HONG, Jae Hyoung (1 Sindonga Apt, Sipjeong3-dongBupyeong-gu, Incheon 403-130, 17-1403, KR)
HONG, Jae Hyoung (1 Sindonga Apt, Sipjeong3-dongBupyeong-gu, Incheon 403-130, 17-1403, KR)
| Claims
[1] A bristle actuating device for an electric toothbrush, which is laterally and vertically operated and includes a body part (11) and a head part (12), the bristle actuating device comprising: laterally actuated bristle bodies (13; 13') mounted on the head part (11) in such a way as to be actuated laterally; a rotary bristle body (14) mounted on the head part (12) in such a way as to be rotated by the actuation of the laterally actuated bristle bodies (13; 13'); an actuating part (15) mounted inside the body part (11) for actuating the bristle bodies (13; 13'); a battery receiving portion (16) mounted on an end portion of the body part (11) for receiving a battery therein; and a cap (17) for fixing the battery receiving portion (16).
[2] The bristle actuating device according to claim 1, wherein the body part (11) is divided into an upper body (21) and a lower body (22), which are separable from each other, and comprises: the battery receiving portion (16) mounted on one side of an upper face of the lower body (22); a motor (23) mounted on one side of the battery receiving portion (16) and driven using energy of the battery; a drive gear (24) joined to a motor shaft of the motor (23); the actuating part (15) mounted on one side of the motor (23); a fixing member (25) joined to end portions of the upper and lower bodies (21; 22) for fixing the upper and lower bodies (21; 22) together; links (26) joined to both sides of the fixing member (25); and an actuator (27) connected to the fixing member (25) via the links (26).
[3] The bristle actuating device according to claim 1, wherein the actuating part (15) comprises: a cam plate (31) having a protruding bar (30) eccentrically formed on one side thereof, the cam plate (31) being rotatably fixed to a fixed projection (32) of the lower body (22) and having a gear (33) formed on a rim portion thereof in such a way as to interlock with the drive gear (24) joined to the motor (23), wherein the actuator (27), which is disposed on one side of the cam plate (31) and rotatably fixed to the lower body (22), comprises: a coupling groove (28) and a coupling slit (29) formed on one side thereof to join the link (26) thereto, the coupling slit (29) being formed from the upper face to a side central portion of the actuator (27) to join the link (26) thereto in such a way that one end of the link (26) is joined to the coupling groove (28) and the coupling slit (29) and the other end of the link (26) is joined to the protruding bar (30) protruding from the upper face of the cam plate (31), whereby the actuator (27) is operated laterally; and coupling grooves (35) formed on a front portion and a rear portion thereof for joining push rods (34; 34') in such a way that one of the push rods (34; 34') is joined to the actuator (27) in a short distance and the other one is joined to the actuator (27) in a long distance, and wherein one end portion of each of the push rods (34; 34') is joined to each of the coupling grooves (35) via a fixing bar (32) and the other end portion has a retaining jaw (36).
[4] The bristle actuating device according to claim 1, wherein the head part (12) has rods (41) respectively formed on the laterally actuated bristle bodies (13; 13'), each of the rods having a hook (42) formed on an end thereof in such a way as to be joined to the retaining jaws (33) of the push rods (34; 34') respectively joined to the actuator (27), wherein each of the bristle bodies (13; 13') comprises: an inclined portion (44) formed on an inner face of an end portion thereof; a retaining piece (45) projecting from a central portion of the inclined portion (44); and a gear (46) formed on a lower end of the retaining piece (45), wherein the round rotary bristle body (14) comprises: a retaining groove (47) formed on a lower end portion thereof, in such a way as to be joined and fixed to the retaining piece (45); and a round gear (48) formed on a lower end of the retaining groove (47) in such a way as to be coupled with the gears (46) formed on the inclined portions (44) of the laterally actuated bristle bodies (13; 13'), whereby the rotary bristle body (14) can interlock with the laterally actuated bristle bodies (13; 13'), and wherein each of the bristle bodies (13; 13') further comprises a downwardly inclined portion (48) formed on a lower end portion thereof, and the head part (12) to which the bristle bodies (13; 13') are inserted further comprises a case (49) having upwardly inclined retaining projections (55) formed on front and rear portions and central portion of the inside thereof, so that the bristle bodies (13; 13') are compressively joined to the head part (12).
