JP7378294B2 - Interdental cleaning tool - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an interdental cleaning tool for cleaning between teeth.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, interdental cleaning tools suitable for cleaning the interdental spaces of back teeth have been known (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2). This interdental cleaning tool has a main body having a base having a grip portion at one end that can be grasped with fingers, a shaft extending from the other end of the base, and a hardness lower than that of the main body. The cleaning part is made of an elastic material and covers at least a part of the outer surface of the shaft part.

In the interdental cleaning tool described in Patent Document 1, the base (handle base material body in the document) has a handle body and a tapered base material portion, and the tip of the tapered base material portion is formed to be curved. There is. In addition, a non-slip part made of an elastic material (elastomer in literature) is formed around the entire circumference in the middle of the tapered base material, and a non-slip part made of an elastic material (elastomer in the literature) is formed on the tapered base material so as to connect this non-slip part and the cleaning part. A long and thin elastic material is formed in the center of the surface of the part. With this configuration, the bases of the dorsal part located on the dorsal side, which is the outside of the curve of the tip of the tapered base part, and the ventral part, which is located on the ventral side, which is the inside of the curve of the tip of the tapered base part, are exposed.

In the interdental cleaning tool described in Patent Document 2, the base has a connection part that connects the grip part and the shaft part, and this connection part has a bent part bent from the end opposite to the grip part. (support part in the literature) is provided. In addition, a ventral deformed part and a dorsal deformed part are formed separately in the connecting part, and when the cleaning part is inserted between the teeth and moved back and forth, the ventral deformed part and the dorsal deformed part are formed separately. It is configured to be elastically deformed.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-104382 JP2017-86774A

By the way, in an interdental cleaning tool suitable for cleaning between the teeth of back teeth, when the cleaning part (shaft part) is inserted between the teeth and moved back and forth while applying an external force to the grip part, the shaft part Due to the friction and contact between the teeth and the cleaning portion to be covered, stress in the reciprocating direction and the direction crossing the reciprocating direction is transmitted from the shaft portion to the base portion. At this time, as in the interdental cleaning tool described in Patent Document 1, when the base is exposed at the dorsal side part on the outside of the curve and the ventral part on the inside of the curve of the tip of the tapered base part, the shaft part and the curved part There is a risk that the boundary between the two parts may be excessively deformed, or stress may be excessively concentrated on the curved part, resulting in damage.

On the other hand, the interdental cleaning tool described in Patent Document 2 can prevent damage to the boundary portion between the shaft portion and the bent portion and the bent portion due to the ventral side deformed portion and the dorsal side deformed portion. However, since the ventral side deformation part and the dorsal side deformation part are formed separately in the connecting part, the rigidity is lower than that of a shape in which the connecting part is integrated, and there is room for improvement.

Therefore, a highly durable interdental cleaning tool suitable for cleaning the interdental spaces of back teeth is desired.

An interdental cleaning tool according to one aspect of the present invention includes a base having a grip portion that can be gripped with fingers and an extension portion extending in a first direction from the grip portion, and a bent portion extending from an end opposite to the first direction and bent from the first direction to a second direction intersecting the first direction; and an end of the bent portion opposite to the extending portion; a main body having a shaft extending along the second direction from the main body; a soft member having a cleaning part configured with an outer shape that can be inserted between the cleaning parts, and an intersection angle between the first direction and the second direction is set at 30 degrees or more and 150 degrees or less, and the A protrusion is formed on the bent portion or the extension portion to protrude from the dorsal side which is the bent outside of the bent portion, and the soft member is formed at least on the dorsal side portion of the bent portion located on the dorsal side. It is characterized by covering.

In the case of an interdental cleaning tool that has a bent part like this interdental cleaning tool, when the cleaning part (shaft part) is inserted between the teeth and moved back and forth while applying an external force to the gripping part, the shaft part Due to the friction and contact between the teeth and the cleaning portion to be covered, stress in the reciprocating direction and the direction crossing the reciprocating direction is transmitted from the shaft portion to the extension portion via the bent portion.

