Multi-face Oral Care Head with Anchor-free Tufting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional oral care implements, such as toothbrushes, often require separate devices for teeth and tongue cleaning, and fail to comfortably accommodate filament bristles on both sides due to thickness constraints, limiting their effectiveness in providing simultaneous multiple cleaning functions.
Innovation Solution
An oral care implement with a head platform having two or more bristled faces, utilizing anchor-free tufting (AFT) and in-mold tufting (IMT) techniques to affix filament bristles on opposite sides, allowing for a thin profile that accommodates both tooth cleaning and soft tissue cleaning elements, including vibratory devices for enhanced cleaning action.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional toothbrushes include a tongue cleaner on the second face, then multiple cleaning functions are provided, but the head thickness increases to 16-20 mm which reduces comfort
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the tongue cleaner elements within the same head platform space by using a nested configuration where the second set of cleaning elements are positioned in recesses or integrated into the head structure, allowing multiple functions without proportionally increasing overall thickness
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a single-face cleaning design to multi-face cleaning by utilizing the third dimension (depth/thickness) more efficiently, with cleaning elements on multiple faces of the head platform, enabling simultaneous access to different oral surfaces without excessive thickness increase
2Length of stationary object
If the head platform thickness is reduced to 5 mm or less, then comfort is improved, but accommodating bristles on both sides becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The head platform is segmented into multiple functional faces with distinct cleaning element arrangements. Each face is independently designed to accommodate specific cleaning elements, allowing thin overall thickness while maintaining multiple bristled surfaces through efficient spatial segmentation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs thin film-like carrier plates or support structures that can accommodate bristle tufts while maintaining minimal thickness. These thin support elements allow the head to remain 5 mm or less in thickness while still providing structural support for bristles on multiple faces
3Manufacturing precision
If anchor-free tufting and in-mold tufting techniques are used, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines anchor-free tufting and in-mold tufting techniques into a unified manufacturing approach. By merging these methods, the invention achieves precise bristle affixing while streamlining the manufacturing process, reducing the need for separate complex operations and tooling setups
Data Source
AI summary
An oral care implement includes a head platform having a plurality of faces with bristles extending therefrom. The oral care implement can have a pair of opposite bristled faces and the bristles can extend from the faces in opposite directions. The oral care implement can be formed by affixing a first AFT-tufted carrier plate to a first face of the head platform and affixing a second AFT-tufted carrier plate to the second face of the head platform. Optionally, the oral care implement can be formed by in-mold tufting bristles in the first face and affixing an AFT-tufted carrier plate to the second face of the head platform.