JPH0687812B2 - electric toothbrush - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric toothbrush,
More specifically, the present invention relates to an electric toothbrush that uses a material that is difficult to be electrolyzed for a connection terminal for charging that is connected to a battery that is a power source of a motor of an electric toothbrush.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electric toothbrush, a brush portion is driven by a motor, which is a driving source, via a transmission mechanism to move the brush portion. The power source of the motor is usually a storage battery to which a charging terminal is connected, and the storage battery is charged by connecting the charging terminal to the charging device.

The charging terminal usually consists of two terminals, a cathode portion and an anode portion, and is made of a conductive material.

[0004]

In the above electric toothbrush, toothpaste may adhere to the main body during use.
May also adhere to live parts. At this time, toothpaste adhered between the terminals, the terminals were electrically connected during charging, the metal of the anode part was melted by electrolysis and adhered to the cathode part, and further rust was generated, which was likely to cause a failure. .

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an electric toothbrush having an anode portion in which the anode portion is made of a material that is not easily electrolyzed and rust is less likely to occur. To provide.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a brush part which is driven by a drive source, a battery which can be charged by supplying power to the drive source, and a charging device connected to the battery. An electric toothbrush including a cathode for charging and an anode for charging is characterized in that the anode for charging is made of titanium material.

[0007]

[Function] By using a titanium material for the charging anode part of the electric toothbrush, liquid such as toothpaste adheres between the charging anode part and the charging cathode part, and when charging, the charging anode part and the charging anode part are charged. Even if a conduction state occurs between the cathode parts, the charging anode part does not melt and rust is less likely to occur because the titanium material does not melt at a low voltage.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 20 show an embodiment of the present invention.
1 and 2 show a state in which the electric toothbrush 1 according to the present invention is attached to the charger 31. In these drawings, reference numeral 15 denotes a housing, and inside the housing 15, a motor 17 capable of rotating in the forward and reverse directions is attached. A pinion 18 is attached to the output shaft of the motor 17,
The rotation is transmitted to the transmission mechanism described in detail below.

That is, in FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a cam follower, which has a substantially cylindrical cam follower main body 2 and an output shaft 3 projecting from the upper surface of the cam follower main body 2. Also, the cam follower body 2
The vertical reciprocating cam surface 4 that comes into contact with a tapered surface 8a of the later-described reciprocating cam 8 and the outer peripheral surface of a linear reciprocating cam 7 that will be described later, as shown in FIG. A horizontal linear reciprocating cam surface 5 is formed.

Next, 6 is a first eccentric cam, which is disposed inside the cam follower main body 2. The eccentric cam 6 is formed by axially connecting the linear reciprocating motion cam 7 and the rotary reciprocating motion cam 8 in a slightly displaced state, and has a through hole 9 therein and a through hole 9. A rotation stopper 10 is attached to the edge of the hole 9. A taper surface 8a is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cam 8 for rotary reciprocating motion. Further, in FIG. 3, a is a cam 7 for linear reciprocating motion.
And b is the central axis of the cam 8 for rotary reciprocating motion.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a second eccentric cam. This eccentric cam 11 has an outer diameter that can be inserted into the through hole 9 of the first eccentric cam 6 and has a shaft hole 12 inside, and its end. The part is provided with a guide groove 13 over approximately half the circumference. Further, a face gear 14 is integrally attached to an end of the second eccentric cam 11 opposite to the guide groove 13.

In FIG. 3, r ₁ represents the eccentric amount of the second eccentric cam 11 with respect to the center of the shaft hole 12, that is, the center of the face gear 14, and r ₂ represents the center of the through hole 9, that is, the second eccentricity. The eccentric amount of the first cam 6 with respect to the center of the cam 11 is shown. Here, r ₁ = r ₂ , and r ₂ is the cam 7 for linear reciprocating motion with respect to the center of the through hole 9.
Is also the amount of eccentricity.

Therefore, the transmission mechanism constructed by combining these members has a shaft hole 1 as shown in FIGS.
2, the gear shaft 19 is penetrated and attached to the casing 15, and the face gear 14 is meshed with the pinion 18.

Next, as shown in FIG.
A switch handle 20 is disposed near the upper end of the switch handle 20. The switch handle 20 is engaged with a disc-shaped rotatable switch cam 21 attached to the casing 15 via a waterproof O-ring. . That is, as shown in FIG.
The switch cam 21 is provided with engaging protrusions 21a and 21b on the front and back, and one engaging protrusion 21a and the switch handle 2 are provided.
The engagement with 0 causes the switch cam 21 to rotate as the switch handle 20 moves up and down.

Further, since the other engaging convex portion 21b is engaged with the switch lever 22 (see also FIG. 5) extending in the vertical direction of the casing 15, the switch cam 21 associated with the vertical movement of the switch handle 20 is moved. Rotation in the forward and reverse directions drives the switch lever 22 up and down.

