KR20100024413A - Toothbrush bristle with a tapering part and toothbrush with such bristles - Google Patents

Abstract

Bristle for a toothbrush, comprising a) a cylindrical part (1) with a maximum, constant cylinder diameter Dzyi and b) a tapered part (2) which adjoins the cylindrical part (1) and has a bristle end (3) and has an end face (4) which completes the bristle end (3), wherein the tapered part (2) tapers towards the bristle end (3); wherein the tapered part (2) has a length L of 10 mm or less and at least 3 mm; characterized in that the tapered part (2), at a distance X from the end face (4), which distance is the same size as the cylinder diameter Dzyl, has a diameter D of 95 to 140 μm, and a toothbrush with such bristles.

Description

Toothbrush bristle with slope and toothbrush with such bristle {TOOTHBRUSH BRISTLE WITH A TAPERING PART AND TOOTHBRUSH WITH SUCH BRISTLES}

The present invention relates to a toothbrush bristle with an inclined portion and a toothbrush having such bristles.

Typical bristles suitable for toothbrushes have a cylindrical cross section. These bristles began to provide bristles with pointed ends (see EP-A-0 596 633) in some cases because of the poor cleaning performance in interdental spaces and the tendency to damage gums. Due to the reduced diameter at the pointed end, the cleaning performance in the interdental space was improved while at the same time the bristles became more flexible, which lowered the risk of injury. On the other hand, the cleaning performance on the tooth surface deteriorated.

Korean Patent No. 261658 (corresponding to US Patent Application No. 6090488) discloses a toothbrush bristle with an inclined end, whereby the bristles have a diameter of 0.04 to 0.08 mm at the end of the inclined portion. Thus, the inclined portions of these bristles are not "spiked" in light of the above. However, EP-A-1 234 525 by the same inventor discloses bristles having inclined portions having a diameter of 0.02 mm or less at the end of the inclined portions (thus, such bristles are in accordance with EP-A-0 596 633). Similar to pointed bristles). As a basis for lowering the diameter at the bristle end again, the inventors found that it was difficult to remove tartar from the periodontal pocket with bristles of Korean Patent No. 261658.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved bristles having slopes.

This object comprises a) a cylindrical portion having a constant maximum diameter (Dzyl), and b) an end face defining the bristle end and the bristle end, such that the first inclined portion is inclined toward the bristle end and is adjacent to the cylindrical portion. An inclined portion, and c) a virtual central axis passing through the cylindrical portion and the first inclined portion and penetrating the end surface at the penetrating point, wherein the first inclined portion is 10 mm or less as measured on the central axis set up at the penetrating point; And a bristles having a length L of at least 3 mm, the first inclined portion having a diameter D of 95 to 140 μm as measured on a central axis starting from the point of penetration at a distance X equal to the cylinder diameter Dzyl. It is achieved by a bristle for a toothbrush according to the invention, characterized in that it has a).

Preferred embodiments can be derived from the claims.

The bristles according to the invention have been found to have a higher lifespan than conventional pointed bristles. The inclined end according to the applicant's invention bends with a pressing force occurring during brushing, causing fatigue breakage of the bristle tip over time, which can be avoided by the inclined bristle end according to the invention. At the same time, the bristles according to the present invention are mechanically stable and can therefore have similar or better cleaning performance than cylindrical bristles on the oral tooth surface. In addition, the bristles according to the invention are more suitable for cleaning tooth contact surfaces with interdental spaces and non-tilt filament ends, since bristles can reach the tooth contact surfaces well.

D is in the range of 100 to 130 mu m, preferably in the range of 100 to 125 mu m. The first inclined portion of the bristles has a diameter of 120 to 165 μm when measured on the central axis at a distance of 1 mm from the penetrating point, and a diameter of 90 to 135 μm at a distance of 0.1 mm when measured in the same manner.

The bristles according to the invention basically have a rotationally symmetrical form around the central axis (or within the technical tolerances).

The profile line of the inclined portion of the bristles (ie the diameter of the inclined portion as a function of decreasing distance from the penetrating point of the central axis passing through the end) is formed to be monotonously inclined toward the end face. The term "slanted monotonically" has a conventional mathematical meaning in the present invention. The shape line of the inclined portion is inclined very monotonically in a mathematical sense.

It is preferable that the length of the inclined portion (or the length of the two inclined portions in the case of the bristles according to the present invention bent in a U shape and having two inclined portions) falls in the range of 6 to 10 mm.

