Toothbrush

Abstract

Disclosed in the present application is a toothbrush. The toothbrush comprises a brush head and a handle. The brush head comprises a brush head housing detachably connected to the handle, a brush head-driving shaft, and a brush head-coupling member connecting a handle-driving shaft and the brush head-driving shaft. The brush head-coupling member follows the handle-driving shaft to perform a linear reciprocating motion along an axis (L1) of the toothbrush. The brush head-driving shaft and the brush head-coupling member are configured to convert the linear reciprocating motion of the brush head-coupling member into a rotational reciprocating motion of the brush head-driving shaft around the axis (L1) of the toothbrush. Thus, the motor in the toothbrush handle is no longer limited to performing a rotational reciprocating motion to drive the brush head to rotate in a reciprocating manner, thereby providing the possibility of applying motors of different driving modes to such brush heads.

Description

A toothbrush Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of personal hygiene products, and more specifically to a toothbrush. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, common electric toothbrushes include a handle structure and a brush head structure. The brush head structure has a brush head body at the end away from the handle structure. The brush head body cleans the teeth through automatic movement. In related technologies, the movement of the brush head body is mostly vibration. Vibration is difficult to thoroughly clean the inside of the teeth, resulting in poor cleaning effect.

[0003] It should be noted that the above content is only used to help understand the technical solution of this application and does not represent an admission that the above content is prior art. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a toothbrush, the toothbrush including a brush head and a handle; the brush head includes a brush head housing detachably connected to the handle, a brush head drive shaft, and a brush head connector connecting the handle drive shaft and the brush head drive shaft; the brush head connector follows the handle drive shaft to perform linear reciprocating motion along the axis (L1) of the toothbrush; the brush head drive shaft and the brush head connector are configured to convert the linear reciprocating motion of the brush head connector into a rotational reciprocating motion of the brush head drive shaft about the axis (L1) of the toothbrush.

[0005] Therefore, through the above transformation, the motor in the toothbrush handle is no longer limited to only making reciprocating rotational motions to drive the brush head to rotate back and forth, providing the possibility of applying motors with different driving modes to this type of brush head.

[0006] According to one aspect of this application, the brush head connector includes a connecting sleeve into which the brush head drive shaft can be inserted; the outer wall of the brush head drive shaft is provided with a guide protrusion; the connecting sleeve is provided with a guide groove that slides with the guide protrusion, so that when the connecting sleeve moves along the axis (L1) of the toothbrush, the guide protrusion rotates about the axis (L1) of the toothbrush.

[0007] According to one aspect of this application, the brush head drive shaft includes a crossbar and a radially extending mounting channel for inserting the crossbar; the portion of the crossbar outside the mounting channel forms the guide protrusion. Thus, an assembly method can be adopted in which the brush head drive shaft is first inserted into the connecting sleeve, and then the crossbar is radially inserted into the mounting channel.

[0008] According to one aspect of this application, the guide groove extends in a continuous spiral along the axis (L1) of the toothbrush. Thus, axial movement of the guide groove can change the circumferential position of the guide protrusion.

[0009] According to one aspect of this application, the height difference between the start and end points of the guide groove is not less than the maximum stroke of the connecting sleeve. Thus, the axial movement of the connecting sleeve is not restricted by the guide groove.

[0010] According to one aspect of this application, a fastener is fitted at the end of the brush head drive shaft away from the brush head connecting portion, and the fastener is interference-fitted with the brush head housing. This prevents the brush head drive shaft from wobbling inside the brush head housing.

[0011] According to one aspect of this application, the brush head drive shaft has a drive wheel at one end away from the brush head connection portion; the brush head also includes a brush disc and bristles, and a driven wheel is provided on the side of the brush disc facing away from the bristles; when the drive wheel rotates about the axis (L1) of the toothbrush, the driven wheel rotates about the axis (L2) of the brush disc; wherein the axis (L2) of the brush disc is substantially perpendicular to the axis (L1) of the toothbrush.

