Toothbrush Head Cavity Design for Thin Profile Illumination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional toothbrushes with integrated light emitting elements face difficulties in being inserted into the mouth due to increased width and thickness, making it hard to reach back teeth effectively.
Innovation Solution
A toothbrush design featuring a main body elongated in one direction with a cylindrical replacement brush attached, where the head section is opened on the back side to form a cavity, reducing thickness and allowing easier insertion, and includes a disengaging prevention structure to secure the brush in place, along with a positioning structure for the light emitting part to overlap with the raised surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If a light emitting element is housed in the substantially central region of the head section, then the toothbrush can illuminate the tooth surface, but the head section increases in width and thickness making insertion into the mouth difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The light emitting element is extracted from the central region of the head section and relocated to the neck section. This separation allows the head section to maintain a thin profile for easy mouth insertion while the neck section houses the lighting component, resolving the contradiction between illumination capability and head section thickness.
Solution Approach 2:
The light emitting element is positioned in the neck section rather than the head section, utilizing the longitudinal dimension of the toothbrush structure. This dimensional relocation allows the light source to be integrated without increasing the head section's thickness, maintaining both illumination function and thin head profile.
2Ease of manufacture
If the head section is opened to form a cavity, then material costs are reduced and structure is simplified, but the structural integrity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The head section is segmented with an opening on the back side forming a cavity, while the front side with the raised surface and bristles remains intact. This partial segmentation reduces material usage and simplifies manufacturing while maintaining the structural integrity of the bristle-holding portion, resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and structural strength.
3Reliability
If a disengaging prevention structure is added to secure the brush, then the brush member remains firmly attached during use, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The disengaging prevention structure is merged with the neck section design, integrating the attachment security function into the existing structural component. This combination approach provides reliable brush attachment during use while avoiding the need for separate, complex locking mechanisms, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A toothbrush including a main body having a shape which is narrow and long in one direction; and a brush member which has a cylindrical shape and which is mounted to an end section in the lengthwise direction of the main body. The brush member includes: a head part which has a raised surface, on which bristles are erected, along the lengthwise direction of the main body to which the brush member is mounted; and a neck part which is mounted by engaging with the periphery of the end section of the main body. In the head part, a back surface on the opposite side of the raised surface is opened, and the neck part is provided with a detachment prevention mechanism that prevents the end of the main body to which the brush member is mounted from detaching.