Cell of a brush making device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11470957-B2
Application number	US-202016997566-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 19, 2020
Priority date	Aug 19, 2019
Publication date	Oct 18, 2022
Grant date	Oct 18, 2022

Abstract

A cell of a brush making device for making at least a part of a toothbrush, having a pin unit having at least one pin, a pin holding sub-unit and a pin guiding sub-unit, the pin having a first section having a first end and a second section having a second end, the first section having a holding structure, and at least one spring section arranged between the first section and the second section, the pin holding sub-unit having a holding structure that is engaged with the holding structure of the pin for fixedly holding the pin, the pin holding sub-unit and the pin guiding sub-unit being arranged for being movable along a first direction towards and away from each other, and the pin guiding sub-unit having a channel for guiding at least a portion of the second section of the pin, the channel being inclined against the first direction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cell of a brush-making device for making at least a part of a toothbrush, comprising:
a pin unit comprising at least one pin, a pin holding sub-unit, and a pin guiding sub-unit;
the pin having a first section having a first end and a second section having a second end, the first section comprising a holding structure, and at least one spring section arranged between the first section and the second section;
the pin holding sub-unit comprising a holding structure that is engaged with the holding structure of the pin for fixedly holding the pin, the pin holding sub-unit and the pin guiding sub-unit being arranged for being movable along a first direction towards and away from each other; and
the pin guiding sub-unit having a channel for guiding at least a portion of the second section of the pin, the channel being inclined against the first direction,
wherein the cross-sectional area and the cross-sectional shape of the pin in the spring section is essentially constant over the extension length of the spring section and the cross-sectional shape of the spring section is essentially rectangular, wherein a rectangle has a short side and a long side.

2. The cell in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the pin unit comprises a plurality of pins each having a first section having a first end and a second section having a second end, each of the first sections comprising a holding structure, and each of the pins having at least one spring section extending between the first section and the second section of the pin, wherein the pin guiding sub-unit comprises a respective plurality of channels that each is arranged for guiding at least a portion of one of the second sections, in particular where at least two of the channels have an inclination with respect to the first direction that is different.

3. The cell in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the pin has a retracted position and an extended position, wherein the second end extends beyond an outer surface of the pin guiding sub-unit in the extended position.

4. The cell in accordance with claim 3 , further comprising a mold cavity for molding a brush part and wherein the second section of the pin extends into the mold cavity in its extended position to define a hole in the brush part to be molded in the mold cavity.

5. The cell in accordance with claim 3 , further comprising a cleaning element holding plate having at least one channel for holding a cleaning element such as a filament tuft and wherein the second section of the pin is arranged to move at least partly into the channel of the cleaning element holding plate when the pin is moved from the retracted position into the extended position.

6. The cell in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the cross-sectional area and cross-sectional shape of the pin in the second section is essentially constant, and wherein the cross-sectional shape of the pin in the second section is circular.

7. The cell in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the first section of the pin is held by the pin holding sub-unit in a positionally fixed manner due to a mechanical engagement between the holding structure of the pin and the holding structure of the pin holding sub-unit.

8. The cell in accordance with claim 7 , wherein the pin holding sub-unit comprises at least three stacked plates: a first plate comprising a channel through which a portion of the first section extends, a second plate comprising at least a portion of the holding structure of the pin holding sub-unit for holding the pin, and a third plate being realized as a cover plate so that the second plate is sandwiched between the first plate and the third plate.

9. The cell in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the spring section of the pin is bent into a first bending direction in a first extreme position of the pin and bent into a second bending direction in a second extreme position of the pin so that the spring section is in an unbent stage at a position in between the two extreme positions, and wherein the unbent stage is achieved at about half the distance between the two extreme positions.

10. The cell in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the pin is made from a spring steel.

11. The cell in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the short side of the rectangle is at least a factor of 2 smaller than the long side of the rectangle.

12. The cell in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the short side of the rectangle is at least a factor of 3 smaller than the long side of the rectangle.

13. The cell in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the short side of the rectangle is at least a factor of 4 smaller than the long side of the rectangle.

14. A brush-making device having a cell in accordance with claim 1 .

15. A pin for a cell of a brush-making device comprising a first section having a first end and a holding structure, a second section having a second end, and at least one spring section extending between the first section and the second section, the spring section having a cross-sectional area that is smaller than a cross-sectional area in the first section excluding the holding structure and having a cross-sectional area that is smaller than a cross-sectional area in the second section,
wherein the cross-sectional area and cross-sectional shape of the spring section is essentially constant over the extension length of the spring section, wherein the cross-sectional shape of the spring section comprises a rectangular shape having a short side and a long side.

16. The pin in accordance with claim 15 , wherein the cross-sectional area and the cross-sectional shape of the second section is essentially constant and in particular wherein the cross-sectional shape of the pin in the second section is circular.

17. The pin in accordance with claim 15 , wherein the short side of the rectangle is at least a factor of 3 smaller than a long side thereof.

18. The pin in accordance with claim 15 , wherein the short side of the rectangle is at least a factor of 4 smaller than a long side thereof.

19. The pin in accordance with claim 15 , wherein a short side of the rectangle is at least a factor of 2 smaller than a long side thereof.

Assignees

• Procter & Gamble

Inventors

• Birk Andreas
• Port Holger

Classifications

• A46D3/08

  Parts of brush-making machines · CPC title

• A46B2200/1066

  Toothbrush for cleaning the teeth or dentures (A61C17/16 takes precedence; bristles arrangements for toothbrushes A46B9/04) · CPC title

• A46B9/04

  {Arranged like in or} for toothbrushes · CPC title

• A46D3/00 Primary

  Preparing, {i.e. Manufacturing} brush bodies · CPC title

• B29C45/4471

  using flexible or pivotable undercut forming elements (B29C45/4435 takes precedence) · CPC title