JP2017121267A - toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toothbrush capable of suppressing the damage of an industrial design.SOLUTION: A toothbrush comprises a head part 14 having hair implanting faces 21-1b on a tip side; and a handle part 16 arranged closer to a rear end side than the head part and containing a handle part body part 31 formed of a soft resin. The handle part body part includes a design region 80, in which a design part 81 is arranged, a stress buffer part 82 arranged in at least a portion around the design part for buffering a stress to be transmitted to the design part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a toothbrush.

  Conventionally, when a toothbrush is used (specifically, when the toothbrush is held in the mouth), oral injury may occur, especially when the toothbrush user is an infant of 1 to 3 years old Many cases suffer from oral trauma.

  Conventionally, there is a toothbrush disclosed in Patent Document 1 as a toothbrush that can suppress a head portion and a neck portion from being broken or broken. Patent Document 1 discloses a toothbrush in which a coating layer made of a soft resin covering 70% or more of the total surface area of the head portion and the neck portion is formed on the surface of a base made of hard resin. ing. In Patent Document 1, by adopting the above configuration, even when an excessive load is applied to the head portion or the neck portion, it becomes possible to make the handle body difficult to break, or the head portion or the neck portion is broken. Even in such a case, it is disclosed that it is possible to suppress the exposure of the broken portion by the coating layer.

  In the toothbrush disclosed in Patent Document 1 having the above-described configuration, since the base constituting the distal end portion of the head portion is covered with a soft resin, the toothbrush is strongly bitten, or the distal end of the head portion hits the oral cavity strongly. When this is done, the soft resin functions as a cushioning material. For this reason, by using the toothbrush disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is possible to suppress damage in the oral cavity caused by the tip of the head.

JP 2013-458 A

  The toothbrush for infants is required to have a design such as a character. However, even if a design such as a character is formed on a handle portion made of a soft resin by a transfer seal or a hot stamp, the handle portion is easily deformed, so that there is a problem that the transfer seal or the hot stamp is easily peeled off. Further, even if the design is formed by printing, there is a problem that the design is cracked due to deformation of the handle portion.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide a toothbrush that can suppress damage to a design.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it has a head portion having a flocked surface on the front end side, and a handle portion including a handle portion main body that is disposed on the rear end side from the head portion and formed of a soft resin. The handle portion main body includes a design region in which a design portion is disposed, and a stress buffer portion disposed in at least a part of the periphery of the design region to buffer stress transmitted to the design region. Is provided.

  Moreover, the toothbrush which concerns on 1 aspect of the said invention WHEREIN: The said stress buffer part is arrange | positioned on the both sides of the length direction of the said handle part main body on both sides of the said design area | region.

  In the toothbrush according to the aspect of the present invention, the stress buffering portion includes a concave groove.

  In the toothbrush according to the aspect of the present invention, the stress buffer portion is formed of a second soft resin having a hardness lower than that of the soft resin.

  In the toothbrush according to the aspect of the present invention, the stress buffering portion is provided to be opened or penetrated in a direction in which the design region is exposed.

  In this invention, since it can reduce that stress is transmitted to a design area | region, damage to a design can be suppressed.

It is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention, Comprising: It is a side view of a toothbrush. It is a front view of the toothbrush shown in FIG. It is a rear view of the toothbrush shown in FIG. It is a side view of the toothbrush 10 which the handle | steering-wheel main body 31 deform | transformed. It is a figure which shows the modification of a stress buffer part. It is a figure which shows the modification of a stress buffer part.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the toothbrush of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. Note that the drawings used in the following description are for explaining the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention, and the size, thickness, dimensions, etc. of each part shown in the drawings may be different from the actual dimensional relationship of the toothbrush. is there. Here, for example, a description will be given using an example in which a neck portion having a width equal to or less than the maximum width of the head portion is disposed between the head portion and the handle portion.

  FIG. 1 is a side view of a toothbrush according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view of the toothbrush shown in FIG. 2, illustration of the brush part 12 comprised by the several hair | bristle bundle 12-1 shown in FIG. 1 is abbreviate | omitted for convenience of explanation. FIG. 3 is a rear view of the toothbrush shown in FIG.

