KR102517480B1 - Functional toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

A functional toothbrush is disclosed. The functional toothbrush of the present invention includes a tunnel head provided in the form of a tunnel and disposed to surround the teeth, and a plurality of heads protruding from the inner wall of the tunnel head and cleaning the teeth while being supported in contact with the entire wall surface of the teeth. a head unit having bristles; a handle unit connected to one side of the head unit; and a connection unit connecting the head unit and the handle unit between the head unit and the handle unit. The head unit further includes a neck portion connected to the tunnel head, and a freely rotating ball formed at an end of the neck portion. The connection unit has a non-linear shape and includes a ball pocket in which the freely rotating ball is accommodated, and the tunnel type head has a head body and a component mounting space between the head body and the head body. It includes a head cover part disposed outside the body part, and at least one vibration generator provided in the component mounting space and operating when an electric signal is applied to generate vibration in the tunnel head.

Description

Functional toothbrush {Functional toothbrush}

Embodiments according to the concept of the present invention relate to a functional toothbrush, in particular, a functional toothbrush that can be used by anyone of any age or gender to easily and effectively evenly and cleanly clean the entire wall of teeth, thereby contributing to maintaining healthy teeth. It is about.

A toothbrush is one of hygiene tools (instruments) used daily to keep the inside of the oral cavity and teeth clean.

Various types of toothbrushes have been developed and released according to the user's age or dental condition, and a toothbrush composed of a handle and a head portion having bristles is common.

On the other hand, proper brushing is important to maintain healthy teeth. In other words, the desired effect can be obtained by brushing while allowing the bristles to evenly clean the entire wall surface of the teeth.

However, in that it is not easy to perform correct and effective brushing using a regular toothbrush, a functional toothbrush in the form of, for example, FIG. 1 has recently been proposed.

In the functional toothbrush of FIG. 1 , the bristles 20 formed at the end of the handle 10 are formed along the north, south, east, west, and circumferences, leading to an increase in the effectiveness of brushing per unit time.

However, the toothbrush of FIG. 1 can also obtain the effect only by brushing while the bristles 20 are placed on the entire wall of the tooth one by one, but it is difficult to obtain the same effect in children or the elderly who do not brush their teeth in detail and meticulously. Considering this, the need for a functional toothbrush of a new concept that has not been previously known emerges.

Republic of Korea Intellectual Property Office Application No. 10-2020-0012976

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a functional toothbrush that can be used by anyone of any age or gender to simply and effectively clean and clean the entire wall surface of teeth, thereby contributing to maintaining healthy teeth.

The above object is to provide a tunnel head provided in a tunnel format and disposed to surround the teeth, and a plurality of bristles that are formed to protrude from the inner wall of the tunnel head and are supported in contact with the entire wall surface of the teeth to clean the teeth. a head unit having; a handle unit connected to one side of the head unit; and a connection unit connecting the head unit and the handle unit between the head unit and the handle unit.

The tunnel-type head includes a surface arranging unit disposed on the surface of the tooth; and a pair of side surface arranging parts symmetrically connected to the surface arranging part and disposed on both side walls of the tooth, wherein the bristles protrude from the inner wall of the surface arranging part to clean the surface of the tooth. ; and side cleaning bristles protruding from the inner wall of the pair of side mounting portions to clean both sides of the teeth.

The head unit may include a neck portion connected to the tunnel head; And further comprising a free rotation ball formed at an end of the neck portion, wherein the connection unit may include a ball pocket in which the free rotation ball is freely rotatably accommodated while forming a non-linear shape.

The tunnel head includes a head body; a head cover disposed outside the head body with a component mounting space interposed therebetween; and at least one vibration generator provided in the component mounting space and operating when an electrical signal is applied to generate vibration in the tunnel head.

The vibration generator may include a vibration motor; and a vibration cam connected to a motor shaft of the vibration motor, and a plurality of vibration generators may be arranged in contact with the head body.

The handle unit includes a unit cover portion formed on one side of the charging terminal portion; a built-in battery provided within the unit cover unit and capable of being charged through the charging terminal unit; A functional mode that operates by receiving power from the built-in battery and selects an on/off mode for turning on/off the vibration generator, a vibration intensity mode of the vibration generator, or a vibration method mode of the vibration generator. selection switch; a mode display unit disposed around the functional mode selection switch and displaying a selection signal of the functional mode selection switch; and a charging state display unit disposed around the mode display unit and displaying a charging state.

