JP2007244546A - Bristle material for toothbrush and toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bristle material for a tooth brush and the toothbrush, which has superior cleaning property of plaque between teeth and on the surfaces of the teeth and gives superior tactile sensation to the gums compared with a conventional bristle material for the toothbrush. <P>SOLUTION: This bristle material for the toothbrush 1 consisting of a cut bristle of synthetic resin modified cross-section monofilaments is so formed that the modified cross-section has a plurality of projecting parts 6 and recessed parts 7, a body part side face of the cut bristle has helical grooves 2 formed of the recessed parts 7 along its length direction, at least one end side of the cut bristle has a plurality of branched bristles formed of the projecting parts 6, and the tip of each branch bristle 3 is taperedly formed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention provides a toothbrush bristle material and a toothbrush bristle material that have superior plaque cleaning properties between teeth and on the surface of the tooth and superior touch to the gums compared to conventional toothbrush hair materials. It relates to the used toothbrush.

  Conventionally, synthetic resin monofilaments have been used for bristle materials for toothbrushes because they can be easily processed at low cost.

  Particularly, in recent years, various functions have been required for toothbrushes, and accordingly, various types of bristle materials for toothbrushes have been proposed.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), a toothbrush bristle material having a tapered portion 11 at the tip (see, for example, Patent Document 1) has a narrow portion of the teeth because the hair tip easily enters between the teeth. It is easy to remove plaque and has good tactile sensation, so that it provides a specific effect not found in conventional toothbrush hair materials such as a gum massage effect. However, when cleaning the dental plaque using this toothbrush bristle material as a toothbrush, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), the bristle material 1 is moved along the sliding direction W of the bristle material 1. Since the side surface is only in line contact with the plaque 10 adhering to the tooth surface 9, there is a problem that the performance of removing dirt on the tooth surface is weak.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), a toothbrush bristle material (for example, see Patent Document 2) in which a plurality of sharp tapered branched hairs 3 are formed at the tip has already been proposed. The bristle material was characterized by exhibiting higher interdental cleaning and tactile sensation than the conventional bristle material for toothbrushes described above. However, when the toothbrush bristle material is also used as a toothbrush to clean plaque, the bristle material 1 along the sliding direction W of the bristle material 1 as shown in FIG. Since the plurality of grooves 2 formed on the side surface of the toothbrush are only in line contact with the plaque 10 attached to the tooth surface 9, although compared to the toothbrush bristle material shown in FIG. There was a problem that the ability to clean the surface of the teeth was still weak.

  On the other hand, the toothbrush bristle material (for example, patent document 3) which enabled it to remove a foreign material effectively by having a taper part and the helical groove | channel twisted and formed in the outer periphery of this taper part at the hair tip. Have already been proposed. However, this toothbrush bristle material has not only a cleaning effect as expected, but also has many problems in production, such as a very difficult processing method and high production cost.

As described above, although the conventional toothbrush bristle material has specific characteristics, it does not satisfy all the characteristics required for the toothbrush bristle material, so further improvement thereof is frequently required. .
Japanese Patent No. 3145213 JP 2003-144229 A JP 2003-189943 A

  The present invention has been achieved as a result of studying the solution of the problems in the prior art as an object. That is, the present invention provides a toothbrush bristle material excellent in plaque cleaning properties between teeth and on the tooth surface, and also in touch to the gums, and the toothbrush bristle, compared to conventional toothbrush bristle materials. The object is to provide a toothbrush using a material.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a bristle material for toothbrush comprising a cut bristle of a synthetic resin deformed cross section monofilament, the deformed cross section comprising a plurality of convex portions and concave portions, and the main body of the cut bristle The side surface has a spiral groove formed of the concave portion along the length direction thereof, and has a plurality of branched hairs formed of the convex portion on at least one end side of the cut bristle, and tips of the branched hairs A toothbrush bristle material is provided in which is formed in a tapered shape.

In the toothbrush bristle material of the present invention,
The irregular cross-section is multi-lobed, especially multi-lobed with 3 to 6 protrusions;
The number of spirals of the spiral groove is 0.5 to 4.0 rotations / cm,
The synthetic resin modified cross-section monofilament is made of a polyester-based resin;
Are mentioned as preferable conditions, and more excellent effects can be obtained by satisfying these conditions.

  Further, the toothbrush of the present invention is characterized in that the above-mentioned toothbrush bristle material is used as at least a part of the bristle material, and it is more effective in cleaning plaque between teeth and on the surface of the tooth than conventional toothbrushes. Excellent effect of excellent gums and touch to gums.

