Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60C—VEHICLE TYRES; TYRE INFLATION; TYRE CHANGING; CONNECTING VALVES TO INFLATABLE ELASTIC BODIES IN GENERAL; DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS RELATED TO TYRES
  • B60C11/00—Tyre tread bands; Tread patterns; Anti-skid inserts
  • B60C11/24—Wear-indicating arrangements
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A46—BRUSHWARE
  • A46B—BRUSHES
  • A46B15/00—Other brushes; Brushes with additional arrangements
  • A46B15/0002—Arrangements for enhancing monitoring or controlling the brushing process
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A46—BRUSHWARE
  • A46B—BRUSHES
  • A46B15/00—Other brushes; Brushes with additional arrangements
  • A46B15/0002—Arrangements for enhancing monitoring or controlling the brushing process
  • A46B15/0004—Arrangements for enhancing monitoring or controlling the brushing process with a controlling means
  • A46B15/001—Arrangements for enhancing monitoring or controlling the brushing process with a controlling means with means indicating the remaining useful life of brush
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B26—HAND CUTTING TOOLS; CUTTING; SEVERING
  • B26B—HAND-HELD CUTTING TOOLS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B26B21/00—Razors of the open or knife type; Safety razors or other shaving implements of the planing type; Hair-trimming devices involving a razor-blade; Equipment therefor
  • B26B21/40—Details or accessories
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B26—HAND CUTTING TOOLS; CUTTING; SEVERING
  • B26B—HAND-HELD CUTTING TOOLS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B26B21/00—Razors of the open or knife type; Safety razors or other shaving implements of the planing type; Hair-trimming devices involving a razor-blade; Equipment therefor
  • B26B21/40—Details or accessories
  • B26B21/4081—Shaving methods; Usage or wear indication; Testing methods
  • B26B21/4087—Usage or wear indication

