Bristleless Pad with Mixed Protrusion Shapes for Enamel-Safe Plaque Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Standard toothbrushes can be harmful as they remove not only plaque but also enamel from teeth, highlighting the need for a device that can strip away plaque without damaging the enamel.
Innovation Solution
A tooth cleaning device with a handle and a pad featuring different areas of protrusions, including semi-spherical and conical shapes, designed to clean teeth gently without bristles, allowing for effective plaque removal without enamel damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If standard toothbrush bristles are used to remove plaque, then plaque removal effectiveness is improved, but enamel damage occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the harmful bristle element from the toothbrush design, replacing it with a bristleless pad structure that eliminates the mechanical abrasion causing enamel damage while maintaining plaque removal capability through alternative cleaning mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameters of the cleaning surface from rigid bristles to a flexible pad with varying protrusion heights, creating a gentler contact mechanism that reduces enamel damage while maintaining effective plaque removal through the textured surface
2Object-affected harmful factors
If gentle cleaning action is used to protect enamel, then enamel preservation is improved, but plaque removal effectiveness decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality variation by creating different protrusion heights across the pad surface, with higher protrusions providing stronger cleaning action for plaque removal and lower protrusions providing gentler contact for enamel protection, allowing both functions to coexist in different locations
Data Source
AI summary
A tooth cleaning device comprising a handle, and a pad coupled to the handle, wherein the pad has a front face, a back face and a plurality of side walls. There are a plurality of different areas disposed on the front face of the pad comprising a first area comprising a first set of protrusions, in a substantially semi-spherical shape, and a second area comprising a second set of protrusions in a substantially conical shape. There is also a third area of protrusions formed as a substantially conical shape, and a fourth area of protrusions formed as a substantially semi-spherical shape. The device can be formed as a pad which collapses voluntarily under pressure. The pad can be made from any suitable material such as any type of rubber or plastic.