Description TOOTH PASTE AUTOMATIC DISPENSER

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to an automatic toothpaste dispenser, and, more particularly, to an automatic toothpaste dispenser which houses a toothpaste tube in the vertical direction, externally discharges toothpaste by pressurizing the outer circumference of the toothpaste tube through pressurizing rollers slidable in the vertical direction, and at the same time allows the user to adjust a supply quantity of toothpaste to be discharged. Background Art

[2] Generally, toothpaste is a medicinal composite substance applied to a toothbrush for cleaning and polishing teeth, and is provided in a powder, cream or liquid type. The toothpaste disinfects teeth, dissolves dental calculus, removes unpleasant smell, and helps prevention or treatment for tooth decay or pyorrhea alveolaris.

[3] The toothpaste for cleaning the teeth contains calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, calcium sulfate, magnesium carbonate and magnesium chloride as main elements, and helps mechanical cleaning of the teeth. If grains of the toothpaste are not appropriate in size, hardness and shape, the toothpaste may hurt the surfaces of the teeth. Therefore, it is required that the size of the grains should be uniform, about 1 to 2 mm, the shape thereof should not be sharp, and the hardness thereof should be about Mohs hardness 3.

[4] In addition to the above conditions, the toothpaste contains a purifier, an aromatic, a coloring matter, a disinfecting agent, a dental calculus solvent and a counteragent in small quantities. The cream type toothpaste further contains a binder and a stabilizer.

[5] As mentioned above, the toothpaste having strong viscosity is normally contained in the toothpaste tube. To use such toothpaste, the user first opens a cap of the toothpaste tube, squeezes the toothpaste tube with fingers, and then applies a needed quantity of toothpaste to a toothbrush.

[6] When the user uses the toothpaste contained in the toothpaste tube, he/she generally tends to tightly hold and squeeze the body part of the toothpaste tube with fingers, rather than the end of the toothpaste tube.

[7] Since the user optionally squeezes the toothpaste tube, it is very inconvenient to squeeze the toothpaste tube next time. It is not good for the external appearance of the toothpaste tube, either.

[8] Moreover, although there remains a lot of toothpaste, the user intends to use a new product due to the inconvenience.

[9] In order to solve the foregoing problems even a bit, the user rolls the toothpaste tube from the end thereof, or pushes a flat object from the end of the tube to a discharge hole. By doing so, the toothpaste contained therein can be discharged and used.

[10] The user, however, must push the contents in the toothpaste tube by applying strong force to the tube with fingers. To use the toothpaste in such a way is difficult for a child, an old person and a weak person, namely, people who are not good at handling a tool. In addition, the discharged quantity of toothpaste is not constant, which increases consumption.

[11] To solve the above problems, an automatic toothpaste squeezer for automatically discharging toothpaste in recent years has been suggested under Korean Utility Model Application No. 20-2004-4578. It will be described below with reference to FIG. 1.

[12] The conventional automatic toothpaste squeezer for discharging toothpaste by applying pressure to one side of a built-in toothpaste tube by a pressurizing roller includes a rear plate 2 having a coupling hole 2a at its one side bottom end and a mounting hole 2b on its rear surface so that the squeezer can be mounted on the wall; a base 20 formed on the front surface of the rear plate 2 as a single body and including rails 21 concavely formed on its upper and lower edges and a supporting side wall 22 having a mounting hole at its one side; a moving cart 30 mounted on the rails 21 of the base 20 for inserting a plurality of moving wheels 32 into the rails 21 to prevent them from being separated forwardly, and having a pressurizing roller 31 axially mounted at its one side and a pushing unit 33 formed at its other side, a female screw block 34 formed on the top end of the pushing unit 33, and a dog 35 formed at the outer portion of the female screw block 34 as a single body; a screw 29 fastened to the female screw block 34 of the moving cart 30, and having its right and left sides axially mounted on housings 27 and 28, and installed in parallel with the rails 21 of the base 20; a worm 25 and a worm wheel 26 fixedly mounted on one side of the screw 29 for reducing and transferring power of a driving means 24 such as an electromotor; a plurality of sensors 36, 37 and 38 formed at one side of the rear plate 2 and mounted in a row in parallel with the rails 21 of the base 20 for sensing the dog 35 of the moving cart 30; a tube cap opening and closing means 5 mounted on one side of the supporting side wall 22 for opening and closing a cap 44 on a discharge hole of the toothpaste tube 11 by operating a lever 43 by driving a solenoid 40; a body casing(not shown) mounted on the front surface of the rear plate 2 as a single body for protecting the base 20 and the moving cart 30 by covering them; a front cover(not shown) axially mounted on one side of the front surface of the body casing and having a perspective window(not shown) for showing its inside and also having a coupling protrusion 4a on its bottom edge to be coupled to the coupling hole 2a of the rear plate 2; an operation starting

