JPH0751097B2 - Electronic interdental brush - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention effectively prevents tooth decay and alveolar pyorrhea by installing a battery in a toothbrush and adding a normal brushing effect to the potential gradient. The present invention relates to an electronic interdental brush.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as a method for preventing tooth decay, it has been widely practiced to apply fluoride to the tooth surface or to use a dentifrice containing fluoride. However, the pH of pulp blood in the mouth
Is 7.8, the pH of pulp tissue is 7.3, and the pH of saliva is about 6.8. Therefore, (+) ions tend to move from the tooth surface to pulp tissue, while (-) ions tend to move from pulp tissue to the tooth surface. is there. For this reason, in the mouth, the fluorine ion, which is the (−) ion, is unlikely to penetrate into the pulp tissue, which is an unsuitable environment for enhancing its use effect.

Therefore, conventionally, in order to improve the effect of using fluorine ions, a battery of about 1.5 V is placed in the toothbrush handle, and a terminal made of a conductive material is provided between the hair implants of the hair-implanted portion provided at the tip of the handle, There are many electronic brushes (also referred to as ion toothbrushes, current-carrying toothbrushes or electric toothbrushes) in which the terminal is connected to the (-) electrode of the battery, the handle portion is made of metal, and the handle portion is (+) electrode. It has been proposed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 48-27390 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 42-5092). With this electronic toothbrush, when brushing a tooth with a toothpaste containing fluoride, an electric current flows from the hand holding the handle toward the tooth surface through the pulp tissue and the like, while the fluoride ion reverses from the tooth surface to the inside. It penetrates and deposits, which is effective for improving dental health.

In this electronic toothbrush, for example, the handle and the head portion are integrated, or even if the handle and the head portion are separable, the entire head portion is made of a conductive material. The conductive material is disposed between the brush-implanted surfaces of the head portion.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the conventional electronic toothbrush has an extremely complicated structure, high manufacturing cost, and inconvenience in handling and the like, and thus it is difficult to widely spread it to the general public.

That is, if the brush bristles are deformed by use, discarding them and using a new toothbrush is a necessary condition for obtaining a sufficient brushing effect. The electronic toothbrush with
When the brush bristles are deformed, the entire toothbrush must be discarded and replaced, resulting in high usage cost and a serious obstacle to its widespread use. Even if the handle and the head part are separable, the structure in which the entire head part is made of a conductive material or the conductive material is arranged between the brush-implanted surfaces of the head part has a structure. There is a problem that the manufacturing cost is high while being extremely complicated.

Further, the conventional electronic toothbrush has a problem that it is difficult to clean the space between the teeth because the bristling surface of the brush portion is a flat surface. Therefore, a so-called interdental brush that enables brushing between teeth has been proposed, but no electronic toothbrush theory has been applied to this interdental brush.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to be able to sufficiently exert the function of the electronic toothbrush, and to require only the brush bristle portion. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic interdental brush that can be discarded and replaced and that can reduce the cost associated with the discarded replacement as much as possible.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention stores a battery and a head portion having a brush portion that can be inserted between teeth. Handle that is gripped by
The handle part is configured to be detachable from the handle part, and the handle part is provided with a support shaft made of a conductive material and connected to one electrode of the battery. An end body made of a conductive material connected to the other electrode of the battery is attached to the head portion, a spindle introducing portion for receiving the spindle is formed in the head portion, and the brush portion is The brush is provided around the axis, and the shaft of the brush part is in contact with the support shaft inserted into the support shaft insertion part, and the brush part is detachably provided from the main body of the head part. The brush shaft and the brush shaft inserted into the shaft support insertion portion are electrically connected to each other.

(Operation) With this configuration, the brush bristles are easily inserted between the teeth, and when the user grips the grip handle and brushes the teeth with the brush bristles, the battery → grip handle A closed path of end body → hand → body → teeth → bristles → spindle → battery is formed. Therefore, the brushing effect between the teeth can be improved. Further, even when the bristles are deformed, it is not necessary to replace the entire electronic toothbrush or the entire head portion, and it is sufficient to replace only the interdental brush. Since the interdental brush itself has an extremely simple structure, replacement is low cost, and the cost can be kept low even if it is discarded or replaced if necessary.

(Example) Next, an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a right side view of an electronic interdental brush according to an embodiment of the present invention, a part of which shows a cross section. FIG. 2 is a front view of the electronic interdental brush shown in FIG. 1, partially cut along the line AA of FIG.

The electronic interdental brush according to the present invention is a handle 1 that a user holds.
And a head portion 3 detachably provided on one end of the handle.
And an interdental brush 11 which is detachably provided at the tip of the head portion 3.

The handle 1 is embedded in a substantially central portion of the shaft thereof and includes a support shaft 2 projecting from an end surface of the head portion 3 side. The lower end of the support shaft 2 embedded in the handle 1 is connected to the (-) pole of the battery 14. A convex end portion 5 is provided on the end surface of the handle 1 on the head portion 3 side.

A concave end 4 is formed at the end of the head portion 3 on the handle 1 side by the groove 6 and the arm 15, and the convex end 5 of the handle 1 is formed on the concave end 4.
Are elastically sandwiched. A through hole 16 through which the support shaft 2 penetrates is formed in an axial center portion of the head 3. A rectangular communication hole 10 is opened on the front surface of the other end of the head 3, and the communication hole 10 is communicated with a through hole 16. A small groove 8 is formed on the wall surface of the through hole 16 facing the communication hole 10, and a small groove 9 is formed on the upper wall surface of the through hole 16.
The shaft 7 of the interdental brush 11, which will be described later, is fitted into the small grooves 8 and 9.

