WO2006114291A2

WO2006114291A2 - An electric toothbrush

Info

Publication number: WO2006114291A2
Application number: PCT/EP2006/003847
Authority: WO
Inventors: Brian Mc. Nally; Sean Ruigrok
Original assignee: Mc Nally Brian; Sean Ruigrok
Priority date: 2005-04-27
Filing date: 2006-04-26
Publication date: 2006-11-02
Also published as: WO2006114291A3; IE20050261A1

Abstract

An electric toothbrush comprises a plurality of brush sets (20) mounted for reciprocation in a holder (12) and arranged to receive at least one row of teeth, and an electric motor for driving the brush sets.

Description

An Electric Toothbrush

The present invention relates to an electric toothbrush and in particular an electric toothbrush arranged to clean more than one tooth at a time with minimal manual effort.

Electric toothbrushes comprising rotating and/or vibrating brush heads are known. The brush heads are primarily designed to aid a user brushing their teeth and to improve overall oral hygiene.

Despite the aid of the rotating and/or vibrating brush heads, a user is still required to hold, position and manoeuvre the toothbrush correctly in order to ensure that each tooth is cleaned.

It is an object of the present invention to mitigate one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art.

The present invention provides an electric toothbrush comprising a plurality of brushes mounted for reciprocation in a holder and arranged to receive at least one row of teeth, and an electric motor for driving the brushes.

Preferably the brushes are arranged in a plurality of sets, each set of brushes being reciprocable as a unit in the holder.

The invention further provides a brush set comprising a generally U-shaped support carrying opposing spring- loaded brushes arranged to receive and bear against at least one tooth.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an electric toothbrush according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side view of a brush set of the electric toothbrush of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of part of the brush set holder of Figure 1 including a plurality of brush sets;

Figure 4 is an internal front view of the toothbrush of Figure 1; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of Figure 4.

Referring to Figure 1, an electric toothbrush 10 comprises a generally horseshoe-shaped brush holder 12 connected to a handle 14. The handle 14 may be detachable from the holder 12 or, as shown, integrally formed with it. The handle 12 may be adjustable in length, e.g. telescopically in situ or by replacement with an alternative handle of different length. In the preferred embodiment the holder 12 is made of a moulded rubber gel, but it can be made of any suitable material .

The holder 12 has upper and lower surfaces 16, 18 respectively, each arranged to receive a respective row of brush sets 20 which stand proud of the surfaces 16, 18. The brush sets 20 extend side-by-side along each surface 16 and 18 along a line approximating the curvature of a user' s teeth, the brush sets in the upper surface 16 facing in the opposite direction to the brush set in the surface 18 to accommodate opposing rows of teeth simultaneously. In an alternative embodiment, brush sets 20 are arranged on only one of the upper and lower surfaces 16, 18. Instead of the brush sets 20 standing proud of the holder 12 the latter may extend around the brush sets to provide an appearance similar to a gum shield.

Referring additionally to Figures 2 and 3, each brush set 20 comprises a generally U-shaped support 22 having a base 24 and opposite arms 26, 28. Opposing brushes 36, 38 are pivoted to the arms 26, 28 respectively, and are biased by respective springs 32, 34 so that when a tooth is inserted between the brushes 36, 38 they are displaced mutually outwardly against the bias of the springs 32, 34 so as to bear resiliently against opposite sides of the tooth. A further brush 46 is mounted on the base 24 by a further spring 30, so that when a tooth is inserted as described above the brush 46 is resiliently displaced towards the base 24 against the bias of the spring 30. Each brush set 20 further comprises a stem 56 extending from the base 24 of the support 22. Each stem 56 is common to a pair of brush sets 20, one on each of the upper and lower surfaces 16 and 18, the stem 56 passing through the brush holder 12 from one brush set 20 to the other as seen in Figure 3. Within the holder 12, which is hollow, each stem 56 is pivotable about a pivot point 58 so that the associated upper and lower brush sets 20 can reciprocate to and fro generally in the direction along the line of brush sets as indicated by the double-headed arrows in Figures 1 and 3. If desired the upper and lower brush sets 20 can be individually pivoted to the holder 12, rather than being in pairs as shown. It will be appreciated that the brush sets 20 may be detachably connected to the stems 56 so that they may be easily replaced.

Referring now also to Figures 4 and 5, the holder 12 and handle 14 are hollow and contain a cable 60. One end of the cable 60 is attached to one end of a pivoted drive bar 62. From there the cable 60 extends along the hollow interiors of the holder 12 and handle 14 to pass successively around rollers 72, 74, 76, 78 and 80, the other end of the cable 60 being attached to the other end of the drive bar 62.

