JPH08117258A - Electric toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an inexpensive and simple structure electric toothbrush ensuring high portability. CONSTITUTION: A brush body 14 can be mounted on a cylindrical body 10 and a vibration generator 16 and a battery 18 are laid inside the body 10. A cap 12 closes the opening 10d of the body 10 and is turned along the peripheral direction of the body 10, thereby keeping the battery 18 electrically connected to and disconnected from the generator 16. An electric toothbrush thereby becomes inexpensive and comes to have a simple structure, while ensuring high portability.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure of an electric toothbrush of a type in which a brush main body is vibrated by a vibration generator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As electric toothbrushes, various types having small size and excellent portability have been proposed. For example, when the electric toothbrush is used when the main body is normally attached to the power source for charging and the built-in battery is charged inside the main body, and the electric toothbrush is used, pull out the main body from the power source. There is something.

[0003]

However, such a so-called rechargeable electric toothbrush requires a power source for charging and is sufficiently waterproofed so that the charging battery does not get wet and deteriorate. However, there is a problem that the structure is complicated and expensive, and the portability including the power source for charging is poor.

In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an electric toothbrush which is inexpensive, has a simple structure, and has good portability.

[0005]

Therefore, the invention of claim 1 is to provide a brush main body, a cylindrical body having the brush main body mounted at one end and an opening at the other end, and a brush main body mounted in the cylindrical body to vibrate. The vibration generator to be applied, the battery mounted in the cylinder and connected to the vibration generator, and the electrical connection of the battery to the vibration generator are turned on by closing the opening of the cylinder and rotating in the circumferential direction of the cylinder. -A cap that also functions as a switch for turning off is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the cap is provided with an accommodating portion for receiving the outer peripheral portion of the battery.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a protrusion extending in the circumferential direction is provided on the outer periphery of the cap or the inner periphery of the cylindrical body, and the protrusion is fitted on the inner periphery of the cylindrical body or the outer periphery of the cap. A concave portion extending in the circumferential direction is provided.

[0008]

According to the invention of claim 1, the brush main body can be attached to one end of the cylindrical body, and the vibration generator and the battery are arranged in the cylindrical body. The cap can turn on / off the electrical connection of the battery to the vibration generator by closing the opening of the tubular body and rotating the tubular body in the circumferential direction.
This provides an inexpensive and simple structure with good portability.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the cap is provided with the accommodating portion for receiving the outer peripheral portion of the battery, the battery can be held in the cap and then mounted in the cylindrical body. The battery can be easily attached to the. Further, since the battery is accommodated in the accommodating portion, it is possible to prevent vibration, noise, and shake of the battery even when the vibration generator vibrates the cylindrical body.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a projection extending in the circumferential direction is provided on the outer circumference of the cap or the inner circumference of the tubular body, and the projection is fitted on the inner circumference of the tubular body or the outer circumference of the cap. Since the concave portion extending in the circumferential direction is provided, the cap and the tubular body can be engaged with each other with one touch, and at that time, an appropriate click feeling is obtained and the cap is securely attached so as not to come off.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2, the electric toothbrush has a cylindrical body 10 which is a grip portion, a cap 12 which is a lid of the cylindrical body 10, a brush main body 14, and a vibration generator 16.
And a battery 18. The cap 12, the brush main body 14, and the cylindrical body 10 are formed of, for example, milky white ABS resin (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer resin). The outer shapes of the cap 12 and the tubular body 10 are, for example, substantially octagonal, as shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a part of the brush body 14, the cylindrical body 10, the cap 12, the vibration generator 16 and the battery 18 described above.

The cylindrical body 10 has substantially the same outer diameter along the axial direction and serves as a grip portion when the electric toothbrush is used. A cylindrical protrusion 1 is provided at one end 10a of the cylindrical body 10.
0b is provided, and the protrusion 10b is detachably fitted into the hole 14a of the brush body 14. That is, the brush body 14 of this type is a consumable item, and the cylinder body 10 can be replaced. Also,
An opening 10d is provided at the other end 10c of the cylindrical body 10.

As shown in FIG. 1, the brush 14b of the brush body 14 is formed at the tip of the support portion 14c. The hole 14a described above is formed in the tapered portion 14d of the support portion 14c.

