high cleaning effect, has a soft feeling that does not damage the gums, and can significantly improve the feeling of use.

According to the present invention, there is provided a toothbrush in which a synthetic monofilament having tapered portions at both ends is refracted from a central portion and focused as a brush in a flocking hole of a flocking table, and a brush is implanted therein.
m, 5 mm, 8 mm, the brush diameter at each part is 25 to 35%, 55 to 70%, 80 to 90% with respect to the base brush diameter.
%, 90% to 100%, and a flocked portion is formed by flocking a monofilament having a tapered shape specified. In the present invention,
The “taper” shape is a straight line toward the brush tip
Or it refers to a shape that tapers in a curved shape,
Not only straight lines but also other cases are included in that category.
is there.

[0005]

[Function] 1 from the tapered tip of synthetic monofilament
mm, 3 mm, 5 mm, and 8 mm, the brush diameter is 25 to 35%, 55 to 70% with respect to the base brush diameter.
%, 80 to 90%, and 90 to 100%, and a flocked portion is formed by flocking the specified monofilament having a tapered shape. That is, when a plurality of such synthetic monofilaments 1 are bundled, the center is bent, and the hair is implanted in the flocking hole 6 provided in the flocking table 5 at the tip of the handle portion 4, the sharp taper portion is formed during the tooth brushing operation. It easily penetrates into the interdental area, especially easily into the concave part at the boundary between the teeth and the gums, and increases the plaque removal rate, and the gingival stimulus by the bristle tip is also good and a soft touch is obtained, significantly improving the feeling It can be used with improved durability.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described with reference to the examples of FIGS. 1 to 4. A synthetic monofilament 1 having tapered portions 2 and 2 at both ends will be described.
Is refracted from the central portion and is focused and planted in the flocking holes 6 of the flocking table 5 of the handle portion 4 to form a flocking portion 3 in the toothbrush.
1 m from the tapered tip of the synthetic monofilament 1
m, 3 mm, 5 mm, 8 mm, the brush diameter at each part is 25 to 35%, 55 to 70% with respect to the base brush diameter.
%, 80 to 90%, and 90 to 100%, and the toothbrush is provided with a flocked portion 3 on which a specified tapered synthetic monofilament 1 is planted.

In this case, the synthetic monofilament 1 is made of a synthetic resin such as polyester, polyamide or polyolefin, and has a length of 8 to 8 at both ends as shown in FIG.
A sharp tapered portion 2 is formed over a length of 15 mm, preferably 8 to 10 mm, and the maximum diameter of the central base is 0.15 to 0.5 mm.
25 mm, preferably 0.17 to 0.20 mm (Table 1c)
Used as a polypropylene resin by refracting the central part,
2 and 3 made of AS resin or the like are focused and implanted in a flocking hole 6 provided in a flocking table 5 at the tip of the handle 4.
The flocked hole 6 has a hole diameter of 1.5 to 2.2 mm, preferably 1.
A plurality of rows, for example, 2 to 4 rows are arranged side by side as 5 to 1.9 mm,
The spacing a in the direction of the handle portion of the flocked hole 6 is about 1.0 to 1.4 mm, and the length of the brush after flocking is about 10 to 13 mm, similar to a normal toothbrush, as shown in FIG.

[0008] The results of comparison of cleaning power using the toothbrushes shown in Table 1 in which various brushes A to F having a base hair diameter of 200 μm of the above-mentioned synthetic monofilament 1 and a brush tip processed into a tapered shape were used as a flocked portion. The significance of specifying in the range shown in 5 was recognized.

Table 1

[Table 1]

The cleaning power was evaluated by the following method. Each test toothbrush was exchanged every week for 15 test subjects, and the test toothbrush was used for a total of 6 weeks. During this period, the plaque removal rate of the used test toothbrush was measured. The measurement of the plaque removal rate by using each test toothbrush for one week was performed by the following method.
After the calculus and plaque of the subject were completely removed on the first day, use of the test toothbrush was started. On the sixth day, brushing was stopped and plaque was deposited, and the plaque was deposited on the seventh day. Measure the amount of plaque
Thereafter, it was cleaned with a test toothbrush and the amount of plaque was measured again.
The difference in the amount of plaque before and after brushing on the seventh day was divided by the amount of plaque before brushing to obtain a percentage, which was defined as the plaque removal rate of the test toothbrush. In addition, the tooth was a tooth of the tooth part of Table 2 as a representative of all the teeth of the oral cavity, and the subject selected the person whose target tooth is a healthy tooth. The plaque adhesion measurement sites were mainly at the boundary between the teeth and the gums and the interdental areas. The results are shown in Table 3.

[0011]

[Table 2]

[0012]

[Table 3]

As shown in Table 3, the test toothbrush C is
More excellent cleaning power was obtained, such as a toothbrush D or E with a thinner brush or a toothbrush A or B with a thicker tapered brush or a toothbrush F with a normal rounded brush. .

Further, the following use test was conducted in order to see the stimulation of the various shapes of the filaments on the gums (the tingling of the brush tips). Use the same toothbrush as used in Table 3
Five people were used, and the presence or absence of irritation on the gingival contact of the hair tips was investigated. The results are shown in Table 4.

[0015]

[Table 4]

Further, Table 5 shows the results of evaluating the durability test of the test toothbrush and the normal brush toothbrush by the brush thickness and the length of the tapered portion by the model experiment.