[5] The bristle actuating device according to claim 1, further comprising a vertically actuated auxiliary bristle body (52) mounted to the laterally actuated bristle bodies (13; 13') respectively having the inclined portions (44), wherein the auxiliary bristle body (52) has inclined portions (51) respectively corresponding to the inclined portions (44) of the bristle bodies (13; 13') and retaining projections (53) formed on the inclined portions (51) thereof, and the inclined portions (44) of the bristle bodies (13; 13') respectively have coupling slits (54) protrudingly formed in such a way as to be joined to the coupling projections (53) of the auxiliary bristle body (52). |
Description
BRISTLE ACTUATING DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC
TOOTHBRUSH
Technical Field
[1] The present invention relates to an electric toothbrush, and more particularly, to a bristle actuating device for an electric toothbrush, which includes laterally actuated bristle bodies and a rotatably actuated bristle body simultaneously actuated by one actuator. Background Art
[2] In general, out of various electric toothbrushes, widely used are an electric toothbrush that includes bristles formed in a round form and rotated by a driving of a motor to thereby remove the tartar from teeth and an electric toothbrush that includes cylindrically formed bristles rotated by a motor and gears.
[3] The former electric toothbrush includes: a handle receiving a motor and a battery therein; a brush head having a guide recess for inserting a bristle body thereinto; and a driven gear formed on a portion of the bristle body and rotated by a drive gear of the motor.
[4] As described above, since the conventional electric toothbrush removes various foreign matters stuck between the teeth while the bristles rotate in the round form, the electric toothbrush cannot remove foreign matters stuck on the gum.
[5] That is, when the bristles are rotated by the motor, since a rotational direction of the bristles is uniform, the toothbrush can remove the foreign matters in a clockwise direction ranging from twelve to fifteen when a user brushes the upper teeth but cannot completely remove the foreign matters in the clockwise direction ranging from nine to twelve, which is an opposite direction of the above, since the toothbrush pushes the foreign matters between the teeth and the gum. Furthermore, the conventional toothbrush has another problem in that it may injure the gum when it is used for a long time.
[6] The latter electric toothbrush, which is constructed in such a way that the cylindrically formed bristles are rotated by the driving of the motor, has a problems in that the bristles must be bent in various angles to the gum during the use.
[7] That is, the electric toothbrush, which has the bristles of a horizontally cylindrical form, can remove the foreign matters stuck on the teeth just by the bristles rotating from the top to the bottom. However, the electric toothbrush has a problem in that there is a great difference in removal of the tartar since a direction to remove the tartar or foreign matters is always uniform due to the uniform rotational direction of the
bristles.
[8] In more detail, since the bristles are rotated from the top to the bottom, the electric toothbrush can easily remove the foreign matters stuck on even parts of the teeth or foreign matters stuck between the teeth but cannot easily remove the tartar stuck on curved parts of the teeth since a force of the toothbrush is not applied to the curved parts.
[9] Moreover, the latter electric toothbrush has another problem in that the user feels inconvenience in use since the user has to change the rotational direction of the motor or the direction of the bristles when the user wants to brush the inner part of the teeth or the lower teeth.
[10] In the meantime, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, Korean Patent Application No. 2004-052,747, which invented by the same inventor as the present invention, discloses "method and apparatus for actuating bristles of electric toothbrush". In Korean Patent Application No. 2004-052,747, the method for actuating the bristles of the electric toothbrush includes the steps of:
[11] driving a motor;
[12] rotating a cam plate by the motor;
[13] laterally operating an actuating plate relative to a shaft by the cam plate;
[14] operating right and left push rods joined to both sides of the actuating plate by the operation of the actuating plate;
[15] laterally operating a laterally actuated actuator via rails by the right and left push rods, the laterally actuated actuator having an auxiliary push rod and bristles;
[16] vertically operating a vertically actuated actuator by the laterally actuated actuator, each of the upper and lower actuators having an auxiliary push rod and bristles; and
[17] operating the vertically actuated actuator while the auxiliary actuator is operated by a projection mounted on a bottom face of the laterally actuated actuator.
[18] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a structure of the toothbrush 1 according to the prior art will be described as follows. The toothbrush 1 includes a head part 2, a body part 3 and a hand-grip, wherein the head part 2 includes laterally actuating parts 5 and 5 for laterally actuating bristles and vertically actuating part 6 for vertically actuating bristles, the body part 3 includes an actuating device mounted therein to operate the laterally actuating parts 5 and 5 and the vertically actuating part 6, and the hand-grip 4 includes a battery receiving portion mounted therein. The actuating device includes a motor 9 mounted on a side of the battery receiving portion, a worm gear mounted on a shaft of the motor, a cam plate mounted on a portion of the motor and rotated by the motor shaft, a spur gear mounted on a lower end of the cam plate and coupled with the worm gear, a coupling groove eccentrically formed on a portion of an upper portion of the cam plate, and an actuator mounted on one side of the cam plate, the actuator
having a pin joined to a central portion of one side thereof in such a way as to be fixed in a laterally actuated manner and coupling grooves formed front and rear portions of an upper portion thereof for joining the cam plate and the push rods thereto.
