JP4808493B2 - Toothbrush alignment method and toothbrush alignment apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for aligning toothbrushes, and relates to a toothbrush alignment method and a toothbrush alignment device for aligning the direction of a brush portion of a toothbrush in a specified direction in a manufacturing process of a toothbrush.

  Conventionally, as a method of aligning this type of toothbrush, a method described in Patent Document 1 proposed by the present applicant is known. In this alignment method described in Patent Document 1, a gap portion having a shape similar to the shape of the handle portion of the toothbrush is formed at the outlet portion on the downstream side of the hopper, and a large number of toothbrushes put into the hopper are agitated by a swinging plate. While supplying to the gap portion, the toothbrushes in the direction matching the shape of the gap portion are passed one by one and sent to the downstream side.

  However, in the case of the alignment method described in Patent Document 1, the shape of the gap portion needs to be similar to the shape of the handle portion of the toothbrush. Therefore, when manufacturing a toothbrush, a large number of gap members having a shape corresponding to the handle portion of the toothbrush to be manufactured must be prepared, and the gap member of the device must be replaced each time the toothbrush to be manufactured is changed. was there. In addition, the replacement of the gap member requires a lot of time and labor, and the production line must be stopped during that time, and there is room for improvement in terms of production efficiency. Further, in the alignment method described in Patent Document 1, since the toothbrush is supplied to the gap while being stirred by the swinging plate in the hopper, there is a possibility that many scratches may be generated on the handle of the toothbrush.

Further, the present applicant has proposed a toothbrush alignment method that can automatically align the direction of the toothbrush in a certain direction without being affected by the shape of the handle portion of the toothbrush as described in Patent Document 2. ing. According to the alignment method described in Patent Document 2, the handle is damaged in the alignment method described in Patent Document 1, and for improvement in versatility and manufacturing efficiency,
(1) Subdivision step (subdividing the toothbrush by the protrusion of the partition plate),
(2) leveling process (separate toothbrushes one by one by vertical vibration of leveling plate),
(3) Posture correction process (when the neck of the toothbrush is sandwiched between the first guide bar and the second guide bar having the inclined surface, and automatically moves when suspended from the horizontal state to the vertical state) The brush part faces the first guide bar),
The steps of the toothbrush can be automatically aligned in a certain direction without being affected by the shape of the toothbrush.

However, in the alignment method described in Patent Document 2, since the process and the apparatus are complicated, a simpler and more accurate alignment method is desired.
JP 54-126362 A JP 2005-170408 A

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and reduces the damage to the handle of the toothbrush, facilitates switching of toothbrush types, is excellent in versatility, and has high alignment accuracy and alignment method The object is to provide an apparatus.

To solve the above problems, the present invention includes a head portion which flocked portion is formed, and a neck connected to the head portion, a alignment method for aligning a toothbrush comprising a handle portion, the toothbrush neck A first guide bar arranged at a position near the handle portion, and a parallel to the first guide bar at a position near the head of the toothbrush neck portion from a side opposite to the first guide bar. The toothbrush is suspended and held in a vertical state by an alignment portion including a second guide bar, and at least one of the first and second guide bars is arranged in the longitudinal direction of the guide bar. A toothbrush alignment method is provided, wherein the brush portion of the toothbrush is directed toward the first guide bar by reciprocating.
Further, the present invention is an alignment method for aligning a toothbrush comprising a head part having a flocked part, a neck part connected to the head part, and a handle part, and a group of toothbrushes comprising a plurality of the toothbrushes Are arranged in parallel, and the comb teeth member is pushed to the position of the neck portion of each toothbrush of the toothbrush group using a comb tooth member having a comb tooth interval larger than the neck portion width and smaller than the head portion width. The toothbrush is subdivided into one or a plurality of teeth between the comb teeth of the comb tooth member, then the toothbrush is taken out for each row between the comb teeth of the comb tooth member, and then the handle of the toothbrush neck portion A first guide bar arranged at a position near the head, and a first guide bar arranged in parallel with the first guide bar at a position near the head of the toothbrush neck from a side opposite to the first guide bar. With 2 guide bars The alignment unit holds the toothbrush in a vertical state, and the alignment unit is configured so that at least one of the first and second guide bars reciprocates in the longitudinal direction of the guide bar. A method for aligning toothbrushes, characterized in that the brush portion faces the first guide bar.
In the toothbrush alignment method of the present invention, the alignment portion is parallel to the second guide bar, and the first guide bar and the second guide bar are arranged on the side opposite to the first guide bar. It is good also as a structure provided with the auxiliary | assistant board which contact | abuts the flocked part of the said toothbrush suspended between and changes the direction of a toothbrush.
In the toothbrush alignment method of the present invention, the alignment portion may be configured such that an uneven portion is formed on the surface of the guide bar that reciprocates in the longitudinal direction of the first and second guide bars.

