Toothbrush

Abstract

A toothbrush, comprising a toothbrush head, a connecting shank, and a toothbrush handle having an internal space. A first end part of the connecting shank is fixedly connected to the toothbrush head. A second end part of the connecting shank extends into the internal space. The internal space is provided with a human body sensing assembly and a pressure alarm. When the amount of pressure applied to the toothbrush head is greater than a preset value, the connecting shank is configured to contact the human body sensing assembly. After being contacted by the connecting shank and receiving a human body characteristic signal, the human body sensing assembly notifies the pressure alarm to give an alarm, wherein the human body characteristic signal is a signal generated by a human body contacting the toothbrush. Providing the human body sensing assembly allows contact between the human body and the toothbrush to become the precondition for triggering the pressure alarm, thus the toothbrush will no longer falsely trigger an alarm only due to pressure, thereby improving user experience.

Description

A toothbrush

[0001] This disclosure claims priority to Chinese patent application CN202411548337.6, filed on October 31, 2024, entitled “A Toothbrush”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This disclosure relates to the field of personal hygiene products, and more specifically to a toothbrush. Background Technology

[0003] When using a toothbrush, the brush head needs to be in close contact with the tooth surface. If the user presses the brush too hard, the excessive pressure combined with the high-frequency friction of the bristles can damage the teeth and easily cause harmful health problems such as bleeding gums and wedge-shaped tooth wear. Currently, there are many toothbrushes on the market with pressure reminder functions.

[0004] However, sometimes the brush head may be affected by external forces at non-brushing times (such as when the toothbrush is tilted or during transportation), causing it to trigger the alarm erroneously and inconveniencing the user. Therefore, a toothbrush that can prevent the pressure alarm function from being triggered falsely is needed. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This disclosure provides a toothbrush. The toothbrush includes a toothbrush head, a connecting rod, and a toothbrush handle with an internal space. A first end of the connecting rod is fixedly connected to the toothbrush head. A second end of the connecting rod extends into the internal space. The internal space is equipped with a human body sensor and a pressure alarm. The connecting rod is configured to contact the human body sensor when the pressure value applied to the toothbrush head exceeds a preset value. The human body sensor notifies the pressure alarm to sound an alarm after being contacted by the connecting rod and receiving a human body characteristic signal. The human body characteristic signal is a signal generated by a human body contacting the toothbrush.

[0006] The human body sensor component makes human contact with the toothbrush a prerequisite for triggering the pressure alarm, so the toothbrush will no longer falsely trigger the alarm simply because of pressure, thus improving the user experience.

[0007] According to one aspect of this disclosure, the link includes a first conductive module. The first conductive module outputs a first human characteristic signal when a human body contacts the link. The human body sensing component receives the first human characteristic signal through contact with the link. Thus, the corresponding human characteristic signal is transmitted to the human body sensing component via the link through the first conductive module.

[0008] According to one aspect of this disclosure, the toothbrush head includes a first conductive module. The first conductive module outputs a first human characteristic signal and transmits it to the connecting rod when a human body comes into contact with the toothbrush head. The human body sensing component receives the first human characteristic signal through contact with the connecting rod. Thus, when a human body comes into contact with the brush head, the corresponding human characteristic signal is transmitted to the human body sensing component via the connecting rod through the first conductive module.

[0009] According to one aspect of this disclosure, the toothbrush head includes a head with a dental cleaning element embedded therein, and a neck connecting the head and the toothbrush handle. A first end portion is disposed in the neck. In this way, the pressure on the neck and the resulting deformation during brushing are effectively transmitted to the first end portion.

[0010] According to one aspect of this disclosure, the toothbrush includes a front surface on which the tooth cleaning element is implanted and a rear surface opposite to the front surface. The human body sensing component is located closer to the front surface in the internal space relative to the second end. When the user brushes their teeth, the second end tends to move towards the front surface due to the leverage effect of the force, and this positional relationship facilitates better contact between the human body sensing component and the second end.