[0012] According to one aspect of this application, the driving wheel and / or the driven wheel are configured as face gears or bevel gears. This allows for gear transmission in different directions.

[0013] According to one aspect of this application, the brush head further includes a return spring sleeved on the brush disk for resetting the brush disk after rotation.

[0014] According to one aspect of this application, the brush head further includes a brush disc that reciprocates around the axis (L1) of the toothbrush following the rotation of the brush head drive shaft. Thus, the brush head can achieve sweeping vibration.

[0015] According to one aspect of this application, the toothbrush further includes a motor having a motor shaft configured to perform a complete rotational motion; the motor shaft includes an extension having a first eccentric shaft unit and a second eccentric shaft unit arranged opposite to each other; the handle drive shaft includes a shaft base movably sleeved on the top of the extension, the shaft base being configured to be connected to the first eccentric shaft unit and the second eccentric shaft unit respectively via a first arm segment and a second arm segment; when the motor shaft performs the rotational motion, the handle drive shaft performs a linear reciprocating motion along the axis (L1) of the toothbrush.

[0016] According to one aspect of this application, the extension further includes a first crossbeam and a second crossbeam perpendicular to the motor shaft; the first crossbeam has a first proximal end connected to the first eccentric shaft unit and a first distal end attached to the first arm segment, and the second crossbeam has a second proximal end connected to the second eccentric shaft unit and a second distal end attached to the first arm segment; the radial distance between the first distal end and the second distal end periodically reciprocates. This allows the position of the shaft base in the direction of the toothbrush's axis (L1) to be changed.

[0017] According to one aspect of this application, the first arm segment and the second arm segment are at least partially made of metal or plastic. Attached Figure Description

[0018] This application will also be explained in more detail with the aid of the following figures. These should be understood as examples only and are not intended to limit this application to the examples shown.

[0019] Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a toothbrush according to a preferred embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the brush head portion in Figure 1;

[0021] Figure 3 shows an exploded view of the internal structure of the brush head;

[0022] Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the handle.

[0023] List of reference numerals in the attached diagram:

[0024] 1. Brush head

[0025] 10. Brush head housing

[0026] 11 Brush head drive shaft

[0027] 111 Guide protrusion

[0028] 112 Horizontal bar

[0029] 113 Installation Channel

[0030] 114 Fasteners

[0031] 115 Drive wheel

[0032] 12 Brush head connection part

[0033] 121 Connecting sleeve

[0034] 122 Guide groove

[0035] 13. Disk refresh

[0036] 131 Driven wheel

[0037] 2 handles

[0038] 21 Handle drive shaft

[0039] 210 Shaft Base

[0040] 211 First Arm Section

[0041] 212 Second Arm Section

[0042] 3 motors

[0043] 31 Motor Shaft

[0044] 310 Extension

[0045] 311 First Eccentric Shaft Unit

[0046] 312 Second Eccentric Shaft Unit

[0047] 313 First crossbeam

[0048] 313a First proximal end

[0049] 313b First Remote

[0050] 314 Second crossbeam

[0051] 314a Second proximal end

[0052] 314b Second Remote Detailed Implementation

[0053] The present application 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 application. However, the present application 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 application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should not be limited by the content of this specific embodiment.

[0054] Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a toothbrush according to a preferred embodiment of the present application, while Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the brush head portion in Figure 1, and Figure 3 shows an exploded view of the brush head portion.

[0055] As shown in Figure 1, the toothbrush includes a brush head 1 and a handle 2. The brush head 1 includes a brush head housing 10 that is detachably connected to the handle 2. The handle 2 includes a handle drive shaft 21. The brush head housing 10 has a brush head drive shaft 11 and a brush head connector 12 that connects the handle drive shaft 21 and the brush head drive shaft 11.

[0056] The brush head connector 12 is fixedly connected to the handle drive shaft 21 and moves linearly reciprocatingly along the toothbrush's axis (L1) following the movement of the handle drive shaft 21. Here, the toothbrush's axis (L1) refers to the axis along the toothbrush's extension direction; for example, when the toothbrush is standing upright, the direction of the axis (L1) is its height direction. Optionally, the motor inside the handle 2 performs linear reciprocating motion, thereby driving the handle drive shaft 21 to perform the same motion; alternatively, the motor inside the handle 2 performs non-linear motion, but through a specific structure, it is converted into the linear reciprocating motion of the handle drive shaft 21.

[0057] The brush head drive shaft 11 and the brush head connector 12 cooperate to convert the linear reciprocating motion of the brush head connector 12 into the rotational reciprocating motion of the brush head drive shaft 11 about the axis (L1) of the toothbrush. Thus, even if the motion transmitted from the handle drive shaft 21 to the inside of the brush head 1 is linear, it can be converted into the rotational motion of the brush head drive shaft 11, providing the possibility of applying linear output or other output types of motors to reciprocating brush heads, increasing the versatility of the motor.

[0058] The principles and applications of this application will be further illustrated in the following embodiments.

[0059] According to an exemplary embodiment of this application, as shown in Figures 1 to 3, the brush head connector 12 includes a connecting sleeve 121 into which a brush head drive shaft 11 can be inserted. The outer wall of the brush head drive shaft 11 is provided with a guide protrusion 111, and the connecting sleeve 121 is provided with a guide groove 122 that slides with the guide protrusion 111. When the connecting sleeve 121 moves along the axis (L1) of the toothbrush, the guide protrusion 111 rotates around the axis (L1) of the toothbrush under the push of the side wall of the guide groove 122, and the brush head drive shaft 11 also rotates thereas.

[0060] Using Figure 2 as an example, the connecting sleeve 121 includes a first position (Figure 2a) and a second position (Figure 2b) at different heights along the toothbrush's axis (L1). When the connecting sleeve 121 moves from the first position to the second position, the guide protrusion 111 rotates at a certain angle around the toothbrush's axis (L1). It is foreseeable that when the connecting sleeve 121 returns to the first position, the guide protrusion 111 will also reset.

[0061] Regarding how the brush head drive shaft 11 with the guide protrusion 111 is inserted into the connecting sleeve 121, further, as shown in FIG3, the brush head drive shaft 11 includes a crossbar 112 and a mounting channel 113 formed radially through it for inserting the crossbar 112. The portion of the crossbar 112 outside the mounting channel 113 forms the guide protrusion 111. Therefore, an assembly method can be adopted whereby the brush head drive shaft 11 is first inserted into the connecting sleeve 121, and then the crossbar 112 is inserted radially into the mounting channel 113 via the guide groove 122. Furthermore, the guide protrusion 111 also helps to prevent the brush head drive shaft 11 from slipping out of the connecting sleeve 121.

[0062] According to an exemplary embodiment of this application, as shown in FIG2, the guide groove 122 extends in a continuous spiral shape along the axis (L1) of the toothbrush, thereby the axial movement of the guide groove 122 can change the position of the guide protrusion 111 in the circumferential direction.

[0063] According to an exemplary embodiment of this application, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, a fastener 114 is fitted onto the end of the brush head drive shaft 11 away from the brush head connecting portion 12, and the fastener 114 is interference-fitted with the brush head housing 10. This prevents the brush head drive shaft 11 from wobbling inside the brush head housing 10.

[0064] According to an exemplary embodiment of this application, as shown in FIG3, a drive wheel 115 is provided at one end of the brush head drive shaft 11 away from the brush head connecting part 12. The drive wheel 115 rotates with the brush head drive shaft 11. The brush head 1 also includes a brush disc 13 and bristles (not shown). A driven wheel 131 is provided on the side of the brush disc 13 facing away from the bristles. When the drive wheel 115 rotates around the axis (L1) of the toothbrush, the driven wheel 131 rotates around the axis (L2) of the brush disc 13, and the brush disc 13 also rotates. It can be understood that when the rotation direction of the drive wheel 115 changes, the direction of the driven wheel 131 also changes accordingly, thereby realizing the reciprocating rotation of the brush disc 13. This will not be described in detail here.

[0065] Preferably, the axis (L2) of the brush plate 13 is substantially perpendicular to the axis (L1) of the toothbrush. It should be noted that L1 / L2 in this application are virtual lines drawn for clarity and do not refer to any actual part of the toothbrush.

[0066] Furthermore, the driving gear 115 and / or driven gear 131 are configured as face gears or bevel gears, which can realize gear transmission in different directions.

[0067] Furthermore, the brush head 1 also includes a return spring (not shown) sleeved on the brush disk 13, for resetting the brush disk 13 after rotation.

[0068] According to an exemplary embodiment of this application, the brush head 1 uses another type of brush disc (not shown), which reciprocates around the axis (L1) of the toothbrush following the rotation of the brush head drive shaft 11, thereby enabling the brush head 1 to achieve sweeping vibration.

[0069] Further optional embodiments regarding how the handle drive shaft 21 achieves linear reciprocating motion along the axis (L1) of the toothbrush will be provided later.

[0070] According to an exemplary embodiment of this application, the toothbrush further includes a motor 3 having a motor shaft 31 configured to perform a full rotational motion, which is also the most common motor drive mode. The motor shaft 31 includes an extension 310, as shown in FIG1, the extension 310 having a first eccentric shaft unit 311 and a second eccentric shaft unit 312 arranged opposite to each other, specifically meaning that the two eccentric shaft units are eccentric with respect to the central virtual extension line of the motor shaft 31, and both are symmetrical with respect to the central virtual extension line of the motor shaft 31.

[0071] The handle drive shaft 21 includes a shaft base 210 movably sleeved on the top of the extension 310. The shaft base 210 is configured to be connected to the first eccentric shaft unit 311 and the second eccentric shaft unit 312 via the first arm section 211 and the second arm section 212, respectively. The specific connection method will be described in the next embodiment so that when the motor shaft 31 rotates, the handle drive shaft 21 performs linear reciprocating motion along the axis (L1) of the toothbrush.

[0072] Specifically, as shown in FIG4, the extension 310 further includes a first crossbeam 313 and a second crossbeam 314 perpendicular to the motor shaft 31. The first crossbeam 313 has a first proximal end 313a connected to the first eccentric shaft unit 311 and a first distal end 313b attached to the first arm section 211. The second crossbeam 314 has a second proximal end 314a connected to the second eccentric shaft unit 312 and a second distal end 314b attached to the first arm section. Each of the proximal and distal ends is provided with mounting holes (not shown) for insertion of the eccentric shaft unit and the arm section.

[0073] The radial distance between the first distal end 313b and the second distal end 314b changes periodically. When the motor shaft 31 rotates to the first position (Figure 4b), the radial distance between the first distal end 313b and the second distal end 314b is at its maximum, and the shaft base 210 is at its lowest position; when the motor shaft 31 rotates to the second position (Figure 4b), the radial distance between the first distal end 313b and the second distal end 314b is at its minimum, and the shaft base 210 is at its highest position. Thus, the handle drive shaft 21 reciprocates periodically between the aforementioned highest and lowest positions under the action of the shaft base 210.

[0074] Therefore, in this embodiment, the transmission path is as follows: complete rotation of motor shaft 31 → linear reciprocating motion of handle drive shaft 21 → rotational reciprocating motion of brush head drive shaft 11, so that the most commonly used complete rotation motor 3 can be applied to the reciprocating motion brush head 1, which helps to reduce costs.

[0075] According to an exemplary embodiment of this application, the first arm segment 211 and the second arm segment 212 are at least partially made of metal or plastic, for example, at least partially made by a plastic injection molding process.