The present invention includes a head portion which flocked portion is formed, and a neck connected to the head portion, a toothbrush alignment device for aligning a toothbrush comprising a handle portion, the handle portion closer position before Symbol toothbrush neck A first guide bar arranged and a second guide bar arranged in parallel with the first guide bar at a position closer to the head of the toothbrush neck from a side opposite to the first guide bar And having an alignment portion that suspends and holds the toothbrush in a vertical state, and the alignment portion is arranged so that the brush portion of the toothbrush faces the first guide bar. Provided is a toothbrush aligning device comprising a driving means for reciprocating at least one of guide bars in the longitudinal direction of the guide bar.
Further, the present invention is a toothbrush aligning device for aligning a toothbrush comprising a head part having a flocked part, a neck part connected to the head part, and a handle part, wherein the plurality of toothbrushes are substantially parallel. A toothbrush is subdivided into one or a plurality of teeth between each comb tooth by penetrating the position of the neck portion of each toothbrush of the toothbrush group aligned to each other, the comb tooth interval is larger than the thickness of the neck portion and the head portion A comb tooth member smaller than the width, a take-out portion for taking out the subdivided toothbrush from the comb tooth member for each row between the comb teeth, and a toothbrush taken out for each comb tooth of the comb tooth member in a vertical state A first guide bar disposed at a position near the handle portion of the toothbrush neck portion, which is suspended and held, and a position near the head of the toothbrush neck portion from a side opposite to the first guide bar, An alignment unit including a second guide bar arranged in parallel to the bar and an auxiliary plate arranged in parallel to the second guide bar and on the side opposite to the first guide bar The alignment portion reciprocates at least one of the first and second guide bars in the longitudinal direction of the guide bar so that the brush portion of the toothbrush faces the first guide bar. Provided is a toothbrush aligning device including a driving means.
In the toothbrush aligning device of the present invention, the aligning portion is parallel to the second guide bar, and the first guide bar and the second guide bar are disposed on the opposite side of the first guide bar. It is good also as a structure provided with the auxiliary | assistant board which contact | abuts the flocked part of the said toothbrush suspended between and changes the direction of a toothbrush.
In the toothbrush aligning device of the present invention, the alignment portion may be configured such that an uneven portion is formed on the surface of the guide bar that reciprocates in the longitudinal direction of the first and second guide bars.

In the present invention, it is a method of subdividing and aligning the toothbrushes by holding the neck with a small dimensional difference between the types of toothbrushes, so even if the type of toothbrush changes, almost no equipment adjustment is required. The toothbrush can be easily aligned with high accuracy.
Further, since the toothbrushes can be aligned without stirring, there is an effect of reducing damage to the handle portion of the toothbrush.

According to the toothbrush alignment method of the present invention, a group of toothbrushes composed of a plurality of toothbrushes are aligned substantially in parallel, and the comb tooth member is inserted into the position of the neck portion of each toothbrush of the tooth brush group. In this method, the toothbrush is subdivided between the comb teeth.
Thereby, a plurality of toothbrushes can be subdivided without damaging the handle portion of the toothbrush.
According to the toothbrush alignment method of the present invention, the first guide bar disposed near the handle portion of the toothbrush neck and the head closer to the head of the toothbrush neck from the side opposite to the first guide bar. The toothbrush is held by an aligning portion including a second guide bar arranged in parallel with the first guide bar, and the aligning portion includes at least one of the first and second guide bars. The brush portion of the toothbrush is directed toward the first guide bar by reciprocating in the longitudinal direction of the guide bar.
As a result, damage to the toothbrush handle can be greatly reduced, and toothbrushes of many varieties can be aligned with high precision in a predetermined direction without switching equipment or with minimal switching. be able to.
Therefore, the manufacturing quality of the toothbrush can be improved, and the manufacturing cost including the alignment process can be reduced.

