Cleaning nursing equipment and its energy conversion device

Abstract

The present invention provides a cleaning and nursing tool and its energy exchange device. The transducer includes a transducer rack, a magnet attached to the transducer rack, an elastic assembly, and a drive shaft, and the elastic assembly includes a transmission arm and an elastic piece held by the transmission arm, in which the transmission arm is fixedly connected to the drive shaft, the elastic piece has an outer edge and an inner edge, and the transmission arm forms a recess corresponding to the fixing part of the transmission arm, and the recess depth D of the recess is greater than the first fixing width B1 between the bottom surface of the recess and the vertical axis. This solution avoids the suppression of the resonance rotation angle due to the damping in the resonance motion, and allows the cleaning assembly such as the brush head to have a larger rotation angle, and improves the mechanical efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of cleaning and nursing appliances, and more specifically, to an energy Conversion device in cleaning and nursing appliances.

Background Art

[0002] For personal cleaning and nursing appliances such as electric toothbrushes, electric shavers, electric facial cleaners, and electric bathtubs, it is important to have an energy Conversion device that can convert reciprocating motion into the expected rotational motion of the cleaning element. These personal cleaning and nursing appliances should have a simple structure, be convenient to assemble, have a long service life, be safe and reliable, and be small in volume.

[0003] Known energy Conversion devices are equipped with electromagnetic devices for generating electromagnetic forces. The electromagnetic devices usually generate electromagnetic forces by the interaction between a fixedly mounted drive coil and a magnet mounted on a transducer frame. Energy Conversion devices further include an elastic assembly attached to a part of the drive shaft. By the interaction between the electromagnetic device and the elastic assembly, the energy Conversion device can efficiently convert electrical energy into mechanical energy by utilizing the resonance motion and resonant motion of a resonator composed of a cleaning assembly and a transducer.

[0004] The elastic piece that generates elastic force in the elastic assembly usually has one end fixed to the drive shaft, and this end can reciprocally rotate along with the drive shaft. The other end of the elastic piece is fixed to the housing of the transducer, and the end fixed to the housing of the transducer is stationary.

[0005] However, it has been found that when electromagnetic force is transmitted to the drive shaft to cause the drive shaft to reciprocally rotate, the fixed part of the drive shaft and the elastic piece inhibits the elastic deformation of the elastic piece, suppresses the rotation angle of the drive shaft, and reduces the output of the drive shaft.

[0006] Therefore, there are still defects in the existing energy Conversion devices for personal cleaning and nursing appliances, and it is necessary to improve them.

Summary of the Invention

[0007] In order to overcome the deficiencies in the prior art, the present invention provides an energy Conversion device for cleaning and nursing appliances. This energy Conversion device includes a transducer and a drive coil. The transducer includes a transducer rack, a magnet attached to the transducer rack, an elastic assembly, and a drive shaft having a longitudinal axis L. The elastic assembly includes a transmission arm and at least one elastic piece held by the transmission arm. Among them, the transmission arm is fixedly connected to the drive shaft, the drive coil is arranged relative to the magnet of the transducer, the transducer is movable relative to the drive coil. An alternating current is passed through the drive coil to generate an alternating electromagnetic force between the drive coil and the magnet. The electromagnetic force causes the transducer to perform a resonant motion. Among them, the elastic piece has an outer edge far from the longitudinal axis L and an inner edge close to the longitudinal axis L. The extending direction of the elastic piece extending from the outer edge to the inner edge is transverse to the longitudinal axis L. The elastic piece has an elastic piece fixing section fixed to the transmission arm on the inner edge side. During the operation of the energy Conversion device, the outer edge of the elastic piece is stationary. The transmission arm has a fixing portion for fixing the elastic piece fixing section. Corresponding to the fixing portion, the transmission arm is recessed inward from its outer surface to form a recess. The recess has a bottom surface. The elastic piece extends from the bottom surface of the recess and extends in the space formed in the recess. Along the extending direction of the elastic piece, the fixing portion has a first fixing width B1 from the bottom surface of the recess to the longitudinal axis. Among them, the first fixing width B1 is zero or more. On the side where the recess is located in the extending plane of the elastic piece, the farthest radial distance of the bottom surface of the recess from the outer surface of the transmission arm on the same side as the recess of the transmission arm is defined as the recess depth D. The recess depth D is greater than the first fixing width B1.

[0008] According to one aspect of the present invention, the width of the deformable portion of the elastic piece is h, and the first fixing width B1 is smaller than 20% of the width h of the deformable portion.

[0009] According to another aspect of the present invention, the elastic piece extends inward from the outer edge toward the longitudinal axis L so that the outer edge and the inner edge are located on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis L and crosses the longitudinal axis L. The elastic piece fixing stage has a second fixing width B2 along the extending direction of the elastic piece on the inner edge side of the longitudinal axis L. The first fixing width B1 is smaller than the second fixing width B2, and the fixing portion is offset with respect to the longitudinal axis L.

[0010] According to another aspect of the present invention, the fixing portion of the transmission arm is completely offset on one side of the longitudinal axis L, and the fixing portion and the outer edge of the elastic piece are on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis L.

[0011] According to another aspect of the present invention, the second fixing width B2 is larger than 1 mm, and the first fixing width B1 is in the range of 0 to 3 mm.

