MX2008007833A - Toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a preferably electric toothbrush comprising a handpiece and a detachable toothbrush head. In particular, the invention relates tothe toothbrush head of the toothbrush, which head comprises a bristle field and a coupling device for coupling it to the handpiece of the toothbrush. A line for supplying a pasty, gel-type and/or liquid substance to be applied, especially toothpaste, is provided on the toothbrush head. The coupling device has a line coupling for coupling the line to a line section on the handpiece. The invention also relates to the handpiece of such a toothbrush, comprising a coupling device for coupling it to the toothbrush head. The handpiece also has a line for supplying a pasty, gel-type and/or liquid substance to be applied, especially toothpaste. The coupling device has a line coupling for coupling the line on the handpiece side to the line on the brush head side. The line coupling comprises a control valve which is opened by the action of a valve actuator when the toothbrush head is coupled to the handpiece of the toothbrush and which links a line section on the handpiece side to a line section on the brush head side and closes the line when the brush head is decoupled from the handpiece.

Description

TOOTHBRUSH Description of the Invention This invention relates to a toothbrush, preferably electric, having a handle and a removable toothbrush head. In this context, the present invention relates on the one hand to the toothbrush head of the toothbrush, this head has a set of bristles and a coupling device which is connected to the handle of the toothbrush, making provision in the toothbrush head of a duct supplying a pasty and / or liquid gel type substance to be applied, in particular, a toothpaste, and the coupling device having a duct coupling or duct that connects to the duct. duct in a section of duct on the side of the handle. On the other hand, this invention also relates to the handle of a toothbrush with a coupling device that connects the toothbrush head thereto, the handle also includes a conduit that delivers a pasty gel-type substance and / or liquid to be applied, in particular, a toothpaste, and the coupling device has a duct coupling connecting the duct or duct on the side of the handle to the duct on the side of the brush head. REF. 193931 From DE 197 29 516, a manual toothbrush is known in which toothpaste can be supplied from a reservoir in the handle to a set of bristles in the toothbrush head through a canalization or duct provided inside the removable head of toothbrush. In electric toothbrushes, the available space in the toothbrush head is very limited because it serves at the same time to accommodate the drive train that transmits the drive movement to the head of the brush. The toothpaste duct and in particular its associated duct coupling have to be incorporated in very small dimensions to allow them to be accommodated in the toothbrush head. Furthermore, the brush heads of the electric toothbrushes are exchanged frequently, for example, when a handle has several users, wherein each user inserts his coupling brush into the handle and removes it once more. Any toothpaste that remains on the separate toothbrush head means that the duct provided therein could dry out causing a blocked or blocked duct. Therefore, with this in mind, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved toothbrush, an improved toothbrush head and an improved handle of this toothbrush, which avoid the disadvantages of the prior art and they develop the latter in an advantageous way. Preferably, the aim is to provide a small duct coupling of small size which prevents the toothpaste in the duct from drying out. According to the present invention, this aim is achieved through a toothbrush head according to claim 1, a toothbrush handle according to claim 14 and a toothbrush in accordance with claim 27 The preferred embodiments of the invention are the subject matter of the dependent claims. Consequently, it is proposed to configure the coupling of conduit connecting the duct or conduit in the side of the handle with the conduit in the side of the brush head for the supply of the substance to be applied, in such a way that the cross section of duct is closed, automatically, when the toothbrush head is uncoupled from the handle and that it is opened, automatically, based on a new coupling. To achieve this, according to the invention, the pipeline or duct coupling comprises a control valve that opens automatically by means of the clutch of a valve actuator., when the brush head is coupled with the handle of the toothbrush, and that connects the section of conduit in the side of the handle with a section of conduit in the side of the head of the brush, and that closes the conduit of automatic way based on the uncoupling of the handle. In this arrangement, the control valve can be generally provided, either in the head or in the handle of the toothbrush, with the valve actuator being located in the other respective portion of the toothbrush. A control valve located in the toothbrush head is opened by a valve actuator supplied in the handle, while the control valve located in the handle is opened by a valve actuator provided in the toothbrush head. The function of the valve actuator could be realized in particular by the respective end of the conduit that will be connected. When the control valve is clutched with the conduit section that will be connected based on the coupling of the toothbrush head to the handle, this will cause the control valve to be opened. In a further development of the invention, the control valve could include an elastic valve opener which can be elastically deformed and which is actuated by the duct end to be connected.