  In the structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals. 1 to 3 indicates the extending direction of the handle body 11 (the extending direction of the neck portion 15) when the toothbrush 10 is not used. The Z direction shown in FIG. 1 indicates a first direction (normal direction) orthogonal to the flocked surface 21-1b when the toothbrush 10 is not used. 2 and 3 indicates the width direction of the toothbrush 10 (in other words, the second direction orthogonal to the Z direction and the X direction).

  With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, the toothbrush 10 of the present embodiment includes a handle body 11 and a brush portion 12. The handle body 11 includes a head part 14, a neck part 15, a handle part 16, a head part 14, a neck part 15, and a hard member 17 constituting a part of the handle part 16. In the present embodiment, the neck portion between the flocked surface 21-1b and the handle portion 16 is smaller in width in the second direction (Y direction) than the width of the head portion 14 (maximum width in the Y direction). The toothbrush 10 in which 15 is arrange | positioned is demonstrated.

  The head unit 14 includes a base member 21 made of a hard resin and a first soft resin 22 that covers a part of the base member 21. The base member 21 is a part of the constituent elements of the hard member 17 made of hard resin, and includes a base member main body 21-1 and two support portions 21-2. The base member main body 21-1 reduces the outer shape of the head portion 14 by about 1 to 2 mm so that the first soft resin 22 can be disposed on the side surface and the bottom surface 21-1a of the base member main body 21-1. The shape is different. The base member main body 21-1 has a tip portion 21-1A, a bottom surface 21-1a, a flocked surface 21-1b, and a flocked hole 21-1B.

  The base member 21 configured as described above has a rear end integrally formed with a tip portion of the core portion 25 (one end of the core portion 25). As the hard resin constituting the base member 21, a resin harder than the first soft resin 22 is used. Specifically, as the hard resin constituting the base member main body 21-1, for example, a resin having a flexural modulus (JIS K7203) in the range of 500 to 3000 MPa can be used.

  Specific examples of such a hard resin include, for example, polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polycyclohexylene dimethylene terephthalate (PCT), polyacetal (POM), polystyrene (PS). And acrylonitrile / butadiene / styrene resin (ABS), cellulose propionate (CP), polyarylate, polycarbonate, acrylonitrile / styrene copolymer resin (AS), and the like. The said hard resin may be used individually by 1 type, and may be used in combination of 2 or more type as appropriate.

  The first soft resin 22 has a side surface of the base member main body 21-1 in a state where the flocked surface 21-1b, the plurality of flocked holes 21-1B, and the end surface 21-2a of the two support portions 21-2 are exposed. It is provided so as to cover the bottom surface 21-1a. Thereby, the 1st soft resin 22 is arrange | positioned so that the front-end | tip part 21-1A of the base member main body 21-1 may be covered.

  Thus, by arranging the first soft resin 22 so as to cover the tip portion 21-1A of the base member main body 21-1, the user can place the toothbrush 10 at the tip portion 21-1A. Since the first soft resin 22 functions as a cushioning material, an external force is applied in the direction from the rear end side to the front end side of the toothbrush 10, and the first soft resin 22 disposed at the front end 21-1A is used. It is possible to prevent the user's oral cavity from being damaged when strongly pressed into the user's oral cavity.

  As the first soft resin 22, for example, a soft resin having a hardness of JIS K 7215 Shore A of 90 or less may be used. Examples of such a soft resin include elastomer resins such as polyolefin elastomers, styrene elastomers, and polyester elastomers. Among them, styrene elastomers are preferable from the viewpoint of weldability with polypropylene (PP). . Specific examples of the styrenic elastomer include, for example, Kuraray Co., Ltd. Septon (trade name), Riken Technos Co., Ltd. Rheostomer (trade name), and the like.

  Further, the first soft resin 22 may be appropriately selected according to the type of hard resin constituting the base member 21. Specifically, when polypropylene (PP) is used as the hard resin constituting the base member 21, the first soft resin 22 is preferably, for example, a polyolefin-based elastomer or a styrene-based elastomer, and more preferably a styrene-based elastomer. . By making the combination of the hard resin and the first soft resin 22 constituting the base member 21 the above combination, sufficient adhesion between the base member 21 and the first soft resin 22 can be ensured. it can.

