Bristle driven pulsation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12376949-B2
Application number	US-202016878330-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 19, 2020
Priority date	May 20, 2019
Publication date	Aug 5, 2025
Grant date	Aug 5, 2025

Abstract

An electric toothbrush having bristle driven pulsation includes a brush head having a bristle holder and bristle tufts attached to the bristle holder. The bristle tufts and corresponding bristles are disposed at a perpendicular and/or a non-perpendicular angle with respect to a mounting surface of the brush head. The electric toothbrush also includes an electric toothbrush handle removably attached to the brush head. The electric toothbrush handle includes a linear motor configured to drive the bristle holder via a gearing structure coupled to the linear motor and the bristle holder. The linear motor causes the bristle holder to rotate clockwise and counterclockwise at a rotation frequency which exceeds a rotation frequency threshold (e.g., 100 Hz, 120 Hz, etc.). The linear motor also causes the brush head to vibrate in a direction toward and away from a contact surface in synchronization with the rotation of the bristles.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electric toothbrush comprising:
a brush head including a plurality of angled bristles attached to the brush head at a non-perpendicular angle with respect to the brush head; and
a handle removably attached to the brush head and including a linear motor coupled to and driving a gearing structure configured to transform a linear movement along a longitudinal axis of the linear motor into rotation of the plurality of angled bristles about an axis of rotation normal to a mounting surface of the brush head, the plurality of angled bristles being rotatable at at least one rotation frequency, clockwise and counterclockwise with respect to the brush head, wherein the at least one rotation frequency is at or above a frequency threshold,
wherein the brush head moves toward and away from a contact surface solely via bristle-driven pulsation in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and in synchronization with the rotation of the plurality of angled bristles, wherein the bristle-driven pulsation results from the rotating plurality of angled bristles contacting the contact surface.

2. The electric toothbrush of claim 1 , wherein the motor is configured to drive the plurality of angled bristles to rotate clockwise during a first time interval and counterclockwise during a second time interval, wherein a time period corresponding to the at least one rotation frequency includes a combination of the first time interval and the second time interval.

3. The electric toothbrush of claim 1 , wherein the brush head moves toward and away from the contact surface, wherein an amount of vibration is measured as a standard deviation of a force measured for each applied load.

4. The electric toothbrush of claim 1 , wherein the brush head moves toward and away from the contact surface in synchronization with the rotation of the plurality of angled bristles by vibrating at at least one vibration frequency corresponding to the at least one rotation frequency.

5. The electric toothbrush of claim 4 , wherein the at least one vibration frequency includes the rotation frequency or multiples of the rotation frequency.

6. The electric toothbrush of claim 4 , wherein a vibration amplitude of the brush head increases as a load applied to the contact surface increases above a threshold amount.

7. The electric toothbrush of claim 1 , wherein the at least one rotation frequency is greater than 100 Hz.

8. The electric toothbrush of claim 1 , wherein the motor is configured to drive the plurality of angled bristles to rotate clockwise and counterclockwise by a predetermined angle of rotation.

9. The electric toothbrush of claim 1 , wherein the electric toothbrush handle further includes a light source and a pressure sensor, wherein the light source is configured to change color in response to changes in pressure detected by the pressure sensor.

10. An electric toothbrush comprising:
a brush head including a plurality of bristles attached to the brush head, wherein the bristles are attached to the brush head at a non-perpendicular angle with respect to the brush head; and
a handle removably attached to the brush head and including:
a linear motor configured to drive a gearing structure coupled to the motor, wherein the gearing structure is configured to transform a linear movement of the linear motor along a longitudinal axis into rotation of the plurality of bristles attached to the brush head, to cause the plurality of bristles rotate clockwise and counterclockwise with respect to the brush head at a predetermined rotation frequency, wherein the brush head moves toward and away from a contact surface via bristle-driven pulsation in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, which movement is caused by bristles' properties selected from a group consisting of a density of the bristles, the non-perpendicular angle at which the bristles are attached to the brush head, a stiffness of the bristles, bending and buckling forces in the bristles, and any combination thereof,
wherein, other than the bristles that cause bristle-driven pulsation, the electric toothbrush does not comprise any other mechanisms configured to provide pulsations that would move the brush head toward and away from the contact surface in the direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.

11. The electric toothbrush of claim 10 , wherein the motor is configured to drive the plurality of bristles to rotate clockwise during a first time interval and counterclockwise during a second time interval, wherein a time period corresponding to the predetermined rotation frequency includes a combination of the first time interval and the second time interval.

12. The electric toothbrush of claim 10 , wherein the brush head moves toward and away from the contact surface, wherein an amount of vibration is measured as a standard deviation of a force measured for each applied load.

13. The electric toothbrush of claim 12 , wherein a vibration amplitude of the brush head increases as a load applied to the contact surface increases above a threshold amount.

14. The electric toothbrush of claim 10 , wherein the brush head moves toward and away from the contact surface in synchronization with the rotation of the plurality of bristles by vibrating at one or more vibration frequencies corresponding to the predetermined rotation frequency.

15. The electric toothbrush of claim 10 , further comprising:
a refill including the brush head and a brush neck, the refill being removably attached to the electric toothbrush handle, wherein when the refill is attached to the electric toothbrush handle a distance between an inner surface of the refill and an outer surface of the electric toothbrush handle is less than 0.16 mm.

16. The electric toothbrush of claim 10 , wherein the motor is configured to rotate the plurality of bristles clockwise and counterclockwise by a predetermined angle of rotation, and wherein the predetermined rotation frequency is greater than 100 Hz.

17. The electric toothbrush of claim 10 , wherein the handle further includes a light source and a pressure sensor, wherein the light source is configured to change color in response to changes in pressure detected by the pressure sensor.

18. A method for providing bristle driven pulsation of an electric toothbrush, the method comprising:
providing the electric toothbrush comprising a brush head with a plurality of angled bristles, the toothbrush having a linear motor, a gearing structure coupled to and driven by the linear motor to transform a linear movement of the linear motor along a longitudinal axis into an oscillating rotating movement of the plurality of angled bristles at a rotation frequency which is at or above a frequency threshold, wherein the plurality of angled bristles are attached to the brush head at a non-perpendicular angle with respect to the brush head; and
bristle-driven pulsation results as the plurality of angled bristles rotate and contact a contact surface, causing the brush head to move toward and away from the contact surface in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and in synchronization with the oscillating rotating movement of the plurality of angled bristles,
wherein the bristle-driven pulsation is the only cause of the brush head moving toward and away from the contact surface.

Assignees

• Braun Gmbh

Inventors

• Claire-Zimmet Karen Lynn
• Altmann Niclas
• Fritsch Thomas
• Schaefer Norbert

Classifications

• A46B15/0044 Primary

  with light signalling means (A46B15/0034, A46B15/0036 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61C17/3472

  with combined movements of the brush body · CPC title

• A46B15/0012

  with a pressure controlling device · CPC title

• A46B15/0008

  with means for controlling duration, e.g. time of brushing · CPC title

• A46B13/023

  with means for inducing vibration to the bristles · CPC title