CN109890322B - Electric toothbrush with randomly moving bristles - Google Patents

Abstract

The electric toothbrush includes rows of bristle tufts (125) protruding from a perforated top shell (130) of the hollow toothbrush head. The ends of the individual bristles are held in a bucket (420) to form tufts (125) and are free relative to the bristle ends of the ends in the bucket (where the opposite ends contact the teeth of the toothbrush user). The ends of the tufts of bristles (125) in the bucket are captured in an interior space (415) within the head, but are not fixedly attached to any other toothbrush component or structure. This non-fixed attachment feature enables the bristle tufts (125) to have multiple degrees of freedom of motion (DoF) relative to the perforations in the top housing, and can rotate, move axially, and tilt.

Description

Electric toothbrush with randomly moving bristles

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of toothbrushes, in particular to an electric toothbrush with bristles moving randomly.

Background

Conventional electric toothbrushes have tooth cleaning elements, such as bristles (bristles), fixedly attached to and extending from the head such that the motion of these elements relative to the head follows a prescribed path. Teeth and gums have complex contours naturally. Because the tooth cleaning elements are in a prescribed path and are fixedly attached relative to the brush head, the orientation of the tooth cleaning elements is not flexible and thus conventional power toothbrushes do not provide optimal cleaning of the teeth and gums. Therefore, it is difficult for the conventional electric toothbrush to contact a region of the teeth located at a relatively long distance from the head, including an interproximal (interproximal) space between the teeth.

Disclosure of Invention

The electric toothbrush includes a plurality of rows of bristle tufts (bristlet tufts) protruding from a perforated top shell of the hollow toothbrush head. The ends of the individual bristles are held in a bucket to form tufts, and the bristle end opposite the end in the bucket is free (with the free opposite end in contact with the teeth of the toothbrush user). The ends of the bristle tufts in the bucket are captured within the interior space of the head, but are not fixedly attached to any other toothbrush component or structure. This non-fixed attachment structure enables the bristle tufts to have multiple degrees of freedom of motion (DoF) relative to the perforations in the top housing, and can rotate, move axially, and tilt.

The side surfaces of the outer bottom surface of the bucket are configured to engage bucket groove interfaces (interfaces) in the movable plate that tilts and rotates about the fixed pivot when driven by the drive mechanism. The top circumferential edge of the bucket (i.e., the "rim" of the bucket) is configured as a stop that engages the inner surface of the top housing to limit axial deflection of the bristle tufts. In other words, the diameter of the bucket exceeds the diameter of the perforations in the top shell.

A movable plate is tiltably and rotatably mounted within the inner bottom shell of the hollow toothbrush head. The movable plate tilts and rotates on a pivot point extending upward from the bottom shell to interface with the plate about or at its center. One end of the movable plate includes a drive shaft receiving portion configured to be movably engaged with a drive mechanism. The follower may comprise a recess configured to receive a tip of a free end of a drive rod rotatably driven about its longitudinal axis by the user switchable motor. A portion of the free end is bent such that the tip of the rod is offset relative to its longitudinal axis. Thus, when the rod is actuated, the tip of the rod traverses a circular path in a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal axis.

When the motor is operated, the movable plate tilts (i.e., rocks) and rotates relative to the stud as the follower follows the circular path of the rod tip. The recesses in the plate are sized so that the bristle tufts in the bucket are free to slidably move relative to the plate. The number and arrangement of the grooves of the plate match the top shell perforations. During motor operation, the tilting and rotation of the plate cyclically aligns the centers of the grooves and perforations obliquely and not obliquely. Thus, when the electric toothbrush is operated, the free ends of the bristle tufts are inclined in different directions and move up and down relative to the outer surface of the upper housing.

The movable plate and the interior space in the head of the toothbrush are configured so that the bristle tufts in the bucket have space for movement independent of the plate movement. The bristles in the bucket are free to move within an interior space that is sized to exceed the total offset of the movable plate. Because the bristles in the bucket are not fixedly attached to the movable plate, the bristle motion may be at least partially independent of the plate when operating the electric toothbrush. This portion independently causes random motion of one or more of the bristle tufts during operation of the toothbrush.

In one illustrative embodiment, the movable plate is driven at a suitable and relatively high frequency to impart a vibrating (vibrating) motion to the plate. The movable plate collides with the bucket when operated in this manner to give a strong force to accelerate the bucket in the direction in which the force is exerted. The tilting and rotating movements of the movable plate are such that the plane of the plate is not always parallel to the plane of the bottom of the bucket. Thus, the contact point between the movable plate and the bucket may vary. This variation, by itself or in combination with other factors (e.g., movement of the bristles due to interaction with the user's teeth) can cause random periods of movement of the bristles during operation of the toothbrush.

Significant advantages are achieved by providing an electric toothbrush having bristle tufts driven in a random motion. In particular, certain embodiments promote cleaning of the teeth and gums and improve access and contact in areas of the teeth that are located a distance from the brush head, including the interproximal spaces between the teeth. These and additional features and advantages disclosed herein will be further understood from the following disclosure of certain embodiments.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure. These and various other features will be apparent from a review of the following detailed description and associated drawings.

Drawings

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative example, in partial cross-section, of an electric toothbrush having randomly moving bristles in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

fig. 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D sequentially show the driving shaft rotated one turn;

FIG. 3 illustrates a path traversed by a distal offset end of a drive shaft;

FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7 show in cross-section an illustrative electric toothbrush taken along A-A of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 show an illustrative electric toothbrush in cross-section taken along B-B of FIG. 1; and

fig. 11A, 11B, 11C, and 11D show movable plates having grooves for bristle tufts in a bucket for various orientations (including combinations of tilt and rotation) when the movable plates are driven by a coupled drive assembly.

The invention may take form in various components and arrangements of components, and in various programs and arrangements of programs. The drawings are only for purposes of illustrating the preferred embodiments and are not to scale and are not to be construed as limiting the invention.

Detailed Description

Referring to the drawings, in fig. 1, an electric toothbrush 100 of the present invention comprises a handle 105 at a proximal end of the toothbrush, a head 110 at a distal end of the toothbrush, a neck 115 extending between the handle and the head, a rotatable drive shaft 120 extending from the handle to the head, and a plurality of bristle tufts (representatively indicated by reference numeral 125) extending through perforations in a housing 130 of the head, wherein each tuft comprises a plurality of bristles. The handle is used to provide a compartment to hold the electric motor 135, the electric motor 135 containing power from a power source such as batteries 140 and 145. In a typical embodiment, the battery is configured to be chargeable by a battery charger (not shown) that may be coupled to a household power circuit such as a wall plug. In an alternative embodiment, an internal power supply (not shown) may be used that directly interconnects with the household power supply to supplement or replace the battery. Two batteries are shown in fig. 1, but fewer or more batteries may be used, and the toothbrush may also be adapted to utilize non-rechargeable or disposable batteries.

The motor 135 can be configured to operate at a fixed speed or a plurality of different speeds that can be selected by the toothbrush user, for example, by a switch (not shown). The drive shaft 120 has a longitudinal axis 150 that is generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the toothbrush 100, in this illustrative example, the handle 105 and neck 115 share a common longitudinal axis. The head 110 has a longitudinal axis 155, and in some embodiments, the longitudinal axes 155 may also share the common axis. The drive shaft may be supported by supports or bearings (not shown) in the handle, neck and/or head.

The bristle tufts 125 are arranged to extend through circular perforations in the head 110, however, other perforation shapes are also contemplated as falling within the scope of the present invention. The bristle tufts (as shown in this illustrative example) are arranged in groups of six of two rows of bristle tufts. However, this is merely illustrative, and other rows of bristle tufts may be employed, and the rows may be staggered, non-staggered, or arranged in combinations thereof.

Fig. 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D sequentially illustrate the drive shaft 120 making one revolution when driven by a motor 135 (the motor, power source, and drive shaft collectively referred to herein as a "drive assembly," indicated by reference numeral 210). The proximal end of the drive shaft is coupled to the motor and the distal end has an offset portion 205 relative to the longitudinal axis 150 of the drive shaft. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, the distal end of the drive shaft, when driven by the motor, traverses a circular path 305 in a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal axis 150 (note: the direction of rotation of the drive shaft shown in FIG. 3 is random).

Fig. 4 and 5 show an illustrative powered toothbrush 100 in cross-section taken along a-a in fig. 1. The head 110 of the toothbrush includes a top shell 405 with perforations 410 and an opposing unperforated bottom shell 406 (note: for ease of description, terms such as "top," "bottom," "left," "right," "front," "back," "up," and "down," etc. are used primarily to confirm the relative orientation in the illustrative examples shown and described herein). The top and bottom shells enclose an interior space 415 within the head. In this illustrative example, the top and bottom shells are configured with flat planes defining respective parallel planes, however, other configurations may be selected to meet the needs of a particular toothbrush embodiment.