  The toothbrush bristle material and toothbrush of the present invention has a plurality of branched hairs having a tapered shape at the hair tip, so that the hair tip can efficiently remove plaque between the teeth, Excellent touch to gums, and more than one spiral groove along the length of the toothbrush bristle material, removing plaque adhering to the tooth surface more effectively can do.

  Therefore, according to this invention, the toothbrush provided with the much higher cleaning effect can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1A is a schematic view showing an example of a bristle material for toothbrushes according to the present invention, wherein 1 is a bristle material for toothbrushes, 2 is a groove, 3 is branched hair, and 4 is a main body.

  FIGS. 1B and 1C are cross-sectional views that appear when the toothbrush bristle material 1 of FIG. 1A is cut along lines AA and BB, respectively, and 5 is a toothbrush bristle. An irregular cross section in the body portion 4 of the material 1, 6 is a convex portion of the irregular cross section 5, 7 is a concave portion of the irregular cross section 5, and 8 is a cross section of the branched hair 3 of the bristle material 1 for toothbrush.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the bristle material 1 for a toothbrush of the present invention comprises a cut bristle of a synthetic resin deformed cross section monofilament, and the deformed cross section 5 comprises a plurality of convex portions 6 and concave portions 7, and the main body portion 4 of the cut bristle. The side surface has a spiral groove 2 made of a concave portion 7 along the length thereof, and has a plurality of branched hairs 3 made of a convex portion 6 on at least one end side of the cut bristle. The tip is formed in a taper shape.

  The spiral groove 2 formed on the side surface of the toothbrush bristle material 1 according to the present invention can efficiently remove plaque adhering to the tooth surface when used in a toothbrush, and therefore has high cleaning properties. Has an important role in getting.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 3, when cleaning the dental plaque using the toothbrush bristle material of the present invention as a toothbrush, the side surface of the bristle material 1 along the sliding direction W of the bristle material 1 Since the plurality of concave and convex portions formed by the spiral grooves 2 come into contact with the plaque 10 attached to the tooth surface 9 by line contact and point contact, and the entire contact area increases, the tooth surface The performance of removing dirt is greatly improved.

  Here, the number of spirals of the groove 2 formed along the length direction on the side surface of the toothbrush bristle material 1 is 0.5 to 4.0 rotations / long along the length direction of the toothbrush bristle material 1. It is preferably cm, and more preferably 1.0 to 3.0 rotations / cm.

  The reason for this is that when the number of spirals of the groove 2 falls below the above range, the toothbrush bristle material 1 is likely to lack cleaning properties. On the contrary, when it exceeds the above range, the toothbrush bristle material 1 is bent and wrinkled. This is because it becomes easy to obtain the bristle material 1 for toothbrushes lacking in tactile sensation, and it is easy to affect physical properties such as strength reduction.

  Next, the tapered branched bristles 3 formed on at least one end of the toothbrush bristle material 1 of the present invention efficiently remove plaque between teeth and obtain a feel to the gums. Has an important role.

  That is, the bristle material 1 for toothbrushes of the present invention has a plurality of branched hairs 3 having a tapered shape at one end thereof, so that it can easily enter between teeth and can effectively remove plaque. It also has excellent tactile sensation and provides a good gum massage effect.

  Note that the spiral groove 2 of the toothbrush bristle material 1 of the present invention does not need to be formed by any special method, and can be easily formed by twisting a deformed cross-section monofilament and heat setting, for example.

  Further, the shape of the deformed cross section 5 is not particularly limited, but for the reason that the branched hair 3 can be easily formed by the plaque removal effect on the tooth surface and the weight reduction processing with an alkaline solution described later. A multi-leaf shape having a plurality of convex portions 6 as shown in 1 (b) and FIGS. 2 (a) to (e) is preferable, and a multi-leaf shape having 3 to 6 convex portions 6 is more preferable.

