JPH05269024A - Motor-driven tooth-brush - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To clean teeth with reciprocating motion and oscillating rotation by setting the stop position of an output section always at the same position, and by rotating the output section to be oscillated in a range in the fixed direction from the stop position, to bring the output section into contact with tooth faces at a proper angle. CONSTITUTION:An oscillating guide 90 is a perpendicular linear section 90a, first, and is turned into a circular curve section 90b to be a rotary guide on the way, and with a stopper 90c, an oscillating guide projection 91 is stopped not to be rotationally moved furthermore. The most eccentric section of an eccentric shaft 44 is provided with a magnet 92, and the side of a main body 1 is provided with a Hall element 93 to be confronted with the magnet. The position of the magnet 92 of the eccentric shaft 44 is detected by the Hall element 93, and a power source stopping switch is pushed and after that, the current of a motor 40 is controlled so that the magnet may come to the lowest end. When the stopping position of the output section is contrived to be set at the stroke end of linear reciprocating motion, then an oscillating rotational angle is turned clear, and the output section is easily brought into contact with sections between teeth and gum sections at a proper angle, and the gum sections are not harmed by turn over. With the eccentric shaft 44, a cam follower 46 and a driving shaft 4 are moved reciprocatively and vertically, and with combined working, brush does not enter the sections between teeth.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toothbrush used as an oral hygiene tool, and more particularly to an electric toothbrush.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In most conventional electric toothbrushes, the toothbrush portion reciprocates or rolls. In the reciprocating motion, the brush tip is pinched particularly in the interdental part of the back tooth, the stroke is reduced, and the brushing effect is reduced. Also, in the rolling operation, there is a swinging movement from the toothbrush mounting position to both sides around the output shaft, and the stop position is not uniquely determined.Therefore, the brush may swing when the gum is turned up and the gum may be damaged. was there. Further, among the conventional electric toothbrushes, there is one in which the brush portion repeatedly rotates or the brush bundle repeatedly rotates. In this, it is necessary to apply one tooth, one tooth, or one place between teeth. There is
It took time.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its purpose is to:
The stop position of the toothbrush is always constant and it is easy to apply it to the teeth and gums at the correct angle, and the movement of the brush also reciprocates and swings, reciprocating the movement of the brush in the axial direction (bus). The brushing area is wide and it can clean even the interdental part without the brush part being pinched, and the efficiency of blades, between teeth and gums, and between teeth and teeth can be improved. It is to provide an electric toothbrush that can clean the space.

[0004]

In order to solve the problems of the above-mentioned conventional examples and to achieve the object of the present invention, an electric toothbrush according to the present invention is an electric toothbrush having an output part capable of linear reciprocating movement in the axial direction. In the above-mentioned, the stop position of the output portion is always the same, and means for swinging and rotating in a fixed direction range from the stop position around the output shaft center during the linear reciprocating motion is provided.

Further, it is preferable that the stop position of the output portion is the stroke end of the linear reciprocating motion. Further, it is preferable that the main body 1 is provided with a linear reciprocating means in the axial direction and a swinging and rotating means around the axis center. Further, it is also preferable that the linear reciprocating means in the axial direction is provided in the main body 1, and the swinging and rotating means about the axial center is provided in the attachment 10 which is attachable to and detachable from the main body 1.

Furthermore, the swinging and rotating means around the shaft center is provided in the main body 1.
It is also preferable that the attachment 10 detachably attached to the main body 1 is provided with an axial linear reciprocating means.

[0007]

Therefore, in the present invention, in the electric toothbrush having the output portion capable of linear reciprocating movement in the axial direction, the stop position of the output portion is always the same, and during the linear reciprocating movement, from the stop position to around the output shaft center. By having a structure capable of swinging and rotating within a fixed direction range, it is possible to brush the tooth surface by applying the brush portion to the tooth surface at the correct angle and brushing the tooth. It is possible to brush teeth by a combined operation of reciprocating motion (bath) and swinging rotation (rolling) in the axial direction.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail based on the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. The electric toothbrush includes the storage battery 5 and the motor 40.
And the like, and a toothbrush portion 6 connected to a drive shaft 4 projecting from the tip of the body 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a frame 13 having a motor 40 and a cam block 41 mounted therein and a storage battery were mounted inside the main body 1 having covers 11 and 12 attached to the upper end and the lower end, respectively. It contains a battery holder. The drive shaft 4 is also supported by the frame 13 and is connected to the motor 40 via the cam block 41. In the figure, reference numeral 15 is a waterproof rubber for waterproofing the tip of the main body 1, and 2 is a switch, which performs a seesaw operation by alternately operating a push-on switch 22 and a push-off switch 23 arranged on the front surface of the main body 1. It is formed of a switch plate 29 and a contact portion (not shown) that is turned on and off according to the movement of the switch plate 29.

