Segmented Interdental Cleaner Cover with Variable Shore Hardness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing interdental cleaners face challenges in preventing gum injury while effectively cleaning interdental spaces, as the material must be both soft enough to avoid damage and hard enough to remove stuck food, making it difficult to adapt to these requirements simultaneously.
Innovation Solution
The interdental cleaner features a sleeve-shaped cover composed of multiple parts made from different soft-elastic plastics materials, with varying Shore hardnesses and designs, allowing for a graduated transition in softness and rigidity to address the dual requirements of safety and cleaning efficacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the cover is made of soft material to prevent gum injury, then gum safety is improved, but cleaning effectiveness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The cover is divided into multiple cover parts (first cover part, second cover part, third cover part) along the longitudinal axis, each made of different materials with different Shore hardness values. This segmentation allows each part to have optimized properties for its specific function.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the cover have different material properties: the front end (first cover part) uses softer material for gum safety, while rear regions (second and third cover parts) use harder materials for effective cleaning. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction between softness and cleaning effectiveness.
2Reliability
If the cover is made of hard material to remove stuck food, then cleaning effectiveness is improved, but gum safety deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The cover is segmented into multiple parts with different Shore hardness values arranged longitudinally. Harder materials are placed in rear regions for cleaning effectiveness while softer materials are placed at the front end for gum safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover exhibits local quality variation along its length, with harder materials (second and third cover parts) positioned for cleaning effectiveness and softer material (first cover part) positioned for gum safety, resolving the contradiction locally.
3Ease of manufacture
If a single material is used for the cover, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to different functional requirements deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The cover is manufactured as multiple separate cover parts that can be produced using different materials with different Shore hardness values. This segmentation enables material adaptability while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through modular construction.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover is constructed as a composite structure with multiple materials having different Shore hardness values (e.g., 40 ShA for first cover part, 50 ShA for second cover part, 60 ShA for third cover part). This composite approach provides adaptability to different functional requirements while remaining manufacturable.
Data Source
AI summary
An interdental cleaner (10) has a rod-shaped support (11) made of plastic, a handle part (12) connected to the support (11), and a cleaning part (13) which has a sleeve-shaped cover (14) arranged on the support (11). The cover carries radially outwardly protruding cleaning elements (15). Provision is made that the cover consists of a plurality of cover parts, wherein a first cover part (16) consists of a first soft-elastic plastic, and wherein a second cover part (17) consists of a second soft-elastic plastic or of a thermoplastic, wherein the plastics material of the first cover part (16) is different than the plastics material of the second cover part (17). Preferably, the plastics material of the first cover part (16) has a lower Shore hardness than the plastics material of the second cover part (17).