JP3793260B2 - Ion toothbrush - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ion toothbrush in which a battery is built in a handle portion of a toothbrush and a brushing effect is further improved by passing a current between teeth and brush bristles.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, various ion toothbrushes and electronic toothbrushes (hereinafter referred to as “ion toothbrushes”) that effectively remove plaque using a potential gradient have been proposed. As this type of ion toothbrush, for example, a head portion in which brush bristles are implanted, a handle portion storing a battery, and a conductive plate having a substantially U-shaped cross section mounted on at least a part of the outer surface of the handle portion. And one electrode of the battery is configured to be able to conduct with the bristles, and the other electrode is configured to be able to conduct with the conductive plate. The ion toothbrush with this structure can effectively remove plaque by passing a weak current between the teeth and the bristles through a hand that holds the handle so as to contact the conductive plate. .
[0003]
The conductive plate of this ion toothbrush is composed of a conductive member having elasticity, and at its open end edge, there is a folded portion that protrudes inward to grip the handle when the conductive plate is mounted on the handle. Is provided. The mounting of the conductive plate on the outer surface of the handle portion is usually performed by an assembly operator who pushes the open end edge of the conductive plate into a predetermined position of the handle portion by hand and uses the elastic recovery of the conductive plate. Then, the conductive plate is fitted to the outer surface of the handle portion.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the conventional ion toothbrush has a structure that fits and attaches the conductive plate to the handle portion by using the elasticity of the conductive plate and only pushing the conductive plate into the handle portion. When the length of the folded portion provided on the open end edge is increased, when the conductive plate is mounted on the outer surface of the handle portion, it is necessary to widen the open end edge of the conductive plate by the length. For this reason, when the length of the folded portion becomes long, there arises a problem that it becomes difficult to fit and attach the conductive plate to the handle portion. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, in the conventional ion toothbrush, the length of the folded portion of the conductive plate is made as short as possible in consideration of ease of fitting and mounting of the conductive plate, gripping strength with respect to the handle portion, and the like. It is set to be.
[0005]
Therefore, in this ion toothbrush, there is almost no conductive plate on the handle surface (back surface of the handle) on the side gripped by the folded portion, and depending on how the handle is gripped, The contact with the conductive plate may not be performed well.
[0006]
An object of the present invention is to solve such a conventional problem, and by sufficiently providing a conductive plate on the back surface of the handle portion, regardless of how to hold the handle portion, An object of the present invention is to provide an ion toothbrush capable of always maintaining good contact with a conductive plate.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve this object, the present invention comprises a head portion in which brush hairs are implanted, a handle portion containing a battery, and a conductive plate attached to at least a part of the outer surface of the handle portion, In the ion toothbrush in which one electrode of the battery is configured to be able to conduct with the bristle and the other electrode is configured to be able to conduct with the conductive plate, the conductive plate has a gate-shaped conductive member as the handle portion. An ion toothbrush having a structure in which both open end portions of the conductive member are bent along the shape of the handle portion is provided.
[0008]
The handle has a substantially quadrangular cross section, and the conductive plate has a substantially U-shaped cross-section complementary to the cross-sectional shape of the handle, and when bent along the cross-sectional shape of the handle, Both open end portions of the conductive plate can be configured to be close to each other on the back surface of the handle portion on the side opposite to the partial outer surface.
[0009]
In addition, a groove that can accommodate at least the ends of both open ends of the bent conductive plate is formed on the back surface of the handle, and the ends of the open ends can be accommodated in the groove.
[0010]
In addition, the groove portion is configured deeper than the thickness of both open end tips of the conductive plate, and the both open end tips are once deeply bent into the groove portion when being bent, and then opened. , And may be housed in the groove.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0012]
1 is a side view of an ion toothbrush according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a front view of the ion toothbrush, and FIG.
[0013]
The ion toothbrush shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 is configured to include a head portion 12 in which the brush bristles 10 are implanted, and a handle portion 16 that is integrally formed with the bristles 10 and that houses the battery 14.