The cam block 41 converts the rotation of the motor 40 into the reciprocating linear motion of the drive shaft 4, and as shown in FIG. 4, the cam block 41 is supported by a shaft 47 whose both ends are supported by the frame 13 to support the motor 40. It is composed of a face gear 43 that meshes with the pinion 42 mounted on the output shaft, an eccentric shaft 44 integrally formed with the face gear 43, and a cam follower 46 that engages with the eccentric shaft 44. The cam follower 46 that positions the eccentric shaft 44 is provided at the lower end of the drive shaft 4 that is axially slidably mounted on the frame 13.

When the motor 40 rotates the eccentric shaft 44 via the pinion 42 and the face gear 43, the eccentric shaft 44
Causes the cam follower 46 and the drive shaft 4 to reciprocate up and down. Since the drive shaft 4 reciprocates in the axial direction, it is necessary to mount the drive shaft 4 on the frame 13 via a bearing, but here, the rolling bearings 81 and 81 mounted on the frame 13 are used. The drive shaft 4 is supported.

Rolling bearing 8 for supporting the tip of drive shaft 4
As shown in FIG. 5, reference numeral 1 denotes an annular retainer 82, balls 83 respectively arranged in a plurality of axial grooves 84 formed in the retainer 82, and outer peripheries of both ends of the ball 83 in the retainer 82. And an outer ring 85 that surrounds the ball 8 when the drive shaft 4 reciprocates in the axial direction.
3 is made movable in the axial direction.

A toothbrush portion 6 is detachably attached to the tip of the drive shaft 4 which makes a reciprocating linear motion. A brush portion 36 is provided at the tip of the toothbrush portion 6 so as to project in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the toothbrush portion 6. 6 and 7 show each embodiment of the operation of the toothbrush portion 6. Now, the lower end position when the toothbrush portion 6 makes a linear reciprocating motion is (a),
Assuming that the intermediate position is (b) and the upper end position is (c), in the embodiment of FIG. 6, the toothbrush portion 6 is located at the lower end position (a) of the linear reciprocating motion and at the intermediate position (b). The brush portion 36 provided is oriented perpendicularly to the paper surface of FIG. 6, but when it is at the upper end position (c), it is oscillatingly rotated by an angle of θ ₁ , and from the upper end position (c) to the intermediate position (b). When returning, θ ₁ → 0, and the operation is such that it also becomes 0 at the lower end position (a). Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 7, the toothbrush portion 6 has a brush portion 36 provided on the toothbrush portion 6 which is oriented vertically to the paper surface of FIG. 6 at the lower end position (a) of the linear reciprocating motion. theta ₂ in the intermediate position (b) as it moves to the upper end position (c) gradually swing angle of rotation so that the theta ₁ increases, the upper end position as the (c) returns to the lower end position (a) θ ₁ → The operation is such that θ ₂ → 0.

In FIGS. 4 and 8, linear reciprocating motion in the axial direction is performed by an eccentric shaft 44 formed integrally with a face gear 43 meshing with the pinion 42, and a cam follower 46 engaging with the eccentric shaft 44. The respective embodiments are shown in which the swinging rotation around the axis center in a certain direction is performed by the swinging guide 90 and the swinging guide projection 91. The swing guide protrusion 91 is provided so as to project from the cam follower 46, and the swing guide 90 is formed on the frame 13 of the main body 1. And
When the drive shaft 4 moves up and down due to the rotation of the eccentric shaft 44, the swing guide protrusion 91 moves up and down the swing guide to generate a rotational force. Here, in order to perform the movement as shown in FIG. 6, as shown in FIG. 4, the swing guide 90 is initially a vertical straight line portion 90a, and an arcuate curved portion 90b for guiding rotation from the middle (that is, from the upper end of the straight line portion). In order to make the movement as shown in FIG. 7, the swing guide 90 has a structure in which the whole is an arcuate curved portion 90b for guiding the rotation from the beginning as shown in FIG. There is.
In FIGS. 4 and 8, 90c is a stopper, which serves to stop the swing guide protrusion 91 from rotating further. FIG. 9 shows the lower end position (a) in FIG.
The relationship between the eccentric shaft 44 and the cam follower 46 at the intermediate position (b) and the upper end position (c), the relationship between the drive shaft 4, the swing guide protrusion 91 and the swing guide 90, and the brush portion 36.
Shows the mutual relationship of the directions of.