An end face of the end portion of the first inclined portion has a face that is preferably inclined at an angle of 30 degrees or less with respect to the central axis at the penetrating point. This is usually done automatically if the end face is formed by trimming of the pointed end (as described below); This is done by proper rounding off processing of the edge and the end face thereof adjacent to the outer surface of the inclined portion (see description below).

Three particularly preferred bristles of the present invention are as follows.

Iii) bristles with a cylindrical portion adjacent to a rotationally symmetrical incline of 10 mm or less in length (ie, such bristles are similar to inclined bristles only at one end);

Ii) a bristles having a cylindrical portion and two rotationally symmetrical inclined portions adjacent to the cylindrical portion on opposing sides and having a length of 10 mm or less and basically the same shape (ie, these bristles are similar to pointed bristles on both ends); Do).

Vi) a bristles having a cylindrical portion, a circular symmetrical inclined portion having a length of 10 mm or less, and a sharp rotationally symmetrical end (the inclined portion and the sharp end portion are formed adjacent to the side opposite to the cylindrical portion);

In all embodiments of the bristles according to the invention, edges which may be formed between the end face and the inclined portion are removed by a rounding off operation customary for cylindrical bristles. The rounding off is performed by conventional known methods such as the use of grit paper and the like.

In particular, the preferred shape lines of the first inclined portion follow the shape tables 1 to 4 below. These tables represent diameters as a function of distance from the penetrating point of the central axis passing through the end face (mean value for standard deviation from six samples of each of these bristles). The rightmost column in each table shows the maximum diameter of the bristle cylinder (Dzyl). According to the measurement definition for the diameter D of the first inclined portion according to the invention, each table also shows the corresponding diameter value at a distance X = Dzyl. In addition, shape table 1-shape 4 also show the diameter value in 0.1 mm distance from an end surface in order to illustrate the favorable shape of the 1st slope part near an end surface.

In some embodiments of the bristles according to the present invention, the diameter at the end face and at a short distance from the end face will no longer be able to reasonably be measured. This is the case when the bristle ends of the slopes are exposed to a series of rounding off. Such rounding off in some cases results in irregular, pointed and uneven surfaces at the ends of the bristles, making direct diameter measurements near the end face impossible. For the bristles according to the invention in this case the diameter near or at the end face is almost determined by parabolic extrapolation, so that the diameter of the bristles at a distance of 1 mm, 2 mm and 3 mm from the end face is determined. It is accepted as a support for parable. These support points are shown in bold in the table. To ensure this operation, the table shows the diameter of the bristles originally measured at zero distance from the end face (after trimming the end but before rounding off) and the diameter determined by the extrapolation in the parenthesis immediately below. It is shown. The deviation between the actual diameter and the diameter determined by extrapolation is minimal. This simple extrapolation can be tolerated for the bristle according to the invention, since the curvature of the inclined end is significant compared to the bristles of the prior art.

The bristles according to the invention are made of plastic suitable for toothbrush bristles. Such bristles are preferably polyesters, particularly polyesters obtainable from (C ₂ -C ₄ ) -1, ω-alkylene glycols, and terephthalic acid. The polyester is preferably polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), particularly PBT. On the other hand, they consist of polyamides, in particular (C ₂ -C ₈ ) -1, ω-diamine and (C ₂ -C ₄ ) -1, ω-dicarboxylic acid, in particular polyamide-6,6 (e.g. For example, nylon) is preferable.

In order to produce the bristles according to the invention, one or both ends must start with commercially available bristles or cylindrical bristles. Producers of such bristles in the filing of the present application include, for example, Pragma, Shinyoung, Wessen, Hylon, Sogo, Best Mars or First Sugars. .

The bristles according to the invention having only one first inclined portion can be obtained from commercially available bristles where only one end is pointed, for example by trimming the pointed end while simultaneously forming the inclined end and the end face. Another cylindrical end of the bristles is cut to an appropriate size so that the entire bristles have a length suitable for the toothbrush bristles.

The bristles according to the present invention having a second inclined portion or pointed portion in addition to the first inclined portion are prepared from commercially available cylindrical bristles having an appropriate length by appropriately inclining the ends or by chemical etching to a pointed form. Such etching methods have long been known in the field of pointed bristles. To obtain a useful overall length of the bristles, the inclined ends may optionally be trimmed back.

On the other hand, double pointed bristles which have only two inclined portions and which only require proper trimming at both ends in order to reach the bristles according to the invention with a length suitable for toothbrushes can be commercialized (see Example 2).

