Interdental Cleaning Device Elastic Restoring Element
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing interdental cleaning devices are prone to material fatigue and have a projecting design that complicates handling during dental care due to a curved element at the free ends of the legs, which is susceptible to breakage under continuous bending stress.
Innovation Solution
An interdental cleaning device with a one-piece base body featuring a first and second leg that can pivot relative to each other, equipped with an elastic restoring element in the initial area between the legs, which reduces deformation and material fatigue by allowing the legs to reset into a rest position, thereby maintaining a compact design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a curved element is arranged at the free ends of the legs to support restoring movement and prevent pinching, then the device provides safety and functional support, but the curved element is very susceptible to material fatigue and material breakage due to continuous bending stress
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful curved element that causes material fatigue is completely removed from the design. The patent replaces it with an elastic restoring element arranged in the initial area of the legs, which provides the necessary restoring force without being subjected to continuous bending stress at the free ends.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an elastic restoring element as an intermediary component that provides the restoring force. This element is arranged in the initial area of the legs where it is less susceptible to fatigue, and it mediates the restoring movement without requiring a curved element at the free ends.
2Reliability
If a curved element is arranged at the free ends of the legs to provide restoring movement, then the device gains functional support, but the device has a projecting design that makes handling during dental care more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The projecting curved element is removed from the free ends of the legs. The patent achieves restoring movement through an elastic restoring element arranged in the initial area, which allows the legs to be more compact and easier to handle during dental care.
3Volume of moving object
If the legs are designed to pivot at their free ends, then the device achieves compactness, but the free ends are subjected to high bending stress when pivoting
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different functional qualities to different parts of the structure. The elastic restoring element is placed in the initial area of the legs where it can provide restoring force without being subjected to high bending stress, while the free ends maintain their pivoting capability for compactness.
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 elastic restoring element minimizes material fatigue and deformation, resulting in a more durable and easier-to-handle interdental cleaning device that is less susceptible to breakage and maintains a compact form.
Implementation Method 1
an elastic restoring element is arranged between the first and the second leg, via which the legs can be reset into a rest position that has been pivoted apart
Implementation Method 2
the restoring element being elastically deformed, in particular elastically compressed
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an interdental cleaning device with a single-piece main part, in particular an injection-molded main part, that has a first limb and a second limb, the free ends of which can be pivoted relative to each other. The first limb has a positioning aid on the free end of the first limb, in particular a cone, which protrudes towards a cleaning side and which surrounds an opening in the first limb, and the second limb has a mounting for an interdental brush, which can be guided through the opening, on the free end of the second limb. In a starting region of the limb, said starting region lying opposite the free ends of the limbs, an elastic restoring element is arranged between the first and the second limb. The invention further relates to a method for producing such an interdental cleaning device.