[19] The body part includes a guide rail longitudinally formed from an upper portion to a central portion thereof in a form of 'X', and laterally actuated actuators joined to the guide rail, each of the laterally actuated actuators having guide grooves formed at front and rear portions thereof, one of the guide grooves being joined to the guide rail and the other being joined to a projection formed on the head part.
[20] Each of the laterally actuated actuators includes an inclined portion formed on an inner face of one side thereof and a coupling hole formed on the other side thereof, to which each of the push rods is joined, and a guide projection formed on a central portion of a bottom face thereof.
[21] The head part includes has a coupling portion formed on a portion thereof, coupling slots formed on both sides of upper and lower portions of the coupling portion, projections formed at both sides and a rear portion of an upper face inside the coupling portion, a vertically actuated actuator inserted into a space formed by the projections and having bristles formed on an upper face thereof and a guide groove formed on a central portion thereof, a fixing bar protrudingly formed on the center of a bottom face of the vertically actuated actuator, an insertion recess formed on a lower end of an inner face thereof, a round fixing projection formed at the center of the insertion recess, and an M- shaped auxiliary actuator inserted into the insertion recess, the auxiliary actuator having a coupling hole formed at the center thereof to be coupled with the fixing projection of the insertion recess and a guide hole formed on an end thereof in such a way that a fixing bar protrudingly formed on the bottom face of the vertically actuated actuator can be inserted into the guide hole of the auxiliary actuator.
[22] The laterally actuated actuators respectively having the bristles on the upper faces thereof are inserted and joined to a portion of the vertically actuated actuator, and in this instance, the laterally actuated actuators respectively have inclined portions formed on inner faces thereof in such a way the vertically actuated actuator is located on the inclined portions of the laterally actuated actuators.
[23] However, the prior art has a problem in that it is difficult to manufacture it and its manufacturing cost is high since its structure is complicated.
[24] Moreover, the prior art has another problem in that it may be operated unreliably and generate a terrible noise since the toothbrush is operated using the cam plate and links. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem
[25] Accordingly, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve the above-
mentioned problems occurring in the prior arts, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a bristle actuating device for an electric toothbrush, which includes a rotary bristle body mounted at an end of the toothbrush in such a way as to be automatically rotated by a laterally operating actuator.
[26] Another object of the present invention is to provide a bristle actuating device for an electric toothbrush, in which all supplementary functions are added to the laterally operating actuator to reduce the number of components, thereby reducing manufacturing costs and expenses. Technical Solution
[27] To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a bristle actuating device for an electric toothbrush including a blocked actuator to move laterally actuated bristle bodies, and hence, the toothbrush is easy to assemble and the bristle bodies can be easily replaced.
[28] Furthermore, the present invention makes the bristle bodies be actuated more smoothly, and can easily remove the tartar by a rotary bristle body mounted on an end portion thereof and reduce manufacturing costs by reducing the number of components.
Advantageous Effects
[29] As described above, the present invention is easy to manufacture since its structure is simple, easy to assemble since the number of components are reduced to simplify its structure, and hence, reduces an assembling period of time. [30] In addition, the present invention can remove the tartar more easily since the toothbrush adopts a laterally actuated manner and a rotationally operated manner in comparison with the toothbrush according to the prior art, which adopts the vertically and laterally actuated manner, and, which was invented by the same inventor as the present invention.
Brief Description of the Drawings
[31] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a toothbrush according to a prior art.
[32] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an operated state of the toothbrush according to the prior art. [33] FIG. 3 is a plan view showing another operated state of the toothbrush according to the prior art. [34] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a toothbrush according to the present invention. [35] FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing an installed state of a bristle actuating device according to the present invention. [36] FIG. 6 is a schematically perspective view showing an assembled state of the
toothbrush according to the present invention.
[37] FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing essential parts of laterally actuated bristle bodies of the toothbrush according to the present invention.
[38] FIG. 8 is an enlarged front view of a rotary bristle body according to the present invention.
[39] FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of a head part according to the present invention.
[40] FIG. 10 is a schematically perspective view of a modification of the present invention.
[41] FIG. 11 is a side sectional view showing an operated state of the modification of the present invention.