switch 6 mounted on one side of the front surface of the body casing for operating the driving means 24 and the solenoid 40; a returning switch 7 mounted on one side of the front surface of the body casing for arbitrarily driving the driving means 24; a toothpas te residual quantity display unit(not shown) for displaying a residual quantity of toothpaste by sensing the position of the dog 35 by the sensors 36, 37 and 38; and a printed circuit board(not shown) for controlling input and output values of the driving means 24, the solenoid 40, the sensors 36, 37 and 38, the operation starting switch 6 and the returning switch 7.

[13] The conventional automatic toothpaste squeezer as configured above discharges the toothpaste by pressurizing the toothpaste tube by driving the driving means. However, the electromotor as the driving means is a high-priced product needing power, thereby rendering the production cost increased.

[14] In addition, the conventional automatic toothpaste squeezer is implemented by installing the worm and the worm wheel to convey the rotating force of the driving means such as the electromotor while adjusting the speed, and applying pressure to the toothpaste tube by driving the electromotor. As a result, the whole system is complicated, the production cost increases, and the expenses for maintenance also increase.

[15] Furthermore, the conventional automatic toothpaste squeezer must be connected to electricity for supplying power to the electrically-operated driving means. Generally, however, the conventional automatic toothpaste squeezer is fixedly installed at a high moisture place such as a bathroom, thereby making leak and short of electricity occurred due to power applied thereto. Disclosure of Invention

Technical Problem

[16] The present invention has been made in view of the above drawbacks, and it is, therefore, an object of the present invention to remarkably reduce the cost of production of an automatic toothpaste dispenser by completely excluding a power device using power, by automatically supplying a predetermined quantity of toothpaste to a toothbrush when semi-automatically moving pressurizing rollers to the downward direction and then inserting the toothbrush into a toothpaste discharge space.

[17] Another object of the present invention is to offer convenience of use by allowing toothpaste to be discharged by a single simple operation and also to naturally form a tooth-brushing habit of a child by arousing an interest on toothpaste discharge.

[18] Yet another object of the present invention is to improve the health of the teeth by keeping a dispenser clean, by disinfecting an inner circumference of a discharge hole stained with toothpaste, by way of irradiating ultraviolet rays to a toothbrush inserted

into a toothpaste discharge space to be supplied with toothpaste by operating ultraviolet light emitting lamps.

[19] Still yet another object of the present invention is to always keep a dispenser clean by washing the dispenser, by coupling a fixing tube and a washing tube to an overall outer surface of a discharge opening block and detaching the washing tube to be taken out to wash the dispenser.

[20] A still further object of the present invention is to maximize convenience of tooth- brushing and rinsing, by easily keeping a toothbrush as well as automatic supply of toothpaste by detachably assembling a toothbrush holder at a rear portion of a toothpaste housing unit by sliding coupling.

[21] Additional object of the present invention is to allow the user to selectively decide a supply quantity of toothpaste, by selectively controlling the supply quantity of the toothpaste according to an insertion depth of a toothbrush inserted into a toothpaste discharge space, and repetitively supplying the fixed quantity of toothpaste when the toothbrush is inserted into the end. Technical Solution

[22] In order to achieve the above objects of the present invention, there is provided a toothpaste automatic dispenser, comprising: a toothpaste housing unit in which a toothpaste housing space for housing a toothpaste tube and a toothpaste discharge space for discharging toothpaste are separately formed at the upper and lower portions, the toothpaste housing space and the toothpaste discharge space being linked through a discharge tube having a discharge hole and the discharge tube being formed to be protruded to the toothpaste discharge space side; a pressurizing unit in which a handle housing coupled to the outer surface of the toothpaste housing unit by passing slide pins through guide holes of the toothpaste housing unit is connected to a pressurizing housing coupled to the inner surface of the toothpaste housing unit so that the handle housing and the pressurizing housing can slide to the upper or lower portion as a single body, to thereby allow pressurizing rollers coupled to face each other in the pressurizing housing to pressure the outer circumference of the toothpaste tube; and a discharge unit for discharging an appropriate quantity of toothpaste, by forming a driving gear on a top surface of a discharge opening block maintaining the close state of the discharge hole of the discharge tube by a spring in the toothpaste discharge space of the toothpaste housing unit, disposing a discharge intercepting block having a driven gear facing the driving gear at the upper portion of the discharge opening block, and coupling the driving gear and the driven gear through a gear.

