JPH03191905A - Tooth brush having counter driven by solar cell - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To brush teeth uniformly with ease and not to necessitate replacement of cells, by treating informations obtained from a pressure detector of a tooth brush and indicating the result and by driving it through the generated electricity of solar cells. CONSTITUTION:When a brush 101 receives a pressure on brushing teeth, the information is transmitted to an information-treating means 106 from a pressure detector 105. When the value is lower than an appropriate pressure, it is canceled and when it is higher than the appropriate one, it is counted and the numbers are indicated on a display 104 to continue the tooth brushing to reach an appropriate brushing number. The execution at the whole part of the teeth results in a good brushed condition. Any thooth brushes obtainable in the market can be applied as they are. Any kind of solar cells are available but amorphous silicon solar cells are appropriate in a sense of low cost and in a possibility of miniaturization.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a toothbrush that can uniformly brush teeth regardless of the user.

[Description of Prior Art] With conventional toothbrushes, the state of tooth brushing depends on the individual's tooth brushing method, and in particular, the tooth brushing pressure and number of times vary greatly depending on the individual. As a result, tartar and plaque are not removed sufficiently, leading to tooth SM leakage. It does not cause gingivitis or gingivitis. To solve these problems, various toothbrushes have been devised or commercialized,
being sent to the market. For example, there is an electric toothbrush that uses electricity as its driving force. In this method, the brush part is driven by an electric motor, and a clutch is used to change the movement of the brush, such as up and down or rotation, but in this method, the brush part comes into contact with the teeth by the user. The pressure varies, making it difficult for anyone to brush their teeth evenly. Other examples include a toothbrush that electrically decomposes tartar and plaque as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-2207, a toothbrush with elasticity in the toothbrush handle, and a toothbrush that electrically decomposes tartar and plaque. Toothbrushes with shapes that make it easier to brush, as well as products with various improvements such as the shape and hardness of the brushes, are now on the market.On the other hand, there are many types of toothpaste on the market, but for the reasons mentioned above, all of them are The drawback was that its functionality was not fully utilized.

[Object of the Invention] An object of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned problems with conventional toothbrushes and to provide a toothbrush that allows anyone to uniformly brush their teeth with relative ease.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toothbrush that does not require the trouble of battery replacement or maintenance costs.

[Structure of the Invention] The toothbrush of the present invention has at least a brush pressure detection means, a toothbrushing frequency detection means, a processing means for the obtained information, and a display element, and these means are driven by a solar cell. It is a feature.

The toothbrush of the present invention that has such effects will be specifically described below based on the drawings.

Figures 1-a and 1-b are schematic diagrams of a side sectional view and an external view showing a typical example of a toothbrush according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing the electrical connections inside the toothbrush shown in FIGS. 1-a and 1-b. 1st-
In Fig. a, Figs. 1-b, and Fig. 2, 101 is the body of the toothbrush, 102 is the grip portion of the toothbrush, and 103, 203 are solar cells. 104,20
Reference numeral 4 denotes a display element, which is composed of a liquid crystal display plate. 10
5° 205 is a means for detecting the pressure obtained from the handle of the toothbrush. 106.20[i is pressure detection means 105゜205 to process information obtained and display means 104゜2
It is an information processing means for displaying information on 04 and is composed of a computer.

When the brush section receives pressure during tooth brushing, the pressure detection means 105 sends the information to the information processing means 108.

Then, if the value is smaller than the proper pressure, it is canceled, and if it is more than the proper pressure, it is counted, and the number of times is displayed on the display 104. Therefore, if you know the appropriate number of times to brush your teeth, continue brushing until you reach that number. If this is done on all parts of the tooth, a good polished surface will be obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, a commercially available toothbrush can be used as it is. That is, the grip part of the toothbrush according to the present invention is removable from the toothbrush body, so even if the brush part becomes worn out, it can be continued to be used as is by replacing it with a commercially available toothbrush.

The solar cells used in the present invention may be of any type, such as single crystal silicon solar cells, polycrystalline silicon solar cells, amorphous silicon solar cells, gallium arsenide solar cells, indium phosphorus solar cells, and other compound solar cells. pond,
Organic solar cells etc. can be used. Among them, amorphous silicon solar cells are the most suitable solar cells for use in the present invention because they are low in cost, can be made smaller and lighter, do not pollute the environment, and can be formed on flexible substrates. be.

The size of the solar cell may be any size, but the upper limit is determined by the size and shape of the toothbrush and the cost of the solar cell, and the lower limit is determined by whether each means can be driven.

In the present invention, the preferred size of the solar cell is 20
cm2 or less, 0.01co2 or more, and optimally 10
The effect of the present invention is large when the thickness is less than cm2 and more than 0.1 cm2.

The solar cells can be arranged in any way, including connecting them in series to increase the output voltage, and connecting them in parallel so that there is no problem even if one solar cell breaks down or there is no output. It is possible to connect.

The present invention does not require a secondary battery. However, if you set it up for a special purpose such as wanting to use it at night in a dark place,
As the secondary battery, any commonly used secondary battery may be used, such as a nickel cadmium battery, a silver oxide battery, a lead acid battery, and the like.

In addition, when specifically using a backflow prevention diode, any diode may be used, such as a silicon diode,
Schottky diodes, germanium diodes, etc. are used.

The pressure detection means used in the present invention may be any type as long as it can be electrically processed, and examples include leaf switches, tact type switches, hook switches, key switches, pressure sensors, and impact sensors. A pressure sensor using piezoconductive rubber as a switch element is excellent. The display means displays the number of times the tooth has been brushed with the appropriate tooth brushing pressure detected by the pressure detection means.