[0011] According to one aspect of this disclosure, the human body sensing component includes a conductive sheet and a control board. The conductive sheet receives the first human body feature signal through contact with the second end and transmits it to the control board. The conductive sheet arrangement allows for flexibility in the arrangement of the internal spatial structure of the toothbrush handle, as direct contact between the control board and the second end is not necessarily required.

[0012] According to one aspect of this disclosure, the conductive sheet is made of a flexible conductive material. This non-rigid contact between the conductive sheet and the second end improves the durability of the component.

[0013] According to one aspect of this disclosure, the control board is equipped with a touch chip. Upon receiving the first human characteristic signal, the touch chip notifies the pressure alarm to sound an alarm. The touch chip processes the received signal and then executes the corresponding command.

[0014] According to one aspect of this disclosure, the toothbrush handle includes a second conductive module. The second conductive module outputs a second human characteristic signal and transmits it to the human body sensing component when a human body comes into contact with the toothbrush handle. The human body sensing component, after being contacted by the linkage and simultaneously receiving both the first and second human characteristic signals, notifies the pressure alarm to sound an alarm. Using simultaneous contact between the toothbrush head and the toothbrush handle as a prerequisite for triggering the pressure alarm further improves the accuracy of preventing false triggering.

[0015] According to one aspect of this disclosure, the toothbrush further includes a power supply electrically connected to the human body sensing component and the pressure alarm. This provides power support for the toothbrush's pressure alarm system. Attached Figure Description

[0016] This disclosure will also be explained in more detail with the aid of the following drawings. These should be understood by way of example only and are not intended to limit this disclosure to the examples shown.

[0017] Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a toothbrush according to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 2 shows a magnified view of part A in Figure 1.

[0019] Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the linkage and human body sensing component according to yet another preferred embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] List of reference numerals: 1. Toothbrush head; 11. Head; 12. Neck; 2. Linkage rod; 21. First end; 22. Second end; 3. Toothbrush handle; 31. Internal space; 32. Second conductive module; 4. Human body sensing component; 41. Conductive plate; 42. Control board; 43. Touch chip; 5. Tooth cleaning element; 51. Clamping block; 6. Power supply; S1. Front surface; S2. Rear surface. Detailed Implementation

[0021] The present disclosure will be further described below with reference to specific embodiments and accompanying drawings. More details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a full understanding of the present disclosure. However, the present disclosure can obviously be implemented in many other ways different from those described herein. Those skilled in the art can make similar extensions and derivations based on actual application situations without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present disclosure should not be limited by the content of this specific embodiment.

[0022] Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a toothbrush according to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, while Figure 2 shows a partial enlarged view of part A in Figure 1.

[0023] As shown in Figure 1, the toothbrush includes a toothbrush head 1, a connecting rod 2, and a toothbrush handle 3 with an internal space 31. The first end 21 of the connecting rod 2 is fixedly connected to the toothbrush head 1. The second end 22 of the connecting rod 2 extends into the internal space 31. A pressure alarm (not shown) is installed in the internal space 31. In the prior art, pressure on the toothbrush head 1 often causes deformation or displacement of the connecting rod 2, thereby triggering the pressure alarm. However, sometimes the toothbrush head 1 may also be affected by external forces during non-brushing times (such as when the toothbrush is tilted or during transport), causing erroneous alarm triggering and inconveniencing the user.

[0024] To this end, a human body sensing component 4 is also provided in the internal space 31. The connecting rod 2 contacts the human body sensing component 4 when the pressure value applied to the toothbrush head 1 exceeds a preset value. The human body sensing component 4, after being contacted by the connecting rod 2 and receiving a human characteristic signal, notifies the pressure alarm to sound. The human characteristic signal is the signal generated by a human body contacting the toothbrush. Therefore, there are two prerequisites for triggering the pressure alarm in this disclosure: first, the pressure value applied to the toothbrush head 1 exceeds a preset value; second, a human body contacts the toothbrush. This avoids false triggering of the pressure alarm due to other unexpected situations and improves the user experience.

[0025] The principles and applications of this disclosure will be further illustrated in subsequent embodiments.