[42] <Explanation of essential reference numerals in drawings>
[43] 10. toothbrush 11. body part 12. head part
[44] 13,13'. bristle body 14. rotary bristle body
[45] 15. actuating part 16. battery receiving portion
[46] 17. cap 21. upper body 22. lower body
[47] 23. motor 24. drive gear 25. fixing member
[48] 26. link 27. actuator
[49] 28,35. coupling groove 29, 54. coupling slit
[50] 30. protruding bar 31. cam plate
[51] 32. fixed projection 33,46,48. gear
[52] 34,34'. Push rod 36. retaining jaw
[53] 41. rod 42. hook
[54] 44,51. inclined portion 45. retaining piece
[55] 47. retaining groove 52. auxiliary bristle body
[56] 53. retaining projection
Mode for the Invention
[57] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a toothbrush according to a prior art, FIG.
2 is a plan view showing an operated state of the toothbrush according to the prior art.
[58] FIG. 3 is a plan view showing another operated state of the toothbrush according to the prior art, FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a toothbrush according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing an installed state of a bristle actuating device according to the present invention, FIG. 6 is a schematically perspective view showing an assembled state of the toothbrush according to the present invention, FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing essential parts of laterally actuated bristle bodies of the toothbrush according to the present invention, FIG. 8 is an enlarged front view of a rotary bristle body according to the present invention, FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of a head part according to the present invention, FIG. 10 is a
schematically perspective view of a modification of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a side sectional view showing an operated state of the modification of the present invention.
[59] An electric toothbrush 10, which is laterally and vertically operated, includes a body part 11 and a head part 12, and the bristle actuating device for the electric toothbrush 10 includes: laterally actuated bristle bodies 13 and 13' mounted on the head part 11 in such a way as to be actuated laterally; a rotary bristle body 14 mounted on the head part 12 in such a way as to be rotated by the actuation of the laterally actuated bristle bodies 13 and 13' an actuating part 15 mounted inside the body part 11 for actuating the bristle bodies 13 and 13' a battery receiving portion 16 mounted on an end portion of the body part 11 for receiving a battery therein; and a cap 17 for fixing the battery receiving portion 16.
[60] The body part 11 is divided into an upper body 21 and a lower body 22, which are separable from each other, and includes: the battery receiving portion 16 mounted on one side of an upper face of the lower body 22; a motor 23 mounted on one side of the battery receiving portion 16 and driven using energy of the battery; a drive gear 24 joined to a motor shaft of the motor 23; the actuating part 15 mounted on one side of the motor 23; a fixing member 25 joined to end portions of the upper and lower bodies 21 and 22 for fixing the upper and lower bodies 21 and 22 together; links 26 joined to both sides of the fixing member 25; and an actuator 27 connected to the fixing member 25 via the links 26.
[61] The actuating part 15 includes: a cam plate 31 having a protruding bar 30 eccentrically formed on one side thereof, the cam plate 31 being rotatably fixed to a fixed projection 32 of the lower body 22 and having a gear 33 formed on a rim portion thereof in such a way as to interlock with the drive gear 24 joined to the motor 23.
[62] The actuator 27, which is disposed on one side of the cam plate 31 and rotatably fixed to the lower body 22, includes: a coupling groove 28 and a coupling slit 29 formed on one side thereof to join the link 26 thereto, the coupling slit 29 being formed from the upper face to a side central portion of the actuator 27 to join the link 26 thereto in such a way that one end of the link 26 is joined to the coupling groove 28 and the coupling slit 29 and the other end of the link 26 is joined to the protruding bar 30 protruding from the upper face of the cam plate 31, whereby the actuator 27 is operated laterally; and coupling grooves 35 formed on a front portion and a rear portion thereof for joining push rods 34 and 34' in such a way that one of the push rods 34 and 34' is joined to the actuator 27 in a short distance and the other one is joined to the actuator 27 in a long distance.
[63] One end portion of each of the push rods 34 and 34' is joined to each of the coupling grooves 35 via a fixing bar 32 and the other end portion has a retaining jaw 36.
[64] The head part 12 has rods 41 respectively formed on the laterally actuated bristle bodies 13 and 13' and each of the rods has a hook 42 formed on an end thereof in such a way as to be joined to the retaining jaws 33 of the push rods 34 and 34' respectively joined to the actuator 27.
[65] Each of the bristle bodies 13 and 13' includes an inclined portion 44 formed on an inner face of an end thereof, a retaining piece 45 projecting from a central portion of the inclined portion 44, and a gear 46 formed on a lower end of the retaining piece 45.