[0014]
The handle portion 16 has a substantially quadrangular cross-section, and a substantially central position is formed to be relatively wide. A battery storage hole 18 for storing the battery 14 on the surface of the handle portion 16 is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the handle portion 16. It is opened in the direction to do. For example, a lithium battery is housed in the battery housing hole 18. A part of a support shaft 26 made of a conductive material disposed at a substantially central portion in the longitudinal axis direction of the handle portion 16 is exposed at the center bottom portion of the battery housing hole 18, and the exposed portion of the support shaft 26 serves as a battery. Electrical connection is made in contact with one of the 14 electrodes (for example, the negative electrode). The support shaft 26 extends in the longitudinal direction in the handle portion 16 toward the head portion 12, and terminates immediately before the brush bristles 10 of the head portion 12 through a narrow neck portion 28. As shown in FIG. 3, a communication groove 30 that exposes the end portion of the support shaft 26 to the surface near the head portion 12 is opened immediately before the bristles 10. The communication groove 30 forms part of a liquid path that allows the brush bristles 10 and the support shaft 26 to be electrically connected to each other using a liquid such as saliva as a medium.
[0015]
A spring 24 made of a conductive member is disposed on the battery housing hole 18 opening side of the battery 14 housed in the battery housing hole 18. Then, for example, a conductive plate 32 made of a conductive member such as titanium or stainless steel closes the outer surface of the handle 16 and closes the handle 16 so as to close the battery housing hole 18 in which the spring 24 is disposed. It is mounted so as to cover almost the back of the. With this structure, the conductive plate 32 is connected to the other electrode (for example, positive electrode) of the battery 14 through the spring 24. Reference numeral 36 denotes an O-ring for watertightly sealing the battery 14 to the outside.
[0016]
Further, on the surface opposite to the surface of the handle portion 16 where the battery housing hole 18 is opened (hereinafter, this surface is referred to as “back surface”), as shown in FIG. Storage grooves 19a and 19b that can be stored are arranged side by side. Here, each of the storage grooves 19 a and 19 b is deeper than at least the thickness of the conductive plate 32 and is formed so that the end of the conductive plate 32 can be bent at an acute angle with respect to the side surface of the handle portion 16.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 2, the conductive plate 32 before being attached to the handle 16 is composed of a conductive member 32 a having a substantially U-shaped cross section. As will be described in detail later, the conductive member 32a has a size that allows the open edge of the conductive member 32a to be sufficiently close when mounted on the handle portion 16. The conductive member 32a before being attached to the handle 16 has a structure slightly inclined inward so that the ends of the open ends are close to each other. In the present invention, the conductive plate 32 is attached to the handle portion 16 in the following manner.
[0018]
First, the battery 14 and the spring 24 are housed in the battery housing hole 18 of the handle portion 16, and the conductive member 32 a is inserted into the handle portion 16 from the open side of the conductive member 32 a so as to close the battery housing hole 18. Push in and cover. At this time, since the conductive member 32a has a structure slightly inclined inward so that the tips of the open end portions are close to each other, the end portion of the conductive member 32a is spread to the side surface of the handle portion 16. It is done. For this reason, the conductive member 32 a is deformed as indicated by an arrow R in FIG. 2, and the conductive member 32 a is in close contact with the side surface of the handle portion 16.
[0019]
Next, the conductive member 32a thus covered on the handle portion 16 is pressed against the handle portion 16 from above, so that both ends of the conductive member 32a are stored in the storage grooves 19a and 19b, respectively. It is bent inward at the edge of the back surface of the portion 16. At this time, it is preferable to bend the conductive member 32 a while pressing the conductive member 32 a against the corners of the side surface and the back surface of the handle 16. Further, as shown by reference numerals 32c and 32d in FIG. 2, the tip of the conductive member 32a is once bent so as to be pushed into the side surface by 90 degrees or more, that is, to the bottom of the storage grooves 19a and 19b. In order to enable such a bending operation, the depth of the storage grooves 19a and 19b is made sufficiently deep (for example, more than twice the thickness of the conductive plate 32), and the side end portion on the back surface of the handle portion 16 It is preferable to make the angle with the side surface an acute angle. After the bending operation, when the bending force is released, the conductive member 32a is returned to the signs 32e and 32f by its own elastic restoring force (spring back). However, since the open end of the conductive member 32a is at least flush with the back surface of the handle 16 and is maintained so as not to protrude outward from the back surface, the user feels uncomfortable when the handle 16 is gripped. You won't feel it, and you won't get caught in this tip. By doing so, the conductive plate 32 is mounted at a predetermined position of the handle 16. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the conductive plate 32 has both open edges sufficiently close to each other and sufficiently exists on the back surface of the handle 16. Therefore, regardless of how the handle 16 is gripped, the contact between the hand and the conductive plate 32 can always be maintained satisfactorily.
