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Electric toothbrush

Inactive Publication Date: 2009-12-31
PANASONIC CORP
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0005]In the electric toothbrush of the '099 electric toothbrush, the eccentric shaft is rotated to generate oscillations so as to produce high-speed rotations. However, as the power supply voltage decreases, the oscillation amplitude of the brush portion decreases and lowers the brushing performance.

Problems solved by technology

However, due to the external load applied by the brush portion, it is difficult for the motor to produce high-speed rotations.
Further, this electric toothbrush consumes much power.
However, as the power supply voltage decreases, the oscillation amplitude of the brush portion decreases and lowers the brushing performance.

Method used

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Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

first embodiment

[0017]an electric toothbrush according to the present invention will now be discussed.

[0018]Referring to FIG. 1, an electric toothbrush 10 includes a grip, or case 11, and a brush unit 12, which is detachably attached to the distal end of the case 11. The case 11 may be elongated and cylindrical. The case 11 accommodates a motor 13 and a battery 20, which supplies power supply voltage. A switch button 14 arranged on the case 11 is used to switch the motor 13 ON and OFF.

[0019]The motor 13 includes a rotary shaft 13a, which extends toward the distal end of the case 11 in the longitudinal direction of the case 11. An eccentric shaft 15 is attached to the rotary shaft 13a. The eccentric shaft 15 includes an elongated main shaft body 15a and a weight 15b, the center of gravity of which is deviated in the radial direction from the axis of the rotary shaft 13a. The weight 15b is attached to the distal end of the main shaft body 15a.

[0020]The eccentric shaft 15 is enclosed in an oscillatio...

second embodiment

[0038]In the second embodiment, the constant voltage circuit 31 converts the power supply voltage to voltage C (constant voltage), which is shown in FIG. 3. The voltage C is predetermined as a value that is lower than the maximum value A of the power supply voltage and drives the motor 13 at a rotation speed that is high and satisfactory. This allows for the motor 13 to produce high-speed rotations. When the value of the power supply voltage supplied from the battery 20 is higher than the voltage C, the constant voltage circuit 31 converts (lowers) the power supply voltage to the voltage C. When the value of the power supply voltage supplied from the battery 20 decreases to the voltage C or lower, the constant voltage circuit 31 converts (increases) the power supply voltage to the voltage C. This regulates the oscillation amplitude S of the brush portion 19 to be constant regardless of the decrease in the power supply voltage of the battery 20.

[0039]The second embodiment has the sam...

third embodiment

[0040]the present invention will now be discussed.

[0041]Referring to FIG. 6, the motor 13 has one terminal connected to the positive terminal of the battery 20 and another terminal connected to the collector terminal of the transistor 21. The emitter terminal of the transistor 21 is connected to the negative terminal of the battery 20.

[0042]The battery 20 is connected to the power supply circuit 22. The power supply circuit 22 is connected to the control unit 23, which includes a CPU and a RAM. The power supply circuit 22 supplies the control unit 23 with drive voltage that is suitable for driving the control unit 23. The control unit 23 is connected to the battery 20 and detects the power supply voltage supplied from the battery 20 to the motor 13. A rotation speed detection circuit 41 is connected to the control unit 23 to detect the rotation speed of the motor 13. This allows for the control unit 23 to detect the rotation speed of the motor 13.

[0043]Based on both the value of the...

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PUM

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Abstract

An electric toothbrush is provided with a brush portion, a motor including a rotary shaft, a battery, which supplies the motor with power supply voltage, and an eccentric shaft, which rotates together with the rotary shaft. The eccentric shaft has a center of gravity located at a position deviated from an axis of the rotary shaft of the motor. An oscillation transmission mechanism transmits oscillations generated by the rotation of the eccentric shaft. An oscillation amplitude regulation circuit regulates an oscillation amplitude of the brush portion to be constant regardless of changes in the power supply voltage in a state in which the brush portion is free from external loads.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-168727, filed on Jun. 27, 2008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to an electric toothbrush.[0003]A typical electric brush includes a brush portion that is oscillated by a motor. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-173360 describes an electric toothbrush including a motion conversion mechanism, which converts the rotation produced by a motor to two types of different motions that are transmitted to the brush portion so as to move the brush portion in constant oscillation amplitude. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-80099 describes an electric toothbrush including an eccentric shaft, which generates oscillations when rotated by a motor, and an oscillation transmission component, which transmits the oscillation of the eccentric shaft to the brush porti...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): A46B13/02
CPCA61C17/3481A61C17/221
Inventor MASUKO, YOSHINORI
Owner PANASONIC CORP
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