In the conventional method of aligning toothbrushes, a mechanism was used in which a toothbrush-like gap was created between the fixed and moving plates, and only the toothbrushes having a handle shaped to match the gap were sequentially aligned by stirring the toothbrush. There was a problem that the handle of the toothbrush was easily damaged during alignment (see Patent Document 1). In the present invention, it is possible to greatly reduce the damage to the handle of the toothbrush without agitating the toothbrush group by holding and aligning only the neck portion having a small dimensional difference between the types of toothbrushes.
Also, in the conventional toothbrush alignment method, a toothbrush-like gap part consisting of a fixed / moving plate was produced as described above, which resulted in equipment unique to each toothbrush, and the toothbrush handle changed. There was a drawback that the general versatility of this equipment was poor (see Patent Document 1). In the present invention, a method of aligning the toothbrush with a wide tolerance range and excellent versatility can be realized by adopting a method of holding and aligning only the neck portion having a small dimensional difference between the types of toothbrushes.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a toothbrush alignment method and manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the overall steps of the toothbrush alignment method according to the present embodiment, and is a diagram illustrating an example of a toothbrush alignment device (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as an alignment device) for implementing the method. is there.
This aligning device 1 includes a comb tooth member (comb-shaped guide guide) 2 for subdividing a toothbrush group 10A composed of a plurality of toothbrushes 10 aligned substantially in parallel on a hopper 5, and the comb tooth member 2. It is schematically composed of a take-out guide (take-out section) 3 for taking out and transporting the subdivided toothbrush 10 and an aligning section 4 for aligning the directions of the toothbrush 10 taken out and transported by the take-out guide 3.

In the first example of the toothbrush alignment method of the present embodiment, a group of toothbrushes 10A including a plurality of toothbrushes 10 is aligned substantially parallel to the hopper 5, and the toothbrush group 10A is positioned at the position of the neck 12 of each toothbrush 10. A method is adopted in which a comb-like comb-teeth member 2 is pierced and the toothbrush 10 is subdivided into one or more between the comb-teeth 2b of the comb-teeth member 2 (see FIGS. 2 to 5).
Further, the second example of the toothbrush alignment method of the present embodiment is, as shown in FIG. 10, a first guide bar 41 arranged at a position near the handle portion 13 of the neck portion 12 of the suspended toothbrush 10. And the second guide bar 42 disposed near the head 11 of the neck portion 12 of the suspended toothbrush 10 from the side opposite to the first guide bar 41 by the aligning portion 4. The alignment unit 4 has at least one of the first and second guide bars 41 and 42 reciprocally moved in the longitudinal direction of the guide bars 41 and 42 and substantially the same as the second guide bar 42. The brush plate 11a of the toothbrush 10 is directed to the first guide bar 41 by the auxiliary plate 43 arranged in parallel and on the opposite side of the first guide bar 41 (FIGS. 10 and 10). See FIG. .
Further, in the third method of the toothbrush alignment method of the present embodiment, the toothbrush 10 is subdivided by the comb tooth member 2 as described above, then the toothbrush 10 is taken out for each comb tooth 2b of the comb tooth member 2, and then The toothbrush 10 is held by the alignment portion 4 described above, and at least one of the first and second guide bars 41, 42 reciprocates in the longitudinal direction of the guide bars 41, 42, whereby the toothbrush 10 In this method, the brush portion 11a faces the first guide bar 41 (see FIGS. 6 to 9).

<Alignment device>
Below, the alignment apparatus 1 used with the alignment method of the toothbrush of this embodiment is demonstrated in detail.

The comb-teeth member 2 is a guide member formed in a comb-teeth shape as shown in FIG.
The comb tooth member 2 has one end of a plurality of comb teeth 2b fixed to the guide base 2a, and is a horizontally long comb tooth member in the illustrated example.
The comb tooth member 2 is arranged so that the inner width between the comb teeth 2b is smaller than the outer dimension of the head 11 of the toothbrush 10 to be held and larger than the outer dimension of the neck portion 12. is doing.
In the standby state, the comb-tooth member 2 is substantially horizontal in the tooth length direction of the comb-tooth as in the example shown in FIG. Further, the comb-tooth member 2 may be configured to rotate in the horizontal direction by being rotated in the horizontal direction by a drive unit or the like (not shown), or may be configured to slide in the vertical direction.

As shown in FIG. 6 to FIG. 8, an extrusion portion 21 having an extrusion plate 21 a attached to one end side of the slide bar 21 b is disposed substantially below the guide base 2 a of the comb-tooth member 2. The other end side of the slide bar 21b is attached to the slide drive means 21c, and the slide bar 21b and the pusher plate 21a reciprocate in the tooth length direction of the comb-tooth member 21 (see FIG. 5). 6 and 7).
In the example shown in FIG. 6, the extrusion plate 21 a is in a state of waiting substantially below the guide base 2 a of the comb tooth member 2, but as shown in the example shown in FIG. When the toothbrush 10 is pushed out, the push-out plate 21a moves to a position substantially below a take-out guide 3 described later.