[0026] According to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the link 2 includes a first conductive module (not shown). The first conductive module outputs a first human body characteristic signal when a human body contacts the link 2. The human body sensing component 4 receives the first human body characteristic signal through contact with the link 2. Specifically, a portion of the link 2 is exposed on the outer surface of the toothbrush head 1. When the toothbrush head 1 enters the user's mouth, the human body also comes into contact with the link 2, especially the first conductive module of the link 2, and transmits an electrical signal. The first conductive module senses the contact with the human body and outputs the first human body characteristic signal. In this disclosure, the first conductive module can be either a part of the link 2 or the entire link 2 itself; no limitation is made here.

[0027] In one alternative embodiment, the surface of the connecting rod 2 or the first conductive module is covered with a layer of fine conductive wire mesh. When the mouth comes into contact with its surface, a capacitance is formed between the human body and the mesh, causing a tiny change in charge near the contact point. The first conductive module can sense this change and output a first human characteristic signal.

[0028] In other alternative embodiments, the link 2 does not have a portion exposed on the outer surface of the toothbrush head 1. That is, the first conductive module does not have direct contact with the human body. When the toothbrush head 1 enters the user's mouth, the first conductive module senses the change in the human body's micro-electric field and outputs a first human characteristic signal.

[0029] According to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the toothbrush head 1 includes a first conductive module. The first conductive module outputs a first human characteristic signal and transmits it to a connecting rod when a human body comes into contact with the toothbrush head 1. A human body sensing component 4 receives the first human characteristic signal through contact with the connecting rod. Specifically, the first conductive module should be arranged at a position on the toothbrush head 1 that is easily accessible to the human body, and the toothbrush head 1 and the connecting rod 2 should be electrically connected to transmit the first human characteristic signal.

[0030] According to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, as shown in FIG1, the toothbrush head 1 includes a head 11 with a tooth cleaning element 5 implanted therein, and a neck 12 connecting the head 11 and the toothbrush handle 3. A first end 21 is inserted into the neck 12. Optionally, the neck 12 has a mounting hole for inserting a connecting rod 2 at one end near the toothbrush handle 3. The first end 21 and the mounting hole are preferably interference-fitted. The pressure exerted on the neck 12 by the user during brushing and the resulting deformation can be better transmitted to the connecting rod 2. Optionally, the neck 12 has an accommodating space for placing the connecting rod 2, and a cover plate that closes the accommodating space after the connecting rod 2 is placed. The opening of the accommodating space can face the outer surface of the toothbrush in any direction, which is not limited here.

[0031] According to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the toothbrush includes a front surface S1 with a tooth cleaning element 5 implanted therein and a rear surface S2 opposite to the front surface. The human body sensing component 4 is located closer to the front surface S1 in the internal space 31 relative to the second end 22. It is understood that when a user brushes their teeth, the pressure of the teeth on the toothbrush head 1 is primarily directed towards the rear surface S2, and the force on the first end 21 is also directed towards the rear surface S2. Due to the leverage effect, the second end 22 at the other end moves towards the front surface S1. Positioning the human body sensing component 4 closer to the front surface S1 facilitates contact between the second end 22 and the human body sensing component 4.

[0032] According to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the human body sensing component 4 includes a conductive sheet 41 and a control board 42. The conductive sheet 41 receives a first human body feature signal through contact with the second end 22 and transmits it to the control board 42. The arrangement of the conductive sheet 41 means that the control board 42 does not necessarily have to be in direct contact with the second end 22, providing flexibility in the arrangement of the internal space 31 of the toothbrush handle 3.

[0033] In other alternative embodiments, the conductive plate 41 may also be part of the connecting rod 2, serving to transmit electrical signals between the second end 22 and the control board 42.

[0034] Furthermore, the conductive sheet 41 is made of a flexible conductive material. Generally, the control board 42 is a conventional rigid circuit board. The second end 22 is usually in rigid contact with the control board 42. This is not conducive to achieving a good electrical connection, and frequent rigid contact over a long period of time can easily cause component wear. The conductive sheet 41 made of flexible conductive material helps to improve this situation.