The interdental brush 11 includes a shaft 7 having a straight and cylindrical shape, and brush bristles 17 provided around one end of the shaft 7.

The shaft 7 is bendable and is configured to be capable of holding the bent shape, and the material thereof may be a conductor or a non-conductor. The brush bristles 17 are planted around one end of the shaft so as to have a generally conical shape with a narrow tip.

Reference numeral 12 is a draining protrusion for preventing a short circuit between the terminal 13 which is the (+) terminal of the handle 1 and the support shaft 2 side which is the (-) terminal.

Next, a method of setting the interdental brush 11 on the head 3 will be described.

Insert the tip of the shaft 7 of the interdental brush 11 from the communication hole 10 to the head 3
And bend it along the small groove 8. Then, when the support shaft 2 is inserted into the through hole 16 of the head 3, the tip end of the support shaft 2 enters while pushing the shaft 7 existing along the small groove 8 against the small groove 8, and finally the shaft 7 is bent to bend the brush bristles. The part near 17 is pushed into the small groove 8 and the small groove 9 in the direction perpendicular to the small groove 8 and set securely as shown in the figure. Alternatively, the shaft 7 may be bent at a right angle in advance, and the support shaft 2 may be inserted into the small grooves 8 and 9. When the interdental brush 11 is removed, the support shaft 2 is pulled out from the head portion 3 to release the pressing of the shaft 7 into the small grooves 8 and 9, so that only the interdental brush can be easily taken out.

If you hold the handle part 1, put the brush head part 3 in your mouth and brush it, the bristles will leak to saliva moisture,
Water enters between 17 as well. When the shaft 7 of the interdental brush 11 is not a conductor, this moisture is connected from the root of the brush bristles 17 to the support shaft 2 via the shaft 7 and between the water in the communication hole 10 in contact with the support shaft 2 and the brush bristles 17. When the teeth come into contact with the bristle tips of the brush bristles 17 due to the connection with water, the spindle 2 and the teeth can be efficiently conducted with sufficient water. When the shaft 7 is a conductor, current flows through the water between the brush bristles 17 to the shaft 7 and is directly transmitted to the support shaft 2.

The hand holding the handle 1 comes into contact with the terminal 13 to which the (+) electrode of the battery is connected, and the spindle 2 connected to the (-) electrode comes into contact with the teeth using water as a medium, so fluoride is mixed. When brushing with a toothpaste, a closed circuit is formed, and the current flows from the hand to the tooth surface through the pulp tissue, etc., and the (−) ion, fluoride ion, conversely penetrates from the tooth surface. It deposits on the inside and makes a great contribution to strengthening the tooth structure and preventing tooth decay. It has been proved that the plaque removing effect is extremely large even by brushing only the electronic toothbrush without using fluoride.

In particular, in this embodiment, the replacement of the interdental brush 11, that is, the removal and mounting thereof, can be accomplished by an extremely simple operation of inserting and withdrawing the support shaft 2. Moreover, since the small grooves 8 and 9 are formed so as to intersect with each other at a right angle, the shaft 7 is supported at three points, so that the interdental brush 11 is securely fixed to the head portion 3 and moves loosely. There is no such thing. Further, since the fixing of the interdental brush to the head portion is maintained by maintaining the inserted state of the support shaft 2, even if the interdental brush is pressed against the teeth and brushed during use, force is applied. , There is no worry that this will come off.

(Effects) As described above, the electronic interdental brush of the present invention can improve the brushing effect between teeth by applying the principle of the electronic toothbrush to the interdental brush.
Even if the brush bristle needs to be replaced, it is not necessary to replace the entire toothbrush or the head part, and only the extremely inexpensive interdental brush may be removed from the head part and replaced with a new one. Therefore, it is easy to handle, economical, can be widely spread to society, and is effective for efficient removal of plaque between teeth, which is usually difficult to clean, for improving the health of teeth and strengthening dentin. It is very useful to contribute.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a right side view of an electronic interdental brush according to an embodiment of the present invention, and a part thereof shows a cross section. FIG. 2 is a front view of the electronic interdental brush shown in FIG.
A line is cut. (Explanation of symbols) 1 ... Handle, 2 ... Support shaft, 3 ... Head part, 4 ... Concave end, 5 ... Convex end part, 6 ... Groove, 7 ... Shaft, 8 ... Small groove, 9 ... Small groove, 10 ... Communication Hole, 11 ... Interdental brush, 12 ... Draining protrusion, 13 ... Terminal, 14 ... Battery, 15 ... Arm, 16 ... Fitting hole, 17 ... Brush bristles

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A head part having a brush part configured to be inserted between teeth and a handle part for accommodating a battery and held by a user, the head part being provided with respect to the handle part. The handle is provided with a support shaft made of a conductive material connected to one electrode of the battery, and at least a part of the outer surface of the handle is connected to the other electrode of the battery. An end body made of a conductive material is attached to the head portion, a spindle introducing portion for receiving the spindle is formed in the head portion, and the brush portion is composed of a shaft and a brush implanted around the shaft. The shaft of the brush part is in contact with the support shaft inserted into the support shaft insertion part, and the brush part is replaceable by being detachably provided from the main body of the head part,
An electronic interdental brush in which the support shaft inserted into the support shaft insertion portion and the brush portion are electrically connected to each other.