When the toothbrush 10 is subdivided by the comb tooth member 2, the comb teeth are inserted between the neck portions 12 at positions of the neck portions 12 of the toothbrushes 10 of the toothbrush group 10 </ b> A composed of the toothbrushes 10 aligned with the hopper 5. 2b is penetrated (see FIGS. 3 and 4), and the toothbrush 10 is divided and held between the comb teeth 2b (see FIGS. 4 and 5). At this time, each toothbrush 10 is supported in a state of being suspended between the comb teeth 2b. Here, since the interval between the comb teeth 2b is thicker than the neck portion 12 and narrower than the head 11, the toothbrush 10 can be suspended between the comb teeth 2b and 2b and supported vertically.
The toothbrush 10 suspended from the comb-teeth member 2 and held vertically is pushed out from between the respective comb teeth 2b by the push-out portion 21 to be sent to and held in a take-out guide 3 described later (see FIG. 7).

The hopper 5 supplies the toothbrush 10 to the alignment apparatus 1 by aligning the toothbrush 10 substantially in parallel. The hopper 5 in this example has a box shape with an open top surface.
The hopper 5 is supplied with the toothbrushes 10 aligned at a standby position as shown in the example of FIG. 2, and moves upward of the comb-tooth member 2 by a driving means (not shown) as shown in FIG. ). As shown in FIG. 6, the hopper 5 is returned to the standby position by the driving means (not shown) after the aligned toothbrushes 10 are subdivided and held by the comb teeth member 2 as described above (in the direction of arrow K). ).

The take-out guide 3 is a comb-shaped guide member in which one end of a plurality of comb teeth 3b is fixed to the guide base 3a, and is arranged so that the tooth length direction of the comb teeth 3b is horizontal.
In the example shown in FIG. 5, the take-out guide 3 is arranged between the comb-tooth member 2 and an alignment portion 4 described later in the standby state, but the stand-by position of the take-out guide 3 is arbitrary.
As shown in FIG. 6, the take-out guide 3 is moved to a position facing the comb tooth member 2 in the tooth length direction by a driving means (not shown). To move horizontally (arrow V direction).

As shown in FIG. 7, the take-out guide 3 is held between the comb teeth 3 b when the toothbrushes 10 held between the comb teeth 2 b of the comb tooth member 2 are pushed out and moved by the pushing portion 21. . The form in which the toothbrush 10 is held between the comb teeth 3b is the same as the form in which the toothbrush 10 is held by the comb tooth member 2, and is omitted.
As shown in FIG. 8, the take-out guide 3 is moved in the direction of the alignment unit 4 (described later) by a driving means (not shown) while holding a plurality of toothbrushes 10 between the comb teeth 3b. Transport. (Arrow S direction).
The toothbrush 10 conveyed by the take-out guide 3 is sequentially pushed out in the direction of the alignment unit 4 for each row between the comb teeth 3b by an extrusion lever 31 driven by a drive unit 32 (FIG. 9). reference).
In the present embodiment, the comb tooth member 2 and the take-out guide 3 are configured to have substantially the same width, and the toothbrush 10 is transported. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A configuration in which the toothbrush 10 is configured to be wider than the extraction guide 3 and a large amount of toothbrushes 10 are held on the comb tooth member 2 and the toothbrushes 10 are sequentially conveyed by the extraction guide 3 may be employed.

As shown in FIG. 10, the alignment unit 4 includes a first guide bar 41 and a second guide bar 42, and the first and second guide bars 41 and 42 are subdivided by the take-out guide 3. The toothbrush 10 that is carried and supplied is held, and the direction of the toothbrush 10 is set to a predetermined direction (in this embodiment, the direction of the first guide bar 41), and examples shown in FIGS. 9 to 11 Then, it is formed in a round bar shape.
The alignment portion 4 includes a first guide bar 41 disposed near the handle portion 13 of the neck portion 12 of the suspended toothbrush 10, and the toothbrush 10 from a side opposite to the first guide bar 41. The second guide bar 42 disposed near the head 11 of the neck 12 is provided so as to be substantially parallel and uneven. In the illustrated example, a plate-like auxiliary guide 43 is arranged on the opposite side of the first guide bar 41 in parallel with the second guide bar 42.
Further, in the present embodiment, the second guide bar 42 and the auxiliary guide 43 are reciprocated in the longitudinal direction thereof by driving means (not shown) (in the direction of arrow F in FIGS. 10 and 11).

In the example shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, as described above, the first and second guide bars 41 and 42 are formed in a round bar shape, and the auxiliary guide 43 arranged in parallel is supplied by the toothbrush 10. One end portion 43a side is curved outward (on the side opposite to the second guide bar 42).
Further, the first and second guide bars 41 and 42 and the auxiliary guide 43 arranged in parallel are arranged on one end side (the right side in FIGS. 10 and 11) to which the toothbrush 10 is supplied by the take-out guide 3. That is, it is provided so as to be inclined so that the height of the take-out guide 3 side is higher than the other end side (left side in FIGS. 10 and 11), and the toothbrush 10 is provided on the one end side. It is easy to move to the other end side direction.
In the present embodiment, the first and second guide bars 41 and 42 are formed in a round bar shape, and the auxiliary guide 43 is formed in a plate shape. What is necessary is just to determine suitably considering etc.