The handle unit may further include a controller for controlling the operation of the vibration generator based on a signal of the functional mode selection switch while controlling the operation of the mode display unit or the charging status display unit.

According to the present invention, even if used by anyone of any age or gender, it is possible to simply and effectively clean and evenly clean the entire wall surface of teeth, which has an effect that can contribute to maintaining healthy teeth.

1 is a structural diagram of a toothbrush according to the prior art.
2 is a perspective view of a functional toothbrush according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the head unit area of FIG. 2 .
4 and 5 are use state diagrams for the functional toothbrush of FIG. 2 .
6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 5 .
7 is a front view of a functional toothbrush according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a view of charging the functional toothbrush of FIG. 7 .
9 is a structural diagram of an enlarged operation of a head unit area.
10 is a cross-sectional view of the head unit in a state of use.
11 is a perspective view of the head body region.
12 is a control block diagram of the functional toothbrush of FIG. 7 .
13 is a partial cross-sectional structural view of a head unit applied to a functional toothbrush according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
14 is an exploded view of FIG. 13;

Specific structural or functional descriptions of the embodiments according to the concept of the present invention disclosed herein are merely exemplified for the purpose of explaining the embodiment according to the concept of the present invention, and the embodiments according to the concept of the present invention may take various forms. It can be implemented as and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

Embodiments according to the concept of the present invention can be applied with various changes and can have various forms, so the embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in this specification. However, this is not intended to limit the embodiments according to the concept of the present invention to specific disclosed forms, and includes all modifications, equivalents, or substitutes included in the spirit and technical scope of the present invention.

Terms such as first or second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The above terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another component, e.g., without departing from the scope of rights according to the concept of the present invention, a first component may be termed a second component and similarly a second component may be referred to as a second component. A component may also be referred to as a first component.

It should be understood that when a component is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another component, it may be directly connected or connected to the other component, but other components may exist in the middle. will be. On the other hand, when a component is referred to as “directly connected” or “directly connected” to another component, it should be understood that no other component exists in the middle. Other expressions describing the relationship between components, such as "between" and "directly between" or "adjacent to" and "directly adjacent to", etc., should be interpreted similarly.

Terms used in this specification are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, terms such as "comprise" or "having" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in this specification, but one or more other features It should be understood that it does not preclude the possibility of the presence or addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical and scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning in the context of the related art, and unless explicitly defined herein, they are not interpreted in an ideal or excessively formal meaning. .

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a perspective view of a functional toothbrush according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the head unit area of FIG. 2, FIGS. 4 and 5 are a state of use of the functional toothbrush of FIG. 2, and FIG. It is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 5 .

Referring to these drawings, the functional toothbrush 100 according to this embodiment can be used by anyone of any age or gender simply and effectively to evenly and cleanly clean the entire wall surface of teeth, thereby contributing to maintaining healthy teeth. , The handle unit 110, the connection unit 120 and the head unit 130 may be included.

The handle unit 110 is a part that is gripped by hand in order to use the functional toothbrush 100 according to the present embodiment.

Although the handle unit 110 has a circular structure in cross section in the drawings, its structure or shape can be changed at will. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the shapes of the drawings.

In addition, although not shown in the drawings, irregularities or grooves may be formed on the outer wall of the handle unit 110 to prevent slipping, and all of these matters should be said to fall within the scope of the present invention.

The connection unit 120 is a part connecting the head unit 130 and the handle unit 110 between the head unit 130 and the handle unit 110 .

The connecting unit 120 is also a simple straight stick figure in the drawing. However, since this may also be provided in a non-straight flexible type, the shape of the connecting unit 120 is not limited to the drawing.

Meanwhile, the head unit 130 is a part for substantially brushing teeth. In particular, since the head unit 130 applied to this embodiment is applied in a tunnel type unlike the existing ones, it is very advantageous for brushing. In other words, it is very effective as it can clean the entire wall of the teeth evenly and cleanly with one brushing.