  Furthermore, about the synthetic resin which comprises the bristle material 1 for toothbrushes of the present invention, polycoupleramide, polyhexamethylene adipamide, polyhexamethylene sebamide, polyhexamethylene dodecamide, nylon 46, nylon MDX6, nylon 11, nylon 12, polyamide resins such as poly (capramide / hexamethylene adipamide) copolymer and poly (coupleramide / lauramide) copolymer, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, polypropylene terephthalate, polymethylene naphthalate, Polyester resins such as polybutylene naphthalate and polypropylene naphthalate, polyphenylene sulfide, polyvinylidene fluoride, ethylene / tetrafluoroethylene copolymer, polytetra Fluoroethylene, tetrafluoroethylene / hexafluoropropylene copolymer, polytetrafluoroethylene / perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer, tetrafluoroethylene / vinylidene fluoride copolymer, tetrafluoroethylene / hexafluoropropylene / vinylidene fluoride copolymer One type or two or more types can be appropriately selected from a polymer, a polychlorotrifluoroethylene, an ethylene chloride / tetrafluoroethylene copolymer, a fluororesin such as fluorovinyl ether, and a polyolefin resin, and is not particularly limited. However, for the reason that the tapered branched hairs 3 can be easily formed at one end of the toothbrush bristle material 1 by using a weight reduction process with an alkaline solution described later, the toothbrush bristle material 1 of the present invention is used. Is po Is preferably used in the ester resin, more because of the excellent durability such as wear and elastic recovery property, the use of polybutylene terephthalate is preferable.

  The polyester resin used in the present invention can contain other dicarboxylic acid components and diol components as copolymerization components as long as the object of the present invention is not impaired. Terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid, phthalic acid, diphenyldicarboxylic acid, diphenyletherdicarboxylic acid, diphenylsulfonedicarboxylic acid, benzophenonedicarboxylic acid, phenylindanedicarboxylic acid, oxalic acid, succinic acid, adipic acid, sebacic acid, cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid and decalin Examples of the diol component include ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, tetramethylene glycol, pentamethylene glycol, hexamethylene glycol, octamethylene glycol, Aliphatic glycols such as tylene glycol, neopentylene glycol, cyclohexanediol, cyclohexanedimethanol, o-xylylene glycol, p-xylylene glycol, m-xylylene glycol, 1,4-bis (2-hydroxyethoxy) benzene 1,4-bis (2-hydroxyethoxyethoxy) benzene, 4,4′-bis (2-hydroxyethoxy) biphenyl, 4,4′-bis (2-hydroxyethoxyethoxy) biphenyl, 2,2-bis [ 4- (2-hydroxyethoxy) phenyl] propane, 2,2-bis [4- (2-hydroxyethoxyethoxy) phenyl] propane, 1,3-bis (2-hydroxyethoxy) benzene, 1,3-bis ( 2-hydroxyethoxyethoxy) benzene, 1,2-bis 2-hydroxyethoxy) benzene, 1,2-bis (2-hydroxyethoxyethoxy) benzene, 4,4′-bis (2-hydroxyethoxy) diphenyl sulfone, 4,4′-bis (2-hydroxyethoxyethoxy) diphenyl Examples include aromatic glycols such as sulfones, and diphenols such as hydroquinone, 2,2-bis (4-hydroxyphenyl) propane, resorcin, catechol, dihydroxynaphthalene, dihydroxybiphenyl, and dihydroxydiphenylsulfone. Two or more types can be selected and used as appropriate.

  In addition, the bristle material 1 for a toothbrush of the present invention is known in addition to particles such as various inorganic particles, various metal particles, and crosslinked polymer particles depending on the purpose as long as the effect of the invention is not impaired. Anti-oxidants, light-proofing agents, anti-glare agents, ion-exchange agents, anti-coloring agents, anti-static agents, various coloring agents, waxes, silicone oils, various surfactants, various reinforcing fibers, etc. You can also.

  Next, the hairbrush bristle material 1 and the method for producing the toothbrush of the present invention will be described.

  First, it is not necessary to use any special production apparatus for the production of the synthetic resin modified cross-section monofilament used for the toothbrush bristle material 1 of the present invention, for example, using a known extruder type melt spinning machine. Can be manufactured.

  Specifically, when manufacturing the bristle material 1 for a toothbrush using a polyester resin, a polyester resin that has been dried in advance is supplied to an extruder-type melt spinning machine and is 20 to 100 ° C. higher than the melting point of the polyester resin. After melt-kneading at a temperature, a polyester resin melt is extruded from a spinneret having a discharge hole having an irregular cross-sectional shape.

  Next, the extruded polyester-based resin melt is cooled and solidified in a cooling bath, and is then heated and stretched 3.5 to 6.0 times under a temperature condition of 90 ° C. or higher and below the melting point of the polyester-based resin, Furthermore, if necessary, a heat relaxation treatment is performed and the film is wound up once.

  Here, the wound irregularly shaped monofilament can be given a wave shape in its length direction, and by giving the wave shape, it is possible to obtain a toothbrush bristle material further excellent in tactile sensation. .

  Then, the irregularly-shaped monofilament once wound is subjected to heat setting while twisting, for example, so that a spiral groove 2 is formed on the side surface along the length direction.

