JPH01145004A - Toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain effective pressure of brushing especially at the time of sliding along the width of a handle by inclining all the hair bundles at the periphery among the hair bundles of a planted hair part toward the inside of a planted hair base. CONSTITUTION: The peripheral rows of hair bundles a1 to a9 among the four rows of planted hairs that make up the planted hair part of a toothbrush are inclined toward the center line X-X. In addition, hair bundles b1 and b10 situated on the front and back in the length of a planted hair base 1 are inclined toward the center P of a planted hair base 1, and the two inside rows of hair bundles b2 to b9 are inclined toward the center line X-X. In these arrangements, especially at the time of sliding along the width of a handle, brushing pressure by the two inside rows of hair bundles b2 to b9 act effectively in addition to brushing pressure by the peripheral rows of planted hair bundles, and the planted hair part as a whole delivers great brushing pressure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a toothbrush that can effectively remove dental plaque without damaging the gums.

[Conventional technology]

It has recently been discovered that dental plaque is the cause of both dental caries and periodontal disease, and as a result, in order to prevent the above-mentioned diseases, toothbrushing methods such as the scraping method, Fawns method, and bath method are recommended. It has been found that it is preferable to perform a brushing method that can effectively remove plaque using the tips of the teeth's bristles. In these brushing methods, the tips of the bristles come into contact with the gums while applying relatively strong pressure, so the bristles of toothbrushes developed for these brushing methods have been designed to prevent damage to the gums. As much as possible
Relatively soft or thin hair is used.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, a recent study was carried out in which a pressure sensor was attached to the tooth surface to measure the correlation between the thickness of the bristles, brushing pressure, and plaque removal effectiveness. It was also found that the removal effect was excellent. This shows that for the original purpose of removing plaque, it is better to have thicker bristles to reduce brushing pressure, but on the other hand, to prevent damage to the gums, it is better to have thinner bristles. In fact, these two had a contradictory relationship. One way to resolve this contradictory relationship is to increase the brushing pressure by increasing the flocking density while using fine bristles. It is necessary to increase the diameter of the tuft holes, or to make the pitch of the tuft holes denser.If the diameter of the tuft holes is increased, the problem of the tufts being hard to the touch and poor range of use may occur. If the pitch of the pores is made dense, there is a problem that the tufting table is prone to breakage due to mechanical fatigue or chemical action, and in both cases, the gap between the tufted pores is narrow, causing water to drain after using a toothbrush. Another problem is that it tends to be bad and unsanitary.

In order to solve these problems, the present inventor came up with the idea of slanting the hair bundle. Conventionally, the method of tilting the hair bundle itself is disclosed in Utility Model Publication No. 54-31095 and Utility Model Application Publication No. 1977-121765.
However, these are not intended to increase the brushing pressure, and therefore their configurations are inappropriate for increasing the brushing pressure. Therefore, the inventor of the present invention has studied the position of the tuft of hair to be inclined in the flocking portion and the direction of inclination thereof, and as a result, has arrived at the present invention.

[Means to solve the problem]

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a toothbrush that does not deteriorate the mechanical strength or chemical strength of the toothbrush, has a high plaque removal effect, and does not cause damage to the gums. The gist is that a flocked section is constructed by arranging four flocked rows in the width direction of a flocked table with a flat flocked surface, and that all the hairs located at least on the outer periphery of the hair bundles of the flocked section are The inner two of the four flocking rows that make up the flocking section are tilted toward the inside of the flocking table.
The purpose is to increase the flocking density at the tip of the flock by making the flocked rows tilted opposite each other and making the area formed by the outer periphery of the tip of the flock smaller than the area formed by the outer periphery of the base of the flock.