The bristle tufts 125 are grouped together and fixedly attached to respective buckets (buckets) 420 that circumferentially surround the proximal ends of the tufts and have a rigid bottom surface. The bristle tufts extend upwardly from the opening of the bucket relative to the bottom surface such that their distal ends extend through the perforations in the top housing 405. The distal ends of the bristle tufts are the deciduous tooth and gum cleaning elements of the present invention.

The buckets 420 are non-fixedly positioned in respective bucket receiving recesses 425 in the movable plate 430, and the movable plate 430 is tiltably and movably coupled to a pivot 435, the pivot 435 extending upward from an inner surface of the bottom housing 406 to the interior space 415 of the head 110. The pivots interface with corresponding pivot receptacles 440 in the movable plate. The pivot receptacles may include recesses (as illustratively shown in the figures), however, through holes or other suitable pivot interface engagements that enable the movable plate to tilt or rock and rotate relative to the pivot may also be used. For example, the pivot and receiving interfaces may include ball and socket joints, multi-axis hinges, and other conventional mechanisms that allow relative movement with respect thereto in multiple degrees of freedom.

As shown in fig. 5, the bristle tufts in the bucket are captured within the interior space 415 of the brush head 110, but are not otherwise fixedly attached to the movable plate 430 or any other structure or component of the electric toothbrush 100 (fig. 1). While the outer bottom surface and side surfaces of the bucket 420 are configured to interface with the bucket-receiving groove 425 in the movable plate, the top circumferential edge of the bucket (i.e., the "edge" of the bucket) is configured as a stop that engages the inner surface of the top housing 405 to limit axial deflection of the bristle tufts. Thus, the diameter of the bucket exceeds the diameter of the perforations in the top shell 405. Further, the groove is configured to provide clearance that is suitably sized to enable the bucket to move freely (including tilt, slide, and rotate) relative to the groove. In the illustrative embodiment shown, both the bottom surface of the bucket and the top surface of the opposing groove are flat. In alternative embodiments, features such as wedges and other shapes may be used on the opposing surfaces to impart enhanced rotation to the bucket as it engages the groove interface during operation of the power toothbrush.

Fig. 6 and 7 show illustrative movement of the bristle tufts 125 when the movable plate 430 tilts and rotates relative to the pivot 435 in response to rotation of the drive shaft from the drive assembly 210 (fig. 2). With each turn of the drive shaft (not shown), the movable plate tilts to the left (fig. 6) and to the right (fig. 7). The movable plate also tilts end-to-end with each drive shaft cycle, and rotates and counter-rotates. Additional motion is shown in the remaining figures and described in the accompanying text. The interior space 415 is configured to be greater than a maximum excursion of the movable plate. In other words, there is a Z dimension (as shown) between the movable plate (at its maximum excursion) and the inner surface of the top housing 405 to allow additional upward movement of the bucket 420 beyond that provided by the movable plate, as shown in fig. 7. Thus, the bristle tufts in the bucket may move partially independently of the movable plate, which may cause random bristle tuft movement during operation of the toothbrush.

When the electric toothbrush is operated, the bucket 420 collides with the movable plate, which causes the bristle tufts 125 to slidably move relative to the perforations 410 in the top housing 405. As shown, this movement may include axial movement along the longitudinal axis of the bristle tufts. Further, the inclination of the movable plate causes the central axes of the cylindrical bucket-receiving recess 425 and the cylindrical penetration hole to be aligned obliquely. This may result in the bristle tufts extending in an oblique orientation relative to the top housing.

As described above, the bucket has freedom of movement within the interior space 415 of the brush head 110. While the impact with the movable plate may impart an upward force to the bristle tufts in the hopper, the toothbrush itself does not provide any mechanism to provide a restoring force that reverses the outward motion. However, contact between the distal ends of the bristle tufts and the user's teeth and gums tends to push the bristle tufts downward, causing the bucket 420 to re-engage with the movable plate. The period of upward projection and downward re-engagement can be expected to be non-periodic and irregular when a user brushes his or her teeth with the electric toothbrush of the present invention.

For example, a given bristle tuft may rejoin at any given point within its range of motion. For example, in one example, the bucket may reengage the movable plate as it tilts downward. In other examples, the movable plate may move upward, rotate, or move in reverse. Thus, the bristle tufts have a random overall motion with multiple degrees of freedom. In some embodiments, the randomness of the collision may increase as the rotational speed of the drive shaft increases. For example, when the toothbrush is operated at a relatively high speed, the movable plate exhibits an oscillating motion and collides with the bucket, thereby imparting a strong force. This may further increase the randomness of the movement of the bristle tufts, since the contact point between the movable plate and the bucket will vary, since the plane of the movable plate is not always parallel to the plane of the bottom surface of the bucket.

