JPH0471522B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a so-called electric toothbrush in which a toothbrush is used to brush teeth electrically, that is, to move back and forth as well as swing from side to side.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional electric toothbrushes of this type are already known from Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 55-6364 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 55-26855, but both have the drawback of having a large number of parts and having a complicated structure.

[Object of the present invention] The present invention is an improvement that reduces the number of parts and achieves the intended purpose with a simple configuration.

〔Example〕

A motor 2 is assembled into a long and narrow case-like body 1, a small diameter bevel gear 3 is attached to the output shaft of the motor 2, a large diameter bevel gear 4 is meshed with the bevel gear 3, and the motor 2 is mounted coaxially with the large diameter bevel gear 4. A pinion 5 is fixed, a large diameter gear 6 is meshed with this pinion 5, and this large diameter gear 69
A crank pin 7 is provided at the eccentric portion of the toothbrush 7, and a rod-shaped brush holder 8 having a toothbrush H detachably attached to the front end thereof is connected to the crank pin 7.

To be more specific, the brush holder 8 is made of synthetic resin, and an elastic member 9 (corresponding to the elastic means in the claims) made of a thin plate surrounded by a rectangular frame is attached to the rear end of the brush holder 8. Elongated holes 10 (corresponding to the sliding member in the claims) parallel to the front-rear direction of the brush holder 8 are integrally formed on the left and right sides of the elastic member 9, extending evenly on the left and right sides. are respectively engaged with protruding guides 11 provided on the vessel body 1.

On the other hand, an elongated hole 12 in the direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction of the holder is provided in the brush holder portion located between the left and right elongated holes 10, and the crank pin 7 is caused to protrude through and engage with this elongated hole 12, A switching lever 13 provided on a brush holder 8 is made to face and face this protruding crank pin 7. The switching lever 13 is fixed to rotate in the axial direction of the brush holder 8, and one end is slidably supported by a pin 14, and the switching lever 13 has the brush holder 8 engaged with the protruding crank pin 7. Holder 8
A cut-shaped long groove 15 is provided in a direction perpendicular to the long hole 12. Further, the switching lever 13 has a spring 16 provided between the lever 13 and the holder 8, so that the long groove 15 of the switching lever 13 always separates from the crank pin 7.
A hemispherical sliding surface 17 is formed on the biasing side surface of the switching lever 13, and this sliding surface 17 is pressed against the operating member 18 provided on the device body 1 by the spring 16. It is in contact. The above operation member 1
In this example, 8 consists of a knob 19 that is slidably provided on the container body 1, and a pressing piece 20 that is supported on the container body 1 so as to move back and forth orthogonally to the sliding direction by sliding the knob 19. The tip of piece 20 is
It is movably abutted against first to third cam surfaces A, B, and C provided on the inner surface of the knob 19 and raised stepwise in the sliding direction.

Also, in this example, the knob 19 is used also as a switch knob, so the first cam surface A is the operating surface for turning the switch off, and the second and third cam surfaces B and C are the operating surfaces for turning the switch on. It is used for both purposes. Note that 21 is a contact piece for forming a switch.

〔motion〕

The position of knob 19 in Fig. 1 is the switch off state.
That is, the pusher 20 is in contact with the first cam surface A, and this pusher has not yet pushed the switching lever 13.
Therefore, when the knob 19 is now slid upward one step in the figure and the presser 20 is transferred to the second cam surface B, the switch is turned on and the motor 2 is started.
As the crank pin 7 moves within the long hole 12 due to this activation, the brush holder 8 moves back and forth (up and down in FIG. 1). In other words, the toothbrush H is moved back and forth continuously.

Next, when the knob 19 is slid two steps and the pusher 20 is transferred to the third cam surface C, the pusher 20 largely protrudes inward, thereby forcing the switching lever 13 to slide inward. At the same time, the long groove 15 of the lever 13 engages with the crank pin 7, and the long groove 1 of the crank pin 7 due to this engagement.
5 and because the switching lever 13 itself is fixed to the brush holder 8 in its axial circumferential direction, the brush holder swings from side to side. This is done by the brush holder 8 always following the
This follow-up action is achieved by the bending and restoring action of the elastic member 9 caused by the movement of the crank pin 7 within the long groove 15.

Also, since the crank pin 7 is moving within the elongated hole 12 of the holder 8 at the same time as the brush holder 8 swings, the brush holder 8 moves in a combination of forward and backward movement and swinging. .

[Modified example]

FIG. 5 shows another example of the elastic means 9, in which a rod 22 with one end fixed to the side surface of the holder extends from the left and right sides of the rear end of the brush holder 8, and this rod 22 has a sliding member. 10 to that stupid hole 10a
The sliding member 10 is loosely inserted through the brush holder 8 to engage the sliding member 10 with the guide 11, and an elastic member 9 made of a coil spring with a rod 22 wound and inserted between the sliding member 10 and the brush holder 8 is elastically installed in a compressed state. It is.

[Effects of the present invention]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically operate the toothbrush in the same way as actually brushing teeth by the back-and-forth movement of the brush holder and the combined movement of the back-and-forth movement and left-right rocking. In short, in the present invention, as a guide structure of the brush holder for performing the above-mentioned movement, sliding members are provided on the left and right sides of the brush holder to be engaged with the guide of the body through elastic means, and The brush holder is provided with a switching lever equipped with a long groove for engagement with a crank pin for swinging the holder.In other words, the main functional parts are collectively associated with the brush holder, thereby reducing the number of parts. Reduce to a large width,
This makes it possible to simplify the structure, and it has excellent features that cannot be expected from conventional electric toothbrushes of this type.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a partially cutaway front view, Figure 2 is a partially cutaway side view of the same as above, Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the main part, Figure 4 is a rear view of the switching lever, and Figure 5 is a modified example. It is a slope view of the main part. H... Brush, 1... Body, 7... Crank pin, 8... Brush holder, 9... Elastic means, 1
0...Sliding member, 11...Guide, 12...Elongated hole, 13...Switching lever, 18...Operation member.

Claims (1)

[Claims] The body is provided with a brush holder equipped with a brush at the front end, sliding members are respectively provided on the left and right sides of the rear end of the brush holder via elastic means, and the sliding members are slid on guides provided on the body. At the same time, an elongated hole provided in the brush holder is engaged with a drive crank pin provided in the body in a projecting shape, and the protruding crank pin intersects with the elongated hole that engages with the pin. A switching lever is provided with a long groove in the direction, and has one end fixed to the brush holder so as to be freely slidable in the axial direction thereof, and is normally elastically biased in the direction in which the long groove is moved away from the crank pin, so as to face the switching lever. An electric toothbrush characterized in that an operating member provided on the body faces the lever so as to be pressable and operable.