Toothbrush with a controlled transmission direction of vibration

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10166092-B2
Application number	US-201514842796-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 1, 2015
Priority date	Sep 1, 2015
Publication date	Jan 1, 2019
Grant date	Jan 1, 2019

Abstract

A toothbrush device includes one electric motor that provides the toothbrush with various frequencies of pulsations that are transmitted in a controlled fashion. The toothbrush device has a brush head with bristle touch-points, a handle, and a carrying case that extends from the head to the handle and holds the electric motor (e.g., a vibration motor). The electric motor generates vibration energy that travels through a shaft of the carrying case to the brush head in generally a single direction to vibrate the brush head. For example, the carrying case of the electric motor contacts the handle at a contact point, which is approximately at the center of the carrying case such that the majority of the vibrations generated by the electric motor are transmitted toward the brush head, while the vibrations towards other directions are minimized.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising:
a toothbrush head comprising a plurality of bristle touch-points arranged along rows, each of the plurality of the bristle touch-points being a single solid elongate structure extending from the toothbrush head and comprising a polymer material;
a carrying case comprising a body and a shaft, a first portion of the shaft being positioned within the toothbrush head;
electronic circuitry;
a handle comprising a handle shell surrounding the electronic circuitry, the body, and a second portion of the shaft of the carrying case, the body of the carrying case suspended within and not contacting the handle and only physically coupled at a first region to a dampener positioned between the second portion of the shaft and the handle shell, the shaft of the carrying case extending from the handle and into the toothbrush head; and
an electric motor connected to and positioned within the body of the carrying case such that the electric motor within the carrying case is suspended within the handle, the electric motor electrically coupled to the electronic circuitry and configured to generate vibration energy that is transmitted to the toothbrush head through the shaft of the carrying case to vibrate the toothbrush head.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the electric motor is a vibration motor and the electronic circuitry comprises a battery, wherein the carrying case is indirectly coupled to the battery by way of the electric motor retained within the carrying case.

3. The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein the electric motor is vibrationally isolated from and physically displaced from the battery and coupled to the battery by a set of wires.

4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the polymer material is silicone.

5. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the electric motor is a high-frequency and a low-frequency oscillating motor.

6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the carrying case further comprises a hollow chamber that holds the electric motor within the carrying case such that the electric motor is suspended within the handle.

7. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the dampener positioned between the second portion of the shaft and the handle shell comprises a silicone material.

8. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the shaft is a solid, physically continuous elongated shaft that extends from the body in the handle and into the rigid brush support.

9. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the controlled direction of the transmission of the vibrations enables the shaft to transmit a majority of the vibrations towards the toothbrush head rather than towards the handle.

10. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the shaft contacts the dampener at a contact point approximately at the center of the carrying case as defined with respect to an overall length of the carrying case.

11. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the electronic motor is located approximately at the center of the toothbrush device as defined with respect to an overall length of the toothbrush device.

12. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the handle shell comprises an upper and lower shell of the handle and a silicon covering over the handle.

13. The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a rigid brush support comprising a stem with an exterior surface; and
a continuum of compliant polymer material coupled to a majority of the exterior surface of the stem and encasing the stem of the rigid brush support, wherein the continuum defines the toothbrush head;
wherein the first portion of the shaft of the carrying case is directly coupled to the rigid brush support and physically displaced from the continuum of compliant material by the rigid brush support, the rigid brush support transferring vibration from the shaft to the continuum of compliant material during operation of the electronic device, and
wherein the electric motor is electrically coupled to the electronic circuitry and configured to generate vibration energy that is transmitted to the toothbrush head through the shaft of the carrying case, to the rigid brush support, to the continuum, to vibrate the toothbrush head.

14. An electronic device comprising:
a toothbrush head comprising a plurality of bristle touch-points arranged along rows;
a carrying case comprising a body and a shaft, a first portion of the shaft being positioned within the toothbrush head; and
a handle comprising a handle shell surrounding the body and a second portion of the shaft of the carrying case, the body of the carrying case suspended within the handle and only physically coupled at a first region to a dampener positioned between the second portion of the shaft and the handle shell, the shaft of the carrying case extending from the handle and into the toothbrush head; and
an electric motor connected to the body of the carrying case such that the electric motor is suspended within the handle, the electric motor electrically coupled to the electronic circuitry and configured to generate vibration energy that is transmitted to the toothbrush head through the shaft of the carrying case to vibrate the toothbrush head.

Assignees

• Sedic Filip

Inventors

• Sedic Filip

Classifications

• A61H13/00

  Gum massage · CPC title

• A61C17/225

  Handles or details thereof · CPC title

• A61C17/34

  driven by electric motor · CPC title

• A61C17/3481 Primary

  Vibrating brush body, e.g. by using eccentric weights · CPC title

• A46B9/04

  {Arranged like in or} for toothbrushes · CPC title