Tongue Cleaner With Electrodes For Deep Bacterial Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tongue cleaning devices fail to effectively remove bacteria from the tongue's pits and fissures, leading to persistent bad breath due to their inability to reach and treat bacteria in these areas.
Innovation Solution
A tongue cleaning device with a mechanical tongue cleaning section and a tongue cleaning electrode that simultaneously contacts the tongue, allowing for both mechanical scrubbing and an electrically driven cleaning process using electrophoresis, with adjustable current strength and polarity to deliver anti-bacterial ions deep into the tongue's surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional tongue cleaners with multiple nibs are used for mechanical scrubbing, then the tongue surface can be cleaned, but bacteria remain in the pits and fissures between papillae
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces part of the mechanical cleaning system with an electrical field system. Electrodes are integrated into the tongue cleaner to generate electrical fields that drive anti-bacterial ions into the pits and fissures, complementing the mechanical scrubbing action and achieving deeper cleaning effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The tongue cleaner combines multiple functional components: mechanical cleaning elements (nibs/scraper surface) and electrical field generation elements (electrodes). This composite structure enables simultaneous mechanical and electrical cleaning actions, addressing both surface and deep-seated bacteria.
2Reliability
If mechanical tongue cleaners are used to scrape the tongue surface, then some plaque is removed, but bacteria in deep pits and fissures remain untreated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an electrical field mechanism to overcome the limitations of mechanical reach. The electrical field and ion transport can penetrate into pits and fissures that mechanical scrapers cannot access, providing reliable deep cleaning without requiring complex mechanical structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the cleaning mechanism from purely mechanical contact to include electrical field parameters. By applying voltage and creating electrical fields, the system can deliver anti-bacterial ions deep into the tongue structure, expanding the effective treatment depth beyond mechanical capabilities.
3Productivity
If a tongue cleaner with integrated electrodes is used, then both mechanical and electrical cleaning can occur simultaneously, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges mechanical cleaning components and electrical field generation components into a single integrated tongue cleaner head. The electrodes are incorporated directly into the cleaning structure, allowing simultaneous mechanical scrubbing and electrical field application without requiring separate devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The tongue cleaner is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a mechanical scraper and as an electrical field generator. This universal design consolidates multiple cleaning functions into one device, reducing the need for separate mechanical and electrical cleaning tools.
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
The device provides a more effective cleaning of the tongue by combining mechanical scrubbing with the transport of anti-bacterial ions, improving the removal of bacteria from the tongue's surface and reducing bad breath.
Implementation Method 1
an electrically driven cleaning process based on electrophoresis
Implementation Method 2
the contact electrode and to the tongue cleaning electrode such that in operation a current may flow from the electrode in the handle portion through a user's body to the electrode in the head portion
Data Source
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AI summary
Halitosis or most commonly bad breath stems to more than 80% from a contamination of the tongue by mostly anaerobic bacteria. When left on the tongue the anaerobic respiration of those bacteria can yield a plurality of bad smells. In order to fight malodour from the tongue it is necessary to remove the bacteria and clean the tongue. In order to provide for cleaning of the tongue cleaners often also denoted as tongue scrapers are known for collecting and removing the bacterial coating of the tongue. In view of the prior art it is an object of the present invention to provide a tongue cleaning device enabling a more efficient cleaning of the tongue. In order to solve this object, a tongue cleaning device (1) is proposed comprising a head portion (2) having a tongue cleaning electrode (7,16,22,31) enabling a current flow into a user's tongue when in use and a mechanical tongue cleaning section (8) having at least one cleaning protrusion (9,12,13,14,17,21) and a handle portion having a contact electrode, wherein the contact electrode enables a current flow into the user's hand when in use, and a current source, wherein the current source is electrically coupled to the contact electrode and to the tongue cleaning electrode such that when in operation a current may flow between the contact electrode to the tongue cleaning electrode through a user's body.