[0012] According to another aspect of the present invention, at least one elastic piece of the elastic assembly includes a first elastic piece and a second elastic piece. The recess of the transmission arm includes a first recess and a second recess. The first recess and the second recess are recessed along opposite directions and formed in the transmission arm. The first elastic piece and the second elastic piece extend laterally with respect to the longitudinal axis L in opposite directions from the transmission arm in the spaces of the first recess and the second recess, respectively. The recess depths of the first recess and the second recess are substantially equal.

[0013] According to another aspect of the present invention, the transmission arm has a first fixing portion for fixing the first elastic piece and a second fixing portion for fixing the second elastic piece. The first fixing portion and the second fixing portion are offset on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis L and are also displaced longitudinally. The first fixing portion and the second fixing portion are connected via a connecting portion. Alternatively, the first elastic piece and the second elastic piece are fixed via the same fixing portion, and the first recess and the second recess are located on both sides of the fixing portion.

[0014] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is a gap between the elastic piece and the side surface of the recess in the longitudinal direction.

[0015] According to another aspect of the present invention, the energy Conversion device further includes a bearing for holding and supporting the drive shaft.

[0016] Preferably, the drive shaft includes a first drive shaft portion and a second drive shaft portion. The proximal end and the distal end of the transmission arm are fixedly connected to the first drive shaft portion and the second drive shaft portion respectively. The bearings include a proximal end bearing and a distal end bearing provided on the first drive shaft portion and the second drive shaft portion respectively.

[0017] Furthermore, the present invention further provides a cleaning and nursing appliance having the energy Conversion device, and the cleaning and nursing appliance is one of an electric toothbrush, an electric shaver, an electric facial cleanser, and an electric bath device.

[0018] In the energy Conversion device according to the present invention, the recess depth of the recess for accommodating the elastic piece in the transmission arm is greater than the first fixing width at the transmission arm fixing portion located on the same side of the recess. In this way, without affecting the drive shaft strength and the connection strength between the drive shaft and the transmission arm, when the transmission arm fixes the elastic piece, the adverse effect on the elastic piece can be reduced as much as possible, and the resonance efficiency of the deformable part of the elastic piece can be guaranteed. Thereby, the operating efficiency of the entire energy Conversion device is improved.

[0019] In the energy Conversion device according to the present invention, since the first fixing width at the elastic piece fixing stage fixed by the transmission arm is smaller than the second fixing width, the attenuation by the transmission arm on the outer edge side of the elastic piece is reduced, the suppression of the resonance rotation angle due to the attenuation in the resonance motion is avoided, and a cleaning assembly such as a brush head can have a larger rotation angle, improving the mechanical efficiency.

[0020] The transmission arm realizes a reduction in the first fixing width by using an offset fixing portion, and such a structure does not affect the fixing effect of the transmission arm while making the volume of the elastic assembly of the transducer smaller.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0021] To understand the present invention more fully, the following description of exemplary embodiments can be considered with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0022] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a personal cleaning and nursing appliance and an internal mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a personal cleaning and nursing appliance and an internal mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention in an assembled state, with a part of the housing portion removed to better show the internal structure. Figure 3 FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an energy conversion device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention when in an assembled state. Figure 4 FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a transducer in an energy conversion device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 FIG. 5 is a plan view of the transducer of FIG. 4. Figure 6 FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a transmission arm in a transducer according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the structure of the connection portion between the elastic piece and the transmission arm. Figure 7 FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an energy conversion device according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 8 FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an energy conversion device according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 9 FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of a part of the energy conversion device shown in FIG. 8.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0023] 1 Handle housing 2 Transducer 4 Drive Coil Assembly 5 Wiring Board 6 Lower Case 7 Upper Case 8 Battery Box 9 Battery 22, 22’, 22” Transmission Arm 221 Distal End of Transmission Arm 222 Proximal End of Transmission Arm 223, 223’, 223” Fixing Portion 225, 225’, 225” Concave Portion 226 Connection Portion 24, 25, 24’, 24” Elastic Sheet S Elastic Sheet Fixing Stage 26, 26’, 26” Bearing 27 Transducer Rack 28 Transducer Disk 29 Magnet 300 Drive Shaft 30 First Drive Shaft Portion 31 Second Drive Shaft Portion 32, 33, 32’, 33’, 32”, 33” Gap 35, 20’, 21’, 20”, 21” Elastic Sheet Fixing Block 41 Drive Coil Bobbin 42 Drive Coil L Longitudinal Axis L B1 First Fixing Width B2 Second Fixing Width h Width of Deformable Portion of Elastic Sheet

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0024] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to specific examples and drawings. In the following description, various details are described in order to make the present invention easier to understand. However, it is obvious that the present invention can be implemented in another form different from the above description, and those skilled in the art can expand and infer according to the actual application situation without departing from the gist of the present invention. Therefore, it goes without saying that the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the above specific examples.

[0025] Hereinafter, taking the electric toothbrush as a typical example of the personal cleaning and nursing appliance, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, the electric toothbrush will be taken as an example for description, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The present invention may also be applied to cleaning and nursing appliances that provide a cleaning operation through a transducer such as an electric shaver, an electric facial cleaner, and an electric bath heater.

[0026] For clarity, this specification uses vocabulary representing spatial relative positions such as "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "proximal (end)", "distal (end)", "inner", and "outer" to briefly describe the mutual relationship between one element or feature shown in the figure and other element(s) or feature(s), in which the longitudinal axis direction of the drive coil means the direction parallel to the magnetic field lines generated inside the iron core when a current I flows through the drive coil. "Upper" and "lower" relate to the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft. Looking at the corresponding figure, the upward direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft is defined as "upper", and the downward direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft is defined as "lower". "Left" and "right" relate to the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft. Looking at the corresponding figure, the left side of the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft along the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft is defined as "left", and the right side thereof is defined as "right". "Proximal end / proximal side" means an end or side close to the position where the cleaning force acts during the use of the cleaning and nursing appliance. "Distal end / distal side" means an end or side away from the position where the cleaning force acts during the use of the cleaning and nursing appliance. "Outer" and "inner" relate to the distance from the longitudinal axis L. The side relatively far from the longitudinal axis L is defined as "outer", and the side relatively close to the longitudinal axis L is defined as "inner".

[0027] Furthermore, the vocabulary "and / or" used in the present application includes any one or all combinations of one or more of the listed related vocabularies.

[0028] In this specification, although a plurality of elements or components are described using vocabulary such as "first", these elements or components should not be limited by these vocabulary. These vocabulary are merely used to distinguish one element or component from other elements or components and do not include "order". Therefore, even if the ordinal words of the elements or components described below are interchanged with each other, it does not exceed the concept and scope of the present invention.

[0029] FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 respectively show an exploded perspective view and an assembled perspective view of a cleaning and nursing appliance according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show an electric toothbrush as a cleaning and nursing appliance. The electric toothbrush mainly includes a handle and a cleaning assembly (not shown) detachably attached to the handle. The handle includes a handle housing 1 and each functional component attached to the handle housing 1. The cleaning assembly of the electric toothbrush usually takes the form of a toothbrush head having a cleaning element carrier and cleaning elements distributed on the cleaning element carrier. The carrier of the toothbrush head is attached to the drive shaft 300 of the handle 1, for example, by snap coupling. The snap coupling can securely couple the drive handle 1 and the cleaning assembly, and can also easily separate the drive handle and the cleaning assembly. The cleaning elements can be provided with brush bristles of various hardnesses, materials, and arrangement methods.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 1, the functional components housed in the handle housing 1 of the electric toothbrush mainly include a power supply unit, a control unit, and an energy Conversion device.

[0031] The power supply unit usually includes a rechargeable battery 9 and a charging circuit mounted in a battery box 8 to supply energy to each functional part of the electric toothbrush. The control unit mainly includes a wiring board 5 for controlling various operation modes of the electric toothbrush and turning the electric toothbrush on or off, etc. The control unit includes a trigger part such as a switch to start and stop the operation of the electric toothbrush. Energy ConversionThe device is configured to convert the input electrical energy into mechanical energy that provides reciprocating motion of the cleaning assembly. These functional parts are basically housed in the inner cavity formed in the handle housing 1. As shown in FIG. 2, in the inner cavity of the housing 1, in order from the distal side of the electric toothbrush, there are a power supply part and energy Conversion devices are arranged, and energy Conversion The drive shaft 300 of the device protrudes from the opening formed at the proximal end of the housing 1.

[0032] FIG. 3 shows an energy Conversion device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. This energy Conversion device mainly comprises a transducer 2 and a drive coil assembly 4, and the drive coil assembly 4 of the energy Conversion device is arranged with respect to a part of the transducer 2.

[0033] The transducer 2 mainly comprises a transducer rack 27, a magnet 29 attached to the transducer rack 27, an elastic assembly, and a drive shaft 300. As is clear from FIG. 4, the magnet 29 comprises a first magnet and a second magnet that are spaced apart and arranged opposite each other and are fixed to the transducer disk 28 of the transducer rack 27 through means such as an adhesive, a screw, injection molding, etc. They are located at the distal end away from the cleaning element in the entire electric toothbrush. The magnet 29 is a part of the entire transducer rack 27. Thus, the movement of the magnet 29 will move the entire transducer rack 27.

[0034] The drive coil assembly 4 usually comprises a drive coil bobbin 41 and a drive coil 42. As shown in FIG. 3, the drive coil 42 is arranged in the space between the first magnet 29 and the second magnet 29 such that both sides of the drive coil 42 face the magnet 29.

[0035] Furthermore, a drive shaft 300 that basically extends along the longitudinal axis L is fixedly attached to the transducer rack 27. In contrast, an elastic assembly is fixedly connected to the drive shaft 300 of the transducer 2, and the elastic force generated by the elastic pieces 24 and 25 of the elastic assembly during use can be directly transmitted to the drive shaft 300.

[0036] In a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, in a preferred embodiment, the drive shaft 300 of the transducer 2 includes a first drive shaft portion 30 close to the magnet 29 and a second drive shaft portion 31 far from the magnet 29. The first drive shaft portion 30 and the second drive shaft portion 31 are basically arranged substantially concentrically with respect to the longitudinal axis L. The elastic assembly includes a transmission arm 22 and two elastic pieces 24 and 25. The Transmission arm 22 of the elastic assembly is fixed between the first drive shaft portion 30 and the second drive shaft portion 31 via its proximal end and distal end along the longitudinal axis L. The two elastic pieces 24 and 25 are fixed at two edges that are transverse to the longitudinal axis L thereof. Specifically, each elastic piece 24 and 25 has an outer edge far from the longitudinal axis L and an inner edge close to the longitudinal axis L. At the inner edge of the elastic pieces 24 and 25, the elastic pieces 24 and 25 are fixed to the transmission arm 22. At the outer edge of the elastic pieces 24 and 25, as shown in FIG. 3, the elastic pieces 24 and 25 are fixed to the housing of the transducer 2. When the housing of the transducer 2 includes an upper case 7 and a lower case 6, the outer edges of the elastic pieces 24 and 25 are clamped and fixed between the upper case 7 and the lower case 6 via an elastic piece fixing block 35. The upper case 7 and the lower case 6 of the transducer 2 are fixed to each other via a fastener or a fastener structure. In such an arrangement method, the outer edges of the elastic pieces 24 and 25 are fixed edges or stationary edges, and the inner edges of the elastic pieces 24 and 25 are movable edges or resonant edges that move with the drive shaft 300.