The display means may be of any type as long as it operates using power supplied by solar cells, and specific examples include liquid crystal display plates, electrochemical displays (ECD), electrophoretic displays (EPID), etc. The LCD display version is excellent. Alternatively, it is also possible to make the user recognize the end of the required number of tooth brushings by voice.

This means that the information processing means determines the appropriate number of times to brush your teeth based on the magnitude of tooth brushing pressure.

It is also possible to use the two types of display methods described above together.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically explained with reference to Examples and Comparative Examples, but the present invention is not limited by these in any way.

[Example 1] As the solar cell used in the toothbrush of the present invention, an amorphous silicon solar cell formed on a stainless steel substrate was used because of its low cost and high degree of freedom in shape. As the pressure detection means, a pressure sensor using pressurized conductive rubber as a switch element was used, and as the display means, a liquid crystal display plate was used.

In addition, a commercially available nylon toothbrush was used, and a grip equipped with the mechanism according to the present invention was connected to the grip portion of the toothbrush.

In order to examine the effects of the toothbrush of the present invention constructed in this manner, the following experiment was conducted.

First, paste-like starch was applied to the teeth, and 30 minutes later, the teeth were brushed using a toothbrush according to the present invention, and then the amount of starch remaining on the teeth was measured by an iodine-starch reaction.

The detection pressure was set at 0.5 kg/cm''. When this test was conducted on 100 people, 90% of them brushed their teeth well.

[Comparative Example 1] With conventional toothbrushes, the state of tooth brushing depends on the individual's tooth brushing method, and in particular, the tooth brushing pressure and frequency vary greatly depending on the individual. As a result, tartar and plaque are not removed sufficiently, leading to alveolar pyorrhea and gingiva. This caused the fire.

A comparison was made between the toothbrush of the present invention and a conventional toothbrush. In order to meet the conditions, a commercially available nylon toothbrush was used.

When the toothbrush of the present invention constructed in this way and the conventional toothbrush were subjected to an experiment similar to that in Example 1, the toothbrush of the present invention was 90%, whereas when brushed by the conventional method, the toothbrush was 60% The result was %. This confirmed the effectiveness of the present invention over conventional methods.

[Comparative example 2] A comparison was made between the toothbrush of the present invention and a conventional electric toothbrush.

Electric toothbrushes brush teeth by driving the brush part using battery power, but there is no standard for determining the pressure applied to the teeth, so it has been difficult to brush to the same state all the time. Furthermore, when used for a long period of time, the electromotive force of the battery became smaller, and as a result, the torque of the motor was insufficient, making it impossible to brush teeth adequately. Therefore, batteries needed to be replaced, resulting in increased effort and maintenance costs.

On the other hand, the toothbrush of the present invention can maintain a uniform state of tooth brushing at all times and does not require battery replacement, so it does not require much effort or maintenance costs.

[Comparative Example 3] The solar battery of the toothbrush of the present invention was replaced with a commercially available AA battery,
A similar study was conducted using toothbrushes with other similar structures.

By driving with a battery, it was possible to obtain a uniform and good tooth brushing condition as in Example 1. However, if you use it for a long time, the battery will wear out and you will need to replace it.
It was time consuming and costly. In addition, there is a fear that the battery will run out, so it is necessary to carry a spare battery if you want to use it for a long time when traveling or the like.

On the other hand, the toothbrush of the present invention shown in Example 1 did not require battery replacement, could be used for a long period of time, and did not require carrying a spare battery.

[Example 2] In the present invention, a similar comparative study was conducted by changing to an audio display method instead of the liquid crystal display. This means that the information processing means calculates the appropriate number of times to brush the teeth at the toothbrushing pressure during use based on the information obtained from the pressure detection means, and when the number of times the tooth brushing reaches the appropriate number, the user is notified by voice. It is.

According to this method, the user can recognize by voice when the appropriate number of tooth brushing times has been completed, and even compared to the first embodiment, the effect of the present invention is further enhanced.

[Example 3] In Example 2, an improvement was made to a mechanism in which a sound is emitted intermittently every time an appropriate pressure is detected, and changes to a continuous sound when the appropriate number of times is reached. As a result, it has become possible to confirm that polishing is being performed at the appropriate pressure at all times.

[Example 4] In Examples 2 and 3, a mechanism was provided to generate a warning sound when excessive pressure was detected. This is effective in preventing damage to the gums caused by brushing too hard when brushing the teeth.

[Effects of the Present Invention] According to the present invention, it has become possible to provide a toothbrush that can uniformly brush teeth regardless of the user. Also,
Since commercially available toothbrushes can be used as is, users can now use their favorite toothbrush.

Furthermore, in the present invention, since the pressure is detected and displayed by electrical processing, by adding an element that emits sound or light, it is easy to provide a voice to the user as in Examples 2 to 4. It has become possible to recognize the Alternatively, if a mechanism is provided to adjust the appropriate number of times of tooth brushing and the appropriate tooth brushing pressure, it becomes possible to handle cases where the users are different, such as adults and children.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1-a and 1-b are a side sectional view and an external view of a toothbrush according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing electrical connections inside the toothbrush according to the present invention. In the figure, 101 is a toothbrush body, 102 is a toothbrush grip, 103 and 203 are solar cells, and 104.2
04 is a display element, 105 and 205 are pressure detection means, 10
6,206 is an information processing means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] It has a toothbrushing pressure detection means, an information processing means for processing information obtained from the means, and a means for displaying and/or recognizing the processing result of the information processing means, and these means are driven by power generated by a solar cell. A toothbrush that is characterized by: