Spring-Loaded Ball-Snap Connector for Personal Care Implements
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing personal care implements, such as toothbrushes, face issues with secure attachment and detachment of heads due to complex geometries that are difficult to clean and provide inadequate feedback to users, leading to poor maneuverability and potential ineffective cleaning.
Innovation Solution
A personal care implement featuring a spring-loaded ball-snap connector that provides a distinct acoustic and haptic feedback upon secure attachment or detachment, ensuring a strong and stable connection between the head and handle, with a design that prevents accumulation of toothpaste and saliva, allowing for easy cleaning and long-lasting performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a complex anchor/engaging mechanism with multiple recesses is used to provide strong connection between head and handle, then connection strength is improved, but cleaning ease deteriorates due to toothpaste and slurry accumulation in recesses
Solution Approach 1:
The connector is divided into two separate components: a male connector integrated into the head and a female connector integrated into the handle. This segmentation eliminates the need for complex interlocking recesses and hooks, providing both strong connection and easy cleaning capability for each separate component.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using a complex anchor mechanism with multiple recesses that trap debris, the invention inverts the approach by using a simple cylindrical male connector that inserts into a corresponding female connector. This inverted design eliminates recesses where toothpaste and slurry can accumulate, making cleaning easier while maintaining connection strength.
2Reliability
If a complex anchor/engaging mechanism is used to ensure secure attachment, then connection reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connector system is segmented into simple male and female components with basic cylindrical geometries, eliminating the need for complex anchor mechanisms, multiple recesses, and interlocking hooks while maintaining reliable attachment through the straightforward insert-and-lock design.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention simplifies the connector design by inverting from a complex female anchor mechanism with multiple engagement points to a simple cylindrical male connector that inserts into a matching female receptacle. This inversion reduces geometric complexity while preserving connection reliability through the snap-fit engagement.
3Ease of operation
If plastic hooks are used for connection, then ease of detachment is improved, but connection reliability deteriorates over time due to hook relaxation
Solution Approach 1:
The connector is segmented into a male connector with a simple cylindrical shape and a female connector with a corresponding receptacle. This segmentation eliminates the need for plastic hooks that relax over time, providing both easy detachment and sustained connection reliability through the snap-fit engagement of the simplified geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using plastic hooks that deform and relax over time, the invention inverts to a rigid cylindrical male connector that inserts into a female receptacle. This inversion provides structural stability and maintains connection reliability while allowing easy detachment through the snap-fit mechanism.
4Ease of manufacture
If a simple connector design is used, then manufacturing ease is improved, but connection strength may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The connector is segmented into simple male and female components with basic cylindrical geometries that are easy to manufacture. Despite the simplicity of the geometry, connection strength is maintained through the snap-fit engagement design where the male connector inserts into and locks within the female connector receptacle.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses a simplified cylindrical male connector design that is easier to manufacture than complex anchor mechanisms. Connection strength is achieved not through geometric complexity but through the snap-fit engagement principle where the male connector is retained by the female connector, providing both manufacturing ease and sufficient connection strength.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution ensures secure and reliable attachment of the head to the handle, providing users with clear feedback through a distinct sound and preventing twisting during brushing, thus enhancing cleaning efficacy and reducing waste by allowing for head replacement while maintaining handle longevity.
Implementation Method 1
When the head gets attached or detached from the handle, the personal care implement exhibits a sound, thereby providing a signal of secure attachment or detachment
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~5
Figure 6~7
AI summary
A personal care implement comprises a head and a handle, the head being repeatedly attachable to and detachable from the handle, the personal care implement exhibiting a sound when the head gets attached to and/or detached from the handle thereby providing a signal of secure attachment or detachment, the sound being characterized by a tonal component of about 4000Hz to about 6000Hz, preferably over a time length of about 0.1s to about 0.3s on a tonality frequency vs. time analysis (Hearing Model)..