Fig. 8, 9 and 10 show an illustrative electric toothbrush 100 in cross-section taken along B-B in fig. 1. In this illustrative example, the movable plate 430 is arranged with long and short axes, with the long axis being parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft 205. The drive shaft receptacle 805 of the movable plate is centrally located along the long axis at the proximal end of the movable plate. In an alternative embodiment, the drive shaft receiving portion may be offset from the center of the movable plate. An engagement member 810 (such as a guide, bearing, or pin) is located at the offset distal end of the drive shaft 205. The engagement member interfaces with the drive shaft receptacle of the movable plate such that the end of the plate extends through (transition) circular path 305 (fig. 3) while the center of the plate is tilted and rotated about fixed pivot 435.

Fig. 8 shows drive shaft 205 oriented such that its offset and non-offset portions collectively define a plane parallel to top shell 405 and bottom shell 406. Fig. 9 shows the drive shaft shown in fig. 8 rotated 90 degrees from the drive shaft position. Fig. 10 shows the drive shaft shown in fig. 9 rotated 180 degrees from the drive shaft position. As the drive shaft rotates during operation of the toothbrush, the movable plate 430 tilts end to end as shown in fig. 9 and 10. It will be appreciated that rotation of the drive shaft results in a cyclic movement of the movable plate such that the leftward and rightward inclinations shown in fig. 6 and 7 are superimposed on the forward and rearward inclinations shown in fig. 9 and 10. In addition to tilting, the periodic rotational and counter-rotational movement of the movable plate about pivot 435 also occurs as the drive shaft rotates during operation of the toothbrush.

Fig. 11A, 11B, 11C, and 11D illustrate a movement range of the movable plate 430. In these figures, the movable plate 430 is shown in simplified form in illustrating the relationship between the longitudinal axis 1105 of the movable plate and the fixed central pivot point and the longitudinal axis 150 of the drive shaft for clarity. Axis 150 has the same orientation in each of the figures, sequentially illustrating the position of the movable plate at four base points along the circular path 305 of the offset drive shaft portion. Fig. 11A and 11D show the maximum head-end inclination and the maximum tail-end inclination of the movable plate, respectively. Fig. 11B and 11C show the movable plate without tilting (i.e., parallel to the top and bottom shells) and maximum and reverse rotation about the pivot point, respectively. It should be appreciated that side-to-side tilting of the movable plate occurs when the offset portion of the drive shaft rotates between base points.

The embodiments have been described with certain words and phrases in an attempt to describe certain movements. The movement may be constant or oscillating. One example of a constant motion is simple rotation, where the element moves angularly in a single direction (e.g., only clockwise rotation or clockwise rotation of the tapered envelope bristles) or translates in a single direction. A vibration is any periodic motion with a repetitive cycle. The vibratory motion may have one or more frequencies and amplitudes. The substantially linear oscillating motion is referred to herein as a reciprocating motion. The reciprocating motion can occur in multiple directions, such as substantially horizontal, substantially vertical (i.e., lifting or pulsating motion), and combinations thereof. The substantially rotational vibrational motion is referred to herein as an oscillating or pivoting motion.

Since most motions may be complex in nature (i.e., include elements of other types of motion), unless otherwise stated (e.g., only reciprocating), the use of the above terms herein may include other motions in addition to those pertaining to the primary or primary motion. So, for example, the motion described herein as reciprocating may also include other vibratory or constant motions, even if the primary motion is reciprocating in nature.

The invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments. Modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the specification. For example, while certain elements have been described as bends included in the shaft and other cams have been described as including suitably shaped beads secured to the shaft, the cams are not limited to the suggested form. Indeed, a bend may be substituted for the bead (bead) and the bead may be substituted for the bend. Where a cam or cam portion having one eccentric or curved shape is shown, multiple eccentric, offset or curved shapes may be included. Each increased eccentricity, offset or curvature increases the frequency of vibration, pulsing, pivoting, rotation, rocking, oscillation, reciprocation or translation of the associated bucket. Additionally, where multiple eccentricities or offsets are included, they may have varying magnitudes, thereby providing varying magnitudes of bristle tuft movement. It is intended to include all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

The above described subject matter is provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed as limiting. Various modifications and changes may be made to the subject matter described herein without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

Claims (20)

1. An electric toothbrush, comprising:

a handle having a neck;

a head mounted to the neck and having a perforated shell and an opposing unperforated shell surrounding an interior space within the head;

a plurality of movable bristle tufts having distal ends extending outwardly through perforations in the housing and distal ends fixedly attached to respective buckets of a plurality of buckets captured within the interior space;

a movable plate disposed in the interior space, the interior space including a recess for non-fixedly receiving the bucket, the movable plate rotatably and tiltably disposed on a pivot shaft extending from an inner surface of the imperforate housing into the interior space; and

a drive assembly operably connected to the movable plate, wherein the drive assembly tilts and rotates the movable plate relative to the pivot during operation of the electric toothbrush,

wherein the interior space and the recess are configured such that bristle tufts in the bucket are movable within the interior space,

wherein each bucket includes an edge engageable with the perforated shell to stop movement of the bucket beyond the interior space.

2. The electric toothbrush of claim 1, wherein the drive assembly comprises: a motor coupled to a power source; and a rotatable drive shaft having a proximal end coupled to the motor and a distal end having an offset portion relative to a longitudinal axis of the drive shaft.

3. The electric toothbrush of claim 2, wherein the movable plate includes a drive shaft receptacle configured to receive an offset portion of a distal end of the drive shaft.

4. The electric toothbrush according to claim 3 wherein during operation of the electric toothbrush, the offset portion of the distal end of the drive shaft traverses a circular path in a plane that is orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft.

5. The electric toothbrush according to claim 4, wherein during operation of the electric toothbrush, the drive shaft receptacle of the movable plate traverses the circular path from a state of engagement with the offset portion of the distal end of the drive shaft.

6. The electric toothbrush according to claim 5, wherein the movable plate has a long axis and a short axis, and the drive shaft receptacle of the movable plate is centered along the long axis of the movable plate.

7. The electric toothbrush according to claim 6, wherein the pivot shaft engages a pivot shaft receiving hole in the movable plate at an intersection between a long axis and a short axis of the movable plate.

8. The electric toothbrush of claim 1, wherein tilting and rotation of the movable plate during toothbrush operation causes the center of the recess in the movable plate and the center of the perforation to cyclically align obliquely and non-obliquely.

9. The electric toothbrush of claim 1, wherein bristle tufts in the bucket are slidably movable relative to grooves in the movable plate and move independently of motion of the movable plate, and wherein during operation of the electric toothbrush, the movable plate collides with the bucket, imparting random motion to the bristle tufts.

10. The electric toothbrush of claim 9, wherein the bristle tufts in the bucket are rotationally movable relative to the grooves in the movable plate.

11. The electric toothbrush according to claim 9, wherein the scoops and grooves in the movable plate are cylindrical, the scoops and grooves having diameters respectively sized to provide clearance between the scoops and the grooves such that the respective axes of the cylinders and the grooves have cyclical parallel and non-parallel alignment during operation of the electric toothbrush.

12. The electric toothbrush of claim 11, wherein the cyclical alignment is non-periodic.

13. The electric toothbrush of claim 11, wherein the cyclical alignment is random.

14. The electric toothbrush according to claim 9, wherein during operation of the electric toothbrush, the plane of the bottom surface of the scoop randomly has coplanar alignment and non-coplanar alignment with the plane of the surface of the groove in the movable plate that is opposite the bottom surface of the scoop.

15. The electric toothbrush according to claim 9, wherein during operation of the electric toothbrush, contact points between a bottom surface of the scoop and respective surfaces of a groove in the movable plate that are opposite the bottom surface of the scoop vary as the movable plate and the scoop collide.

16. The electric toothbrush according to claim 15 wherein the variations are random.

17. The electric toothbrush according to claim 1 wherein a dimension of the bristles in the bucket movable within the interior space exceeds a maximum excursion of the movable plate, the dimension being orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the head and in a direction of the perforation.

18. The electric toothbrush of claim 1, wherein operation of the drive shaft causes vibrational motion of the movable plate such that the movable plate collides with the bucket, thereby imparting random motion to the bristle tufts.

19. The electric toothbrush of claim 18, wherein the random motion comprises one or more of an axial motion, a rotational motion, or a lateral motion of the bristle tufts.

20. The electric toothbrush of claim 1, further comprising a power source operably coupled to a motor, or a power supply operably coupled to the motor.

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