As shown in FIG. 3, a housing space 22 is provided inside the cylindrical body 10, and the vibration generating body 16 and the battery 18 are housed in the housing space 22. A holding portion 2 for positioning and holding the vibration generator 16 is provided on the inner wall of the cylindrical body 10.
4, and the electric wiring part 26 is further provided. The holding portion 24 of the vibration generator 16 is shown in FIGS.
FIG. 4 shows the holding portion 24 when the vibration generator 16 is removed.
5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 shows the vibration generator 16 with respect to the holding portion 24 of FIG.
It shows a state where is attached.

The holding portion 24, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5,
Eight ribs 3 formed integrally on the inner wall of the cylindrical body 10.
0, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, and these ribs are formed at substantially equal intervals in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body 10. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, ribs 32 and 40 are arranged to face each other, ribs 36 and 44 are arranged to face each other, and ribs 34 and 38 and ribs 30 and 42 are arranged to face each other. It is arranged. These ribs 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 4
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 3, the reference numeral 4 holds the case 46 a of the motor 46 of the vibration generator 16.

As shown in FIG. 4, the ribs 32, 36, and 44 among these ribs are formed with a tapered portion 45, and when the motor 46 is inserted into the cylindrical body 10, the arrow of FIG. It is easy to fit along X1.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, the vibration generator 16
Is a DC electric motor 46, an eccentric member 50, and an electrode spring 52.
And have. The eccentric member 50 is the output shaft 4 of the motor 46.
It is attached to 6a. The eccentric member 50 has a pin 50
b (FIG. 6) is provided, and this pin 50b is provided with an eccentric member 5
It is eccentric by a distance d from the center of 0. Further, the motor 46 is provided with electrodes 60 and 62. One end 52a of the electrode spring 52 is electrically connected to one of the electrodes 60.

The eccentric member 50 is a columnar member, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a groove 50a is formed on the outer peripheral surface in the axial direction. It has been found that by providing the groove 50a, large vibration is generated when the eccentric member 50 rotates.

The other end 52b of the electrode spring 52 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 7, the positive terminal 18a of the battery 18 is received and electrically contacted.

As shown in FIG. 8, the electric wiring portion 26 of FIG. 3 is arranged along the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 10 to electrically connect the electrode 62 of the motor 46 and the electrode 70 of the cap 12. Are provided in the axial direction.

The wire-shaped electric wiring portion 26 is fixed by, for example, an adhesive along the guide rib 72 on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 10. One end 26a of the electric wiring portion 26 is always electrically connected to the electrode 70 of the motor 46, and the other end 26b thereof is, as described later, the electrode 70 of the cap 12.
It is designed to be able to engage and disengage freely. That is,
By manually turning the cap 12 in the R1 direction (ON direction) to bring the one end 26b into contact with the electrode 70 of the cap 12, the motor 46, the battery 18, and the electric wiring portion 26
Between them, a closed circuit can be formed, and the motor 46 is rotated by the current supplied from the battery 18.

The cap 12 is shown in FIGS. 3, 8 and 9
Is shown in. As described above, the cap 12 also functions as a switch that closes the opening and rotates the cylinder 10 in the circumferential direction to turn on / off the connection of the battery 18 to the vibration generator 16. As shown in FIG. 3, the cap 12 has a housing portion 80 for receiving the outer peripheral portion of the negative terminal 18b of the AA battery, which is the battery 18.
Is provided. The accommodating portion 80 can accommodate approximately half of the battery 18, and the accommodating portion 80 is provided with the one end portion 70a of the wire-shaped electrode 70 described above.

As shown in FIG. 9, the cap 12 includes a housing portion 80, a knob portion 90, a fitting convex portion 92, a step portion 94,
It has a groove 96 and rotation stopper portions 98 and 100. The knob portion 90 has the same outer shape as the outer shape of the tubular portion 10, and an arrow display 102, an “ON” display portion 104 indicating the rotation direction of the ON operation, and a rotation direction of the OFF operation on the outer peripheral surface thereof. An “OFF” display unit 106 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, one end 70a of the electrode 70 is formed.
Is disposed on the inner bottom portion 108 of the housing portion 80, and is electrically connected to the negative terminal 18b of the battery 18. By rotating the cap 12 in the direction of arrow R1 in FIG.
The other end 70b of the electrode 70 protruding from the groove 96 can be brought into contact with the electric wiring portion 26. Further, by rotating the cap 12 in the direction of arrow R2 in FIG.
The other end 70b of the electrode 70 can be separated from the electric wiring portion 26.