[For production]

A toothbrush with such a configuration makes it possible to increase the flocking density at the tip of the flock without increasing the flocking density at the base of the flock.
When using this toothbrush to perform brushing methods that utilize the bristles of the toothbrush, such as the scraping method, Fawns method, and bath method, high brushing pressure and plaque removal effects can be obtained, leading to problems such as caries and periodontal disease. In addition, since the bristles are soft, there is no risk of damaging the gums even if brushed forcefully, so brushing can be performed with confidence. In addition to the rows of bristle bundles located on both sides of the length of the bristle bed being inclined inward, the bristle bundles located at the front and rear ends of the bristle part are also slanted inward, making it easier to slide the toothbrush in the width direction of the handle. Strong brushing pressure can be obtained not only when sliding the handle in the lengthwise direction, but also when the front and rear ends of the bristles are positioned at the occlusal part, the back side of the teeth, or even between the teeth. It can also effectively scrape out plaque that has accumulated in the area. In addition, since the inner two rows of flocked rows are inclined to face each other, especially when sliding in the width direction of the handle, in addition to the brushing pressure from the outer peripheral row of flocked rows, the brushing pressure from the inner two rows of flocked rows is also effective. This allows a large amount of brushing pressure to be exerted on the entire flock.

〔Example〕

Next, details of the present invention will be explained based on illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of flocking of the bristle bundles of the toothbrush according to the present invention. 1 in the figure is a general flocking table, that is, a flocking table with a flat flocking surface, and is made of acrylonitrile.
Styrene copolymer (AS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS), polypropylene (
PP), cellulose derivatives such as cellulose propionate, nylon, polycarbonate-polyethylene-terephthalate copolymer (PC-PET), polycarbonate-acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (PC-ABS), polymethylpentene, polymethacrylate Acrylic acid-based polymers such as methyl acid (PMMA) can be used. The ones shown as a1 to a9 and b1 to blo in the figure are tuft holes, and similar tuft holes are drilled on the opposite side across the center line XX, and there are four rows of tuft holes in the width direction of the tuft table. It forms a row of flocked hair. Since the flocked state is symmetrical about the center line XX, only the upper half of the figure will be described in the following explanation.

The arrows inside each flocking hole indicate the direction of inclination of the hair bundles to be planted in each transplanting hole.Therefore, in order to tilt the hair bundles in the direction mentioned above, the implanting hole should be opened from the back inside the flocking table 1. It is inclined in the same direction as the arrow toward the surface opening. The material of the hair for the hair bundle to be planted in this hair transplant hole is nylon, polyester such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), animal hair such as pig hair, polypropylene (PP) or polyvinylidene chloride. is 711II11-14mm for adults and 5111Il for children.
It was found that it is preferable to set the value to 1 to 121.

Of the four flocked rows that make up the flocked part, the ones that are turned are
The outer peripheral rows a1 to a9 are tilted toward the center line XX direction, and the hair bundles bl and blO located at the front and back in the length direction of the hair transplantation table are tilted toward the center P of the hair transplantation table 1, Furthermore, the inner rows b2 to b9 are inclined toward the center line XX.

The gist of the present invention is to incline all the hair bundles located on the outer periphery of the hair transplanting part toward the inside of the hair transplantation table, and to
Since the purpose is to make the flocked rows face each other at opposite angles, the mode of flocking may be other than turning.For example, although not shown in the drawings, all the hair bundles bl, al to
9. The blo may be planted toward the center P of the bristle transplanting table 1 while gradually changing the inclination angle. The inventor is the second
Toothbrush stand of the shape shown in the figure, that is, total length A = 170 mm
, Length of the flocking table B-32mm+, Length of the flocking table and neck C
-62mm+, Width of flocking table D=12nv+, Width of handle E=13m+w, Width of neck F=6mm, Thickness of flocking table and neck G=5 n+m, Thickness of handle H=6
A toothbrush stand with a diameter of 0.20 m5+ (manufactured by DuPont) was used as the test toothbrush stand.
A test toothbrush was prepared in which the bristles of Meibun were cut to 11+*m and the ends of the bristles were aligned. Then, using this toothbrush, the inclination angle is set appropriately to change the area formed by the outer periphery of the tip of the grafted hair (hereinafter referred to as the area of the tip of the grafted hair), and this area is used as a criterion for the superiority or inferiority of the plaque removal effect. The relationship with brushing pressure was measured. The area formed by the outer periphery of the hair transplant base (hereinafter referred to as the hair transplant base area) is 2.34 afl.