Table 5

[Table 5]

The test method shown in Table 5 is as follows. After the flocking portion of the test toothbrush is reciprocated 20,000 times (stroke distance = 3 cm) by applying a load of 500 g on the uneven plate in warm water at 35 ° C. The extension of the hair tips was observed. The results of Tables 3 to 5 in which the data of the cleaning power and durability tests were totaled proved that the toothbrush C having a tapered shape was effective.

The specifications of the test toothbrushes A to E are those having a hole diameter of 1.6 mm, a hole-to-hole distance of 1.2 mm, a bristle length of 11 mm, a base bristle diameter of 200 μm, and four rows of holes. However, those having the above-mentioned application range are usually used, and those having one or two rows of hole rows are also effectively used as toothbrushes exclusively for the cervical portion (for brushing by the bus method).

Depending on the synthetic resin used, for example, 1 m from the tapered tip of the monofilament 1
The repulsion force at each of the m, 3 mm, 5 mm, and 8 mm portions is 0.5 to 0.5 with an ISO hardness tester (ISO8627).
^{2.0N / mm 2, 2.5~4.5N / mm} 2, 3.5
It is effective to use a synthetic filament having a tapered shape specified by, for example, 5.5 to 5.5 N / mm ² and 6 to 15 N / mm ² , for example, a polyester resin filament.

Table 6 shows the results of measuring the repulsion (unit: N / mm ² ) for each brush portion of the toothbrush according to the taper shape using an ISO hardness tester. In this case, in the method for measuring the repulsive force of the brush, the distance from the tip of the hair at the flocked portion is 1 mm and 3 m.
Each part of m, 5 mm, and 8 mm is set as a measurement position and fixed according to the position of the wire surface. Then, a horizontal repulsion force is measured by sliding the flocked portion on a wire attached in parallel. The value of the repulsive force is represented by the average value of the measured values in the dry state and the wet state of the flocked portion under the following measurement conditions. (Measurement conditions) Dry state: Measure the toothbrush after storing for 24 hours at a temperature of 23 ± 2 ° C. and a humidity of 50 ± 5% (within 5 minutes). Wet state: The toothbrush is immersed in water at a temperature of 23 ± 4 ° C. for 90 seconds, taken out, and measured about 3 minutes later.

[0022]

[Table 6]

In this case, the cleaning power, feeling of use, and durability were as shown in Tables 7, 8 and 9 for the synthetic monofilament of the polyester resin.

[0024]

[Table 7]

[0025]

[Table 8]

[0026]

[Table 9]

When the flocked portion 3 is constituted by a brush having a tapered shape of the synthetic monofilament 1 formed in this manner, the numerical limitation is an appropriate one obtained through a number of experiments, and is particularly limited. Although only the synthetic monofilament (100%) is planted, even if the synthetic monofilament of substantially 90% or more and a brush of another shape are planted together, the cleaning effect is good and the gingiva is good. The soft feeling is obtained by improving the hit feeling, and a soft brush is used effectively because the contribution to the cleaning effect of the sharp tapered portion is enhanced even with a soft brush. In any case, a good soft feeling can be obtained at the flocked portion 3 of the toothbrush, and the thickness of the brush at the base of the brush is easily maintained while keeping the waist of the bristles at the interdental area or at the boundary between the teeth and the gums. Consideration is given to a durable toothbrush that has a thickness that allows easy insertion and that can easily scrape plaque.

[0028]

According to the present invention, there is provided a toothbrush in which a synthetic monofilament having tapered portions at both ends is refracted from a central portion and is bundled as a brush into a flocked hole of a flocking table.
mm, 5 mm, 8 mm, the brush diameter in each part is 25-35%, 55-70%, 80-
90% and 90 to 100%, respectively, are formed by implanting tapered monofilaments having a specified taper shape to form a flocked portion, so that the bristles have an interdental portion, a boundary between teeth and gums, and a concave portion due to an incorrect tooth row. Etc., effectively removes food residues and plaque, has a high cleaning effect, and is also suitable for cleaning periodontal pockets with soft bristles and weak gingiva, giving good stimulation without damaging the gingiva In addition to preventing periodontal disease, it has a great effect of preventing tooth decay, enhances the feeling of use, prevents the brush from spreading due to use, and increases durability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an example of a brush of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the toothbrush in a used state.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged plan view of the example of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view of the flocked portion of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the thickness (μ) of a brush having a tapered shape and the distance (mm) from the tip of the brush.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Synthetic monofilament 2 Taper part 3 Flooding part 4 Handle part 5 Flooding table 6 Flooding hole

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-5-15834 (JP, U) JP-A 56-155628 (JP, U) JP-A 1-59421 (JP, U) JP-A 55- 95524 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 57-12934 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 57-65632 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A46B 1/00-17 / 08 A46D 1/00-9/06

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A toothbrush in which a synthetic monofilament having tapered portions at both ends is refracted from a central portion and focused as a brush into a flocked hole of a flocked table, and is brushed and planted 1 mm, 3 mm, and 5 m from the tapered tip of the synthetic monofilament.
m, 8 mm, the brush diameter is 25-35%, 55-70%, 80-90%, 90% with respect to the base brush diameter.
A toothbrush, characterized in that a hair implantation portion is formed by implanting a tapered monofilament at 100% to 100%. 2. The resilience of each of the synthetic monofilaments at 1 mm, 3 mm, 5 mm, and 8 mm from the tapered tip portion is measured by an ISO hardness tester (ISO8627).
0.5 to 2.0 N / mm ² , 2.5 to 4.5 N / mm
^{2, 3.5~5.5N} / mm ^2, toothbrush according to claim 1, characterized in that a 6~15N / mm ^2.