The fitting convex portion 92 is formed along the peripheral surface of the step portion 94. On the other hand, a fitting recess 110 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 10 on the side of the other end 10c. As shown in FIG. 1, when the cap 12 is attached to the other end 10c of the cylindrical body 10, the fitting projection 92
It is possible to assemble by fitting with the one-touch fitting recess 110. The cap 12 can be rotated with respect to the tubular body 10 in the R1 and R2 directions.

However, the above-mentioned rotation stopper portions 98, 1
No. 00 is provided, when the cap 12 is rotated in the R1 direction (ON direction), the rotation stopper portion 98 comes into contact with the guide rib 72 and stops its rotation, so that the cap 12
When is rotated in the R2 direction (OFF direction), the rotation stopper portion 100 comes into contact with the guide rib 72 and the rotation thereof can be stopped. As shown in FIG. 10, when the cap 12 is rotated in the R1 direction (ON direction), the other end 70 b of the electrode 70 is connected to the other end 26 of the electrode 26.
It can be reliably electrically connected to b. This is because, as shown in FIG. 10, the other end 26b of the electrode 26 is located with respect to the corner 72a of the guide rib 72 having a substantially rectangular cross section.

As shown in FIG. 1, the other end 10b of the cylindrical body 10
An alignment mark 120 is provided on the. On the other hand, the cap 12 has a positioning mark 1
30 are provided. These alignment marks 1
The cap 12 is fitted into the other end 10b of the cylindrical body 10 while the 20, 130 are aligned so as to have a substantially elliptical shape as shown in FIG.

Next, a method of assembling the electric toothbrush having the above structure will be described.

The vibration generator 16 is inserted into the accommodation space 22 of the cylinder 10 of FIG. 4 from the opening 10d of the other end 10c of the cylinder 10 of FIG. The cylindrical body 10 is located in a region close to the protrusion 10a. When the vibration generator 16 is inserted, the motor 46 of the vibration generator 16 is smoothly guided and positioned by the holding portion 24 in the direction of arrow X1 in FIG.

Next, as shown in FIG. 9, after the negative terminal 18b side of the battery 18 is accommodated and held in the accommodating portion 80 of the cap 90, the battery 18 and the battery 18 are opened from the opening 10d of the other end 10c of the tubular body 10. Insert the cap 90.

As shown in FIG. 3, the positive terminal 1 of the battery 18
8a is biased in the X2 direction by the electrode spring 52. Against this biasing force, the alignment marks 120,
The cap 12 is fitted into the other end 10c of the cylindrical body 10 so that the caps 130 are aligned. Thereby, the fitting of the cap 90 and its alignment can be easily performed. By fitting the fitting convex portion 92 into the fitting concave portion 110 with one touch, the cap 12 can be rotated with respect to the tubular body 10 in the R1 and R2 directions.

Then, the brush body 14 is inserted through the hole 14a of the brush body 14 with respect to the protrusion 10b of the cylindrical body 10 of FIG.
Plug in. Thereby, the brush main body 14 can be easily attached to the cylindrical body 10.

Next, a method of using the assembled electric toothbrush will be described.

FIG. 8 shows the alignment mark 12 of FIG.
The state where 0 and 130 are combined is shown. By rotating the cap 12 in the R1 direction from the off state, the other end 70b of the electrode 70 and the other end 26 of the electrode 26 shown in FIG.
b is electrically contacted, and a direct current is supplied from the battery 18 to the motor 46. As a result, the drive shaft 46a of the motor 46 and the eccentric member 50 rotate, so that the brush main body 1
Since the vibration of the eccentric member 50 is generated by the rotation of the eccentric member 50, the vibration is transmitted to the brush main body 14, and the brush main body 14 vibrates.

As shown in FIG. 7, the eccentric member 50 is formed with a groove 50a for doubling vibrations.
With the relatively small motor 46 and the eccentric member 50, it is possible to generate sufficient vibration for brushing teeth.

To stop this vibration, the cap 12 shown in FIG. 8 is rotated in the R2 direction. As a result, the other end 70b of the electrode 70 and the other end 26b of the electrode 26 in FIG. 8 are separated from each other, and the rotation of the motor 46 is stopped.