<Alignment method>
Hereinafter, the details of the toothbrush alignment method of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 11 using an example using the alignment device 1 described above.

[Toothbrushes arranged as a group of toothbrushes]
As shown in FIG. 2, the plurality of toothbrushes 10 are aligned as a group of toothbrushes 10 </ b> A that are aligned substantially in parallel with the hopper 5 such that the direction of the tips of the heads 11 (the longitudinal direction of the toothbrush 10) is aligned (see also FIG. 3). At this time, the alignment operation of the toothbrush 10 may be performed manually or using a transporter or the like. Further, the direction of the brush surface 81a of the head 11 of the toothbrush 10 is not particularly aligned, and may be arranged in a random direction.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the toothbrushes 10 are arranged in a state where the head 11 and the neck 12 protrude from the hopper 5.

[Toothbrush subdivision with comb teeth]
Next, the toothbrush 10 aligned with the hopper 5 is subdivided by the following procedure.
As shown in FIG. 3, in a state where the comb-tooth member 2 is opposed to the hopper 5, the hopper 5 is moved to the vicinity of the comb-tooth member 2 by driving means (not shown).
Next, as shown in FIG. 4, it is inserted between the neck portions 12 of the comb tooth member 2 at the position of the neck portion 12 of each toothbrush 10 of the toothbrush group 10 </ b> A composed of a plurality of toothbrushes 10 aligned with the hopper 5. Then, the comb teeth 2b are pierced, and the toothbrush 10 is subdivided and held between the comb teeth 2b.
Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the hopper 5 is moved downward by a driving means (not shown), so that the toothbrush 10 held in a divided manner between the comb teeth 2 b is formed thicker than the neck portion 12. The head 11 is suspended from the comb teeth 2b and held vertically. The toothbrush 10 suspended from the comb-teeth member 2 and held vertically is pushed out from between each comb-teeth 2b by the push-out portion 21 and held by a take-out guide 3 described later (see FIG. 7).
In this example, the toothbrush 10 is configured to be subdivided into several pieces between the comb teeth 2b. However, the number of subdivisions can be increased or decreased by appropriately setting the tooth length dimension of the comb teeth 2b. .

Then, the take-out guide 3 is arranged at a position facing the comb tooth member 2 in the tooth length direction by a driving means (not shown) (see FIG. 6). Each toothbrush 10 held on the comb tooth member 2 is pushed out by the push-out portion 21 and moves between the comb teeth 3b of the take-out guide 3 for each row between the comb teeth 2b of the comb tooth member 2 which is subdivided. (See FIG. 7).
As shown in FIG. 8, the take-out guide 3 is moved and conveyed in the direction of the alignment unit 4 (described later) by a driving unit (not shown) while holding the toothbrush 10 between the comb teeth 3 b.
And the toothbrush 10 hold | maintained at the taking-out guide 3 is guide | induced to the alignment part 4 by the extrusion lever 31 for every row | line | column between each comb-tooth 3b divided (refer FIG. 9).

[Alignment of toothbrush direction by alignment part]
Next, the toothbrush 10 guided to the alignment unit 4 is aligned by the following procedure so that the direction of the brush portion 11a of the head 11 is a predetermined direction.
As shown in FIG. 10, the toothbrush 10 guided from the take-out guide 3 by the push-out lever 31 is in the gap between the first guide bar 41 and the second guide bar 42, on the one end 41 a, 42 a side. Then, the neck 12 of the toothbrush 10 is suspended and held (see FIG. 11). At this time, the toothbrush 10 is supported by the first guide bar 41 at a position near the handle portion 13 of the neck 12, and is supported by the second guide bar 42 at a position near the head 11 at the neck 12. Retained.

The toothbrush 10 is suspended and held by the first and second guide bars 41 and 42, and the second guide bar 42 is reciprocated in the longitudinal direction by a driving means (not shown) (FIG. 10). And the direction of the arrow F in FIG. 11 are repeated, and in the longitudinal direction of the first and second guide bars 41 and 42 provided in an inclined manner, one end side (the right side in FIGS. , From the extraction guide 3 side) to the other end side (left side in FIGS. 10 and 11).
At this time, when the toothbrush 10 is in a state where the brush portion 11a of the head 11 faces the first guide bar 41 side, the back surface 11b of the head 11 is supported by the second guide bar 42 in the same direction. In the state where the jaw portion 11c is supported on the first guide bar 41, the jaw portion 11c moves to the other end side (left side in FIGS. 10 and 11).