[0037] When the user triggers the switch button on the housing 1 of the electric toothbrush to start the electric toothbrush, the power supply unit of the electric toothbrush excites the drive coil assembly 4 through the control of the control unit. An alternating current with a constant frequency flows through the drive coil assembly 4. The magnetic field formed by the two magnets 29 and the energized drive coil assembly 4 interact to generate an electromagnetic force, and the electromagnetic force forms an electromagnetic torque M1 on the transducer 2. Since the current I flowing through the drive coil assembly 4 is alternating, the direction of the electromagnetic torque M1 on the transducer 2 also alternates accordingly. Therefore, the transducer rack 27 and each component fixed thereto realize a reciprocating motion around the longitudinal axis L through the action of the pair of reciprocating forces from the drive coil assembly 4. The transmission arm 22 in the elastic assembly reciprocates together with the drive shaft 300. The outer edges of the elastic pieces 24, 25 are fixed or stationary through the housing of the transducer 2. In contrast, a part of the elastic pieces 24, 25 held by the transmission arm 22 reciprocates together with the transmission arm 22. At this time, the elastic pieces 24, 25 undergo reciprocating bending elastic deformation to realize the resonance motion between the transducer 2 and the cleaning assembly attached thereto.

[0038] It should be understood that the magnet and the coil can adopt other alternative embodiments. For example, the magnet may be arranged around the drive shaft and near the drive shaft, and the coil may be arranged around the magnet and far from the drive shaft with respect to different polar surfaces of the magnet. The above-described arrangement modes of the magnet and the coil do not affect the implementation of the present invention and will not be described further here.

[0039] To better restrain the reciprocating rotation of the drive shaft 300 around the longitudinal axis L, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the first drive shaft portion 30 and the second drive shaft portion 31 are respectively provided with bearings 26, for example, rolling bearings 26. The inner ring of the rolling bearing 26 is fixed to the drive shaft 300, and the outer ring of the rolling bearing 26 is preferably fixed inside the housings 6, 7 of the transducer 2. In this way, the two rolling bearings 26 are arranged on both sides of the elastic assembly along the direction of the longitudinal axis L. In this way, energy ConversionWhen the resonant motion of the device occurs, the rolling bearing 26 can support the drive shaft 300 and the elastic assembly thereon, and can limit the motion of the drive shaft 300 to a reciprocating rotational motion around the longitudinal axis L.

[0040] Next, the connection structure between the elastic pieces 24, 25 and the transmission arm 22 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to FIG. 6.

[0041] FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a cross-section of the transmission arm 22, and shows the sheet-like elastic pieces 24, 25 in their initial positions held by the transmission arm 22 at the cross-section position. The elastic pieces 24, 25 are respectively held in two recesses 225 formed in the transmission arm 22 via two fixing portions 223 of the transmission arm 22. The elastic pieces 24, 25 extend in the recess 225 so as to provide a space for the elastic pieces to elastically deform when the resonant motion occurs. The recess 225 is formed to be recessed toward the longitudinal axis L with respect to the outer surface of the transmission arm 22. Each recess 225 has a bottom surface, and the elastic pieces 24, 25 extend from the bottom surface. Each recess 225 has two side surfaces (i.e., two surfaces along the longitudinal axis L of the recess 225). In this embodiment, the side surfaces are flat surfaces. It should be understood that in other embodiments, the side surfaces of the recess 225 may be arc surfaces or a combination shape of a plane and an arc surface.

[0042] The elastic pieces 24, 25 have an outer edge far from the longitudinal axis L and an inner edge close to the longitudinal axis L, and the extending direction of the elastic pieces extending from the outer edge to the inner edge is a lateral direction with respect to the longitudinal axis L. Preferably, the extending direction of the elastic pieces 24, 25 is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis L. As shown in FIG. 6, the elastic pieces 24, 25 extend inward from their outer edges toward the longitudinal axis L so that the outer edges and inner edges of the elastic pieces 24, 25 are located on both sides of the longitudinal axis L and cross the longitudinal axis L. In a preferred embodiment, the longitudinal axis L extends through the elastic pieces 24, 25.

[0043] The elastic pieces 24 and 25 have an elastic piece fixing step S fixed near the inner edge via the fixing portion 223 of the transmission arm 22. Specifically, the "elastic piece fixing step" here refers to a part of the elastic piece having a certain length in the extending direction of the elastic piece, and one or two surfaces of the elastic piece in this part are in direct contact with the fixing portion 223 of the transmission arm 22 and are held so as not to be able to perform elastic deformation operations.

[0044] As shown in Fig. 6, the elastic piece fixing step refers to a part of the elastic piece between point A and point C held inside the fixing portion 223. Point A here is also the position where the inner edge of the elastic piece 25 is located, and point C is the position where the bottom surface of the concave portion 225 is located.

[0045] As is apparent from FIG. 6, on the side where the outer edge of the longitudinal axis L is located, the fixing portion 223 of the transmission arm 22 has a first fixing width B1 in the extending direction of the elastic pieces 24 and 25, and this width B1 indicates the distance from the bottom surface of the recess 225 to the longitudinal axis L. On the side where the inner edge of the longitudinal axis L is located, the elastic piece fixing stage S has a second fixing width B2 in the extending direction of the elastic pieces. In other words, when the bottom surface of the recess 225 and the outer edge of the elastic piece are on the same side, as shown in FIG. 6, the second fixing width B2 is the distance from the inner edge of the elastic piece to the longitudinal axis L. When the bottom surface of the recess 225 and the outer edge of the elastic piece are on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis L, the second fixing width B2 is the distance from the bottom surface of the recess 225 to the inner edge of the elastic piece. The elastic pieces 24 and 25 have some deformable portions having a width indicated as h. The "deformable portion" of the elastic piece generally refers to an elastic piece that is not constrained between the held inner edge and outer edge and has a certain length. Specifically, it refers to some elastic pieces between the fixing portion of the transmission arm and the elastic piece fixing block. The farthest radial distance of the bottom surface of the recess 225 from the outer surface on the same side as the recess of the transmission arm 22 is limited to the recess depth D of the recess 225. In particular, this recess depth D is larger than the first fixing width B1. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the flat bottom surface of the recess 225 is basically substantially parallel to the flat outer surface of the transmission arm 22, the recess depth D is the distance between these two flat surfaces, and the first fixing width B1 is greater than zero, that is, a part of the fixing elastic piece fixing stage S of the fixing portion 223 and the outer edge of the elastic piece are on the same side of the longitudinal axis L. In a more preferred embodiment, the first fixing width B1 may be equal to zero. It should be understood that in the present invention, when the first fixing width B1 is zero, the entire fixing portion 223 includes a structure offset to the side opposite to the outer edge of the elastic piece of the longitudinal axis L, and the elastic piece fixing stage S extends only between the longitudinal axis L and the inner edge and does not extend to the outer edge side of the elastic piece of the longitudinal axis L. In other words, when the bottom surface of the recess 225 is on the longitudinal axis L or when the bottom surface of the recess 225 and the outer edge of the elastic piece are on both sides of the longitudinal axis L respectively, the first fixing width B1 is considered to be equal to zero, that is, the fixing portion does not have the first fixing width and has only the second fixing width B2.

[0046] Preferably, the first fixing width B1 is less than 20% of the width h of the deformable portion, and preferably, the first fixing width B1 of the elastic pieces 24, 25 is less than 3 mm. Assuming that the fixing portion of the transmission arm has only the portion of the first fixing width B1 and does not have the portion of the second fixing width B2, when the ratio of the first fixing width B1 to the width h of the deformable portion of the elastic piece (shown in FIG. 6) is 0.0339 (B1 / h = 0.0339), the rotation angle of the drive shaft 300 is α3. When the transmission arm 22 has only the portion of the second fixing width B2 and does not have the portion of the first fixing width B1, the rotation angle of the drive shaft 300 is set as α4. Calculated based on the mechanical principle, α3 is about 0.9 times that of α4. Obviously, the existence of the first fixing width B1 suppresses the rotation angle of the drive shaft. The larger the B1 / h value is, the smaller the rotation angle of the drive shaft becomes. The second fixing width B2 can fully release the rotation angle of the drive shaft. When the first fixing width B1 and the second fixing width B2 exist simultaneously, the rotation angle of the drive shaft depends only on the action of the first fixing width B1, that is, the rotation angle of the drive shaft is suppressed. The α3 is the rotation angle of the suppressed drive shaft, and the α4 is the rotation angle of the non-suppressed drive shaft. When B1 / h = 0.2, calculated based on the mechanical principle, α3 at this time is about 0.52 times that of α4. Since 0.52 times is acceptable in the actual process, it is required that B1 / h is 0.2 or less. Since the width h of the elastically deformable portion of the elastic piece usually takes a value of 5 mm to 15 mm, the first fixing width B1 usually should not exceed 3 mm.

[0047] On the other hand, preferably, the first fixing width B1 is smaller than the second fixing width B2. The second fixing width B2 is for the purpose of fastening the elastic pieces 24, 25 to reciprocally rotate the drive shaft 300 and transmitting the electromagnetic moment from the magnet to the transmission arm 22 and the elastic pieces 24, 25. The existence of the first fixing width B1 inhibits the elastic deformation of the elastic piece, suppresses the rotation angle of the drive shaft 300, and reduces the output of the drive shaft. When the first fixing width B1 is set smaller than the second fixing width B2, the suppression of the rotation angle of the drive shaft 300 can be effectively reduced, and the output of the drive shaft 300 can be increased.

[0048] The size of the second fixing width B2 should be set to a size sufficient to transmit the electromagnetic moment. In practice, the size of the second fixing width B2 has little effect on the elastic deformation of the elastic pieces 24, 25, but it has been found that the second fixing width B2 has a direct impact on stably and effectively transmitting the electromagnetic moment to the transmission arm. Through experiments, it has been proven that the optimal choice is that when the first fixing width B1 is equal to zero, in order to reliably and effectively transmit the electromagnetic moment to the transmission arm 22, the second fixing width B2 needs to be 1 mm or more.