  Next, the irregular-shaped monofilament in which the spiral groove 2 is formed is bundled again, and then cut into a length corresponding to the toothbrush to be used, processed into a cut bristle, and further immersed in an alkaline solution. Weight loss processing is applied.

  Then, by the weight reduction process using an alkaline solution, the concave portion 7 of the irregular cross section 5 of the irregular shaped monofilament is melted before the convex portion 6, the convex portions 6 are separated from each other, and each separated tip portion is melted in a tapered shape. Thus, the branched hairs 3 are formed.

  Thereafter, the cut bristle obtained through the washing and drying steps is implanted into the toothbrush as a toothbrush bristle material 1 by a normal production method.

  The toothbrush bristle material 1 of the present invention includes, for example, phosphate-based, zeolite-based, hydroxyapatite-based antibacterial agents supporting silver ions, zinc oxide, zinc sulfate, zinc chloride, zinc phosphate, Zinc nitrate, zinc carbonate, zinc acetate, zinc oxalate, zinc citrate, zinc fumarate, zinc formate and other zinc compounds, cationic antibacterial agents such as benzethonium, benzalkonium, cetylpyridium, chlorhexidine, epigallocatechin, An antibacterial effect can also be imparted by attaching and / or containing a photocatalyst such as tea catechin such as epigallocatechin gallate, epicatechin and epicatechin gallate, anatase type or rutile type titanium dioxide.

  Hereinafter, although the Example is given and demonstrated in detail about the bristle material for toothbrushes of this invention, this invention is not limited to a following example at all unless the summary is exceeded.

  In addition, about each physical property of the bristle material for toothbrushes in a Example and a comparative example, and practical evaluation of a toothbrush, it performed as follows.

  Further, the toothbrush used in the practical evaluation of the toothbrush was prepared by using the toothbrush bristle material obtained in Examples and Comparative Examples on an ABS base having 34 flocked holes in a flocked area 9 mm × 22 mm, 20 holes / hole. In addition, the hair is implanted so that the hair length is 10 mm.

[Cleanability]
A pseudo tooth model in which a groove having a width of 0.5 mm and a height of 5 mm was formed on the upper surface of a 10 mm cubic acrylic plate was prepared, and plaque staining solution (plaque check solution) was uniformly adhered to the surface.

After that, using the created toothbrush, the upper surface of the pseudo tooth model is brushed under conditions of a vertical load of 350 g, an amplitude length of 30 mm, and an amplitude speed of 180 reciprocations / minute until the plaque stain solution is completely removed. Was measured.

[Tactile]
Fifteen monitors were asked to evaluate the touch feeling of the brush in the following three stages.
1 ... The way of hitting the hair tip was very good and the touch to the gums was excellent.
2 ... I felt some irritation, but there was no problem in use.
3 ... The way of touching the hair tips was very bad and I felt a strong stimulus.

[Example 1]
A polybutylene terephthalate resin (1200S manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc., hereinafter referred to as PBT) was supplied to a melt spinning machine, melted and kneaded, and then the melt was extruded from the spinneret and cooled and solidified to obtain unstretched.

  Thereafter, the film was stretched by heating in a hot water bath and a dry hot air bath without winding, and further subjected to a heat relaxation treatment in a dry hot air bath to produce a monofilament having a cross section of 190 μm in diameter and having a trilobal cross section.

  Next, the obtained irregular cross-section monofilament was twisted while being heat set, and a groove having a spiral number of 1.5 rotations / cm was provided along the length direction on the side face of the irregular cross-section monofilament.

  Furthermore, this monomorphic monofilament was bundled into a plurality of pieces, a paper tape was wound around the outer periphery of the bundle, and processed into a cut bristle having a length of 30 cm. And this cut bristle was immersed in the sodium hydroxide aqueous solution, the weight reduction process was performed, three branched hairs which have a taper shape were formed in the both ends of the cut bristle, and the bristle material for toothbrushes was created.

[Examples 2 and 3]
A toothbrush bristle material was produced by the same method as in Example 1 except that the cross section of the irregular shaped monofilament was changed to a 6-leaf shape and an 8-leaf shape.

[Examples 4 and 5]
A toothbrush bristle material was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the number of spirals of the groove was changed to 0.4 rotation / cm and 4.5 rotation / cm.

Example 6
A toothbrush bristle material was prepared by the same method as in Example 1 except that polyethylene terephthalate resin (T250M manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc., hereinafter referred to as PET) was used instead of PBT.