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to personal care devices, and more particularly, to a wear indicator for personal care devices.
• Many personal care devices are either disposable or have disposable elements. For example, manual toothbrushes and disposable wet shavers wear out and have to be replaced. Further, brush heads for electric toothbrushes and wet shaver cutting elements also wear out and have to be replaced.
• a problem with these type of disposable devices is that it is not often evident to the user when to replace these devices.
• the bristles of a toothbrush may appear fully functional to the user. However, the bristles may still be worn enough where the toothbrush is not providing optimum cleaning for the user.
• the present invention is directed to a wear indicator for a personal care device.
• the wear indicator includes a reflecting layer and a blocking layer.
• the blocking layer is disposed over the reflecting layer and is degradable over time.
• the blocking layer prevents light from being reflected from the reflecting layer until the blocking layer has degraded.
• the wear indicator also includes a contrast layer.
• the reflecting layer is a reflective foil and the blocking layer is a non-transparent material.
• the blocking layer is selected from a group consisting of a water soluble polymer or a water insoluble polymer.
• the reflecting layer is a diffraction foil and the blocking layer is a water soluble polymer.
• the water soluble polymer has an index of refraction approximately the same as the diffraction foil.
• Figure 1 is one example of a personal care device according to the present invention
• Figure 2 is one example of a wear indicator according the present invention
• Figure 3 is another example of a wear indicator according to the present invention
• Figure 4 is still another example of a wear indicator according to the present invention.
• Figure 5 is another example of a personal care device according to the present invention.
• the personal care device is a brush head 2 for an electric toothbrush.
• the brush head 2 will be made according to conventional methods except that it will include a wear indicator 6.
• the wear indicator 6 will preferably be disposed within the outer surface of the brush head 2. However, alternatively the wear indicator will be disposed on top of the outer surface.
• the wear indicator 6 will consist of two layers including a reflecting layer and a blocking layer.
• the blocking layer will be disposed on top of the reflecting layer preventing any light from being reflected back to the user. Over time the blocking layer will degrade away to expose the reflecting layer enabling it to reflect light back to the user. This will indicate to the user that it is time to replace the brush head 2. The time it takes for the blocking layer to degrade away is due to the material selected and the thickness of the layer.
• the material used and the thickness of the blocking layer be selected to provide a predetermined time to replace the brush head 2.
• One example of a wear indicator according to the present invention is shown in
• the wear indicator 6 is disposed within an impression 4 of an outer surface of the personal care device.
• the wear indicator includes a reflecting layer 8 and a blocking layer 10.
• the blocking layer 10 is disposed over the reflecting layer 8.
• the blocking layer 10 prevents any light from being reflected back to the user. Overtime the blocking layer 10 degrades away to expose the reflecting layer 8 enabling light to be reflected back to the user. This will indicate to the user that it is time to replace the brush head.
• the reflecting layer 8 is a reflective foil.
• Reflective foils are thin pliable laminated films that have reflective properties. Reflective foils consist of two different layers of material that are laminated together and then folded over a number of times. Examples of the two different materials used for reflective foils are polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and polyethyleneterephtalate (PET). Reflective foils are capable of reflecting a wide range of colors depending on the layer thickness and the number of layers.
• PMMA polymethylmethacrylate
• PET polyethyleneterephtalate
• Reflective foils are capable of reflecting a wide range of colors depending on the layer thickness and the number of layers.
• One example of a reflective foil is manufactured by Engelhard under the trademark AURORA. When a metallic reflection is desired aluminum plated foils can be used.
• the reflective foil 8 may be applied in the impression 4 by gluing or insert molding.
• the blocking layer 10 can be any non-transparent material that is capable of degrading over time. Suitable materials include a water-soluble polymer or a water insoluble polymer. Water-soluble polymers degrade over time by being exposed to water and are well suited to be used in tooth brushes and wet shavers. Examples of water soluble polymers include Polyethyleneglycol (PEG), Polyvinylalcohol (PVA), starches and poly caprolacton, polycaprolactam, polyhydroxy (meth)acrylates, copolymers of vinylmethylether and maleic anhydride, etc. These water soluble polymers can be applied over the reflecting layer 8 by macro/micro dosing, pad printing, hot melt or other suitable applicable technique known in the art. Since water soluble polymers can be transparent, in this example, a filler is included in the material of the blocking layer to make the water soluble polymer non-transparent.
• Water insoluble polymers degrade over time due to wear and are well suited to be used in applications where the personal care device is not necessarily exposed to water such as an dry electric shaver.
• water insoluble polymers include amongst others cellulose esters, one component polyacrylates or two component polyurethanes. Many more can be found in Dieter Stoye and Werner Freitag, Resins for Coatings ISBN 3-446-18489-9.
• the water insoluble polymer may also be applied over the reflecting layer 8 by macro/micro dosing pad printing, hot melt or other suitable applicable technique known in the art.
• the reflective layer 8 is a hologram that provides a holographic image.
• the blocking layer 10 may also be a water soluble polymer or a water insoluble polymer, as previously described.
• FIG. 3 Another example of a wear indicator according to the present invention is shown in Figure 3.
• the wear indicator 6 is also disposed within an impression 4 of an outer surface of the personal care device.
• the wear indicator 6 also includes a reflecting layer 12 and a blocking layer 10.
• the reflecting layer 12 is a diffraction foil.
• Diffraction foils are thin pliable films that include a plurality of reflective slits forming a diffraction grating. Light is reflected from the grating in unique patterns of light due to constructive and destructive interference. The light patterns will differ due to wavelength being reflected and the size of the slits in the grating.
• Diffraction foils consist of a carrier layer (e.g PET) and an embossed diffraction layer (e.g. nitrocellulose).
• the diffractive foil 12 may be applied in a number of different ways including embossing, photo replication techniques using ultra violet curable polymers or injection molding. The technique used will depend on the material used. For example, polymeric materials such as nitrocellulose work well with embossing.
• diffraction foils do not have a very high reflectivity. Thus, it may be desirable to coat such materials with another material to increase the reflectivity in order to provide a better visual effect.
• a diffraction foil of nitrocellulose material could be coated with aluminum to increase its reflectivity.
• the aluminum may be applied by an evaporation technique.
• a coated diffraction foil As described above, if a coated diffraction foil is used as the reflecting layer 12, it may be disposed in the impression 4 so that diffraction layer is on top, as shown in Figure 3. Alternatively, the coated diffraction layer may be disposed within the impression 4 upside down so that the diffraction layer is on the bottom. This would be desirable to protect the coating from wearing away depending on the application.
• the blocking layer will disposed over the carrier layer of the diffraction foil.
• this example also includes a blocking layer 10 disposed over the diffraction foil 12. As previously described, the blocking layer 10 is degradable over time. Further, in this example, the blocking layer 10 is capable of inhibiting the light pattern generated from the diffraction foil.
• the blocking layer may be any non-transparent material such as a water soluble polymer or a water insoluble polymer, as mentioned above.
• the blocking material 12 may be transparent when the index of refraction of the blocking layer 10 is the same as the diffractive foil 12. This is because diffraction patterns are only visible when there is a difference of index of refraction between two materials.
• nitrocellulose material has an index of refraction of approximately 1.5, while air has a refractive index of about 1.
• a suitable material for the blocking layer 10 would be a water soluble polymer such as Polyvinylalcohol and Polyvinylpyrrolidone, which both have approximately an index of refraction of approximately 1.5.
• FIG 4. Another example of a wear indicator according to the present invention is shown in Figure 4. This example is the same as the example of Figure 3 except that it includes one more layer 14.
• a contrast layer 14 is disposed below the diffraction foil 10.
• the contrast layer 14 is of a material darker than the diffraction foil 10 so that it absorbs more of the light that is not diffracted. This will provide a brighter light pattern to be reflected from the diffraction foil 12.
• the contrast layer 14 can be the carrier layer of the diffractive foil itself or may be of an additional laminated foil, but it also can be a part of the brush using 2 K injection molding techniques.
• the thickness of the blocking layer 10 may also be selected to provide a predetermined time to indicate to the user when to replace the brush head.
• the typical thickness is around a few tenths of a millimeter depending on the material used.
• FIG. 5 Another example of a personal care device according to the present invention is shown in Figure 5.
• the personal care device is a wet shaver 16.
• the wet shaver will be made according to conventional methods except that it will include a wear indicator 6.
• the wear indicator 6 will again also consist of two layers including a reflecting layer and a blocking layer. Any of the examples of the wear indicators shown in Figures 2- 4 may be used depending on the desired application.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Forests & Forestry (AREA)
• Brushes (AREA)
• Laminated Bodies (AREA)

Priority Applications (2)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=37420804

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Cited By (7)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (9)

• 2006
  • 2006-06-21 JP JP2008517685A patent/JP2008546466A/ja not_active Withdrawn
  • 2006-06-21 WO PCT/IB2006/052015 patent/WO2006137028A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2006-06-21 EP EP06765816A patent/EP1903907A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2006-06-21 CN CNA2006800221633A patent/CN101203157A/zh active Pending

Patent Citations (9)

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