As shown in FIG. 7, two contact springs 2 are attached to the contact mounting plate 22a at the lower end of the switch lever 22.
3, 24 are attached. These contact springs 23, 2
The switch 4 switches the rotation direction of the motor 17 by selectively contacting the circuit pattern formed on the printed board 25 of FIG. 6, and at the same time, changes the speed according to the rotation direction. That is, the printed board 25 has contacts 25a, 25 connected to the storage battery 27 side, which will be described later, as shown in FIG.
b and the contacts 25c and 25d connected to the motor 17 side
And a contact 25e, and a resistor 26 is connected between the contacts 25c and 25e.

However, when the switch handle 20 is moved upward, the contact springs 23, 24 are passed through the switch lever 22.
Is moved upward, contact springs 23, 24 as shown in FIG.
Between the contacts 25b and 25d and between the contacts 25a and 2d, respectively.
It will be connected between 5c, storage battery 27 and motor 1
7 and 7 are directly connected. If the rotation direction of the motor 17 at this time is the forward direction, this state is the state of the switch in the circuit of FIG. Also, the switch handle 20
9 is brought down, the contact springs 23, 24
Is turned off because it is partially opened and the motor 1
7 stops.

When the switch handle 20 is further moved downward, the state shown in FIG. 10 is established, and the contact springs 23 and 24 are connected between the contacts 25b and 25e and between the contacts 25a and 25d, respectively. That is, since the polarity of the voltage applied from the storage battery 27 to the motor 17 is reversed, the motor 17 is also reversed, and at the same time, the resistance 2 between the contacts 25e and 25c is increased.
6, the applied voltage decreases, and the rotation speed of the motor 17 also decreases. The circuit at this time is in a state where the switches are indicated by broken lines in FIG. In FIG. 11, 28 is a charging changeover switch described later, 29 is a charging anode terminal, and 30 is a charging cathode terminal.

Therefore, if the forward rotation of the motor 17 corresponds to the rotational reciprocating motion, and the reverse rotation corresponds to the linear reciprocating motion, these two motions can be switched by the operation of the switch handle 20. The vibration speed can be slower than that during the reciprocating rotation. Here, the switch handle 20, the switch lever 22 including the contact springs 23 and 24, the printed board 25, the resistor 26 and the like are means for switching the rotation direction of the motor 17, and the vibration speed of the linear reciprocating motion is reciprocating. It also has a function as speed switching means for making the vibration speed slower than the vibration speed.

Next, referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, a storage battery 27 is disposed below the motor 17, and the storage battery 27 has a charging anode terminal 29 and a charging cathode terminal 30.
Are electrically connected. These terminals 29, 30
Are connected to the anode fitting 32 and the cathode fitting 33, respectively, when the electric toothbrush according to the present invention is attached to the charger 31, and the charging anode terminal 29 and the anode fitting 32 shown in FIG. It is formed in. This is because in an electric toothbrush, toothpaste may adhere to the terminals 29, 30 and the like, and the terminals 29, 30 are charged during charging.
Focusing on the fact that the charging anode terminal 29 and the like are melted by electrolysis due to electrical continuity between them, and rusting is caused to cause a failure, the cause of the failure is removed by using a titanium material that is difficult to electrolyze at low voltage. To do.

Further, the charging cathode terminal 30 and the cathode fitting 33
Since foreign matter may enter between them and rust may occur due to poor contact, it is more preferable to form the charging cathode terminal 30 from a titanium material in order to prevent this.

Further, in the vicinity of the terminals 29 and 30, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, a push lever 34 that can be retracted from the lower housing 35 of the transmission toothbrush is arranged. The push lever 34 is supported by a guide plate 36 provided with a waterproof O-ring, and the lower end portion of the electric toothbrush is connected to the charger 31 when the storage battery 27 is charged.
When it is mounted on the mounting portion 37, the protrusion 37a protruding inward from the mounting portion 37 presses the end portion of the push lever 34 inward, and the charging changeover switch 2 provided inside thereof.
8 is separated from the contact piece 38 to be in an OFF state (see FIG. 13), and when not charging, the push lever 34 is returned to the outside so that the charging changeover switch 28 is in an ON state (FIG. 1).
4), the storage battery 27 is used as a power source to supply power to the motor 17 as shown in FIG.

With this structure, the motor 17 is erroneously charged regardless of the position of the switch handle 20 during charging.
Can be prevented from rotating, and the terminal 2 is not charged.
It is possible to prevent a short circuit between 9 and 30. Further, by disposing the push lever 34 on the side surface of the lower housing 35, the frequency of charging is relatively high and the force required for frequent insertion and removal of the electric toothbrush with respect to the charger 31 can be reduced.