[23] Further, a coupling protrusion is formed to be tapered on the rear surface of the toothpaste housing unit, and a toothbrush holder having a same angle as that of the

coupling protrusion is coupled to the coupling protrusion, holding grooves for holing the toothbrushes being formed on both sides of the toothbrush holder.

[24] Also, ultraviolet light emitting lamps are mounted on both sides in the toothpaste discharge space of the toothpaste housing unit for irradiating ultraviolet rays into the toothbrush and the toothpaste discharge space for disinfection.

[25] Likewise, the pressurizing housing of the pressurizing unit is disposed on the inner surface of the toothpaste housing unit, slide protrusions are formed on both ends of the pressurizing housing, and slide grooves are formed in the vertical direction on the inner surface of the toothpaste housing unit so that the slide protrusions are inserted for improving straight movement of the pressurizing housing moving in the up/down direction by the handle housing.

[26] Also, stoppers are coupled to be protruded from both sides of the upper portion of the toothpaste housing unit to hook the top end of the handle housing sliding in the up/ down direction, in order to restrict the upward movement in the toothpaste housing unit.

[27] Furthermore, an intercepting projection is formed to be protruded from one side upper portion of the discharge opening block, an adhering surface is concavely curved at the lower portion thereof for pushing the discharge opening block to the rear direction by insertion of a head of the toothbrush, a receiving groove is formed at the other side of the discharge opening block, and the spring is positioned in the receiving groove for enabling the intercepting projection of the discharge opening block to elastically close the discharge hole of the discharge tube.

[28] Moreover, a fixing tube is coupled to one side of the outer circumference of the discharge opening block, a washing tube is coupled to the other side thereof, the fixing tube and the washing tube are coupled by insertion, a groove is formed on the outer circumference of the washing tube so that the discharge tube can be partially inserted into the groove, and the discharge tube passes through the upper portion of the outer circumference of the washing tube and is closely adhered to the discharge opening block, for preventing a toothpaste residue left after the toothpaste is supplied to the inserted toothbrush from sticking to the inner wall of the washing tube.

Advantageous Effects

[29] The automatic toothpaste dispenser according to the present invention can remarkably reduce the cost of production by completely excluding the power device using power, by automatically supplying the predetermined quantity of toothpaste to the toothbrush when semi- automatically moving the pressurizing rollers to the downward direction and then inserting the toothbrush into the toothpaste discharge space.

[30] In addition, the automatic toothpaste dispenser can improve user convenience by discharging the toothpaste by one simple soft operation, and also can naturally form the tooth-brushing habit of the child by arousing the interest on toothpaste discharge.

[31] Also, the automatic toothpaste dispenser can be kept clean to improve the health of the teeth, by disinfecting the inner circumference of the discharge hole stained with the toothpaste, by irradiating ultraviolet rays to the toothbrush inserted into the toothpaste discharge space to be supplied with the toothpaste by operating the ultraviolet light emitting lamps.

[32] Furthermore, the automatic toothpaste dispenser can be always maintained clean by washing, by coupling the fixing tube and the washing tube onto the entire outer surface of the discharge opening block and detaching the washing tube to be taken out for washing.

[33] Moreover, the automatic toothpaste dispenser allows the user to selectively decide the supply quantity of the toothpaste, by selectively controlling the supply quantity of the toothpaste according to the insertion depth of the toothbrush inserted into the toothpaste discharge space, and at the same time repetitively supplying the fixed quantity of toothpaste when the toothbrush is inserted into the end.

