Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Machines – Brushing
Patent
1992-05-05
1994-03-01
Roberts, Edward
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Machines
Brushing
15 28, 403313, 403314, 403326, 403377, A61C 1734, A46B 1302
Patent
active
052896048
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to an electric toothbrush, comprising a handle section with an electric motor drive as well as a drive shaft and a brush section with a shaft for driving a rotary bristle supporting structure and a housing for receiving the shaft and mounting the bristle supporting structure. In this arrangement, the brush section is adapted to be connected to the handle section by coupling means for positioning the brush section in its proper location relative to the handle section, and the drive shaft is adapted to engage with the shaft by engaging means, with coupling means associated with the housing of the brush section and with the handle section being in relative cooperation.
An electric toothbrush incorporating these features is already known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,552. On the one hand, the demountable head section of this toothbrush must be secured axially in order to avoid inadvertent separation of the head section from the handle section during use of the toothbrush, for example. On the other hand, because the electric motor drive causes the bristle supporting structure or the brush to perform a rotary movement, it is also necessary to secure the housing of the head section against a radial movement relative to the handle section, in order to avoid that rotation of the shaft received by the housing rotates also the housing. In the known toothbrush, this radial and axial securing function is accomplished in that raised buttons provided on the handle section fit in corresponding dimples arranged on the housing of the head section. Locating the head section on the handle section in both axial and radial direction is thus accomplished by a single coupling means. This arrangement proves disadvantageous because tolerances in the positioning of the parts to be coupled, which are the handle section and the head section, as well as of the drive shaft and the driven shaft in the head section cannot be compensated for without difficulty. If the drive shaft and the driven shaft of the head section are not in accurate relative alignment, coupling the head section to the handle section is practically not possible without distortions occurring between the brush housing section and the handle section. Moreover, the housing sections of electric toothbrushes are generally injection-molded parts made of an industrial plastics material. In consequence, the use of relatively soft materials subjects the coupling means to a certain amount of wear, causing them to become inoperative in the course of use of the toothbrush.
It is an object of the present invention to improve upon an electric toothbrush incorporating the features initially referred to in such a manner that a reliable coupling of brush section and handle section is ensured while allowing certain tolerances in the relative positioning of the parts to be coupled It is a further object herein to arrange the coupling means such that a potential wear of the coupling means does not impair the operating capability of the toothbrush.
In an electric toothbrush of the type initially referred to, these requirements are satisfied in that the brush section is located relative to the handle section in an axial and a radial direction with respect to a longitudinal center line of the shaft by respective separate coupling means, with coupling means associated with the drive shaft and with the shaft being in relative co-operation.
As used in the present application, the terms coupling means and engaging means shall signify the following: Where the term "coupling means" is used, it shall mean a connection between the housing parts of the brush section and of the handle section. By contrast, the term "engaging means" denotes a connection between the drive shaft and the shaft in the brush section for the transmission of a torque.
Separating the coupling means by their function in a means serving only for radial location and another means serving only for axial location of the brush section relative to the handle section makes it possible to compensate for relative posi
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Braun Aktiengesellschaft
Roberts Edward
LandOfFree
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