When the control valve or its elastic valve opener portion is clutched with the end portion of the conduit that will be connected based on the coupling of the toothbrush head to the handle, the valve opener is deformed in a manner elastic, with which, open the valve. On the contrary, when the toothbrush head is separated from the handle of the toothbrush, and thereby causing the coupled duct end to be disengaged from the valve opener, the latter returns automatically based on its elasticity to its initial position, with which the valve is closed once more. Advantageously, the valve opener forms at the same time a coupling section through which the conduit section to be connected is adapted to be brought into fluid communication with the conduit section connected to the control valve in a way fluid or hermetic medium. This leads to the valve opener to a double function. On the one hand, it serves to open the control valve during the coupling and uncoupling processes. On the other hand, it guarantees the hermetic connection of fluid with the conduit that will be coupled. The valve opener could in particular form a neck that is adapted to be slid at the end of the conduit that will be engaged when the toothbrush head is connected to the handle. In this arrangement, the inner diameter of the neck is advantageously smaller than the outer diameter of the duct end that will be inserted, which ensures that the neck will expand in the radial direction when slid at the end of the duct that will be engaged. This movement of elastic expansion is translated by the control valve in an opening movement of the cross section of the valve. In order to achieve an accurate opening and closing of the valve, at least one sealing lip forming the lower part of the aforementioned neck could be provided and is connected therewith, so that it opens on the basis of the expansion of the neck. neck and that close the valve passage once again based on the contraction of the neck. In this particular arrangement, the sealing lip is integrally formed in the inner peripheral wall of the neck and protrudes therefrom inwardly in the direction of the interior of the valve passage, so that it can move through the valve in the base to the expansion of the neck in the direction transverse to the direction of flow. According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the sealing lip for opening and closing the valve passage could be formed by an elastic transverse bar or an elastic partition wall which is located in the valve passage of the valve of control and which is connected to the wall of the circumferentially annular valve passage and it is preferred to include a valve of approximately slot form and in an approximately central position whose edges form sealing lips which are sealed to each other at the top or from side to side in an unopened state of the control valve. When the neck and therefore the valve passage are expanded, the elastic partition wall is pulled radially at its edges due to its connection with the wall of the valve passage, as a result of which, the valve lips are they separate, causing the opening of the slot-shaped valve to open and become larger. In order to make the opening of the sealing lips easier, in a further development of the invention the cross section of the valve body could be conical in the area of the partition wall. In particular, the control valve could have a narrowing or constriction at its outer periphery in the area of the partition wall that facilitates the expansion of the neck joining the constriction and therefore, pull the sealing lips. In addition, the expansion of the neck is so to speak, decoupled from the valve section placed on the opposite side of the sealing lips, that is, only the neck with the sealing lips connected to it is expanded, while the part The remaining valve is not expanded or at least insignificantly. The control valve could be connected in a fixed manner to the section of the duct to which the control valve is assigned by the connection section. In this arrangement, the connecting section of the control valve could be configured in such a way that it can be inserted into or into the corresponding conduit. Advantageously, the connection section has a circumferential cord seal that allows a hermetic sealing of the control valve fluid relative to the respective conduit or to the wall sections connecting the valve. The control valve could be constructed in a manner that includes several parts and that includes components made of various materials. However, in a further development of the invention, the control valve is formed as a one-piece construction and is comprised of a fully elastic valve body of soft plastics, where applicable, also of rubber or similar material rubber. The present invention will be explained below with reference to a modality for an electric toothbrush which is illustrated in the accompanying figures. In the figures, Figure 1 is a general perspective view of an electric toothbrush having a conduit for supplying toothpaste to the toothbrush head; Figure 2 is a sectional perspective view of a control valve in the closed