In the chemical etching method, the bristles are first trimmed to a constant length. The bristles are then submerged vertically in an etchant typically at 80-150 ° C. Examples of the etching solution include inorganic solutions such as strong alkaline etching solution (for example, 25 to 50% by weight aqueous solution of NaOH or KOH) or strong acid etching solution (for example, 60 to 98% by weight aqueous solution of sulfuric acid) and the like. . Examples of etchant include m-cresol, trifluoroacetic acid, o-chlorophenol, trichlorophenol, DMSO, DMF, phenol and tetrachloroethane. The soaking time is typically 10 to 20 minutes, during which time the bristles may be gradually withdrawn from the etchant, optionally at a randomly selected constant rate or at a rate varying over time, thus forming the shape of the etched end ( That is, the monotony of the shape line) is affected. After etching, the ends are typically washed at ambient temperature with water, diluted base, diluted acid, or a suitable solvent, depending on the etchant, and then dried.

Etching conditions (temperature and shape of the etchant, immersion time) are selected such that the diameter (D) of the inclined portion falls within the range according to the invention (ie 100 to 140 μm) after etching. To this end, etching is carried out for a short time compared to the etching of pointed bristles of the prior art. On the other hand, the etching conditions are selected such that a sharp end is first formed and then the end face and the slope are trimmed.

If necessary, the ends of the bristles may be additionally trimmed after being etched in alkaline or acidic solution before rounding off the ends. The trimming of the end is determined by simply testing the end condition by enlarging the glass after the end is withdrawn from solution.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a toothbrush having bristles according to the present invention. The bristles according to the present invention are inserted into the bristle carrier of the toothbrush in a manner similar to that used for single or double pointed bristles of the prior art. Here, the bristles according to the present invention having two inclined portions or one inclined portion and pointed portion are bent and inserted into the bristle carrier in a U shape using an anchor plate. On the other hand, the bristles according to the present invention having only one inclined portion are inserted in an unbended form into the bristle carrier using a method known in the art as "AFT (anchor free tufting)".

The invention will be described in detail with reference to examples and drawings.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a bristle according to the present invention, in which the measurement parameters basic to the present invention are shown.

2-4 show three embodiments of bristles according to the invention.

5 and 6 show cleaning performance tests in test tubes of conventional bristles and bristles according to the present invention for black and TiO ₂ coated teeth.

Example 1 Preparation of Bristles with Two Equal Inclined Ends According to Shape Tables 1-4

Four commercially available double warp bristles having the following characteristics were used as the initial bristles.

Each initial bristles were trimmed with pointed ends at the distance as shown in the middle column of the table. The ends of the inclined portions of the bristles thus obtained were rounded by a TR89 bristle rounding device (manufactured by Sujimura Japan) using 240 mesh grit paper.

Figure 1 shows an end with a slope of the bristle according to the present invention. On the right side is shown a cylindrical portion 1, the constant diameter of which means the maximum diameter (Dzyl) of the bristles. The inclined portion 21 is adjacent to the cylindrical portion 1, the inclination of which starts at the point of distance L through the end face 4 from the penetrating point 6 of the central axis 5. It extends to the end 3 in a monotonously inclined manner. The end face 4 of the end 3 is shown after being rounded off in an ideal, ie hemispherical shape; Due to the trimming and a series of actual rounding off treatments, the end face is very flat, but may have somewhat irregular or rugged edges. As shown, the diameter D, which is fundamental to the present invention, is measured at a distance X from the penetrating point 6, so that the distance X is equal to the maximum diameter Dzyl of the cylinder.

2 to 4 show three bristles according to the invention. In all these figures, the bristles are shown in a bent shape in the U shape, in particular the bristles of FIGS. 2 and 3 are inserted into the bristle carrier of the toothbrush in this shape. The bending is carried out in the cylindrical portion 1 and is bent in a U shape. FIG. 2 shows a bristle according to the invention with two inclined portions 21, 22, and FIG. 3 shows a bristle according to the invention with a first inclined portion 21 and a pointed end 7. 4 shows the bristle according to the invention with only one inclined portion 21, the remainder of the bristle is formed of a cylindrical portion 1. This latter bristles, different from FIG. 3, is inserted into the bristle carrier of the toothbrush head in an uncurved form.

5 and 6 show tests for cleaning performance obtained on blacked and TiO ₂ coated teeth. The test is as follows.