[66] The round rotary bristle body 14 includes: a retaining groove 47 formed on a lower end portion thereof in such a way as to be joined and fixed to the retaining piece 45; and a round gear 48 formed on a lower end of the retaining groove 47 in such a way as to be coupled with the gears 46 formed on the inclined portions 44 of the laterally actuated bristle bodies 13 and 13'; whereby the rotary bristle body 14 can interlock with the laterally actuated bristle bodies 13 and 13'.
[67] Each of the bristle bodies 13 and 13' further comprises a downwardly inclined portion 48 formed on a lower end portion thereof, and the head part (12) to which the bristle bodies 13 and 13' are inserted further includes a case 49 having upwardly inclined retaining projections 55 formed on front and rear portions and central portion of the inside thereof, so that the bristle bodies 13 and 13' are compressively joined to the head part 12.
[68] As a modification of the present invention, a vertically actuated auxiliary bristle body
52 is mounted to the laterally actuated bristle bodies 13 and 13' respectively having the inclined portions 44, wherein the auxiliary bristle body 52 includes inclined portions 51 respectively corresponding to the inclined portions 44 of the bristle bodies 13 and 13' and retaining projections 53 formed on the inclined portions 51 thereof, and the inclined portions 44 of the bristle bodies 13 and 13' respectively have coupling slits 54 protrudingly formed in such a way as to be joined to the coupling projections 53 of the auxiliary bristle body 52.
[69] Hereinafter, an operation of the present invention having the above structure will be described as follows.
[70] When the motor 23 is driven, the motor 23 is rotated by energy of the battery, and hence, the drive gear 24 mounted on the motor shaft is rotated.
[71] When the drive gear 24 is rotated by the motor 23, the cam plate 31 is also rotated by the gear 33 of the cam plate 31 coupled to the drive gear 24.
[72] As described above, when the cam plate 31 is rotated, the protruding bar 30 formed on one side of the upper portion of the cam plate 31 is also rotated, and hence, the link 26 joined to the protruding bar 30 is operated in a circular form.
[73] When the link 26 is rotated by the cam plate 31, the link 26 joined to the coupling slit
29 of the actuator 27 pulls or pushes the actuator 27 according to the rotation of the
cam plate 31.
[74] When the actuator 27 is pulled or pushed by the links 26 joined to the cam plate 31, the actuator 27 is rotated right and left relative to the center since the actuator 27 is rotatably joined to the fixing projection 32 of the lower body 22.
[75] As described above, when the actuator 27 is rotated right and left, the push rods 34 and 34' joined to the coupling grooves 35 formed on the front and rear portions of the actuator 27 are operated laterally, and accordingly, the bristle bodies 13 and 13' are actuated laterally by the rods 41 respectively joined to the push rods 34 and 34'.
[76] In the meantime, when the bristle bodies 13 and 13' are actuated, the rotary bristle body 14 is also rotated by the gears 46 formed on the inclined portions 44 formed on the end portions of the bristle bodies 13 and 13'.
[77] That is, since the gears 46 formed on the inclined portions 44 of the laterally actuated bristle bodies 13 and 13' are coupled with the gear 48 formed on the lower end portion of the rotary bristle body 14, when the laterally actuated bristle bodies 13 and 13' the gear 48 formed on the rotary bristle body 14 is also rotated, whereby the rotary bristle body 14 is rotated.
[78] In this instance, since the retaining pieces 45 formed on the inclined portions 44 of the laterally actuated bristle bodies 13 and 13' are joined to the retaining slits 47 of the rotary bristle body 14, when the laterally actuated bristle bodies 13 and 13' are actuated, the rotary bristle body 14 is rotated by engagement of the gears 46 and 48 in a state where the retaining projection 47 supports the rotary bristle body 14.
[79] In the meantime, in case where a user wants to replace the head part 12 of the toothbrush 10 with a new one, when the user grasps and rotates the head part 12 in a state where the user grasps a hand grip, the head part 12 is separated from the body part since screw portions respectively formed on the head part and the hand grip are separated from each other.
[80] In this instance, since the hooks 42 formed on the rods 41 of the bristle bodies 13 and
13' of the head part 12 is separated from the retaining jaws 33 of the push rods 34 and 34' while being rotated, the rods can be separated from the push rods.
[81] In the meantime, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, in the modification of the present invention, when the vertically actuated auxiliary bristle body 52 is joined to the end portions of the laterally actuated bristle bodies 13 and 13' the inclined portions 44 of the laterally actuated bristle bodies 13 and 13' push the auxiliary bristle body 52 while being operated laterally, and hence, the vertically actuated auxiliary bristle body 52 joined to the case of the head part is actuated vertically inside the case.