[0035] Furthermore, the control board 42 is equipped with a touch chip 43. After receiving the first human characteristic signal, the touch chip 43 converts it into a digital signal and triggers the pressure alarm 4.

[0036] According to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, as shown in FIG3, the toothbrush handle 3 includes a second conductive module 32. The second conductive module 32 outputs a second human body characteristic signal and transmits it to the human body sensing component 4 when a human body comes into contact with the toothbrush handle 3. The human body sensing component 4 notifies the pressure alarm to sound an alarm after being contacted by the linkage 2 and simultaneously receiving the first and second human body characteristic signals. It is understood that the second conductive module 32 should be electrically connected to the toothbrush handle 3 or partially exposed to the outside of the toothbrush handle 3 to receive electrical signals from the human body when the user holds the toothbrush handle 3. Using simultaneous contact of the toothbrush head 1 and the toothbrush handle 3 by the human body as a prerequisite for triggering the pressure alarm simulates the actual scenario of a user brushing their teeth, further improving the accuracy of preventing false triggering.

[0037] According to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the toothbrush also includes a power supply 6 electrically connected to the human body sensing component 4 and the pressure alarm 4. This provides power support for the toothbrush's pressure alarm system.

[0038] According to an exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the power supply 6 is a dry cell battery.

[0039] While this disclosure has described above with reference to preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Any changes and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. Therefore, any modifications, equivalent changes, and alterations made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of this disclosure, without departing from the content of the technical solution, fall within the protection scope defined by the claims of this disclosure.

Claims

1. A toothbrush, characterized in that: The toothbrush includes a toothbrush head, a connecting rod, and a toothbrush handle with an internal space. The first end of the connecting rod is fixedly connected to the toothbrush head, and the second end of the connecting rod extends into the internal space. The interior space is equipped with human body sensing components and a pressure alarm; The linkage is configured to contact the human body sensing component when the pressure value applied to the toothbrush head is greater than a preset value; The human body sensing component notifies the pressure alarm to sound an alarm after being contacted by the connecting rod and receiving a human body characteristic signal. The human body characteristic signal is the signal generated when a human body comes into contact with the toothbrush.

2. The toothbrush as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The connecting rod includes a first conductive module; The first conductive module outputs a first human body characteristic signal when a human body comes into contact with the connecting rod; The human body sensing component receives the first human body feature signal through contact with the connecting rod.

3. The toothbrush as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The toothbrush head includes a first conductive module; The first conductive module outputs a first human characteristic signal and transmits it to the connecting rod when a human body comes into contact with the toothbrush head; The human body sensing component receives the first human body feature signal through contact with the connecting rod.

4. The toothbrush as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The toothbrush head includes a head incorporating a dental cleaning element and a neck connecting the head and the toothbrush handle. The first end is disposed on the neck.

5. The toothbrush as described in claim 4, characterized in that: The toothbrush includes a front surface on which the tooth cleaning element is implanted and a rear surface opposite to the front surface; The human body sensing component is located closer to the front surface in the internal space relative to the second end.

6. The toothbrush as described in claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The human body sensing component includes a conductive sheet and a control board; The conductive sheet receives the first human characteristic signal through contact with the second end and transmits it to the control board.

7. The toothbrush as described in claim 6, characterized in that: The conductive sheet is made of a flexible conductive material.

8. The toothbrush as described in claim 6, characterized in that: The control board is equipped with a touch chip; Upon receiving the first human body feature signal, the touch chip notifies the pressure alarm to sound an alarm.

9. The toothbrush as described in claim 2 or 3, characterized in that: The toothbrush handle includes a second conductive module; The second conductive module outputs a second human body characteristic signal and transmits it to the human body sensing component when a human body comes into contact with the toothbrush handle; When the human body sensing component is contacted by the connecting rod and simultaneously receives the first human body characteristic signal and the second human body characteristic signal, it notifies the pressure alarm to sound an alarm.

10. The toothbrush according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The toothbrush also includes a power supply electrically connected to the human body sensing component and the pressure alarm.

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