Modular Toothbrush Head via Molded Plastic Join
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for manufacturing oral-care implements, such as toothbrushes, lack flexibility in combining different types of carriers with various handle shapes, limiting the variety of designs and increasing production costs.
Innovation Solution
An oral-care implement comprising a carrier plate with cleaning elements secured to a support plate via a molded plastic connection, allowing for separate production and flexible combination of carrier plates with different cleaning element patterns and handle types, enabling a high degree of design variability and cost-effectiveness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If bundles of bristles are embedded in a bristle carrier by their fastening side ends with an intermediate layer of additional material component, then the bristle carrier can be connected to a brush body, but the shape of the bristle carrier must fit into the bowl of the brush body, limiting flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the oral care implement into separate modular components: a brush body and a carrier plate that can be independently manufactured and then combined. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized separately and enables flexible recombination of different carrier plates with different brush bodies, resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The carrier plate is designed as a universal component that can be combined with multiple types of brush bodies. The standardized interface and attachment mechanism allow the same carrier plate to be used with different brush body designs, achieving multi-functionality and versatility while maintaining simple manufacturing processes.
2Productivity
If a fixed mold cavity process is used for manufacturing toothbrushes, then the production process is simplified, but the flexibility in combining different shapes of handles with various toothbrush heads is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The manufacturing process is segmented into independent stages: brush body production, carrier plate production, and final assembly. This allows each component to be manufactured using optimized fixed mold cavity processes for high productivity, while the modular design enables flexible recombination for product variety without requiring complex multi-purpose molds.
Solution Approach 2:
The brush bodies and carrier plates are pre-manufactured separately using fixed mold cavity processes, then stored and later assembled in different combinations. This preliminary action allows high-volume production of standardized components while maintaining the flexibility to create various final product configurations by simply changing the assembly combinations.
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
This solution provides a non-detachable, cost-effective, and flexible manufacturing process for producing a wide range of oral-care implements with improved cleaning performance and user comfort by allowing various types of carrier plates and handles to be easily combined, enhancing interdental cleaning capabilities and user experience.
Implementation Method 1
The back side of the carrier plate is secured to the front side of the support plate by a plastic material disposed in the channel and molded around at least a portion of the back side of the support plate and over at least a portion of the carrier plate
Data Source
AI summary
An oral-care implement comprises a carrier plate and a support plate. Each of the carrier plate and the support plate has a back side and a front side opposite the back side. At least one cleaning element extends from the front side of the carrier plate. The back side of the carrier plate is secured to the front side of the support plate with a plastic material that is molded around at least a portion of the back side of the support plate and over at least a portion of the carrier and that fills a channel formed by a recess in at least one of the back side of the carrier plate and the front side of the support plate, thereby providing a non-detachable connection between the carrier plate and the support plate.