[34] While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Brief Description of the Drawings

[35] The above objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[36] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional automatic toothpaste squeezer;

[37] FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating an automatic toothpaste dispenser according to the present invention;

[38] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state of externally discharging toothpaste by pressurizing rollers of the automatic toothpaste dispenser according to the present invention;

[39] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state of filling toothpaste in a discharge hole of the automatic toothpaste dispenser according to the present invention;

[40] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state of supplying toothpaste to a

toothbrush by the automatic toothpaste dispenser according to the present invention;

[41] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state of taking the toothbrush out after supplying toothpaste thereto by the automatic toothpaste dispenser according to the present invention; and

[42] FIG. 7 is a plane- sectional view illustrating the automatic toothpaste dispenser according to the present invention. Mode for the Invention

[43] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an automatic toothpaste dispenser according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[44] FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating the automatic toothpaste dispenser according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state of externally discharging toothpaste by pressurizing rollers of the automatic toothpaste dispenser according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state of filling toothpaste in a discharge hole of the automatic toothpaste dispenser according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state of supplying toothpaste to a toothbrush by the automatic toothpaste dispenser according to the present invention, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state of taking the toothbrush out after supplying toothpaste to the toothbrush by the automatic toothpaste dispenser according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a plane-sectional view illustrating the automatic toothpaste dispenser according to the present invention.

[45] Referring to FIGs. 2 to 7, the automatic toothpaste dispenser 100 of the present invention includes a toothpaste housing unit 110 for housing a toothpaste tube 1, a pressurizing unit 120 coupled to the toothpaste housing unit 110 to be slidable to the upper and lower portions for pressurizing the toothpaste tube 1 to discharge toothpaste to the toothpaste housing unit 110 side, and a discharge unit 130 installed in the toothpaste housing unit 110 for supplying a predetermined quantity of toothpaste to hairs of a toothbrush 2.

[46] The toothpaste housing unit 110 is configured in such a way that a toothpaste housing space 114 for housing the toothpaste tube 1 and a toothpaste discharge space 115 for discharging the toothpaste are disposed at its upper and lower portions respectively, and linked to each other through a discharge tube 116 having a discharge hole 116a. In the arrangement, the discharge tube 116 is formed to be protruded to the toothpaste discharge space 115 side.

[47] In the pressurizing unit 120, a handle housing 122 coupled to the outer surface of the toothpaste housing unit 110 by passing slide pins 119 through guide holes 111 of the toothpaste housing unit 110 is connected to a pressurizing housing 123 coupled to

the inner surface of the toothpaste housing unit 110, so that the handle housing 122 and the pressurizing housing 123 can slide to the upper or lower portion as a single body. Accordingly, pressurizing rollers 124 coupled to face each other in the pressurizing housing 123 pressurize the outer circumference of the toothpaste tube 1.

[48] The discharge unit 130 discharges an appropriate quantity of toothpaste from the discharge tube 116 by Pascal's principle, by forming a driving gear 131a on a top surface of a discharge opening block 131 maintaining the close state of the discharge hole 116a of the discharge tube 116 by a spring 134 in the toothpaste discharge space 115 of the toothpaste housing unit 110, disposing a discharge intercepting block 132 having a driven gear 132a facing the driving gear 131a at the upper portion of the discharge opening block 131, and coupling the driving gear 131a and the driven gear 132a through a gear 133.

[49] Here, the toothpaste housing unit 110 is configured in such a manner that a coupling protrusion 112 is formed to be tapered on its rear surface, and a toothbrush holder 140 having the same angle as that of the coupling protrusion 112 is coupled thereto. Holding grooves 141 for holding the toothbrushes 2 can be formed on both sides of the toothbrush holder 140.

[50] Ultraviolet light emitting lamps 117 are mounted on both sides in the toothpaste discharge space 115 of the toothpaste housing unit 110 for irradiating ultraviolet rays into the toothpaste discharge space 115 for disinfection.

[51] In addition, the pressurizing housing 123 of the pressurizing unit 120 is disposed on the inner surface of the toothpaste housing unit 110. Slide protrusions 123a are formed on both ends of the pressurizing housing 123, and slide grooves 113 are formed in the vertical direction on the inner surface of the toothpaste housing unit 110 so that the slide protrusions 123a are inserted, thereby improving straight movement of the pressurizing housing 123 moving in the up/down direction by the handle housing 122.

[52] Also, stoppers 118 are coupled to be protruded from both sides of the upper portion of the toothpaste housing unit 110 to hook the top end of the handle housing 122 sliding in the up/down direction, which restricts the upward movement in the toothpaste housing unit 110.