condition; and Figure 3 is a sectional perspective view of the control valve of Figure 2 in the open condition. The toothbrush shown in Figure 1 comprises a handle 1 and a toothbrush head 2 which is located on a brush tube 3 which forms the front end of the handle 1 or which is connected thereto. The handle 1 is formed by a toothbrush housing 4 that accommodates single-use or rechargeable batteries and a drive motor that can be turned on and off by means of a switch 6 located on the outer surface of the housing 4. Received in handle 1 is a toothpaste container from which the supply of toothpaste to the toothbrush head 2 can be fed through a conduit 7a provided inside the brush tube 3, either to through manual means or through a motor means, for example, by a pump driven by a drive motor 5. The toothbrush head 2 has a set of bristles capable of being driven 9, which is adapted so that is displaced by the drive motor in an oscillating rotational movement through a drive train, not shown in greater detail. Which is received inside the brush tube 3. As shown in Figure 1, the toothbrush head 2 can be separated from the handle 1 in a partition conduit 8. The detachable connection between the brush head teeth 2 and the handle 1 is achieved through a coupling device 10. The partition conduit 8 could also be provided between the brush tube 3 and the toothbrush housing 4, ie the brush tube 3 and the toothbrush head 2 could be integrally made in one piece. The duct 7 that provides the toothpaste continues past the partition conduit 8 with a fluid coupling or conduit 11 which is introduced into the duct 7, this coupling is part of the coupling device 10 and connects the section 7a of the duct 7 in the side of the handle with the section 7b of the duct 7 on the side of the brush head when the toothbrush head 2 is joined to the handle 1, while on the other hand, it allows two duct sections 7a and 7b to be separated each other when the toothbrush head 2 is detached. In this configuration, the conduit coupling 11 comprises the control valve 12 shown in Figures 2 and 3, which in the embodiment shown, is fixedly connected to the section 7b of the conduit 7 in the side of the head and can be detachably connected with the section 7a of the duct 7 on the side of the handle. However, it will be understood that this control valve 12 can also be mounted in the section 7a of the duct 7 on the side of the handle. The control valve 12 is comprised of a fully elastic single-piece valve body 13, which in the embodiment shown is constructed to be essentially rotationally symmetrical about a longitudinal axis of the valve 14. As shown in FIGS. Figures 2 and 3, formed in the valve body 13 is a valve passage 15 which could be closed and opened by the equally elastic control member 17. Serving as a control member 17 is a diaphragm, which means that is an elastic transverse wall 18 of an essentially disk-shaped or plate-like configuration extending substantially radially. The transverse wall 18 is integrally formed on the inner wall of the valve passage 15 in an annular circumferential mode which forms, so to speak, a partition wall dividing the valve passage 15 in the valve passage sections 15a and 15b which is place in coaxial position one behind the other. Provided in the transverse wall 18 is a slot-shaped valve passage hole 19, so that the adjacent sections of the transverse wall 18 form the sealing lips 16, which abut one another, in the closed condition of the valve according to Figure 2, thereby closing the passage orifice of the valve. valve 19. As shown in Figure 2, the valve body 13 has in the area of the sealing lips 16 on its outer circumference a constriction or constriction 20, wherein the outer diameter of the valve body 13 is reduced and the The wall thickness of the valve body 13 is also reduced in relation to the adjacent sections in the axial position. This makes it easier to open the sealing lips 16. The entire valve body 13 in the area of the valve passage section 15a can expand in the radial direction. The valve passage section 15a forms a neck into which the conduit section 7a can be inserted in the side of the handle. In this arrangement, the inner diameter of the approximately cylindrical valve body section 13a, which surrounds and defines the valve passage section 15a, is constructed to be somewhat smaller than the outer diameter of the conduit section 7a which will be introduced in the valve passage section 15a. When the toothbrush head 2 is joined to the handle 1 by means of the coupling device 10, the conduit section 7a is introduced into the lower-sized valve passage section 15a, causing the body section of the body to expand. valve 13a, as shown in Figure 3. The expansion of the valve body section 13a also separates in a radial direction the partition wall 18, by means of which, the sealing lips 16 are opened and the opening of the valve body is formed. valve passage 19 between the sealing lips 16, as shown in Figure 3. Therefore, the valve body section 13a forms the valve opener by means of which the control valve 12, speaking more precisely, its elastic sealing lips 16 can be opened. At the same time, the valve body section 13a forms a coupling section through which the control valve 12 can be releasably connected to the conduit section 7a to be coupled. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the valve body section 13a extends in the manner shown from constriction or constriction 20 to one end of the valve body 13 and is of an essentially cylindrical configuration, with a radial flange In the form of a flange that is formed at the front end of the valve body section 13a, this flange could serve as a seal. The opposite valve passage section 15b which is located on the other side of the sealing lips 16 is included in the same way by the essentially cylindrical valve body section 13b which also has at its front end a cord seal directed in the direction outward radial 22. In this configuration, the valve body section 13b serves to connect the control valve 12 to the conduit section 7b on the side of the brush head on which the control valve 12 could be placed. Due to the geometry that can be freely selected from the valve body 13, in particular from its valve body sections 13a and 13b, it is possible to achieve an optimum sealing function in relation to the brush tube 3 and the brush head 2 , respectively. The current function of the valve switch is located in the region of the sealing lips 16 and the diameter of the neck 15a. When the toothbrush head 2 is coupled with the handle 1, the conduit section 7a on the side of the handle is inserted into the neck 15a, causing them to open the sealing lips 16 and allowing the application of a substance, in particular , the toothpaste, so that it flows through them without obstruction. On the contrary, when the toothbrush head 2 is separated from the handle 1, the conduit section 7a is retracted from the neck 15a, causing it to close the sealing lips 16 and preventing the toothpaste from drying out. It is noted that in relation to this date the best method known by the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which is clear from the present description of the invention.

Claims (27)

1. CLAIMS Having described the invention as above, claim as property contained in the following claims: 1. A toothbrush head that can be detached from a handle of a toothbrush, with a set of bristles and a coupling device connecting it to the handle of the toothbrush, making provision in the toothbrush head of a conduit that supplies a pasty and / or liquid type gel substance to be applied, in particular, a toothpaste, and the The coupling device has a duct coupling connecting the duct to a duct on the side of the handle, characterized in that the duct coupling comprises a control valve that opens by the clutch of a valve actuator provided in the handle, when the head of brush is coupled with the handle of the toothbrush, and that connects the section of conduit on the side of the handle with a section of duct on the side of the brush head and closing the duct based on the uncoupling of the handle. The toothbrush head according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the control valve includes a valve body with a valve passage extending therethrough, in which the provision of an elastic wall is made of partition with a valve passage hole that closes elastically. The toothbrush head according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control valve comprises an elastic valve opener that can be elastically deformed and is driven by the end of the duct on the side of the handle. 4. The toothbrush head according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the valve opener forms a coupling section that connects the duct on the side of the handle with it. The toothbrush head according to any of the two preceding claims, characterized in that the valve opener forms a neck that can expand elastically in the radial direction by inserting the conduit in the side of the handle. The toothbrush head according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control valve comprises at least one elastic sealing lip that can be operated through the valve actuator on the side of the handle. The toothbrush head according to any of the two preceding claims, characterized in that at least one sealing lip forms the lower part of the neck. The toothbrush head according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one sealing lip is connected to the valve opener, in such a way that the sealing lip opens by radial expansion of the valve opener . The toothbrush head according to any of the preceding claims in combination with claim 2, characterized in that at least one sealing lip is formed by the elastic partition wall, preferably, the partition wall has an orifice valve passage located in an approximately central and / or slot-like position. The toothbrush head according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control valve has a constriction at its outer periphery in the area of at least one sealing lip. The toothbrush head according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control valve is formed as a one-piece construction and / or is comprised of a solid elastic body, preferably plastics and / or