The test method was to place the toothbrush bristle tip on pressure-sensitive paper (Fuji Film Corporation Prescale ultra-low pressure type), apply a load of 700g to the back of the bristle table for 30 seconds, and then remove the toothbrush and examine the pressure-sensitive paper. The area of the coloring point was measured using an image processing device under constant illumination conditions, and the measurement range was a square area of 8 mm x 8 mm.

Table 1 shows the results. The area ratio (%) in the table represents the ratio of the area of the tip of the bristle to the area of the base of the bristle, and the relative value of the brushing pressure is for a toothbrush with an area ratio of 100%, that is, all the bristle bundles are perpendicular to the bristle table. It represents the relative value when the brushing pressure of a toothbrush planted in the direction is set to 1.

As the test results show, it was found that the relative value of brushing pressure shows a maximum value at an area ratio of 70%, and a relatively high value within the range of 60% to 80% before and after that, and beyond this range. When the area ratio is 85% or more, the brushing pressure is low because the flocking density at the tip of the flocking is low;
% or less, it was found that the brushing pressure acting on the tips of the hair tends to be low because the inclination angle of the hair bundle is large. Therefore, it has been found that it is preferable to set the inclination angle of the hair bundle in the flocked portion so that the area of the tip of the flock falls within a range of 55% to 85% of the area of the base of the flocked hair.

Next, the present inventor conducted the following tests in order to identify a more specific aspect of the flocked part that is excellent in plaque removal effect. In this test, the appearance of the tuft holes, the material, thickness, and name of the bristles were all the same as in the previous test, and the area ratio was within the range of 70% ± 5% that showed the highest brushing pressure in the previous test. This bristle part was set to approximately the same shape as the toothbrush stand used in the previous test, the total length A = 175n + m, the length of the bristle table B = 40 mm, and the length of the bristle part and neck part C = 70 mm.
A test toothbrush was constructed by attaching it to a toothbrush stand with a diameter of 1.4c1fi to 3.0mm. The plaque removal effect on the area of each hair transplant base was measured by changing the Od stepwise. This study was a 9-week repeated study with 5 subjects, each week being one cycle, and one week was allocated to the test period for one type of toothbrush, and the next week was allocated to the test period for a different toothbrush. Repeating each cycle, nine types of toothbrushes with different bristle base areas were tested. The test procedure for each week was as follows: Complete removal of plaque and tartar on the whites of the eyes, brushing with soft bristles to reattach plaque on the 2nd to 4th days, and brushing on the 5th to 6th days. Flashing is discontinued for the eyes, and a plaque removal test is performed for the whites of the seventh eye. Removing plaque and tartar from the first white of the teeth and then reattaching the plaque using soft bristles eliminates the influence of the presence of tartar on the plaque removal effect, and only has a pure plaque removal effect. This is to enable the measurement of In addition, in the plaque removal test, first, the amount of plaque adhesion R was measured after brushing with soft bristles was stopped, and then the plaque was removed by brushing using a test toothbrush, and the amount of plaque adhesion S after brushing was measured. Measure. and (R-S
) The plaque removal rate (%) was calculated using the formula: /RXl0o. Table 2 shows the types of toothbrushes used by the five subjects in this study each week, and the numbers in each column indicate the hair root area (cnO).
This shows the results of this test, showing the plaque removal rate for each subject using each toothbrush and the average value of the plaque removal rate for each toothbrush. This test showed that the plaque removal rate was an extremely excellent value of 95% when the area of the base of the flock was 2.6 cffl, and that a practically effective plaque removal effect could be obtained in the range of 1.6 cal to 2.8 afl. It was discovered.

As described above, in this embodiment, the tufted holes having the above-mentioned inclination angle are formed, and straight hairs are planted in the tufted holes to form the slanted tufted rows.