Next, this operation will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the brush portion 3 connected to the output shaft 3
The operation (so-called bass method) of linearly reciprocating 9 (see FIGS. 2 and 5) will be described in detail. In this case, by moving the switch handle 20 downward, as described above, the motor 1
7 is reversed, and the rotation of the pinion 18 is transmitted to the second eccentric cam 11 via the face gear 14. Second eccentric cam 1
When 1 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 16, for example, the rotation is eventually restricted by the rotation stopper 10 and stops at the position shown in FIG. Here, r ₁ shown in FIGS. 15 and 17 is equal to r _2, and the eccentric amount of the linear reciprocating motion cam 7 with respect to the center of the gear shaft 19 is r ₃ = r ₁ + r ₂ = 2r.
₁ and the cam 8 for reciprocating rotation with respect to the center of the gear shaft 19
The eccentricity amount of is r ₁ −r ₂ = 0. Therefore, the cam follower 1 moves up and down by the linear reciprocating cam 7 with an amplitude of 2r ₁ × 2 = 4r ₁ . Therefore, linear reciprocating motion can be taken out from the output shaft 3. During this time, since the eccentric amount of the cam 8 for rotary reciprocating motion is 0, the rotary motion of the output shaft 3 is restricted.

During this linear reciprocating movement, the motor 17
Since the voltage applied to the resistor is lowered by inserting the resistor 26,
The vibration speed of the linear reciprocating motion becomes slow, and the vibration speed of the brush portion 39 suitable for the bass method is obtained.

On the other hand, the operation of reciprocally rotating the brush portion 39 (so-called rolling method) is performed by the switch handle 2.
It is realized by moving 0 up. That is, the forward rotation of the motor 17 causes the second eccentric cam 11 to rotate in the direction opposite to that shown in FIG. 16, as shown in FIG. 19, and the action of the rotation stopper 10 causes the first and second eccentric cams 6, 6.
The positional relationship of 11 is as shown in FIG. Also in this case, r ₁ is equal to r _2, and the eccentric amount of the linear reciprocating motion cam 7 with respect to the center of the gear shaft 19 is r ₁ −r ₂ = 0,
Further, the eccentricity of the rotary reciprocating cam 8 with respect to the center of the gear shaft 19 is r ₄ =, as shown in FIGS. 18, 19 and 20.
r ₁ + r ₂ = 2r ₁ .

At this time, since the linear reciprocating cam 7 has an eccentricity of 0, the vertical reciprocating motion is restricted, but the rotary reciprocating cam 8 has the tapered surface 8a as described above. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 20, the cam reciprocating cam surface 4 of the cam follower body 2 that is in contact with the tapered surface 8a is driven to rotate the cam follower 1 within the range of the angle 2θ. As a result, the output shaft 3 rotates within the range of the angle 2θ.

Therefore, the brush portion 39 also rotates in the range of the angle 2θ to enable tooth brushing by the rolling method. At this time, the voltage of the storage battery 27 is directly applied to the motor 17 without passing through the resistor 26. The motor 17 rotates at a higher speed than during linear reciprocating motion, and the vibration speed of the brush portion 39 is switched to a high speed suitable for the rolling method.

[0028]

As described above, even if a liquid such as toothpaste adheres to the charging terminal and the charging terminals are electrically connected during charging, the charging anode terminal is formed of titanium material. The charging anode terminal is less likely to melt due to the action of electrolysis, and rust is less likely to occur, so that no cause of failure occurs.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front cross-sectional view of a main part for explaining a state in which an electric toothbrush is attached to a charger.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of an essential part for explaining a state in which the electric toothbrush is mounted on the charger.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of an electric mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of the electric mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway front view showing an internal structure.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a switch lever and the like.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a switch lever and the like.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a switch operation when switching between motion and speed.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a switch operation when switching between motion and speed.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a switch operation when switching between motion and speed.

FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram of a switch when switching between motion and speed.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a charging terminal and the like.

13 is a sectional view taken along line XX in FIG.

14 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a sectional view of a transmission mechanism during linear reciprocating motion.

16 is an explanatory diagram seen from the direction A in FIG.

FIG. 17 is an operation explanatory diagram.

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of a transmission mechanism at the time of reciprocating rotation.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory view seen from the direction B in FIG. 18.

20A to 20D are operation explanatory diagrams.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Electric Toothbrush 4 Brush Part 17 Motor 27 Storage Battery 29 Anode Terminal for Charging 30 Cathode Terminal for Charging

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electric toothbrush provided with a brush part which is moved by a driving source, a battery which can be charged by supplying electric power to the driving source, and a charging cathode part and a charging anode part which are connected to the battery. An electric toothbrush characterized in that the charging anode part is made of titanium material.