By the way, in the present invention, the stop position of the reciprocating linearly moving output portion is always constant, but in order to make the stop position of the reciprocating linearly moving output portion always constant, in the embodiment, the following is performed. Is done. That is, in the embodiment, the magnet 92 is provided at the most eccentric portion of the eccentric shaft 44, and the Hall element 93 corresponding to the magnet is provided on the main body 1 side. The current of the motor 40 is controlled so that the magnet is at the lowermost end after the power stop switch is pressed. The block diagram is shown in FIG.
Further, in the embodiment, the stop position of the output portion is set to the stroke end of the linear reciprocating motion. The eccentric shaft 4
The position detection of No. 4 is not limited to this, and means using an encoder or the like may be used.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the embodiment in which the axial reciprocating means and the swinging and rotating means about the axis center are provided inside the main body 1, is shown in FIGS. 11 to 13. The reciprocating means is provided in the main body 1, and the swinging and rotating means around the shaft center is provided in the detachable attachment 10. That is, in this embodiment, the cover 11 constitutes the attachment 10 which is attachable to and detachable from the main body 1.
FIG. 11 is a view showing a linear reciprocating means provided in the main body 1, and an eccentric shaft 44 integrally formed with a face gear 43 that meshes the axial linear reciprocating motion with the pinion 42.
And a cam follower 46 that engages with the eccentric shaft 44. The attachment 10 is provided with a slanting guide groove 94 provided obliquely on the inner wall, and when the toothbrush portion 6 is fitted to the drive shaft 4, the swinging guide protrusion portion 95 provided on the toothbrush portion 6 causes this swinging. When the drive shaft 4 is fitted in the guide groove 94 and the drive shaft 4 reciprocates linearly, the swing guide protrusion 95 moves in the swing guide groove 94 to swing and rotate about the central axis. The way of rotation can be the same as that of FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 depending on the shape of the swing guide groove 94.

14 to 16 show still another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, an oscillating and rotating means about an axis center is provided in the main body 1, and an axial linear reciprocating means is detachably attached to the main body 1.
To prepare for. That is, also in this embodiment, the cover 11 constitutes the attachment 10 which is attachable to and detachable from the main body 1. FIG. 14 is a view showing the swinging and rotating means provided in the main body 1. The cam 44a is integrally formed with the face gear 43 that meshes with the pinion 42, and the cam 44a.
The cam follower 46 is engaged with the cam follower 46.
Here, a circular cam 44a is formed on the outer periphery of a shaft portion that vertically projects from the face gear 43.
The axis of the shaft 4a is inclined with respect to the axis of the shaft portion vertically projecting from the face gear 43. And
By engaging the cam 44a with the cam follower 46,
The drive shaft 4 swings and rotates. On the other hand, the attachment 10 detachably attached to the main body 1 is provided with a slanting linear reciprocating guide groove 97 on its inner wall, and by fitting the toothbrush portion 6 to the drive shaft 4,
The linear guide protrusion 98 provided on the toothbrush portion 6 is fitted into the linear reciprocating motion guide groove 97, and when the drive shaft 4 makes an oscillating rotary motion, the linear guide protrusion 98 moves within the linear reciprocating motion guide groove 97. By moving it, it reciprocates in a straight line. FIG. 16 shows the operation, and FIG.
(B) and (c) show the relationship between the cam 44a and the cam follower 46, the position of the drive shaft 4, and the orientation of the brush section 36. Then, as shown in (a), the cam follower 46 is fitted to the inclination of the cam 44a and rotates by θ ₁ . At this time, if the mounting positions of the cam follower 46 and the drive shaft are set by θ _1, it becomes (a), the intermediate position (b) and the upper end position (c), and the cam follower 46 swings by ± θ ₁ to drive. The shaft 4 swings 0 to 2θ ₁ . Also, by always setting the stop position to (a), it is possible to rotate around the output shaft center in a fixed direction. Further, (a) corresponds to the lower end position of vertical movement, (b) corresponds to the intermediate position, and (c) corresponds to the upper end position.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the electric toothbrush having the output portion capable of linear reciprocating movement in the axial direction, the stopping positions of the output portions are always the same, and the electric toothbrush stops during the linear reciprocating movement. Since it has a means capable of swinging and rotating in a certain direction range from the position around the output shaft center, it is easy to apply it at the correct angle when applying the brush part to the tooth surface, and the tooth brushing area by the brush is wide, In addition, the combined operation of the linear reciprocating motion and the oscillating rotation allows the brush portion to be cleaned without being pinched even between the teeth, so that the tooth brushing can be efficiently performed.