As described above, the toothbrush according to the present invention has an excellent plaque removal effect, and has an area ratio of 55% to 85%, especially 60%.
% to 80% and the area of the hair transplant base is 1.6
It was also found that the most excellent plaque removal effect was obtained when the ratio was c+ll to 2.8 c++1.

If you use a toothbrush with this type of structure to perform brushing methods using the bristles, such as the scraping method, fawns method, and bath method, you can obtain high brushing pressure and plaque removal effect, and also reduce the density of the grafted hair at the base of the grafted hair. Since the density of the flocked hair at the tip of the flocked hair can be increased without increasing the hair density, it is possible to perform brushing with excellent brushing resistance and without any risk of damaging the gums. In addition, when setting the area of the tip of the bristle-planting to be small, the tufting holes at the base of the bristle-planting do not need to be placed close to each other, so that the mechanical strength of the bristle-planting table 1 does not deteriorate. It also drains water well after use, so you can keep your toothbrush clean. In addition to slanting the bristle bundle rows located on both sides of the bristle implantation table inward, the bristle strands located at the front and rear ends of the bristle implantation section are also slanted inward, allowing the toothbrush to slide in the length direction of the handle. It is possible to obtain strong brushing pressure even when the brush is moved, and when the front and rear ends of the bristles are positioned at the occlusal area, the back side of the teeth, or even between the peaks, it is possible to effectively scrape out plaque accumulated in these areas. be. In addition, since the inner two rows of flocked rows are tilted to face each other, when used by sliding in the width direction of the handle, such as in a rolling method, in addition to the brushing pressure from the outer peripheral row of flocked rows, the brushing pressure from the inner two rows of flocked rows is applied. Brushing pressure also acts effectively, and a large brushing pressure can be exerted on the entire flock.

Table 1 [Effects of the Invention] The toothbrush according to the present invention has a bristle-fed part arranged by arranging four bristle rows in the width direction of a bristle-fed table with a flat bristle-fed surface, and among the bristle bundles of the bristle-fed part. Since all the hair bundles located at least on the outer periphery are tilted toward the inside of the hair transplantation table, it is possible to increase the density of flocked hair at the tip of the transplanted hair without increasing the density of flocked hair at the base of the transplanted hair. Even when using a toothbrush, you can achieve excellent brushing pressure, so if you use this toothbrush to perform brushing methods that utilize the bristles of the toothbrush, such as the scraping method, fawns method, and bath method, you will not damage your gums. It is effective in removing dental plaque and preventing dental caries and periodontal disease. In addition to slanting the bristle bundle rows located on both sides of the bristle implantation table inward, the bristle strands located at the front and rear ends of the bristle implantation section are also slanted inward, allowing the toothbrush to slide in the length direction of the handle. It is possible to obtain strong brushing pressure even when the brush is placed in the tooth, and when the front and rear ends of the bristles are positioned at the occlusal area, the back side of the teeth, or even between the teeth, it is also possible to effectively scrape out plaque accumulated in these areas. It is. In addition, since the inner two rows of flocked rows are tilted to face each other, especially when sliding in the width direction of the handle, in addition to the brushing pressure from the outer peripheral row of flocked rows, the brushing pressure from the inner two rows of flocked rows is also effective. This allows a large amount of brushing pressure to be exerted on the entire flock.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the tufted holes of a toothbrush according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2(A) and (0) are explanatory diagrams showing the shape of the toothbrush stand used in the test. 1: Hair transplantation stand, a1 to a9, bl-blo: Hair transplantation hole. Patent applicant Sunstar Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Tadayoshi Fujiwara Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A flocking section is constructed by arranging four rows of flocking rows in the width direction of a flocking table with a flat flocking surface, and all of the hair bundles of the flocking section located at least on the outer periphery In this toothbrush, the tufts of bristle are inclined toward the inside of a tufting table, and among the four tufted rows constituting the tufted part, the two inner bristle rows are slanted to face each other. 2) The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein all the bristle holes located on the outer periphery of the bristle-planting part are inclined toward the inside of the bristle-planting table, so that all the bristle bundles located on the outer periphery of the bristle-planting part are inclined.