  In addition, when the brush portion 11a of the toothbrush 10 faces the direction other than the first guide bar 41 side, that is, the brush portion 11a faces the second guide bar 42 side, or the first and second When the guide bars 41 and 42 are oriented in the longitudinal direction, the second guide bar 42 is reciprocated to move the other end side (right side in FIGS. 10 and 11) to the other side. When moving toward the end side (the left side in FIGS. 10 and 11), the brush portion 11a or the side portion 11d of the head 11 is placed on the second guide bar 42 disposed near the head 11 of the neck portion 12. Abut. Accordingly, while the toothbrush 10 moves in the direction of the other end, the toothbrush 10 rotates in the major axis direction, and the brush portion 11a faces the first guide bar 41 side (the direction of arrow S in FIG. 11). ). In the toothbrush 10, the back surface 11b of the head 11 is supported by the second guide bar 42, and the jaw portion 11c (the lower portion of the brush portion 11a) is supported on the first guide bar 41. It moves in the direction of the end side.

  Further, the alignment portion 4 of the present embodiment has a plate-like auxiliary guide 43 arranged in parallel to the second guide bar 42 and on the side opposite to the first guide bar 41, so that the toothbrush 10 Since the brush portion 11a comes into contact with the second guide bar 42 and the auxiliary guide 43, the toothbrush 10 can be more reliably aligned so that the brush portion 11a faces the first guide bar 41 side.

  Further, as shown in the illustrated example, by providing an uneven portion 42 a on the surface of the second guide bar 42 that reciprocates, the toothbrush 10 can be more smoothly conveyed and aligned in the direction of the other end portion. It will be possible to do reliably.

In the illustrated example, the auxiliary guide 43 provided in the alignment unit 4 is arranged in parallel with the first guide bar 41 and the second guide bar 42, and one end 43 a side to which the toothbrush 10 is supplied is outside ( It is configured to bend in the guide longitudinal direction and to reciprocate in the longitudinal direction of the guide, but is not limited thereto.
For example, the auxiliary guide 43 may be configured to reciprocate such as approaching or moving away from the first guide bar 41 and the second guide bar 42, and this reciprocating motion may be performed simultaneously with the reciprocating motion in the guide longitudinal direction. You may comprise so that it may perform.
Moreover, although the auxiliary guide 43 in the illustrated example is formed in a curved shape, the auxiliary guide 43 may be bent at an acute angle or may be formed in a flat plate shape.
The auxiliary guide 43 in the illustrated example is arranged in parallel to the first guide bar 41 and the second guide bar. For example, the auxiliary guide 43 is arranged with an angle with respect to both guide bars. Also good.

Through the above steps, the toothbrush 10 is aligned with high accuracy so that the brush portions 11a are in the same direction.
The toothbrushes 10 aligned by the above-described steps are guided to the next step, for example, a packing step or an inspection step.

As described above, according to the toothbrush alignment method of the present invention, the toothbrush group 10A composed of a plurality of toothbrushes 10 is aligned substantially in parallel, and the toothbrush group 10A has comb teeth at the position of the neck of each toothbrush. In this method, the toothbrush 10 is subdivided between the comb teeth 2 b of the comb tooth member 2.
In addition, the toothbrush alignment method of the present embodiment is opposite to the first guide bar 41 disposed near the handle portion 13 of the neck 12 of the toothbrush 10 and the first guide bar 41 as described above. The toothbrush 10 is held by an aligning portion 4 including a second guide bar 42 disposed near the head 11 of the neck portion 12 of the toothbrush 10 from the side of the toothbrush 10, and the aligning portion 4 includes first and second guides. At least one of the bars 41 and 42 reciprocates in the longitudinal direction of the guide bar so that the brush portion 11a of the toothbrush 10 faces the first guide bar 41.
As a result, toothbrushes of a large number of types can be aligned with high precision in a predetermined direction without switching equipment or with minimal switching.
Therefore, the manufacturing cost including the alignment process can be reduced, and the quality of the toothbrush can be improved.

  By using the toothbrush manufacturing method and the toothbrush alignment apparatus of the present invention, the effect that the handle of the toothbrush is not damaged can be obtained in terms of quality, and the case of aligning the handles of different toothbrushes in terms of equipment. The versatility is extremely high, and it is possible to reduce labor costs and switching jig costs.

  Hereinafter, examples for demonstrating the present invention will be described.

[toothbrush]
In the evaluation of the examples of the present invention and the comparative examples, the same commercially available toothbrush (Biteen Lion: manufactured by Lion Corporation) was used.

