Movable Bristle Body Toothbrush Head for Plaque Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional toothbrushes with fixed flat heads fail to achieve full contact with teeth, resulting in a small contact area and low frictional force, which limits their brushing effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
A toothbrush design featuring a through hole in the head with a bristle body that is integrated using injection molding, allowing the bristle body to flexibly move upwards, downwards, leftwards, and rightwards, increasing the contact area and frictional force by connecting to the head at various points, thereby enhancing plaque removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If bristles are implanted on a fixed flat plate head, then the structure is simple and manufacturing is easy, but the contact area with teeth is small and frictional force is low
Solution Approach 1:
The bristle body is designed to be movable relative to the head through a through hole, allowing it to flexibly move upwards, downwards, leftwards, and rightwards during brushing. This dynamic configuration enables the bristles to adapt to the curved surface of teeth, maximizing contact area and frictional force while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The bristle body and head are integrated using a single material by injection molding, combining two components into one unified structure. This merging reduces manufacturing complexity while enabling the bristle body to move freely within the head through the through hole, achieving both structural simplicity and functional flexibility.
2Device complexity
If bristles are implanted on a fixed flat plate head, then the structure is simple, but the frictional force does not act uniformly on the tooth surface
Solution Approach 1:
The bristle body's ability to move freely in multiple directions (upwards, downwards, leftwards, rightwards) allows it to dynamically adjust its position and orientation during brushing. This ensures uniform distribution of frictional force across the tooth surface, improving brushing effectiveness while maintaining relatively simple structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The bristle body is separated from the head by a through hole, creating an independent movable segment. This segmentation allows the bristle body to move independently relative to the head, enabling uniform contact with the curved tooth surface and distributing frictional force evenly, while the integration method keeps the overall structure simple.
3Ease of operation
If bristle body is separately attached to elastic member, then flexible movement is achieved, but manufacturing cost increases and process becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The bristle body and head are manufactured as a single integrated component using injection molding with a through hole allowing bristle body movement. This merging eliminates the need for separate attachment of elastic members and multiple assembly steps, reducing manufacturing cost and process complexity while preserving the flexible movement capability essential for effective brushing.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: the head provides structural support, the through hole enables flexible movement of the bristle body, and the single injection molding process reduces manufacturing complexity. This multi-functionality achieves flexible operation without requiring separate elastic member attachment, lowering manufacturing costs.
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 design enhances the brushing effect by maximizing the contact area and frictional force between the bristles and teeth, improving oral hygiene while reducing manufacturing costs and making the toothbrush more affordable.
Implementation Method 1
the bristle body is flexibly moved upwards, downwards, leftwards or rightwards in a head of the toothbrush according to the dental shape
Implementation Method 2
increasing a contact area as well as a frictional force between the teeth and the bristles and thereby maximizing the removal of dental plaque and food remnants by brushing
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a toothbrush. The toothbrush (1) includes a head (2), and a through hole (3) formed vertically through the head. The through hole (3) is formed in one or more portions by a predetermined length at a predetermined portion around a front, back, left or right of the bristle body (5) to prevent the bristle body (5) from being separated from the head (2). The bristle body (5) and the head (2) are connected to each other by one or more connecting portions. This toothbrush enables the bristle body implanted with bristles to freely and flexibly move upwards, downwards, leftwards or rightwards in the through hole of the head, so that the bristle body flexibly moves so as to adapt to various shapes of the teeth when brushing the teeth, thereby maximizing the contact area between the teeth and the bristles as well as the brushing effect.