[0076] While this application discloses preferred embodiments as described above, it is not intended to limit the scope of this application. Any changes and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Therefore, any modifications, equivalent changes, and alterations made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of this application without departing from the content of the technical solution of this application shall fall within the protection scope defined by the claims of this application.

Claims

1. A toothbrush, characterized in that: The toothbrush includes a brush head and a handle; The brush head includes a brush head housing detachably connected to the handle, a brush head drive shaft, and a brush head connector connecting the handle drive shaft and the brush head drive shaft. The brush head connector follows the handle drive shaft to perform linear reciprocating motion along the axis (L1) of the toothbrush; The brush head drive shaft and the brush head connector are configured to convert the linear reciprocating motion of the brush head connector into a rotational reciprocating motion of the brush head drive shaft about the axis (L1) of the toothbrush.

2. The toothbrush as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The brush head connector includes a connecting sleeve into which the brush head drive shaft can be inserted; The outer wall of the brush head drive shaft is provided with guide protrusions; The connecting sleeve is provided with a guide groove that slides with the guide protrusion, so that when the connecting sleeve moves along the axis (L1) of the toothbrush, the guide protrusion rotates around the axis (L1) of the toothbrush.

3. The toothbrush as described in claim 2, characterized in that: The brush head drive shaft includes a crossbar and a mounting channel formed radially through which the crossbar can be inserted. The portion of the crossbar located outside the mounting channel forms the guide protrusion.

4. The toothbrush as described in claim 2, characterized in that, Includes at least one of the following features: The guide groove extends in a continuous spiral shape along the axis (L1) of the toothbrush; The height difference between the start and end points of the guide groove is not less than the maximum stroke of the connecting sleeve; A fastener is fitted at one end of the brush head drive shaft away from the brush head connection part, and the fastener is interference-fitted with the brush head housing.

5. The toothbrush as described in claim 4, characterized in that: The brush head drive shaft is provided with a drive wheel at one end away from the brush head connection part; The brush head also includes a brush disc and brush bristles, and a driven wheel is provided on the side of the brush disc facing away from the brush bristles; When the drive wheel rotates about the axis (L1) of the toothbrush, the driven wheel rotates about the axis (L2) of the brush plate; The axis (L2) of the brush plate is substantially perpendicular to the axis (L1) of the toothbrush.

6. The toothbrush as described in claim 5, characterized in that, Includes at least one of the following features: The driving wheel and / or the driven wheel are configured as face gears or bevel gears; The brush head also includes a return spring sleeved on the brush disc, used to reset the brush disc after rotation.

7. The toothbrush as described in claim 4, characterized in that: The brush head also includes a brush disc, which reciprocates in rotation around the axis (L1) of the toothbrush following the rotation of the brush head drive shaft.

8. The toothbrush as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The toothbrush also includes a motor with a motor shaft configured to perform a complete rotational motion; The motor shaft includes an extension, the extension having a first eccentric shaft unit and a second eccentric shaft unit arranged opposite to each other. The handle drive shaft includes a shaft base movably sleeved on the top of the extension, the shaft base being configured to be connected to the first eccentric shaft unit and the second eccentric shaft unit via a first arm section and a second arm section, respectively. When the motor shaft rotates, the handle drive shaft reciprocates linearly along the axis (L1) of the toothbrush.

9. The toothbrush as described in claim 8, characterized in that: The extension also includes a first crossbeam and a second crossbeam perpendicular to the motor shaft; The first crossbeam has a first proximal end connected to the first eccentric shaft unit and a first distal end attached to the first arm segment; the second crossbeam has a second proximal end connected to the second eccentric shaft unit and a second distal end attached to the first arm segment. The radial distance between the first distal end and the second distal end varies periodically.

10. The toothbrush as described in claim 9, characterized in that: The first arm segment and the second arm segment are at least partially made of metal or plastic.

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