The head unit 130 will be studied in detail. In this embodiment, the head unit 130 includes a tunnel head 140 and a plurality of bristles 150 .

The tunnel-type head 140 is a structure provided in a tunnel form and arranged to surround teeth. It can be manufactured by injection of materials that are harmless to the human body.

The tunnel head 140 includes a surface arranging unit 141 disposed on the surface of the tooth and a pair of side arranging units 142 symmetrically connected to the surface arranging unit 141 and disposed on both side walls of the tooth. can do.

For convenience, the surface arrangement part 141 and the side arrangement part 142 have been described separately, but they may be an integral injection structure made of a single material.

A plurality of bristles 150 are formed to protrude from the inner wall of the tunnel head 140 and serve to clean the corresponding teeth while being supported in contact with the entire wall of the tooth.

These bristles 150 protrude from the inner wall of the surface arranging unit 141 of the tunnel head 140 to clean the surface of the tooth, and protrude from the inner wall of a pair of side arranging units 142. It may include side cleaning bristles 152 for washing both sides of the teeth.

In this way, the tunnel type head 140 is manufactured in a tunnel type unlike the prior art, while the bristles 150 are arranged on all inner walls of the tunnel type head 140, so that brushing is performed in a form surrounding the teeth as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6. It can be done.

Therefore, even if the same time or effort is invested, it is possible to provide a clean brushing effect more effectively and to the extent that there is no part that the bristles 150 do not reach. In particular, it is advantageous for brushing teeth having a wide surface such as molars.

According to the present embodiment, which operates based on the structure described above, anyone of any age or gender can easily and effectively clean and evenly clean the entire wall surface of teeth, thereby contributing to maintaining healthy teeth.

7 is a front view of a functional toothbrush according to a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a view of charging the functional toothbrush of FIG. 7, FIG. 9 is a structure diagram of an enlarged operation of a head unit area, and FIG. 10 is a use of the head unit. A cross-sectional state, FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the head body area, and FIG. 12 is a control block diagram of the functional toothbrush of FIG. 7 .

While the functional toothbrush 100 of the above-described embodiment was manual, the functional toothbrush 200 according to the present embodiment is applied electronically, that is, electrically. This functional toothbrush 200 may also include a handle unit 210 , a connection unit 220 and a head unit 230 .

Looking at the head unit 230 first, the head unit 230 is a part for substantially brushing teeth. The fact that the head unit 230 is composed of the tunnel head 240 and the plurality of bristles 250 is the same as in the previous embodiment.

However, in addition to this structure, the head unit 230 further includes the following structure. That is, in this embodiment, the head unit 230 further includes a neck portion 261 connected to the tunnel type head 240 and a freely rotating ball 262 formed at an end of the neck portion 261 .

And, to correspond to this structure, the connection unit 220 has a non-linear shape and includes a ball pocket 222 in which the free rotation ball 262 is freely rotatable.

As such, since the ball pocket 222 is formed at the end of the connection unit 220 and the free rotating ball 262 is provided in the head unit 230 and coupled to the ball pocket 222, as shown in FIG. 9, the head unit 230 can be rotated to any angle. Therefore, there is an advantage in that even teeth that are difficult to access can be easily accessed and cleaned.

In addition, since the freely rotating ball 262 of the head unit 230 is inserted into the ball pocket 222 of the connection unit 220, the replacement of the head unit 230 becomes easy.

Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, the tunnel type head 240 constituting the head unit 230 has a head body 244 and a component mounting space 245 between the head body 244 and the head body 244. It includes a head cover part 246 disposed on the outside of the head cover 246 and a vibration generator 248 provided in the component mounting space 245 and operating when an electrical signal is applied to generate vibration in the tunnel head 240. In this embodiment, a plurality of vibration generators 248 may be provided.

The tunnel head 140 introduced in the above embodiment may correspond to the head body 244 in this embodiment. That is, since the tunnel head 240 has a tunnel structure, it can cover the teeth, and as a result, the bristles 250 on the inner wall can guide the teeth to be well cleaned.

The vibration generator 248 may include a vibration motor 248a and a vibration cam 218c connected to the motor shaft 248b of the vibration motor 248a.

