Toothbrush

Abstract

To provide a toothbrush with which a brush bristle hardness of a user's taste can be easily selected with a degree of force by the user during toothbrushing.SOLUTION: A toothbrush includes: a head part including an implant surface in which a plurality of bristle bundles are implanted with equal intervals; and a handle part connected to the head part. The bristle bundle has a plurality of brush bristles having different hardnesses bundled.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a toothbrush.

Background Art

[0002] As shown in Patent Document 1, for example, in a toothbrush, a plurality of brush hairs are implanted in a tufted state on a head portion. Such tufted brush hairs often employ one of three types of hardness: hard, normal, or soft.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] For example, when a user wants to brush their teeth while using different hardness toothbrushes separately, they have to prepare different hardness toothbrushes and brush their teeth while replacing them, which is time-consuming.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and its main object is to easily select brush hairs of a preferred hardness according to the user's force control during toothbrushing without replacing the toothbrush, and to be able to brush teeth.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To achieve the above object, the toothbrush of the present invention is a toothbrush comprising a head portion having a tufting surface on which a plurality of tufts are implanted at equal intervals, and a handle portion connected to the head portion, wherein the tufts are characterized in that a plurality of brush hairs having different hardnesses are bundled.

[0007] The toothbrush of the present invention is characterized in that the brush hairs with different hardnesses are formed such that the tips of the softest brush hairs are the longest and the tips become shorter in the order of hardness.

[0008] The toothbrush of the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of rows of the tufts are formed on the tufted surface of the head portion in a direction along the handle portion in series, and the rows of the tufts located on both sides of the head portion are formed to be higher than the rows of the tufts located inside the head portion.

[0009] The toothbrush of the present invention is characterized in that the rows of the tufts located on both sides of the head portion are formed such that the height of the tufts located on the tip side of the head portion is the highest.

[0010] According to the toothbrush of the present invention, the tufts implanted on the tufted surface of the head portion are formed by bundling a plurality of brush hairs with different hardnesses. Further, the brush hairs with different hardnesses are formed such that the tips of the softest brush hairs are the longest and the tips become shorter in the order of hardness. Thereby, the user can easily select the brush hairs with a preferred hardness according to the amount of force applied by the user during brushing. Therefore, it is possible to omit the trouble of preparing a plurality of toothbrushes with different brush hair hardnesses and replacing them while brushing teeth.

[0011] Also, the rows of the tufts located on both sides of the head portion are formed to be higher than the rows of the tufts located inside the head portion. Further, the rows of the tufts located on both sides of the head portion are formed such that the height of the tufts located on the tip side of the head portion is the highest.

[0012] Thereby, it is possible to bring any of the tufts with different lengths into contact with any place in the oral cavity such as between teeth, periodontal pockets, and the back side of the back teeth. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently brush every corner of the teeth and keep the oral cavity clean.

Effects of the Invention

[0013] According to the present invention, it becomes possible to easily select brush bristles of a preferred hardness according to the user's force control during toothbrushing without replacing the toothbrush.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] As shown in Fig. 1(a), in the toothbrush 100, a plurality of tufts 20 are implanted on the implanting surface 111 of the head portion 11 at intervals in the direction along the handle portion 12. As shown in Figs. 1(b) and (c), four rows of these tufts 20 along the handle portion 12 are provided on the implanting surface 111.

[0016] ≪Tufts 20 on the implanting surface 111≫ The tufts 20 provided on the implanting surface 111 of the head portion 11 respectively form a bottom portion 21, a bulging portion 22, and a pointed portion 23.

[0017] As shown in Figs. 1(b) and (c), the bottom portion 21 corresponds to two rows located inside the head portion 11 among the four rows of tufts 20, and is formed with the lowest height of the tufts 20.

[0018] As shown in Figs. 1(a) and (c), the bulging portion 22 corresponds to two rows located on both sides of the head portion 11 among the four rows of tufts 20, and is formed with a height slightly higher than that of the bottom portion 21, and the difference H3 is about 3.5 mm.

[0019] As shown in FIGS. 1(a) and (b), the pointed portion 23 is two rows of the four rows of tufts 20 located on both sides of the head portion 11, and is the tuft 20 at the most distal end side of the head portion 11. The pointed portion 23 is formed such that the height of the tuft 20 is somewhat higher than that of the bulging portion 22, and the difference H1 therebetween is about 1.5 mm.

[0020] That is, the height of the tuft 20 is formed such that the pointed portion 23 is the highest, followed by the bulging portion 22 and the bottom portion 21 in that order. The height difference H2 between the pointed portion 23 and the bottom portion 21 is about 5 mm.