The drive bar 62 is connected by a link 82 to a drive wheel 64 such that continuous rotation of the latter in one direction causes the drive bar 62 to oscillate to and fro (seesaw) through a predetermined angle of rotation and, correspondingly, the cable 60 to oscillate back and forth along its length. The drive wheel 64 is in turn driven by an electric motor 66 powered by replaceable or rechargeable batteries 68, a button 70 being provided on the handle 14 to activate the motor 66.

The stems 56 of the brush sets 20 are attached to the cable 60 such that the oscillations of the cable are converted to reciprocation of the brush sets about the pivot points 58 in a direction generally parallel to the cable at the point of attachment.

The drive bar 62, link 82, wheel 64, motor 66 and batteries 68 are all provided within the handle 14. However, it will be appreciated that the motor may be powered by an external power supply. The handle 14 can also be provided with a speed selector to control the rotational speed of the motor and thus the reciprocation speed of the brush sets.

It will be appreciated that the cable 60 may be arranged in any suitable manner that will enable movement of the brush sets 20 in the manner described, i.e. the brushes 36, 38 and 46 reciprocate along arcs which are parallel to the planes of the surfaces of the brushes 36,38. For example, the cable can be threaded through the stems 56 of consecutive brush sets to cause the reciprocating motion of the brush set.

Alternatively, the brush sets could be pivotally mounted within the holder 12 to rotate around the axes of their stems. In this case, the cable can, for example, be suitably connected to the stems or wrapped around the stems so that movement of the cable causes the required motion of the brush sets. In this case, brushes 36, 38 will reciprocate along arcs which are parallel to the plane of the surface of the brush 46, and the brush 46 will rotate around the axis of the stem.

In a further implementation, increased resilience can be provided between opposing brush sets by incorporating one or more compression spring members

(not shown) within the common stem connecting the brush sets or between the opposing brush sets where they are not connected with a common stem. Thus, in use, when a user bites down on the toothbrush, each of the springs 30 as well as the compression spring member will provide a cushioning effect.

In a still further implementation, separate vibrating sources (not shown) are connected to each of the brush sets and these are each powered from a common supply. This avoids the need to mechanically connect each of the brush sets to a common vibrating source.

In the case where the handle 14 is detachably connected to the holder 12, the handle and the holder are connected by a separable mechanical coupling (not shown) . A first mechanical coupling portion connected to the motor 66 is provided within the handle 14. A second mechanical coupling portion connected to the cable 60 is provided within the holder 12. When the handle 14 is connected to the holder 12, the first and second mechanical coupling portions engage. Then, pressing the button 70 causes the motor 66 to drive the first coupling portion which in turn drives the second coupling portion. The latter, in turn, drives the cable 60.

In use, a user places the holder 12 into their mouth and bites down, displacing the spring-loaded brushes 36, 38 and 46 and thereby allowing the brush sets 20 to receive comfortably the upper and/or lower row(s) of teeth. On activation of the button 70 the motor 66 starts up causing the drive bar 62 to seesaw, drawing the cable 60, and thereby the brush sets 20, to and fro to clean the teeth.

If desired the electric toothbrush may be provided with a vibration mechanism similar to that used in cellular phones in order to cause the entire holder to vibrate, thereby improving the efficiency of the cleaning process.

The size and curvature of the holder 12 may be designed specifically for an individual user or for a group of individuals, such as children. Furthermore, the upper and lower sets of brush sets 20 may be displaced to accommodate users with overbites and underbites. In general the number and size of brush sets 20 is selected so that each brush set accommodates at least one tooth in a row of teeth. Also, the total length of the holder 12 is preferably designed to accommodate the entire set of upper and/or lower teeth at the same time to avoid moving the holder along the rows of teeth during use. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein, which may be amended or modified without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An electric toothbrush comprising a plurality of brushes mounted for reciprocation in a holder and arranged to receive at least one row of teeth, and an electric motor for driving the brushes.

2. A toothbrush as claimed in clam 1, wherein the brushes are arranged in a plurality of sets, each set comprising a plurality of brushes being reciprocable as a unit in the holder.

3. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 2, wherein each brush set is coupled to a cable passing along the interior of the holder, and wherein the motor is arranged to move the cable lengthwise back and forth to drive the brush sets.

4. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the brush sets are arranged in two rows facing in opposite directions to accommodate opposing rows of teeth simultaneously.

5. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein each brush set comprises a plurality of spring- loaded brushes .

6. A toothbrush as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein each brush set is arranged to accommodate at least one tooth in said row.

7. A toothbrush as claimed in any preceding claim, further including a power supply for the electric motor.

8. An electric toothbrush as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the holder is attached to a handle and the motor is incorporated in the handle.

9. A toothbrush as claimed in claim 8, wherein the handle is detachable from the holder and drives the brushes via a separable mechanical coupling between the handle and the holder.

10. A brush set comprising a generally U-shaped support carrying opposing spring-loaded brushes arranged to receive and bear against at least one tooth.