  The neck portion 15 is a portion that connects the head portion 14 and the handle portion 16. The width of the neck portion 15 in the Y direction is configured to be narrower than the width of the head portion 14 and the handle portion 16. The thickness of the neck portion 15 in the Z direction can be the same as the thickness of the head portion 14, for example.

  The neck portion 15 includes a core portion 25 that is a component of the hard member 17 and a soft portion 26. The core portion 25 extends in the X direction (the extending direction of the neck portion 15) and penetrates the neck portion 15, and extends in the X direction, with one end being a first portion. 25-1 and a second portion 25-2 disposed in a part of the handle portion 16.

  The first portion 25-1 has the same thickness in the X direction. When a strong external force is applied to the tip of the head part 14, the neck part 15 is bent at the deformed part 15A shown in FIG. 2 (for example, near the center of the neck part 15) (in other words, the tip of the head part 14). The thickness and shape of the first portion 25-1 and the thickness of the soft portion 26 disposed around the first portion 25-1 may be determined so that the force applied to the first portion 25-1 is released.

  Specifically, the area of the cut surface of the neck portion 15 obtained by cutting the central portion in the X direction of the neck portion 15 with a surface orthogonal to the X direction (the cut surface of the first portion 25-1). When the area and the area of the cut surface of the soft part 26 are 100%, the area of the cut surface of the first portion 25-1 may be 5% or more and less than 50%, preferably Is preferably 27%, for example.

  As the shape of the first portion 25-1 when cut along a plane orthogonal to the X direction, for example, a circular shape, an elliptical shape, a square, a rectangular shape, a diamond shape, a star shape, or the like can be used. In consideration of the safety of the user, the corner of the first portion 25-1 is preferably rounded (round shape).

  By the way, when brushing teeth using the toothbrush 10, the neck portion 15 is in the Z direction (in other words, the direction in which a force is applied when pressing the tip of the brush portion 12 between the teeth or between teeth). It is preferable that the material is not easily deformed (in other words, the tip of the brush portion 12 can be firmly pressed against teeth or between teeth).

  By making the width of the first portion 25-1 in the Z direction larger than the width of the first portion 25-1 in the Y direction, the tip of the head unit 14 is not degraded without reducing the cleaning performance of the toothbrush 10. When a strong external force or a weak external force is applied, the deformable portion 15A can be bent in the Y direction. Thereby, since it becomes possible to escape the force added to the front-end | tip of the head part 14, it can suppress that the oral cavity of the user of the toothbrush 10 is damaged.

  In particular, when the user of the toothbrush 10 is an infant of 1 to 3 years old, it may run with the toothbrush 10 held in the mouth. In such a case, even if the infant falls, the infant It is possible to prevent the oral cavity from being damaged.

  1 to 3, the handle portion 16 has a handle portion main body 31. The handle portion main body 31 is a portion that a user of the toothbrush 10 grips with a hand, and is constituted by the second soft resin 27. The handle part main body 31 has a design region 80 having a rectangular shape in plan view on the surface (+ Z side) on which the brush part 12 is disposed. The design region 80 is disposed on the rear end side of the ring-shaped depressions 32-1 and 32-2 in the handle body 31. The design area 80 is an area in which a design part 81 on which characters, product names, trademarks, and the like are displayed is arranged. As the design portion 81, a design is decorated by transfer such as a transfer seal or a hot stamp, or printing. The transfer seal uses a seal in which an adhesive layer, an ink layer, a release coat, and a film are sequentially laminated from the transfer target side, and the ink layer is transferred to the transfer target by heating the transfer seal and pressurizing the transfer target. Is. In the hot stamping, a transfer film having a transfer night such as a metal night is pressed against the transfer object by a hot plate on which a plate is attached, thereby transferring the transfer night to the transfer object. As printing, a known printing method such as silk screen printing or offset printing can be used.