[0049] Since the first fixing width B1 of the elastic pieces 24, 25 is smaller than the second fixing width B2, and at the same time, in order to achieve miniaturization of the entire elastic assembly, as shown in FIG. 5, the transmission arm 22 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention has a bending arm shape particularly with a plurality of bending segments.

[0050] Specifically, the transmission arm 22 includes a distal end and a proximal end fixedly connected to the first drive shaft portion 30 and the second drive shaft portion 31 respectively, and they are connected to the corresponding drive shaft portions 30, 31 centered along the longitudinal axis L respectively. The transmission arm 22 further includes a fixing portion 223 for fixing the elastic piece fixing stage S between the distal end 221 and the proximal end 222. The fixing portion 223 is offset with respect to the longitudinal axis L and is also offset with respect to the proximal end and the distal end for fixing the drive shaft. For the case where the first fixing width B1 is zero, the fixing portion 223 is completely offset to one side of the longitudinal axis L.

[0051] Also, in order to allow the elastic pieces 24, 25 to deform elastically freely enough in the recess 225 without any hindrance, preferably, there are gaps 32, 33 between the elastic pieces 24, 25 and the side surfaces of the recess 225 in the direction of the longitudinal axis L.

[0052] For the elastic assembly having two elastic pieces 24 and 25, the transmission arm 22 has two fixing parts 223. The two fixing parts 223 are provided at intervals in the front - rear direction along the longitudinal axis L, and they are offset in opposite directions with respect to the longitudinal axis L. As shown in FIG. 5, the fixing part 223 close to the driving shaft part 31 is offset to the right side of the longitudinal axis L, and the fixing part 223 close to the driving shaft part 30 is offset to the left side of the longitudinal axis L. Preferably, the offset amounts of the two fixing parts 223 with respect to the longitudinal axis L are the same. Between the two fixing parts 223, they are connected via a connecting part 226 having a width that basically coincides with the distal end 221 and the proximal end 222 of the transmission arm 22.

[0053] The two offset fixing parts 223 form two recesses 225 in the transmission arm 22. The length of each recess 225 in the direction of the longitudinal axis L is greater than the longitudinal length of the elastic pieces 24 and 25. Thus, both sides of the elastic pieces 24 and 25 and the recesses 225 are separated by a certain gap 32 and 33 in the direction of the longitudinal axis L. The size of the gap only needs to ensure that the transmission arm 22 and the elastic pieces do not contact in the longitudinal direction.

[0054] Energy according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention ConversionAccording to the device, the reciprocating electromagnetic moment from the magnet 29 acts on the elastic pieces 24 and 25, the transducer 2 and the cleaning element resonate with an alternating electromagnetic moment, and the drive shaft 300 is constrained by the bearing and reciprocally rotates around the longitudinal axis L of the drive shaft 300. As shown in FIG. 6, the elastic piece fixing stage is the elastic piece between point A and point C. When the acting point of the electromagnetic moment on the elastic pieces 24 and 25 is point C, that is, when it is located on the elastic pieces 24 and 25 between the outer edge of the elastic pieces 24 and 25 and the longitudinal axis L, the maximum rotation angle of the drive shaft 300 is α1. When the acting point of the electromagnetic moment on the elastic pieces 24 and 25 is point A, that is, when it is located on the inner edge of the elastic pieces 24 and 25 located on the side opposite to the side where the longitudinal axis L and the outer edge are located, the maximum rotation angle of the drive shaft 300 is α2. Since the drive shaft 300 is constrained by the bearing and reciprocally rotates around the axis L of the drive shaft 300, according to the principle of solid mechanics, since the elastic piece fixing stage S is fixed to the transmission arm 22, the elastic piece of this part cannot be elastically deformed. Under the same electromagnetic moment, the rotation angle α1 is smaller than the rotation angle α2. A part of the transmission arm 22 from point C to the longitudinal axis L forms attenuation on the elastic pieces 24 and 25 and reduces the mechanical efficiency. When the first fixing width B1 is set smaller than the second fixing width B2, especially when the first fixing width B1 is smaller than 20% of the deformable width h of the adjacent elastic piece, the attenuation of the part of the transmission arm 22 on the outer edge side is significantly reduced, so the mechanical efficiency can be effectively improved. According to the optimal embodiment, the first fixing width B1 can be set to zero, that is, since the elastic piece fixing stage S only exists between the longitudinal axis L and the inner edge, any part of the elastic piece between the longitudinal axis L and the outer edge which is the fixed edge of the elastic piece is not constrained by the transmission arm 22, and the attenuation from this part of the transmission arm 22 is removed, so the mechanical efficiency can be greatly improved.

[0055] Also, when there is a biasing force between the transmission arm 22 and the elastic piece between the outer edge of the elastic piece and the longitudinal axis L of the drive shaft 300, a periodic impact force is generated between the bearing and the drive shaft 300 due to this biasing force, resulting in high-frequency noise. However, if the first fixing width B1 is set to zero, the noise can also be effectively removed.

[0056] FIG. 7 shows an energy Conversion device according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. This energy Conversion device also has a transducer and a drive coil assembly, and the device and method for generating electromagnetic force are the same as those in the above preferred embodiment, so no further description will be given here.

