JPH04322604A - Electrically driven toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an electrically driven toothbrush that allows the tip of brush to enter between teeth without fail and with ease irrespective of the way of brushing teeth. CONSTITUTION:In an electrically driven toothbrush 10 comprising a driving means (motor 21) and a brush 12 that can be driven with said driving means 21 to oscillate the tip 14 of said brush to brush teeth with the tip located at a teeth portion to be brushed, a control means (timing forming circuit 28) is provided for controlling the driving means so as to intermittantly oscillate the tip of the toothbrush.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to an electric toothbrush.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, electric toothbrushes have been known which include a toothbrush driven by a driving means, and which brush teeth by positioning the bristles of the toothbrush at the area to be brushed and swinging the bristles.

[0003] In this electric toothbrush, teeth can be brushed in a short time by swinging the bristles at high speed, for example, depending on the brushing method or the area to be brushed.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, such electric toothbrushes are particularly difficult to use when using the bath method (positioned at an angle of about 45 degrees from the horizontal to the teeth and primarily brushes the gums) or the slubbing method (which mainly brushes the gums). On the other hand, when brushing teeth with a brush that is positioned at an angle of approximately 90 degrees perpendicular to the tooth surface, and when the bristles are swung at high speed, the tips of each bristles are placed in a plane with the tooth. There was a problem in that the bristles moved around the teeth, making it difficult to insert the tips of the bristles between the teeth, resulting in unpolished areas.

[0005] This invention was made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to easily and reliably insert the tips of the bristles between the teeth, regardless of the method of brushing. Our goal is to provide an electric toothbrush that can.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, an electric toothbrush according to the present invention is provided with a toothbrush driven by a driving means, the bristles of the toothbrush are positioned at the area to be brushed, and the bristles are The electric toothbrush that brushes teeth by oscillating the bristles is characterized in that a control means is provided for controlling the driving means to intermittently oscillate the bristles while the bristles are oscillating.

[0007] Further, in the electric toothbrush, which includes a toothbrush driven by a driving means and which brushes the teeth by positioning the bristles of the toothbrush at an area to be brushed and swinging the bristles, the electric toothbrush may be configured to move The present invention is characterized in that a control means is provided for controlling the driving means so as to intermittently swing the tips of the hair, and an operating means is provided for stopping the function of the control means.

[0008]

[Operation] With the electric toothbrush according to the present invention, the tips of the bristles, which are flat against the teeth during the swinging motion, become separated one by one as the swinging motion weakens and becomes slow or stops. Therefore, each bristles can be easily and reliably inserted between the teeth.

[0009]

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the electric toothbrush according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 10 is an electric toothbrush, 11 is a main body case, and 12 is a toothbrush. The toothbrush 12 has a shaft portion 13 and bristles 14.

The main case 11 is formed of a cylindrical body that can be held by hand, and has an opening 11a at the front end and a recess 11b at the rear end. A drive shaft 15 projects from the opening 11a, and a terminal 16 projects from the recess 11b.

On the outer surface of the front end side of the main body case 11, there is a rotary power switch 17 having an operation protrusion 17a;
Spot buttons 18 whose outer surfaces are covered with waterproof covers 18a are arranged in parallel in the front and rear. spot button 1
Reference numeral 8 indicates a switch 20 attached to a circuit board 19 inside the main body case 11 that can be operated to turn on and off, and is kept in the OFF state at all times and can be turned into the ON state by pressing it. can.

A motor (driving means) 21 and a battery 22 are built into the main body case 11 on the rear side, and a pinion gear 23 is fixed to a shaft 21a of the motor 21 protruding toward the front end. The pinion gear 23 has teeth 24a of a gear 24 rotatably supported by the main body case 11.
is screwed into the pinion gear 23 from below.

The gear 24 has teeth 24a formed on the entire circumference of the front surface of the disc, and a rod-shaped eccentric cam 24b protrudes toward the pinion gear 23 at a position eccentric from the center of rotation. There is. This eccentric cam 24b is inserted into a ring portion 25 formed at the rear end of the drive shaft 15.

The ring portion 25 is formed in an elliptical shape with an internal gap 25a extending in a direction perpendicular to the drive shaft 15 and having a width substantially the same as the outer diameter of the eccentric cam 24b. It can move freely within the gap 25a. The width of the internal gap 25a has a length that is at least longer than the diameter of the circle drawn by the movement locus of the eccentric cam 24b. This ring portion 25 functions as a rotation-linear motion conversion mechanism.

Further, the drive shaft 15 is slidably held via a roller 26a of a bearing portion 26 provided on the front side inside the main body case 11.

Therefore, the circular motion of the eccentric cam 24b is caused by the movement in the left-right direction (the short axis direction of the main body case 11) being absorbed by the internal gap 25a.
1) is extracted and transmitted to the drive shaft 15, causing the drive shaft 15 to advance and retreat with respect to the opening 11a.

A toothbrush 12 is detachably attached to the tip of the drive shaft 15.

The toothbrush 12 has a plurality of bristles 14 at the tip of a shaft portion 13, and has a mounting portion 12a on the rear end of the shaft portion 13 into which a drive shaft 15 is fitted. In the hair tips 14, each hair 14a is individually planted in a bundle.

As shown in FIG. 3, the circuit board 19 incorporates a timing generation circuit 28 consisting of an oscillation/frequency dividing circuit 27a and a one-shot multivibrator circuit 27b, and a motor control circuit 29 having a transistor 29a. .

The oscillation/frequency dividing circuit 27 is constructed using an inverter and a counter, and generates a timing of about 3.5 seconds per cycle (duty ratio indicating efficiency: 50%). Furthermore, the one-shot multivibrator circuit 28 creates timings of 3 seconds "Hi" and 0.5 seconds "Lo".