[0020]
The function of the ion toothbrush configured as described above is that when the user holds the handle 16 while touching the conductive plate 32 and brushes the teeth with the brush bristles 10, the brush bristles 10 are wetted by liquid such as saliva. Then, the support shaft 26 is in a state where it can be electrically conducted through the path including the communication groove 30 where the liquid continues. As a result, current flows from the battery 14 through the path of the human hand, body, teeth, brush bristles 10, fluid path including the communication groove 30, the support shaft 26, and the path of the battery 14, and the effect of removing plaque during brushing by the potential gradient. Will increase.
[0021]
Next, a second embodiment according to the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, members similar to those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.
[0022]
FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the ion toothbrush according to the present embodiment at the same position as the cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. The difference between this ion toothbrush and the ion toothbrush according to the above-described embodiment is the shape of the storage grooves 119a and 119b as shown in FIG. That is, the storage grooves 119a and 119b gradually increase in depth from the corners of the side surface to the center in the width direction of the handle portion 16 on the back surface of the handle portion 16. Has an acute angle.
[0023]
Similarly to the ion toothbrush according to the above-described embodiment, this ion toothbrush is covered with the conductive member 32a so as to close the battery housing hole 18, and then the conductive member 32a is pressed against the handle portion 16, Both ends of the conductive member 32a are bent so as to be pushed into the bottoms of the storage grooves 119a and 119b, and then returned to the reference numerals 32e and 32f by the elastic restoring force (spring back) of the conductive member 32a itself. .
[0024]
Next, a third embodiment according to the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, members similar to those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.
[0025]
FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the ion toothbrush according to the present embodiment at the same position as the cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. The difference between the ion toothbrush and the ion toothbrush shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 is that, as shown in FIG. 6, the housing groove is not formed in the handle portion 16, and the leading ends of both open portions of the conductive plate 32. In addition, bent portions 132a and 132b that are bent inward are provided.
[0026]
Similarly to the ion toothbrush according to the above-described embodiment, the ion toothbrush according to this embodiment is pushed into the conductive member 32a so as to close the battery housing hole 18, and then the conductive member 32a is covered with the handle. While being pressed against the outer surface 16, the inner surface is bent along the shape of the handle 16. However, at this time, the bent portions 132 a and 132 b formed at the tip of the conductive member 32 a are bent so as to contact the back surface of the handle portion 16. In this way, it is possible to prevent the tip of the open end of the conductive plate 32 from directly touching a human hand, so that the user does not feel discomfort when holding the handle 16. In addition, as shown with a virtual line in FIG. 6, you may make it provide a small groove | channel in the back surface of the handle | pattern part 16, and accommodate the bending parts 132a and 132b.
[0027]
In the present embodiment, the ion toothbrush in which the head portion 12 and the handle portion 16 are integrally formed has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the conductive plate 32 according to the present invention includes the head portion 12 and the handle portion. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to an ion toothbrush that can be separated from 16.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the ion toothbrush according to the present invention can sufficiently have a conductive plate on the back surface of the handle. As a result, the contact between the hand and the conductive plate can always be maintained well regardless of how the user grips the handle.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view of an ion toothbrush according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a front view of the ion toothbrush according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a rear view of the ion toothbrush according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an ion toothbrush according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an ion toothbrush according to another embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Brush hair 12 Head part 16 Handle part 19a Storage groove 19b Storage groove 26 Support shaft 32 Conductive plate

Claims (2)

A head portion in which brush hairs are planted, a handle portion storing a battery, and a conductive plate attached to at least a part of the outer surface of the handle portion, and one electrode of the battery can be electrically connected to the brush hair. In the ion toothbrush in which the other electrode is configured to be conductive with the conductive plate,
The conductive plate has a structure in which a gate-shaped conductive member is covered on a part of the outer surface of the handle, and both open ends of the conductive member are bent along the shape of the handle,
Forming a groove that can accommodate at least both open end tips of the bent conductive plate on the back surface of the handle, and accommodating both open end tips in the groove;
The groove portion is configured to be deeper than the thickness of both open end portions of the conductive plate, and the open end portions of the conductive plate are once deeply bent into the groove portion when being bent, and then opened. An ion toothbrush that can be stored inside.   The handle has a substantially quadrangular cross section, and the conductive plate has a substantially U-shaped cross section complementary to the cross sectional shape of the handle and is bent along the cross sectional shape of the handle. The ion toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein both open end portions of the conductive plate are configured so as to be close to each other on the back surface of the handle portion on the side opposite to the part outer surface.

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