As described above, a plurality of vibration generators 248 may be arranged in contact with the head body 244, and are protected by the head cover 246 to prevent contact with saliva, water, or toothpaste.

And, in this embodiment, the handle unit 210 is provided in the unit cover portion 211 on which the charging terminal portion 212 is formed on one side, and the unit cover portion 211, and the built-in chargeable through the charging terminal portion 212 It is operated by receiving power from the battery 213 and the built-in battery 213, and the on/off mode for turning on/off the vibration generator 248, the vibration intensity mode of the vibration generator 248, or A functional mode selection switch 214 for selecting the vibration method mode of the vibration generator 248 and a mode display unit 215 disposed around the functional mode selection switch 214 and displaying a selection signal of the functional mode selection switch 214 ) and a charging state display unit 216 disposed around the mode display unit 215 and displaying the charging state.

Unlike the handle unit 110 (see FIG. 2) of the first embodiment, which was a simple bar structure, in the case of the present embodiment, means for driving the head unit 230 having an electronic or motorized structure is mounted on the handle unit 210 for each position. take the form of

On the other hand, as described above, the functional toothbrush 200 according to this embodiment is electric, so the controller 280 is further mounted. Although not shown in detail, the controller 280 may be mounted on a PCB within the handle unit 210 .

The controller 280 controls the operation of the vibration generator 248 based on the signal of the functional mode selection switch 214 and controls the mode display unit 215 or the charge status display unit 216 to operate.

Since the functional mode selection switch 214 described above has multiple functions mounted on one switch, the controller 280 controls the operation of the mode display unit 215 so that its operating state is displayed on the mode display unit 215.

In addition, when the charger 290 is used as shown in FIG. 8 , the controller 280 controls the operation of the charge state display unit 216 so that the charge state of the built-in battery 213 is displayed.

The controller 280 performing this role may include a central processing unit 281 (CPU), a memory 282 (MEMORY), and a support circuit 283 (SUPPORT CIRCUIT).

The central processing unit 281 controls the operation of the vibration generator 248 based on the signal of the functional mode selection switch 214 in this embodiment, while controlling the mode display unit 215 or the charge status display unit 216 to operate. It may be one of various computer processors that can be applied industrially to do so.

The memory 282 (MEMORY) is connected to the central processing unit 281. Memory 282 is a computer-readable recording medium that can be installed locally or remotely, and is readily available, such as, for example, random access memory (RAM), ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, or any other form of digital storage. It may be at least one memory.

The support circuit 283 (SUPPORT CIRCUIT) is coupled with the central processing unit 281 to support the typical operation of the processor. This support circuit 283 may include a cache, a power supply, a clock circuit, an input/output circuit, a subsystem, and the like.

In this embodiment, the controller 280 controls the operation of the vibration generator 248 based on the signal of the functional mode selection switch 214, while controlling the mode display unit 215 or the charging status display unit 216 to operate, This series of control processes and the like may be stored in the memory 282 . Typically software routines may be stored in memory 282 . Software routines may also be stored or executed by other central processing units (not shown).

Although processes according to the present invention have been described as being executed by software routines, it is possible that at least some of the processes of the present invention are performed by hardware. As such, the processes of the present invention may be implemented in software running on a computer system, or in hardware such as an integrated circuit, or in a combination of software and hardware.

Even if this embodiment is applied, even if it is used by anyone of any age or gender, it is possible to simply and effectively clean and evenly clean the entire wall surface of the teeth, thereby contributing to maintaining healthy teeth.

In particular, since the functional toothbrush 200 of this embodiment is electronic, that is, electric, it can contribute to more effective brushing. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, there is an advantage in that the tooth can be effectively wiped from corner to corner by vibration even if it is only applied to the tooth.

13 is a partial cross-sectional structural view of a head unit applied to a functional toothbrush according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 14 is an exploded view of FIG. 13 .

Referring to these figures, in this embodiment, the head unit 330 includes a tunnel head 340 and a replaceable bristle module 350 detachably coupled to the tunnel head 340 .