Therefore, the oscillation/frequency dividing circuit 27a outputs a pulse signal a (see FIG. 4) having a repetition period of 3.5 seconds and a pulse width of 1.75 seconds to the one-shot multivibrator circuit 27b, The shot multivibrator circuit 27b outputs a pulse signal b (see FIG. 4) having a pulse width of 3 seconds to the motor control circuit 29 every time the pulse signal a is output. This pulse signal b causes the motor 2
1 repeats an intermittent operation in which it is driven for 3 seconds and then stopped for 0.5 seconds.

These timing generation circuits 28 function as control means for controlling the drive of the motor 21.

Note that the time for driving the motor 21 is 3
The time is not limited to seconds, but may be set arbitrarily between 2 and 3 seconds.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the spot button 18 is turned on, the timing generation circuit 28 is turned on.
, and the motor 21 can be kept energized at all times without passing through the motor control circuit 29. Therefore, by pressing the spot button 18 and maintaining the ON state, the toothbrush 12 is constantly driven and the bristles 14 continue to swing.

Furthermore, by turning it off, the motor 21 can be returned to intermittent operation.

This spot button 18 functions as an operation means for stopping the function of the control means.

Next, the operation of the electric toothbrush having the above structure will be explained.

The bristles 14 of the toothbrush 12 are positioned at the area to be brushed, and the operating protrusion 17a is operated to turn on the power switch 17 to operate the electric toothbrush 10. By operating the electric toothbrush 10, the driving force of the motor 21 is transmitted to the toothbrush 12 via the drive shaft 15, and the bristles 14 swing.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, by swinging the bristles 14 that are positioned at various angles in the area to be brushed, the teeth T or gums can be cleaned using the bath method or the scrubbing method. It can be polished using various polishing methods.

After the bristles 14 have finished polishing by swinging for 3 seconds, the timing generating circuit 28 operates to start the motor 2.
1 is stopped. When the driving of the motor 21 is stopped, the swinging motion of the bristles 14 weakens, becomes low speed, or stops for 0.5 seconds, during which time the bristles 14 are moved to the next area to be brushed, and the teeth T The tips 14 of the bristles 14a, each of which has been separated one by one, are inserted between the and teeth T.

In this way, the motor 21 repeats an intermittent operation in which it is driven for 3 seconds and then stopped for 0.5 seconds, so even when the bristles 14 are oscillated at high speed, the teeth T and The bristles 14 can be easily and reliably moved between the teeth T within the swinging stop time without moving to another tooth T before the bristles 14 do not fully enter between the teeth T. It can be applied easily and will not leave any unpolished surfaces.

Furthermore, by setting the polishing time so that the rocking period is, for example, 3 seconds, it is possible to know when the polishing is finished when the rocking stops.

By the way, for example, when polishing one area over a long period of time, by pressing the spot button 18 to turn it on, the function of the control means is stopped and the brush tip 1 is continuously polished.
4 can be swung.

Furthermore, by continuing to press the spot button 18, the ON state can be continued as long as necessary, and by stopping pressing the spot button 18, the function of the control means is activated, and the motor 21 is driven for 3 seconds. 0.
Repeat the intermittent operation with a 5 second stop.

[0036] In this way, the function of the control means can be stopped and the bristles 14 can be continuously oscillated as needed, and the intermittent operation can be returned to at any time.

[0037]

Effects of the Invention The electric toothbrush according to the present invention includes a toothbrush driven by a driving means, and the electric toothbrush brushes the teeth by positioning the bristles of the toothbrush at an area to be brushed and swinging the bristles. The present invention is characterized in that a control means is provided for controlling the driving means so as to intermittently swing the bristles during the swinging of the bristles.

[0038] Therefore, regardless of the brushing method, the tips of the bristles can be easily and reliably inserted between the teeth.
Does not leave unpolished surfaces.

Further, the electric toothbrush according to the present invention includes a toothbrush driven by a driving means, and the electric toothbrush brushes the teeth by positioning the bristles of the toothbrush at an area to be brushed and swinging the bristles. , characterized in that a control means is provided for controlling the driving means to intermittently swing the bristles during the swinging of the bristles, and an operating means for stopping the function of the control means is provided. There is.

[0040] Therefore, regardless of the brushing method, the tips of the bristles can be easily and reliably inserted between the teeth.
Does not leave unpolished surfaces. In addition, it is possible to stop the function of the control means and swing the bristles continuously as necessary, for example, when brushing one area intensively, so that the usability can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory longitudinal cross-sectional view of an electric toothbrush according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional explanatory diagram of an electric toothbrush.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control circuit.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing pulses output in the control circuit.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of an electric toothbrush.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the tips of the bristles in a toothbrushing state.

[Explanation of symbols]

10　Electric toothbrush 12 Toothbrush 14 Tips of hair 18 Spot button 21 Motor (drive means) 28 Timing creation circuit

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claims: 1. An electric toothbrush comprising a toothbrush driven by a driving means, which positions the bristles of the toothbrush at an area to be brushed and swings the bristles to brush the teeth, the toothbrush comprising: An electric toothbrush characterized by comprising a control means for controlling the driving means so as to intermittently swing the bristles. 2. An electric toothbrush comprising a toothbrush driven by a driving means, in which the bristles of the toothbrush are positioned at an area to be brushed and the bristles are oscillated to brush the teeth, while the bristles are being oscillated. An electric toothbrush, comprising: a control means for controlling the driving means to intermittently swing the bristles; and an operating means for stopping the function of the control means.