Further, when the output position is stopped at the stroke end of the linear reciprocating motion, the swinging rotation angle becomes clear, and the tooth and gum can be easily applied at an appropriate angle.
You can brush your teeth efficiently without turning up the gums and damaging them. Further, in the case where the main body is provided with the axial linear reciprocating means and the swinging and rotating means around the shaft center, since the driving portion itself performs the linear reciprocating movement and the swinging and rotating movement, the toothbrush portion However, the conventional brush has a structure in which only a handle and a brush portion are used, and a replacement brush for the conventional electric toothbrush can be used.

Further, in the case where an axial linear reciprocating means is provided in the main body, and an oscillating and rotating means around the shaft center is provided in an attachment detachable from the main body, when the attachment is used, the linear reciprocating movement is carried out. Toothbrushing that combines motion and oscillating rotary motion can be performed, and when a replacement brush having only a handle and a brush portion is used, it can be used only in a reciprocating linear motion, and various toothpastes can be selected.

Further, in the case where the swinging and rotating means around the axis is provided in the main body and the axial linear reciprocating means is provided in the attachment detachable from the main body, when the attachment is used, the linear reciprocating movement is carried out. It is possible to brush teeth by combining movement and oscillating rotation movement. Also, when a replacement brush having only a handle and a brush portion is used, it can be used by only oscillating rotation movement, and various toothpaste can be selected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the same main body.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part of the above.

FIG. 4A is an exploded perspective view of the drive block of the above, and FIG. 4B is a front view of the swing guide of the above.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the above bearing.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an example showing the swinging and rotating position of the brush portion at the lower end position, the intermediate position, and the upper end position of the above reciprocating linear motion.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of another example showing the swinging and rotating position of the brush portion at the lower end position, the intermediate position, and the upper end position of the above reciprocating linear motion.

FIG. 8A is an exploded perspective view of another embodiment of the drive block used in the same as above, and FIG. 8B is a front view of the swing guide of the above.

9 is a diagram showing the relationship between the eccentric shaft and the cam follower at the lower end position, the intermediate position, and the upper end position in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship.

FIG. 10 is a block circuit diagram of the above.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a drive block according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing the drive shaft, the attachment, and the toothbrush portion of the above.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view of the above.

FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view of a drive block according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an exploded perspective view showing the drive shaft, the attachment, and the toothbrush portion of the above.

16 (a), (b), and (c) are explanatory views showing the relationship between the cam and the cam follower, the position of the drive shaft, and the direction of the brush section, respectively.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 body 10 attachment

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An electric toothbrush having an output part capable of linear reciprocating motion in the axial direction, in which the stopping position of the output part is always the same, and during the linear reciprocating motion, a swing in a constant direction range from the stopping position to the output shaft center. An electric toothbrush characterized by comprising a means capable of rotatably rotating. 2. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the stop position of the output portion is a stroke end of a linear reciprocating motion. 3. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, further comprising an axial linear reciprocating means and an oscillating rotating means around the axis center inside the main body. 4. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein a linear reciprocating means in the axial direction is provided in the main body, and an oscillating and rotating means about an axis center is provided in an attachment detachable from the main body. 5. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein a swinging and rotating means about an axis center is provided in the main body, and an axial linear reciprocating means is provided in an attachment detachable from the main body.