[0057] The difference of this energy Conversion device is that Transmission a recess 225' is provided on the arm 22', and an elastic piece 24' is accommodated in the space of the recess 225'. The elastic piece 24' has an outer edge away from the longitudinal axis L and an inner edge close to the longitudinal axis L. At the inner edge of the elastic piece 24', the elastic piece 24' is fixed to the transmission arm, and at the outer edge of the elastic piece 24', the elastic piece 24' is fixed to the housing of the transducer 2. The outer edge of the elastic piece 24' is a fixed edge or a stationary edge, and the inner edge of the elastic piece 24' is a movable edge or a resonant edge.

[0058] Similar to the above embodiment, the elastic piece 24' extends inward from its outer edge toward the longitudinal axis L so that the outer edge and the inner edge of the elastic piece 24' are located on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis L and cross the longitudinal axis L. The elastic piece 24' has an elastic piece fixing stage fixed via the transmission arm 22' near the inner edge. Consistent with the above preferred embodiment, the "elastic piece fixing stage" here refers to a part of the elastic piece having a certain length in the extending direction of the elastic piece, and one or two surfaces of this part of the elastic piece are in direct contact with the main body of the transmission arm and are held so as not to be able to perform elastic deformation operation. On the side where the outer edge of the longitudinal axis L is located, the fixing portion of the transmission arm 24' has a first fixing width B1 in the extending direction of the elastic piece, and on the side where the inner edge of the longitudinal axis L is located, it has a second fixing width B2 in the extending direction of the elastic piece. In particular, the recess depth D of the recess 225' is larger than the first fixing width B1 of the elastic piece 24', preferably, the first fixing width B1 is smaller than the second fixing width B2. Preferably, the first fixing width B1 of the elastic piece is smaller than 3 mm, and more preferably, it is set to be smaller than the first fixing width B1 and 0, that is, the elastic piece fixing stage is installed only between the longitudinal axis L and the inner edge.

[0059] As shown in FIG. 7, this energy Conversion device also has two bearings, which are provided on the drive shaft 300 on the proximal side and the distal side of the elastic assembly along the longitudinal axis L, and therein, the elastic body 24' is closer to the proximal bearing 26.

[0060] Corresponding to the design of one elastic piece 24', the transmission arm 22' shown in FIG. 7 has only one fixing portion 223 for fixing the elastic piece fixing stage. The fixing portion 223 is offset with respect to the longitudinal axis L. When the first fixing width B1 is zero, the fixing portion 223 is completely offset to one side of the longitudinal axis L. This embodiment can also reduce the attenuation by the transmission arm 22' on the outer edge side of the elastic piece, and can effectively improve the mechanical efficiency.

[0061] The transmission arms 22, 22' and the elastic piece can be integrally formed by an overmolding method, but in other alternative embodiments, they can also be attached to each other through other fastening devices.

[0062] FIGS. 8 and 9 show an energy Conversion device according to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention. In this energy Conversion device, the transmission arm has only one fixing portion 223”. The fixing portion 223” is centered with respect to the longitudinal axis L, and two recesses 225” are formed on both sides of the fixing portion 223”. The two recesses 225” are centered with respect to the longitudinal axis L. Since the proximal side and the distal side of the transmission arm 22” each have a substantially cylindrical end portion that envelopes a part of the drive shaft, the transmission arm 22” can be regarded as having a cylindrical outer surface. It should be understood that the outer surface of this part is configured as a surface having the maximum distance radially from the bottom of the recess 225”. In the extending plane of the elastic piece 24”, the distance between the bottom surface of the recess 225” and the outer surface on the same side as the end recess is the recess depth D, and this recess depth D is greater than the first fixing width B1 of the fixing portion 223” shown in FIG. 9.

[0063] Similar to the foregoing embodiments, along the extending direction of the elastic piece 24", the width B1 from the bottom surface of the recess 225" to the longitudinal axis L is less than 20% of the deformable part width h of the elastic piece, that is, B1 / h < 20%.

[0064] The two elastic pieces 24" extend into the two recesses 225" respectively and are preferably on the same plane. The outer edges of the elastic pieces 24" are respectively held by the elastic piece fixing blocks 20", 21" so as to form the stationary edges or fixed edges of the elastic pieces during the resonant movement. Similarly, gaps 32", 33" are left between the elastic pieces 24" and the side surfaces of the recesses, and bearings 26" are also provided on the drive shaft.

[0065] The transmission arm may be made of plastic or may envelop a part of the drive shaft 300 which is usually made of metal with plastic in order to strengthen the strength of the drive part, especially the fixing part. In this embodiment, the inner edge of the elastic piece may be located on the longitudinal axis L or the inner edge and the outer edge may be provided on the same side of the longitudinal axis L.

[0066] Shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 are two elastic pieces 24". It should be understood that in an alternative embodiment, these two elastic pieces 24" may be integrally formed.

[0067] According to the energy Conversion device of the present invention, the transmission arm has a recess, the elastic piece is provided in the recess, the first fixing width B1 is smaller than the recess depth D of the recess, and preferably the first fixing width B1 is less than 20% of the width h of the deformable part of the elastic piece. Therefore, the suppression of the resonant rotation angle of the first fixing width B1 is effectively reduced, and the mechanical efficiency is improved. Preferably, the first fixing width B1 at the fixing part of the elastic piece is smaller than the second fixing width B2, which can further increase the rotation angle of the cleaning assembly such as the brush head and enhance the fixing reliability of the elastic piece.