  Stress buffering portions 82 are disposed on at least part of the periphery of the design region 80 in the handle portion main body 31, more specifically, on both sides in the X direction across the design region 80. The stress buffering part 82 buffers the deformation stress in the X direction transmitted to the design region 80. Each stress buffer 82 extends in the Y direction when viewed from the Z side, and is formed to be longer than at least the width of the design region 80. Each stress buffering portion 82 is formed by a recessed groove formed in the Z direction, which is the direction in which the design region 80 (designed portion 81) is exposed, or a recessed groove (through hole) 82a that passes therethrough.

  By configuring the handle portion body 31 with the second soft resin 27, when a strong external force is applied in the direction from the rear end of the toothbrush 10 toward the tip of the head portion 14 with the toothbrush 10 in the mouth, The handle portion main body 31 can be deformed (specifically, bent). As a result, not only the neck portion 15 but also the handle portion main body 31 is bent, so that it is possible to release an external force from the rear end of the toothbrush 10 toward the front end of the head portion 14 in a different direction. Damage to the oral cavity of 10 users can be suppressed.

  For the toothbrush 10, in addition to the external force applied in the direction from the rear end toward the tip of the head portion 14, brushing during normal use may be applied to the head portion 14 by, for example, an arrow B in FIG. 4. -The force to Z side is added and the handle part main body 31 is deformed. Thus, when the stress which bends and deforms the handle | steering-wheel main body 31 with the force added to the length direction of the toothbrush 10, or the direction orthogonal to the flocking surface 21-1b is added, the stress buffer part formed of the ditch | groove 82a Since the handle 82 is provided, the handle portion main body 31 is deformed in the stress buffering portion 82 located on the tip side of the design region 80 as indicated by an arrow C. In other words, the bending stress applied to the handle portion main body 31 is reduced from being transmitted to the design region 80 due to the stress buffering portion 82 buffering.

  As a method of manufacturing the toothbrush 10 having the above configuration, the core portion 25 is formed in advance by injection molding or the like. Next, the core 25 is inserted into a secondary mold for molding the toothbrush 10 in a state of being in partial contact (position exposed on the surface of the toothbrush 10), and then melted into the secondary mold. The soft resin 27 is filled and cooled and solidified. As a result, the handle body 11 having the core portion 25 therein and having the concave groove 82a formed as the stress buffer portion 82 is molded. For the formed handle body 11, a roll-type thermal transfer machine in which a rotating roll presses the transfer foil against the design area 80, and a rubber attached to the heating plate moves up and down with respect to the design area 80 to design the transfer foil. Up-down type thermal transfer machine that presses against the region 80, after covering the handle body 11 with the transfer foil, the air between the transfer foil and the handle body 11 is sucked to cause the transfer foil to follow the handle body 11, and then the rubber is The design portion 81 is transferred and formed in the design area 80 by using a vacuum press transfer machine or the like that bulges and pressurizes the transfer foil.

  According to the toothbrush 10 of the present embodiment, even when the handle portion body 31 is formed of a soft resin and a stress that is bent and deformed is applied to the handle portion body 31, the stress buffer portion 82 cushions and is transmitted to the design region 80. Since this can be reduced, the design portion 81 can be prevented from peeling off. In particular, in the present embodiment, since the stress buffering portions 82 are arranged on both sides of the design region 80 in the length direction in which stress is easily transmitted, it is possible to effectively suppress the stress from being applied to the design region 80. Further, in this embodiment, since the stress buffering portion 82 is formed by the concave groove 82a, the stress buffering portion 82 can be easily formed by the secondary mold and enters the concave groove 82a. Thus, it is possible to prevent the toothbrush 10 from becoming unsanitary due to the remaining water.

  Therefore, in the toothbrush 10 of this embodiment, when a strong external force is applied in a direction from the rear end of the toothbrush 10 toward the tip of the head portion 14 with the user holding the toothbrush 10 in the mouth, the second soft The neck portion 15 and the handle portion 16 having the resin 27 as a constituent element are deformed, so that the force transmitted to the tip of the head portion 14 is released and the oral cavity of the user of the toothbrush 10 is prevented from being damaged, while the design portion It is also possible to suppress damage to 81.