When the battery 18 is taken out and replaced, the cap 12 is removed from the other end 10c of the cylindrical body 10,
The battery 18 is removed from the accommodating portion 80 of the cap 12. Further, when the motor 46 is taken out, it can be taken out easily in the X2 direction of FIG. 3 by simply tapping the cylindrical body 10.

According to this, even if the motor 46 and the battery 18 get wet with water, they can be easily removed, so that the motor 46 and the battery 18 can be easily dried. Therefore, it is not necessary to strictly control the water tightness of the cylindrical body and the cap 12, and the cost can be reduced.

Since the accommodating portion 80 for receiving the outer peripheral portion of the battery 18 is provided in the cap 12, the battery 18 can be mounted in the cylindrical body 10 after being held in the cap 12, so that the battery 18 can be mounted. It can be installed without dropping. Further, even if the cylindrical body 10 vibrates due to the vibration of the vibration generator 14, the battery 18 is held in the housing portion 80, so that the battery 18 does not vibrate, and noise or vibration may occur. There is no.

By the way, the present invention can be variously modified without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, as the battery, an AA battery as a primary battery is used in the illustrated embodiment, but other types of AA batteries,
For example, an AAA battery, an AAA battery, or a rechargeable secondary battery may be used. In FIG. 3, the positive terminal 18 of the battery 18
Although a is arranged so as to contact the electrode spring 52, it may be arranged so that the negative terminal 18b of the battery 18 contacts the electrode spring 52, conversely.

In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the fitting projection 92 is formed along the peripheral surface of the step 94. On the other hand, a fitting recess 110 is formed inside the other end 10c of the tubular body 10.

However, conversely, even if the fitting recess is formed along the peripheral surface of the step and the fitting projection is formed inside the other end 10c of the cylindrical body 10, the same result is obtained. The ease of fitting operation can be achieved.

The outer shapes of the cylindrical body 10 and the cap 12 are
The shape is not limited to an octagonal cross section, and may be circular or any other shape.

[0046]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the brush main body can be attached to one end of the brush main body, the vibration generator and the battery are arranged in the cylindrical body, and the cap is the cylindrical body. Since the electrical connection of the battery to the vibration generator can be turned on / off by closing the opening and rotating the tubular body in the circumferential direction, the structure is inexpensive and simple and portable. It can be good.

In the second aspect of the invention, since the cap is provided with the accommodating portion for receiving the outer peripheral portion of the battery, the battery can be held in the cap and then mounted in the cylinder body. Can be securely mounted.

According to the third aspect of the invention, a convex portion extending in the circumferential direction is provided on the outer periphery of the cap or the inner periphery of the tubular body, and the convex portion is fitted on the inner periphery of the tubular body or the outer periphery of the cap. Since the concave portion extending in the circumferential direction is provided, the cap and the tubular body can be engaged with each other with one touch, and the cap can be rotated with respect to the tubular body without being removed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of an electric toothbrush of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the electric toothbrush viewed from the direction A in FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view of the electric toothbrush of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing only the tubular body of the electric toothbrush of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 4;

6 is a diagram showing a state where a vibrating body is fitted in the cross-sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a vibrating body.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a vibrating body, a battery, a cap, and the like.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an end portion of a cylindrical body, a battery, and a cap.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state in which the electrode of the cylindrical body and the electrode of the cap are about to contact each other.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Cylindrical body 10a Cylindrical body one end 10c Cylindrical body other end 12 Cap 14 Brush main body 16 Vibrating body 18 Battery 80 Storage part 110 Cylindrical body recessed part 120 Cap convex part X1, X2 Rotation direction (circumferential direction)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A brush main body, a cylindrical body having the brush main body attached to one end and an opening at the other end, a vibration generator mounted in the cylindrical body and vibrating the brush main body, and the vibration being mounted in the cylindrical body. A battery connected to the generator and a cap that also functions as a switch that closes the opening of the cylinder and rotates the cylinder in the circumferential direction to turn on / off the electrical connection of the battery to the vibration generator. An electric toothbrush characterized by being equipped. 2. The cap is provided with an accommodating portion for receiving an outer peripheral portion of the battery.
The electric toothbrush described in. 3. A projection extending in the circumferential direction is provided on the outer circumference of the cap or the inner circumference of the cylindrical body, and the projection is fitted on the inner circumference of the cylindrical body or the outer circumference of the cap. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a circumferentially extending concave portion.