Interdental Cleaning Tool with Proximal Soft Extension to Reduce Breakage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Interdental cleaning tools tend to break at the starting point of the soft portion when forcibly inserted between teeth due to stress concentration, leading to the broken part being stuck between teeth.
Innovation Solution
The interdental cleaning tool features an extension soft portion covering the shaft section proximally to the soft portion without projections, dispersing stress and maintaining connection even if the shaft breaks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the soft portion is positioned at the distal end of the shaft section, then the projections can effectively clean between teeth, but stress concentrates at the starting point of the soft portion causing the tool to break
Solution Approach 1:
The soft portion is divided into two distinct sections: a covering section at the distal end with projections for cleaning, and an extension soft portion extending proximally without projections. This segmentation separates the cleaning function from the stress-absorbing function, allowing the projections to effectively clean between teeth while the extension soft portion disperses stress along a longer section of the shaft, preventing breakage at the starting point.
2Device complexity
If the soft portion covers only the distal end of the shaft section, then the structure remains simple, but the broken soft portion can be stuck between teeth and is difficult to remove
Solution Approach 1:
The extension soft portion acts as a pre-positioned safety buffer that extends the soft coverage proximally beyond the projection section. If the shaft breaks, this extension ensures that the broken end remains covered by soft material, preventing the sharp broken edge from being stuck between teeth. This beforehand cushioning approach maintains structural simplicity while eliminating the harmful effect of retained broken portions.
3Productivity
If the projections extend deeply into narrow spaces between teeth, then cleaning effectiveness improves, but stress concentration at the soft portion starting point increases
Solution Approach 1:
The solution extends the soft portion coverage in the proximal direction (another dimension along the shaft length) rather than increasing the depth of projections. By adding the extension soft portion that covers additional shaft length proximally, the stress distribution is improved without compromising the projection depth needed for effective cleaning in narrow interdental spaces.
Data Source
AI summary
An interdental cleaning tool is provided, which is capable of suppressing from being broken. The interdental cleaning tool 1 includes: a base material portion 10 including a base section 11 and a shaft section 12 extending from the base section 11; a soft portion 20 including a covering section 21 that covers a distal end part 12a of the shaft section 12, and a plurality of projections 22 extending from the covering section 21; and an extension soft portion 30 covering a middle part 12b of the shaft section 12, the middle part being located further toward the proximal side than the soft portion 20 so as to extend the covering section 21 toward the proximal side of the shaft section 12, the extension soft portion 30 not being provided with the projections 22.