Brush head for a toothbrush and method for producing the brush head

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11219513-B2
Application number	US-202016802085-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 26, 2020
Priority date	Apr 22, 2003
Publication date	Jan 11, 2022
Grant date	Jan 11, 2022

Abstract

The brush head of the toothbrush has filaments that are pointed at one end and led through clearances in the bristle carrier. These filaments have a length of about 10-20 mm. The tips of the pointed filaments produce a height profile other than that of a plane and the ends of the pointed filaments that are remote from the tips are melted.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A brush head for an electric toothbrush, comprising:
a bristle carrier that can rotate back and forth about an axis of rotation running perpendicularly to the bristle carrier;
conventional bristles with a substantially constant nominal diameter and rounded-off tips arranged in clusters on the bristle carrier;
pointed filaments with pointed tips arranged on the bristle carrier in clusters with an arcuate shape;
wherein the clusters with an arcuate shape are arranged in one or more groups forming an arc of a circle or a circle.

2. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the bristle carrier is configurable in a rotational motion with a maximum angle of rotation a by a drive, and wherein the pointed filaments have a maximum distance r max from the axis of rotation, where r max =d max ·180°(πα) or r max =d max /(2 sin(α/2), wherein d max is a predetermined maximum path the pointed tips cover at most during operation of the electric toothbrush.

3. The brush head as claimed in claim 2 , wherein d max =5 mm.

4. The brush head as claimed in claim 2 , wherein d max =3 mm.

5. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the clusters with pointed filaments are arranged on the bristle carrier one behind the other in the direction of movement of the toothbrush in operation.

6. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the direction of the maximum extent of the clusters with pointed filaments coincides with the direction of movement of the brush head.

7. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein conventional bristles are arranged between the pointed filaments.

8. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the pointed filaments are colored at least in a region of the tip.

9. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the pointed filaments have pointed tips at one end opposite a second end, wherein the second ends of the pointed filaments that are remote from the pointed tips are melted.

10. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the clusters with pointed filaments have a maximum extent e of about 3 mm.

11. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the bristle carrier comprises clusters of bristles containing only conventional bristles, each with a nominal diameter that is constant over their length and a rounded-off tip.

12. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the diameter of the pointed filaments measured at the distance of 1 mm from the tip ranges from 15-35% of the nominal diameter.

13. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the diameter of the pointed filaments measured at the distance of 2 mm from the tip ranges from 30-60% of the nominal diameter.

14. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the diameter of the pointed filaments measured at the distance of 4 mm from the tip ranges from 60-90% of the nominal diameter.

15. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the clusters with the pointed filaments contain fewer than 80 tips.

16. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the clusters with the pointed filaments contain fewer than 50 tips.

17. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the clusters with the pointed filaments form a non-constant height profile.

18. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the pointed filaments of individual clusters form a non-constant height profile.

19. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least 80% of the pointed filaments have a length, measured from their exit point on the bristle carrier, from the interval (L, L+4 mm), where L is a predetermined length.

20. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the pointed filaments have different lengths and the tips of at least 80% of the pointed filaments are positioned with respect to a height profile of the pointed filaments within a height range of about 4 mm.

21. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the pointed filaments are longer than the conventional bristles.

22. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the pointed filaments are colored in a region of the tip.

23. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the brush head is driven in such a way that the pointed filaments perform at least 5000 movements per minute.

24. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the brush head is driven in such a way that the bristles perform at least 5000 movements per minute.

25. The brush head as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the bristle carrier has a round shape.

26. A brush head for an electric toothbrush, comprising
a bristle carrier that can rotate back and forth about an axis of rotation running perpendicularly to the bristle carrier;
the bristle carrier having a mixed filament arrangement comprising:
conventional bristles with a substantially constant nominal diameter and rounded-off tips arranged in clusters comprising a plurality of conventional bristles; and
pointed filaments with pointed tips arranged in clusters comprising a plurality of pointed filaments;
wherein the pointed filaments are arranged on the bristle carrier in such a way that, during operation of the electric toothbrush, their tips cover at most a predetermined maximum path of d max =5 mm.

27. The brush head as claimed in claim 26 , wherein the pointed filaments are arranged on the bristle carrier in such a way that, during operation of the electric toothbrush, their tips cover at most a predetermined maximum path of d max =3 mm.

28. The brush head as claimed in claim 26 , wherein at least a part of the clusters with pointed filaments are arranged in one or more groups in the form of an arc of a circle or a circle.

29. An electric toothbrush comprising a brush head as claimed in claim 1 .

Assignees

• Trisa Holding Ag

Inventors

• Fischer Franz
• Gross Peter

Classifications

• A46B13/023

  with means for inducing vibration to the bristles · CPC title

• A46B13/02

  power-driven {carriers} · CPC title

• A46B15/0032

  with protrusion for polishing teeth · CPC title

• A46D1/0276

  Bristles having pointed ends · CPC title

• A61C17/3481

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