[Alignment by Example (Invention)]
Using the aligning device 1 as shown in FIG. 1 (and also see FIGS. 2 to 11), the toothbrushes 10 are arranged substantially parallel to the hopper 5 with the heads 11 aligned, and the comb-tooth member 2 is pushed into the toothbrush group 10A. The toothbrush 10 divided into small portions was transferred to the alignment unit 4 by the take-out guide 3.
Then, in the aligning section 4, the toothbrush 10 is held in the gap between the first guide bar 41 and the second guide bar 42, and the second guide bar 42 is reciprocated by a driving means (not shown) to sequentially align. Processed.
The number of samples was set to n = 10000 in both the examples and comparative examples.

[Alignment by comparative example]
Using the alignment device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 54-126362, the toothbrush is stirred by the swinging side plate while the toothbrush is supplied to the hopper, and the regulating side plate and the inclined plate And the alignment process was performed by letting a toothbrush pass in the toothbrush-shaped gap | interval formed between protrusions.

[Evaluation criteria]
The appearance of the toothbrush handle was visually judged and evaluated according to the following criteria (indicated by ◯ Δ ×).
(1) ○: The scratch on the handle of the toothbrush was within the standard, and was hardly noticeable.
(2) Δ: The scratch on the handle of the toothbrush was within the standard, and was a slight scratch.
(3) x: A scratch with a burr was confirmed on the handle of the toothbrush.

In addition, the toothbrush alignment method and the versatility of the alignment apparatus were evaluated according to the following criteria (indicated by ◯ Δ ×).
(1) ○: Alignment processing could be performed on multiple types of toothbrushes without adjusting the alignment device.
(2) [Delta]: Alignment processing could be performed for a plurality of types of toothbrushes by partially adjusting the alignment device.
(3) x: For a plurality of types of toothbrushes, it was impossible to perform the alignment process without adjusting the alignment device, and the alignment process was performed by greatly replacing the members such as the regulation side plate and the ridges.

Moreover, the maintainability (cost) was evaluated according to the following criteria (indicated by ◯ Δ ×).
(1) ○: Costs for maintenance and product switching (personnel costs, parts production costs, etc.) did not occur, and device adjustment was not necessary.
(2) Δ: Costs for maintenance and product type switching (labor costs, parts production costs, etc.) are low, and some adjustment of the equipment is necessary.
(3) ×: Costs for maintenance and product switching (personnel costs, parts production costs, etc.) are high, and device adjustment is necessary.

  The evaluation results are shown in Table 1.

[Evaluation results]
As shown in Table 1, when the toothbrushes were aligned using the toothbrush alignment method and alignment device of the example (the present invention), no scratches were seen on the appearance of the handle, and a plurality of types of toothbrushes were The alignment process could be performed without adjusting the alignment device. For this reason, all items of the handle appearance, versatility, and maintainability (cost) were evaluated as ○.

On the other hand, in the toothbrush alignment method of the comparative example (conventional toothbrush alignment method), the handle of the toothbrush subjected to the alignment process was damaged, and the evaluation of the handle appearance was Δ.
In addition, when changing the type of toothbrush, it is necessary to replace the regulating side plates and ridges of the alignment device, and the evaluation of versatility was x.
In addition, since the adjustment of the aligning device when changing the type of toothbrush becomes large as described above, the evaluation of the maintainability (cost) was x.

  From the above results, it has been clarified that the toothbrush alignment method and the toothbrush alignment device of the present invention can achieve improvement in toothbrush quality and reduction in manufacturing costs.

It is the schematic explaining an example of the toothbrush aligning apparatus which concerns on this invention, and is a front view of the whole aligning apparatus. It is a figure explaining an example of the alignment method of the toothbrush which concerns on this invention, and is a perspective view which shows the toothbrush replenishment operation | work to a tray. It is a figure explaining an example of the alignment method of the toothbrush which concerns on this invention, and is a perspective view which shows the process of subdividing a toothbrush. It is a figure explaining an example of the alignment method of the toothbrush which concerns on this invention, and is a perspective view which shows the process of subdividing a toothbrush. It is a figure explaining an example of the alignment method of the toothbrush which concerns on this invention, and is a perspective view which shows the process of subdividing a toothbrush. It is a figure explaining an example of the alignment method of the toothbrush which concerns on this invention, and is a perspective view which shows the conveyance process of the toothbrush divided into pieces. It is a figure explaining an example of the alignment method of the toothbrush which concerns on this invention, and is a perspective view which shows the conveyance process of the toothbrush divided into pieces. It is a figure explaining an example of the alignment method of the toothbrush which concerns on this invention, and shows the conveyance process of the divided toothbrush. It is a figure explaining an example of the alignment method of the toothbrush which concerns on this invention, and is a perspective view which shows the process which aligns a toothbrush toward the same direction. It is a figure explaining an example of the alignment method of the toothbrush which concerns on this invention, and is a front view which shows the process which aligns a toothbrush toward the same direction. It is a figure explaining an example of the alignment method of the toothbrush which concerns on this invention, and is a front view which shows the process which aligns a toothbrush toward the same direction.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Toothbrush alignment apparatus, 2 ... Comb tooth member, 3 ... Extraction guide (extraction part), 4 ... Alignment part, 5 ... Hopper, 10 ... Toothbrush, 10A ... Toothbrush group, 11 ... Head part, 11a ... Brush part, 12 ... Neck, 13 ... Handle