(A) a toothbrush with bristles according to the invention with two inclined portions inserted in a U-shape and rotationally symmetric in a toothbrush having a bristle field having a height of 11.5 mm (see Figure 2); The bristles have a maximum diameter (Dzyl) of about 0.21 mm and a diameter (D) of about 0.104 mm at a distance X = Dzyl (these bristles almost correspond to the shapes illustrated in Table 3 above).

(B) a toothbrush having a conventional cylindrical bristles having a diameter (Dzyl) of 0.175mm and inserted into the toothbrush in the U shape; The height of the bristle field was 11.5 mm.

In this test, the teeth of the six-membered model of the upper jaw (with three molars, three small molars and one canine) were first colored in black and then TiO ₂ paste (75 ml 26). 25 g of% aqueous ethanol). After a standardized brushing step with the bristle field tested for 1 minute, debris on the tooth surface washed with TiO ₂ dough at an applied pressure weight of 250 g was determined. This process was used in a standardized way for each bristle field tested using horizontal, vertical, and rotary wash motions; The treatment was repeated four times for each bristle field tested and for each wash movement. For horizontal cleaning (shown as white bars in the figure), the standardized brushing step consists of 60 forward and backward movements at a distance of 30 mm; In the vertical wash (shown by the hatched bars in the figure) it consists of 60 up and down movements at a distance of 8 mm; The rotary wash (shown as a dotted bar in the figure) consists of 16 simultaneous horizontal forward and backward movements at a distance of 30 mm and 60 circular motions with a radius of 4 mm. The measured cleaning performance, ie the debris of TiO ₂ removed, is shown in arbitrary units in FIGS. 5 and 6.

Fig. 5 shows the sum of the average values of the washing performance after the horizontal, vertical and rotational washing movements of the bristles [bar A] and the conventional bristles [bar B] according to the present invention on the oral tooth side.

Figure 6 shows the horizontal, vertical and rotary washing movements of the bristles [bar (A)] and the conventional bristles [bar (B)] according to the invention in the center / end tooth plane, ie in the tooth plane facing the interdental space. The sum of the mean values of the post wash performance is shown.

It can be seen from FIG. 5 that the bristle according to the present invention is fine for the oral tooth surface during horizontal and vertical washing movements compared to conventional bristles, despite the low mechanical strength. From Figure 6 it can be seen that the bristle according to the present invention is significantly better than conventional bristles during horizontal and vertical washing movements in the central / terminal tooth plane.

Claims (10)

A stage defining the bristle end 3 and this bristle end 3 such that the cylindrical part 1 having a constant maximum cylinder diameter Dzyl and the first inclined part 21 are inclined toward the bristle end 3. The end surface (3) at the through point (6) passing through the first inclined portion (21) adjacent to the cylindrical portion (1) and the cylindrical portion (1) and the first inclined portion (21). 4) a virtual central axis 5 penetrating therethrough, wherein the first inclined portion 21 has a length L of 10 mm or less and at least 3 mm as measured on the central axis 5 starting at the penetrating point 6; In bristles for toothbrushes having The first inclined portion 21 has a diameter D of 95 to 140 탆 when measured on the central axis 5 starting from the penetrating point 6 at a distance X equal to the cylinder diameter Dzyl. Toothbrush bristle characterized by the above. The bristle for toothbrushes according to claim 1, wherein D is in the range of 100 to 130 mu m, preferably in the range of 100 to 125 mu m. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first inclined portion 21 has a diameter of 120 to 160 mu m as measured on the central axis 5 at a distance of 1 mm from the penetrating point 6, and the same manner as described above. Bristle for toothbrush, characterized in that having a diameter of 90 to 135㎛ at a distance of 0.1mm as measured by. 4. The bristle for toothbrushes according to claim 1, characterized in that it has a second inclined portion (22) adjacent to the cylindrical portion (1) on the opposite side to the first inclined portion (21). 5. The toothbrush of claim 4, wherein the second inclined portion (22) has the same shape as the first inclined portion (21). The bristle for toothbrush according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it has a pointed end (7) adjacent to the cylindrical portion (1) opposite the first inclined portion (21). The bristle for toothbrush according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein Dzyl falls in the range of 150 to 170 µm or 180 to 210 µm. The bristle for toothbrushes according to any one of claims 1 to 7, which is composed of polyester or polyamide. The bristles for toothbrushes according to any one of claims 1 to 8, comprising polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate or polyamide-6,6. A toothbrush comprising at least one bristle according to any of the preceding claims.

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