[53] Further, a fixing tube 13 Ie is coupled to one side of the outer circumference of the discharge opening block 131, and a washing tube 13 If is coupled to the other side thereof. The fixing tube 13 Ie and the washing tube 13 If are coupled by insertion. A groove 13 Ig is formed on the outer circumference of the washing tube 13 If so that the discharge tube 116 can be partially inserted into the groove 13 Ig. Accordingly, the discharge tube 116 passes through the upper portion of the outer circumference of the washing tube 13 If, and is closely adhered to the discharge opening block 131. This configuration can prevent a toothpaste residue left after the toothpaste is supplied to

the inserted toothbrush 2 from sticking to the inner wall of the washing tube 13 If.

[54] Likewise, a battery housing 117b and an ultraviolet circuit board 117c for controlling the ultraviolet light emitting lamps 117 are installed in the inside space at the upper portion of the discharge intercepting block 132. The ultraviolet light emitting lamps 117 are disposed in any place at the front portion of the discharge opening block 131. When the discharge opening block 131 is pushed to the rear direction by the toothbrush 2, a switch 117a installed on the top end of the discharge opening block 131 senses such operation, and makes the ultraviolet light emitting lamps 117 operated.

[55] Lastly, the discharge opening block 131 is configured in such a way that an intercepting projection 131b is protruded from one side upper portion thereof, and an adhering surface 131c is concavely curved at the lower portion thereof for pushing the discharge opening block 131 to the rear direction by insertion of a head of the toothbrush 2. A receiving groove 13 Id is formed at the other side of the discharge opening block 131, and then, the spring 134 is positioned therein. Therefore, it is possible to keep the state that the intercepting projection 131b of the discharge opening block 131 elastically closes the discharge hole 116a of the discharge tube 116.

[56] The following is a detailed description on an operation of the automatic toothpaste dispenser of the present invention as structured above.

[57] First of all, the toothpaste tube 1 is put in the toothpaste housing space 114 of the toothpaste housing unit 110. Then, the discharge portion of the toothpaste tube 1 is coupled to the discharge hole 116a of the discharge tube 116, and the flat end portion on the top end of the toothpaste tube 1 is set to be disposed between the pressurizing rollers 124.

[58] Thereafter, in the toothpaste discharge operation, when the handle housing 122 of the pressurizing unit 120 is lowered, the pressurizing housing 123 engaged with the handle housing 122 by the slide pins 119 is also lowered, and straight downward movement of the pressurizing housing 123 is guaranteed by the coupling protrusions 112 connected to the slide grooves 113 of the toothpaste housing unit 110.

[59] The pair of self-rotatable pressurizing rollers 124 coupled to the pressurizing housing 123 moving to the downward direction as such pressurizes the toothpaste tube 1, thereby discharging the toothpaste to the discharge hole 116a side.

[60] At this time, the intercepting projection 131b of the discharge opening block 131 continuously closes the discharge hole 116a by elasticity of the spring 134, so that the toothpaste to be discharged can be filled in the discharge hole 116a without leakage.

[61] In a state that the toothpaste is filled in the discharge hole 116a as above, when the user inserts the toothbrush 2 into the toothpaste discharge space 115 and the head of the toothbrush 2 pushes the discharge opening block 131 to the rear direction, the end of the discharge hole 116a is opened. At the same time, the gear 133 coupled to the

discharge opening block 131 causes the discharge intercepting block 132 to enter into the inside of the discharge hole 116a through the driven gear 132a, thereby pushing the toothpaste filled in the discharge hole 116a to the downward direction of the discharge hole 116a. Accordingly, the fixed quantity of toothpaste is supplied to the hairs of the toothbrush 2.

[62] At this time, the discharge opening block 131 pressures the spring 134 by the toothbrush 2 and slides to the rear direction, and in response to this, the ultraviolet light emitting lamps 117 are operated for about 7 minutes to irradiate ultraviolet rays to the toothbrush 2 and the toothpaste discharge space, thereby disinfecting the toothbrush 2 and the discharge opening block 131.

[63] After that, when the toothbrush 2 supplied with the toothpaste is taken out from the toothpaste discharge space 115, the discharge opening block 131 returns to the original position by the force of restitution of the spring 134. Thus, the intercepting projection 131b closes the discharge hole 116a, and at the same time, the discharge intercepting block 132 having the driving gear 131a is separated from the discharge hole 116a. Accordingly, the lowering pressure applied to the pressurizing rollers 124 of the pressurizing housing 123 is transferred to the inside of the toothpaste container through the outer wall, so that the discharge hole 116a is prepared to be re-filled with the toothpaste.

[64] To maintain the dispenser in the optimum clean state by periodical washing, the washing tube 13 If is taken out to remove the toothpaste residue therein.