[0068] The transmission arm realizes a reduction in the first fixing width B1 by using an offset fixing portion, and such a structure does not affect the fixing effect of the transmission arm while making the volume of the elastic assembly of the transducer smaller.

[0069] Although the present invention has been disclosed in the preferred embodiments as described above, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art can make possible changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, any content that does not depart from the technical solution of the present invention, as well as any modifications, equivalent changes, and modifications made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of the present invention, fall within the protection scope defined by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. An energy conversion device for a cleaning and nursing appliance, comprising a transducer and a drive coil, configured to convert the electrical energy input to the energy conversion device into mechanical energy for generating a reciprocating rotational motion around the longitudinal axis L of the cleaning assembly of the cleaning and nursing appliance. The transducer comprises a transducer rack, a magnet attached to the transducer rack, an elastic assembly, and a drive shaft having the longitudinal axis L for driving the cleaning assembly, and the elastic assembly comprises a transmission arm and at least one elastic piece held by the transmission arm, and the transmission arm is fixedly connected to the drive shaft. The drive coil is disposed relative to the magnet of the transducer, the transducer is movable relative to the drive coil, an alternating current is passed through the drive coil to generate an alternating electromagnetic force between the drive coil and the magnet, and the alternating electromagnetic force causes the transducer to perform a resonant motion. The elastic piece has an outer edge far from the longitudinal axis L and an inner edge close to the longitudinal axis L, and the elastic piece extending direction from the outer edge to the inner edge is a lateral direction with respect to the longitudinal axis L. The elastic piece has an elastic piece fixing portion fixed to the transmission arm on the side of the inner edge. During the operation of the energy conversion device, the outer edge of the elastic piece is stationary. The elastic piece fixing portion performs a reciprocating rotational motion together with the transmission arm when the transmission arm performs a reciprocating rotational motion around the longitudinal axis L together with the drive shaft. The transmission arm has a fixing portion for fixing the elastic piece fixing portion. Corresponding to the fixing portion, the transmission arm is recessed inward from its outer surface to form a recess. The recess has a bottom surface, and the elastic piece extends from the bottom surface of the recess and extends in the space formed in the recess. Along the extending direction of the elastic piece, the fixing portion has a first fixing width B1 from the bottom surface of the recess to the longitudinal axis, and the first fixing width B1 is not less than zero. And on the side where the recess is located in the extending plane of the elastic piece, the farthest radial distance of the bottom surface of the recess from the outer surface of the transmission arm on the same side as the recess of the transmission arm is defined as the recess depth D, and the recess depth D is greater than the first fixing width B1. An energy conversion device characterized by this.

2. The width of the deformable portion of the elastic piece is h, and the first fixing width B1 is smaller than 20% of the width h of the deformable portion. The energy conversion device according to claim 1, characterized in that.

3. The elastic piece extends inward from the outer edge toward the longitudinal axis L so that the outer edge and the inner edge are located on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis L, and extends beyond the longitudinal axis L. The elastic piece fixing portion has a second fixing width B2 along the extending direction of the elastic piece on the inner edge side of the longitudinal axis L, and the first fixing width B1 is smaller than the second fixing width B2. Moreover, the fixing portion is offset with respect to the longitudinal axis L. The energy conversion device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that.

4. The fixing portion of the transmission arm is completely offset on one side of the longitudinal axis L, and the fixing portion and the outer edge of the elastic piece are on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis L. The energy conversion device according to claim 3, characterized in that.

5. The second fixing width B2 is greater than 1 mm, and the first fixing width B1 is in the range of 0 to 3 mm. The energy conversion device according to claim 3, characterized in that.

6. The at least one elastic piece of the elastic assembly includes a first elastic piece and a second elastic piece. The recess of the transmission arm includes a first recess and a second recess. The first recess and the second recess are recessed along opposite directions and formed in the transmission arm. The first elastic piece and the second elastic piece respectively extend laterally with respect to the longitudinal axis L in opposite directions from the transmission arm in the spaces of the first recess and the second recess. The recess depths of the first recess and the second recess are substantially equal. The energy conversion device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that.

7. The transmission arm has a first fixing portion for fixing the first elastic piece and a second fixing portion for fixing the second elastic piece. The first fixing portion and the second fixing portion are offset on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis L. Moreover, the first fixing portion and the second fixing portion are connected via a connecting portion. The energy conversion device according to claim 6, characterized in that.

8. The first elastic piece and the second elastic piece are fixed via the same fixing portion, and the first recess and the second recess are located on both sides of the fixing portion. The energy conversion device according to claim 6, characterized in that.

9. The energy conversion device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a gap is provided in the vertical direction between the elastic piece and the side surface of the concave portion.

10. The energy conversion device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a bearing for holding and supporting the drive shaft.

11. The drive shaft includes a first drive shaft portion and a second drive shaft portion, and the proximal end and the distal end of the transmission arm are fixedly connected to the first drive shaft portion and the second drive shaft portion, respectively. The energy conversion device according to claim 10, wherein the bearing includes a proximal end bearing and a distal end bearing provided on the first drive shaft portion and the second drive shaft portion, respectively.

12. A cleaning and nursing appliance comprising the energy conversion device according to claim 1 or 2, the cleaning and nursing appliance including one of an electric toothbrush, an electric shaver, an electric facial cleaner, and an electric bath heater.

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