soft rubber 12. The toothbrush head according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control valve has a connection section adapted to be introduced in and / or into the duct on the side of the brush head. The toothbrush head according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the connection section has a circumferential bead seal. 14. A handle of a toothbrush has a coupling device that connects it to a toothbrush head for placement of a set of bristles, with a conduit that supplies a pasty and / or liquid type gel substance that will be applied, in particular, a toothpaste, with the toothbrush head, the coupling device has a duct coupling connecting the duct with a duct on the side of the brush head for the supply of the substance that will be applied, characterized in that the duct coupling comprises a control valve that opens by means of the clutch of a valve actuator provided in the toothbrush head when the head of the brush is engaged with the handle of the toothbrush, and which connects a section of duct on the side of the handle with a section of duct on the side of the head of the brush, and that closes the duct based on the decoupling d the handle. 15. The handle according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the control valve includes a valve body with a valve passage extending therethrough, in which the provision of an elastic partition wall with an orifice is made. valve passage that closes elastically. The handle according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control valve comprises an elastic valve opener which can be elastically deformed and is driven by the end of the duct on the side of the handle. The handle according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the valve opener forms a coupling section connecting the duct on the side of the handle with it. The handle according to any one of the two preceding claims, characterized in that the valve opener forms a neck that can expand elastically in the radial direction by inserting the end of the duct into the side of the handle. The handle according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control valve comprises at least one elastic sealing lip which can be driven through the valve actuator on the side of the brush head. 20. The handle according to any of the two preceding claims, characterized in that at least one sealing lip forms the lower part of the neck. The handle according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one sealing lip is connected to the valve opener, such that the sealing lip opens by radial expansion of the valve opener. The handle according to any of the preceding claims in combination with claim 15, characterized in that at least one sealing lip is formed by the elastic partition wall, preferably, the partition wall has a valve passage orifice. located in an approximately central and / or slot-like position. 23. The handle according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control valve has a cross-sectional constriction at its outer periphery in the area of at least one sealing lip. The handle according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control valve is formed as a one-piece construction and / or is comprised of a solid elastic body, preferably plastics and / or soft rubber. 25. The handle according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control valve has a connection section adapted to be introduced into and / or inside the duct on the side of the handle. 26. The handle according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the connection section has a circumferential bead seal. 27. The electric toothbrush, characterized in that it has a handle according to any of claims 14-26, as well as a toothbrush head adapted to be coupled thereto in accordance with any of claims 1-13. . SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a preferably electric toothbrush comprising a handle and a removable toothbrush head. In particular, the invention relates to a toothbrush head of the toothbrush, this head comprises a region of bristles and a coupling device that connects it to the handle of the toothbrush. A conduit for the delivery of a pasty and / or liquid gel type substance to be applied, especially a toothpaste, is provided in the toothbrush head. The coupling device has a conduit coupling connecting the conduit with a conduit section in the handle. The invention also relates to the handle of this toothbrush, which comprises a coupling device that connects it to the toothbrush head. The handle has a conduit for the supply of a pasty and / or liquid gel type substance that will be applied, above all, a toothpaste. The coupling device has a duct coupling connecting the duct on the side of the handle with the duct on the side of the brush head. The duct coupling comprises a control valve that is opened by the action of a valve actuator when the toothbrush head is connected to the toothbrush handle and engages a section of duct on the side of the handle with a duct section on the side of the brush head and closes the duct when the brush head is uncoupled from the handle.