Claims (8)

An alignment method for aligning a toothbrush comprising a head portion in which a flocked portion is formed, a neck portion connected to the head portion, and a handle portion,
A first guide bar disposed near the handle portion of the toothbrush neck, and a side closer to the head of the toothbrush neck from a side opposite to the first guide bar, parallel to the first guide bar in a step difference The toothbrush is suspended and held in a vertical state by an alignment portion composed of a second guide bar arranged,
The alignment portion is configured such that at least one of the first and second guide bars reciprocates in the longitudinal direction of the guide bar so that the brush portion of the toothbrush faces the first guide bar. The toothbrush alignment method characterized by the above-mentioned. An alignment method for aligning a toothbrush comprising a head portion in which a flocked portion is formed, a neck portion connected to the head portion, and a handle portion,
Aligning a group of toothbrushes consisting of a plurality of toothbrushes substantially in parallel;
A comb tooth member having a comb tooth interval larger than the thickness of the neck portion and smaller than the width of the head portion is used to penetrate the comb tooth member into the position of the neck portion of each toothbrush of the toothbrush group. Subdivide the toothbrush into one or more between each comb tooth,
Next, take out the toothbrush for each row between the comb teeth of the comb tooth member,
Next, the first guide bar disposed near the handle portion of the toothbrush neck portion, and the first guide bar at a position closer to the head of the toothbrush neck portion from the side opposite to the first guide bar is different from the first guide bar. The toothbrush is suspended and held in a vertical state by an alignment portion composed of a second guide bar arranged in parallel with
The alignment portion is configured such that at least one of the first and second guide bars reciprocates in the longitudinal direction of the guide bar so that the brush portion of the toothbrush faces the first guide bar. The toothbrush alignment method characterized by the above-mentioned. The toothbrush suspended between the first guide bar and the second guide bar on the side opposite to the first guide bar in parallel with the second guide bar methods of alignment toothbrush according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises an auxiliary plate which the flocked portion abuts to change the orientation of the toothbrush. The alignment unit, the first, of the second guide bar, according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by comprising uneven portion is formed on the surface of the guide bar to reciprocate longitudinally Toothbrush alignment method. A toothbrush aligning device for aligning a toothbrush comprising a head part in which a flocked part is formed, a neck part connected to the head part, and a handle part,
A first guide bar disposed near the handle portion of the toothbrush neck, and a step parallel to the first guide bar from a side opposite to the first guide bar toward the head of the toothbrush neck. A second guide bar disposed on the first and second alignment bars, and an alignment portion that holds the toothbrush suspended in a vertical state.
The aligning portion is a driving means for reciprocating at least one of the first and second guide bars in the longitudinal direction of the guide bar so that the brush portion of the toothbrush faces the first guide bar. A toothbrush aligning device comprising: A toothbrush aligning device for aligning a toothbrush comprising a head part in which a flocked part is formed, a neck part connected to the head part, and a handle part,
The toothbrush is divided into one or more between each comb tooth by penetrating the position of the neck of each toothbrush of the toothbrush group in which the plurality of toothbrushes are aligned substantially in parallel. A comb tooth member that is larger than the thickness and smaller than the width of the head portion;
A take-out portion for taking out the subdivided toothbrush from the comb tooth member for each row between the comb teeth;
A first guide bar disposed near the handle portion of the toothbrush neck for holding the toothbrush taken out for each comb tooth of the comb tooth member in a vertical state, and opposite to the first guide bar A second guide bar arranged in parallel with the first guide bar at a position closer to the head of the toothbrush neck from the side of the toothbrush, and the first guide bar in parallel with the second guide bar, Comprising an alignment portion with an auxiliary plate disposed on the opposite side;
The aligning portion is a driving means for reciprocating at least one of the first and second guide bars in the longitudinal direction of the guide bar so that the brush portion of the toothbrush faces the first guide bar. A toothbrush aligning device comprising: The toothbrush suspended between the first guide bar and the second guide bar on the side opposite to the first guide bar in parallel with the second guide bar The toothbrush aligning device according to claim 5 or 6 , further comprising an auxiliary plate that abuts against the flocked portion and changes the direction of the toothbrush. The alignment unit, the first, of the second guide bar, according to any one of claims 5-7, characterized by comprising uneven portion is formed on the surface of the guide bar to reciprocate longitudinally Toothbrush alignment device.

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