[0021] ≪Structure of Tuft 20≫ Also, as shown in FIGS. 2(a) and (b), the tuft 20 implanted on the implanting surface 111 has a structure in which a plurality of brush hairs 30 with different hardnesses are mixed and bundled.

[0022] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2(a), three types of brush hairs 30 with different hardnesses, namely, hard brush hairs 31, ordinary brush hairs 32, and soft brush hairs 33, are used, and the lengths are made different for each hardness.

[0023] The lengths are in the order of the hard brush hairs 31, the ordinary brush hairs 32, and the soft brush hairs 33, with the lengths increasing. In the present embodiment, the length difference M2 between the hard brush hairs 31 and the ordinary brush hairs 32 is set to about 1 mm, and the length difference M1 between the ordinary brush hairs 32 and the soft brush hairs 33 is also set to about 1 mm.

[0024] ≪Method of Using Toothbrush 100≫ When the user applies the toothbrush 100 to the teeth without applying force, the soft brush hairs 33 with long tips can polish the teeth.

[0025] Also, when the user lightly presses the toothbrush 100 against the teeth, the soft brush hairs 33 with long tips bend. As a result, the ordinary brush hairs 32 with long tips next to the soft brush hairs 33 come into contact with the teeth, and the teeth can be polished with these ordinary brush hairs 32.

[0026] Furthermore, when the user presses the toothbrush 100 strongly against the teeth, the long and soft brush bristles 33 at the bristle tips and the medium-length ordinary brush bristles 32 will bend. As a result, the shortest and hardest brush bristles 31 at the bristle tips will contact the teeth, and the teeth can be polished with these hard brush bristles 31.

[0027] In this way, the user can easily select the brush bristles 30 of the preferred hardness according to the user's force control during toothbrushing. Therefore, it is possible to omit the trouble of preparing a plurality of toothbrushes with different brush bristle hardnesses and replacing them while brushing teeth.

[0028] In addition, as shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b), when the toothbrush 100 sandwiches the teeth with the bulging parts 22 located on both sides of the head part 11 and presses the bottom part 21 against the tooth tips, the tooth tips and the front and back surfaces can be polished at once.

[0029] Also, as shown in FIG. 3(c), if the bulging part 22 is inserted into the periodontal pocket between the teeth and the gingival part, the plaque in the pocket can be efficiently removed.

[0030] And, as shown in FIG. 3(d), if the pointed part 23 is inserted into the interdental space, the plunge polishing of the interdental space can be easily performed. Also, it is easy to apply the pointed part 23 to the back side of the molars.

[0031] As described above, the toothbrush 100 can efficiently polish every corner of the teeth and keep the oral cavity clean.

[0032] It goes without saying that the toothbrush 100 of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0033] For example, in this embodiment, the case where there are four rows of tufts 20 arranged in series in the direction along the handle portion 12 of the toothbrush 100 is illustrated, but it is not limited thereto. Therefore, for example, the number of rows of tufts 20 may be five, and three of them may be the bottom portion 21, etc.

[0034] Also, the hardness of the brush bristles 30 that make up the tufts 20 is not limited to three types, and two types or four or more types may be mixed. In this case, it is preferable to form the tips of the softest brush bristles 33 to be long, and the tips to become shorter in order as they become harder.

Explanation of Signs

[0035] 100 Toothbrush 10 Toothbrush body 11 Head portion 111 Bristle planting surface 12 Handle portion 20 Tufts 21 Bottom 22 Bulging portion 23 Tapered portion 30 Brush bristles 31 Brush bristles (hard) 32 Brush bristles (ordinary) 33 Brush bristles (soft) 200 Teeth 210 Gum

Claims

1. A toothbrush comprising a head portion having a tufted surface with a plurality of tufts of bristles implanted at equal intervals, and a handle portion connected to the head portion, wherein the tufts of bristles are characterized in that a plurality of brush bristles having different hardnesses are bundled together.

2. The toothbrush according to Claim 1, wherein the brush bristles having different hardnesses are formed such that the tips of the softest brush bristles are the longest and the tips become shorter in order of increasing hardness.

3. The toothbrush according to Claim 1, wherein a plurality of rows of the tufts of bristles arranged in series in a direction along the handle portion are formed on the tufted surface of the head portion, and the rows of the tufts of bristles located on both sides of the head portion are formed to be higher in height than the rows of the tufts of bristles located inside the head portion.

4. The toothbrush according to Claim 3, wherein the rows of the tufts of bristles located on both sides of the head portion are formed such that the height of the tufts of bristles located on the tip side of the head portion is the highest.

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