Like the previous second embodiment, the tunnel head 340 is disposed outside the head body 344 with a component mounting space 345 between the head body 344 and the head body 344. It includes a head cover part 346 and a vibration generator 348 provided in the component mounting space 345 and operating when an electrical signal is applied to generate vibration in the tunnel head 340, and its structure, function and role. is the same as in the foregoing embodiment.

The replaceable bristle module 350 includes surface-cleaning bristles 351 that protrude from the inner wall of the surface arranging unit 341 of the tunnel head 340 to clean the surface of teeth, and the inner wall of a pair of side arranging units 342. It includes brush bristles for side cleaning 352 that protrude from the teeth to clean both sides of the tooth, and a bristle support 353 that integrally supports the bristles for surface cleaning 351 and the bristles for side cleaning 352.

In addition, a plurality of assembly protrusions 354 are formed on the bristle support 353, and a plurality of assembly grooves 343 are formed on the head body part 344, which is the opposite side. Thus, the replaceable bristle module 350 can be firmly assembled in place. Of course, unlike the drawing, the positions of the assembly protrusion 354 and the assembly groove 343 may be changed.

When the replaceable bristle module 350 is made of a detachable type as in the present embodiment, the vibration generator 348 and the like are mounted to form a relatively expensive tunnel head 340 while continuing to use only the replaceable bristle module 350, which is consumable. It has the advantage of reducing the cost burden because it can be replaced.

In addition, since several types of replaceable bristle modules (not shown) with different shapes can be selected and used, the effect of brushing can be doubled.

Even if this embodiment is applied, even if it is used by anyone of any age or gender, it is possible to simply and effectively clean and evenly clean the entire wall surface of the teeth, thereby contributing to maintaining healthy teeth.

As such, the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be said that such modifications or variations fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

100: functional toothbrush 110: handle unit
120: connection unit 130: head unit
140: tunnel type head 141: surface arrangement unit
142: side placement unit 150: bristles
151: brush head for surface cleaning 152: brush head for side cleaning

Claims (7)

A head unit including a tunnel-type head provided in a tunnel form and disposed to surround a tooth, and a plurality of bristles protruding from an inner wall of the tunnel-type head and cleaning the tooth while being supported in contact with the entire wall surface of the tooth. ;
a handle unit connected to one side of the head unit; and
a connection unit connecting the head unit and the handle unit between the head unit and the handle unit;
The head unit,
a neck portion connected to the tunnel head; and
Further comprising a free rotating ball formed at the end of the neck portion,
The connection unit has a non-linear shape and includes a ball pocket in which the free rotation ball is accommodated to be freely rotatable,
The tunnel head,
head body;
a head cover disposed outside the head body with a component mounting space interposed therebetween; and
A functional toothbrush comprising at least one vibration generator provided in the component mounting space and operating when an electric signal is applied to generate vibration in the tunnel head. According to claim 1,
The tunnel head,
a surface arranging unit disposed on the surface of the tooth; and
It includes a pair of side arranging parts symmetrically connected to the surface arranging part and disposed on both side wall surfaces of the teeth,
The bristles of the toothbrush,
Brush bristles protruding from the inner wall of the surface arranging unit to clean the surface of the teeth; and
A functional toothbrush comprising bristles for side cleaning that protrude from the inner wall of the pair of side mounting portions to clean both sides of the teeth. delete delete According to claim 1,
The vibration generator,
vibration motor; and
A vibration cam connected to a motor shaft of the vibration motor,
The vibration generator is a functional toothbrush in which a plurality of pieces are arranged in contact with the head body. According to claim 1,
The handle unit,
A unit cover portion formed on one side of the charging terminal portion;
a built-in battery provided within the unit cover unit and capable of being charged through the charging terminal unit;
A functional mode that operates by receiving power from the built-in battery and selects an on/off mode for turning on/off the vibration generator, a vibration intensity mode of the vibration generator, or a vibration method mode of the vibration generator. selection switch;
a mode display unit disposed around the functional mode selection switch and displaying a selection signal of the functional mode selection switch; and
Disposed around the mode display unit, functional toothbrush including a charging state display unit for displaying the charging state. According to claim 6,
The handle unit,
Functional toothbrush further comprising a controller for controlling the operation of the vibration generator based on the signal of the functional mode selection switch while controlling the operation of the mode display unit or the charging status display unit.

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