[Modified example of stress buffer]
5 and 6 are diagrams showing modifications of the stress buffer portion.
The stress buffering portion 82 in the toothbrush 10 is configured by a concave groove formed in the Z direction or a concave groove (through hole) 82a that passes therethrough. For example, as shown in FIG. It is good also as a structure formed with the soft resin 82c whose hardness is smaller than 2 soft resin 27. As an example, the soft resin 27 forming the handle portion main body 31 is formed of a soft resin having a hardness of 80 JIS K 7215 Shore A among the soft resins exemplified in the handle body 11 described above. As an example, the soft resin 82c is formed of a soft resin having a hardness of JIS K 7215 Shore A of 30 or 60 (preferably, hardness 30) among the soft resins exemplified in the handle body 11. By forming the stress buffering portion 82 from the soft resin 82c, the handle portion 16 is damaged even when a strong force is applied to the handle portion main body 31 as compared with the case where the stress buffering portion 82 is formed as the concave groove 82a. (In other words, the handle portion 16 is broken) can be suppressed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the stress buffer portion 82 may have a configuration in which a plurality of through holes 82 b are arranged at intervals in the Y direction. By providing a plurality of through-holes 82b, in addition to obtaining the same operation and effect as when the concave groove 82b is provided, the diameter and the number of through-holes 82b are adjusted to be transmitted to the design region 80. It is possible to set an optimum pressing force by the head unit 14 during brushing while suppressing the stress.

  Further, the stress buffering portion 82 is formed of a soft resin having anisotropy so as to extend in the Y direction when stress is applied (so that the elongation in the Y direction becomes larger than the elongation in the X direction). May be.

  The preferred embodiments according to the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the examples. Various shapes, combinations, and the like of the constituent members shown in the above-described examples are examples, and various modifications can be made based on design requirements and the like without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the stress buffering portion 82 is disposed in a part of the periphery of the design region 80 is illustrated. However, the configuration is not limited thereto, and the stress buffering portion 82 is provided so as to surround the entire periphery of the design region 80. It is good also as a structure to arrange.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the head part 14, the neck part 15, and the handle | steering-wheel part 16 other than the core part 25 illustrated the structure formed with a soft resin, it is not limited to this structure, For example, other than the handle | steering-wheel part 16 is shown. The present invention can also be applied to a toothbrush in which other portions are formed of a hard resin and a toothbrush in which all of the head portion 14, the neck portion 15 and the handle portion 16 are formed of a soft resin.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the structure which arrange | positions the design area | region 80 in the rear end side rather than the ring-shaped hollow parts 32-1 and 32-2, it illustrated, The ring-shaped hollow part 32 is not limited to this. -1, in addition to the configuration disposed on the tip side from 32-2, and the configuration disposed at a position between the ring-shaped depressions 32-1, 32-2, the ring-shaped depressions 32-1, 32. -2 may not be provided.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, the neck part 15 whose width | variety of a Y direction is smaller than the width | variety of the head part 14 (maximum width | variety of a Y direction) is arrange | positioned between the flocked surface 21-1b and the handle | steering-wheel part 16. Although the toothbrush 10 was demonstrated, it is not limited to this structure, For example, the location where the width | variety of a Y direction is the same as the maximum width of the head part 14 between the flocked surface 21-1b and the handle | steering-wheel part 16 is mentioned. A toothbrush, if present, is also included in the present invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Toothbrush, 14 ... Head part, 21-1b ... Flocking surface, 16 ... Handle part, 31 ... Handle part main body, 80 ... Design area, 81 ... Design part, 82 ... Stress buffer part, 82a ... Concave groove

Claims (5)

A head portion having a flocked surface on the tip side;
A handle portion including a handle portion body disposed on the rear end side from the head portion and formed of a soft resin;
The handle body includes a design region in which a design portion is disposed, and a stress buffer portion disposed in at least a part of the periphery of the design region and buffering stress transmitted to the design region.   The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the stress buffering portion is disposed on both sides in the length direction of the handle portion main body with the design region interposed therebetween.   The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the stress buffering portion includes a concave groove.   The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the stress buffer portion is formed of a soft resin having a hardness lower than that of the soft resin forming the handle portion main body.   The toothbrush according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the stress buffering portion is provided to be opened or penetrated in a direction in which the design region is exposed.

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