[Comparative Example 1]
A single taper-shaped toothbrush bristle material was prepared by the same method as in Example 1 except that the cross-section of the irregular-shaped monofilament was round and was not twisted.

[Comparative Example 2]
A single taper-shaped toothbrush bristle material was produced by the same method as in Example 1 except that the cross section of the irregularly shaped monofilament was triangular.

[Comparative Example 3]
A toothbrush bristle material was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the deformed cross-section monofilament and its cut bristle were not subjected to twisting and weight reduction with sodium hydroxide solution.

[Comparative Example 4]
A toothbrush bristle material was prepared by the same method as in Example 1 except that the irregular-shaped monofilament was not twisted.

[Comparative Example 5]
A toothbrush bristle material was prepared by the same method as in Example 1 except that the cut bristle of the irregular-shaped monofilament was not subjected to weight reduction processing with a sodium hydroxide solution.

  As mentioned above, the evaluation result of the obtained bristle material for toothbrushes is described together in Table 1.

  As is clear from Table 1, the toothbrush bristle material (Examples 1 to 6) satisfying the conditions of the present invention was superior in cleaning property and tactile sensation as compared with the toothbrush bristle material of the comparative example. It turns out that it is.

  In contrast, toothbrush bristle materials (Comparative Examples 1 to 5) that do not satisfy the conditions of the present invention are found to lack cleaning properties and / or tactile properties, and have, for example, grooves and branched hairs. No single taper toothbrush bristle material (Example 1) lacks cleanability and tactile sensation, has a spiral groove, but has no single-taper toothbrush bristle material (Example 2) ) Lacks tactile sensation and has a groove, but the groove is not formed in a spiral shape and the toothbrush bristle material (Comparative Example 3) lacks cleaning properties and tactile sensation. A toothbrush bristle material that has branched hairs but whose grooves are not formed in a spiral shape (Comparative Example 4) lacks cleanability, and further has a helical groove, but has no spiral hairs (a toothbrush hair material that has no branched hairs) Comparative Example 5) lacked cleanability.

  According to the toothbrush bristle material and the toothbrush of the present invention, since the hair tip has a plurality of branched hairs having a tapered shape, the hair tip can efficiently remove plaque between the teeth. At the same time, it has excellent tactile sensation on the gums and has multiple spiral grooves along its length on the side of the toothbrush bristle so that it can efficiently remove plaque adhering to the tooth surface. And a higher cleaning effect can be obtained. And the bristle material for toothbrushes of the present invention can be used not only for toothbrushes but also for various cleaning brushes such as body brushes and cleaning brushes, taking advantage of the features.

(A) of FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the bristle material for toothbrushes of the present invention, and (b) and (c) are cross-sectional views of the bristle material for toothbrushes taken along lines AA and BB, respectively. FIGS. 2A to 2E are cross-sectional views showing modified cross-sections of the bristle constituting the bristle material for a toothbrush of the present invention. It is the schematic diagram which showed the mode of washing | cleaning of the surface of a tooth | gear at the time of using the bristle material for toothbrushes of (a) of FIG. 1 for a toothbrush. FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram of a conventional toothbrush bristle material, and FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram showing how the tooth surface is cleaned when used in the toothbrush bristle toothbrush. FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram of another conventional toothbrush bristle material, and FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram showing how the tooth surface is cleaned when used for the toothbrush bristle toothbrush.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Toothbrush bristle material 2 Groove 3 Branch hair 4 Main part 5 The unusual cross section of the main part of the toothbrush bristle material
6 Convex part 7 Concave part 8 Cross section of branched hair part of toothbrush bristle material 9 Tooth surface 10 Plaque 11 Tapered part W Toothbrush sliding direction

Claims (6)

A toothbrush bristle material comprising a cut bristle of a synthetic resin deformed cross section monofilament, the deformed cross section comprising a plurality of convex portions and concave portions, and extending from the concave portion along the length direction of the main body side surface of the cut bristle. The cut bristle has a plurality of branch hairs formed of the convex portions on at least one end side of the cut bristle, and the tips of the branch hairs are tapered. Toothbrush bristle material. The toothbrush bristle material according to claim 1, wherein the deformed cross section is a multilobal shape. The bristle material for a toothbrush according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the irregular cross section is a multilobal shape having 3 to 6 convex portions. The toothbrush bristle material according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the number of spirals of the spiral groove is 0.5 to 4.0 rotations / cm. The toothbrush bristle material according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the synthetic resin deformed section monofilament is made of a polyester resin. A toothbrush comprising the toothbrush bristle material according to any one of claims 1 to 5 as at least a part of the bristle material.

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