In this interdental cleaning tool, a flexible soft member with lower hardness than the main body, which is composed of a shaft, a bent part, and a base (grip part and extension part), covers the dorsal part of the bent part. . Therefore, while maintaining appropriate strength due to the high rigidity of the main body, the soft member can absorb stress concentrated at the bent portion and exhibit a buffering function. Moreover, since the bent portion deforms appropriately, the stress load acting on the shaft portion (particularly the boundary portion between the shaft portion and the bent portion) can be alleviated.

Further, if a protrusion is provided on the bent part or the extended part as in the present interdental cleaning tool, the soft member will come into close contact with the protrusion, and even if the soft member expands or contracts, it will not easily peel off from the main body. Furthermore, the protrusions can compensate for the decrease in strength caused by the soft member. In this way, it was possible to provide a highly durable interdental cleaning tool suitable for cleaning the interdental spaces of back teeth.

As another configuration, it is preferable that the soft member further covers a dorsal side extension part located on the dorsal side of the extension part so as to be continuous with the dorsal part of the bent part.

In this way, if the dorsal extension part of the extension part is also covered with a soft member, it becomes possible to appropriately deform the base part, dispersing the stress concentrated at the bent part and reducing the stress load acting on the shaft part. It can be more relaxed. Furthermore, even when the bent portion comes into contact with the inner wall of the oral cavity during cleaning of the molars, it is possible to prevent damage to the oral cavity.

As another configuration, it is preferable that a ventral side portion of the bent portion and the extended portion, which is an inner side of the bent portion, is not covered with the soft member.

In this manner, the ventral side of the bent portion and the extended portion that is not covered with the soft member is less likely to be elastically deformed than the dorsal side. For this reason, it is possible to deform the bent part dorsally while ensuring appropriate strength to effectively alleviate stress loads acting on the shaft (particularly the boundary between the shaft and the bent part) and the bent part. can.

As another configuration, it is preferable that the protrusion height of the protrusion is equal to the thickness of the soft member adjacent to the protrusion.

For example, when injection molding is performed by injecting an elastic material from the distal end of the shaft, a force is applied to the shaft and the bending portion to tilt them dorsally in response to injection pressure. However, if a protrusion with a thickness equal to the thickness of the soft member is provided on the bent or extended part as in this interdental cleaning tool, the tip of the protrusion will come into contact with the mold and the axis of the injection pressure will be applied. It is possible to prevent the bent portion and the bent portion from tilting. Moreover, with this configuration, the elastic material wraps around the protrusion. As a result, the soft member can be molded at a predetermined position and at a desired thickness.

In addition, if the protrusion height of the protrusion is made equal to the thickness of the soft member, the protrusion may protrude from the soft member and injure the oral cavity, or the protrusion height may be too small and the anti-tilting function may be impaired. can be prevented.

As another configuration, it is preferable that the protrusion protrudes from the dorsal side portion of the bent portion along a direction parallel to the second direction.

In this way, if the protrusion is made to protrude along the direction parallel to the second direction, the protrusion direction of the protrusion will match the injection direction of the elastic material when injection molding is performed by injecting the elastic material from the tip side of the shaft part. do. As a result, since injection pressure acts on the protrusion in the protruding direction, the protrusion does not break due to the injection pressure, and the protrusion can reliably perform its tilting prevention function.

As another configuration, it is preferable that a dimension of the protrusion in the width direction perpendicular to both the first direction and the second direction is smaller than the dimension of the dorsal region in the width direction.

In this way, if the width of the protrusion is made smaller than the width of the dorsal part of the bent part, the elastic material will pass on both sides of the protrusion during injection molding, and the elastic material will be applied to the bent part and extension part downstream of the protrusion. can be supplied smoothly. As a result, the soft member can be molded at a predetermined position and at a desired thickness.

It is a top view showing the interdental cleaning tool group concerning this embodiment. It is a perspective view showing an interdental cleaning tool concerning this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main body according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main body according to the present embodiment viewed from the back side. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method of molding a soft member on a main body. It is a figure which shows the example of use of an interdental cleaning tool. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view showing an interdental cleaning tool according to another embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view showing an interdental cleaning tool according to another embodiment 2. FIG.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, embodiment of the interdental cleaning tool based on this invention is described based on drawing. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist thereof.

As shown in FIG. 1, the interdental cleaning tool group Da has a mounting surface H that is parallel to a plane that includes the bent center line of the interdental cleaning tool D, and a plurality of (10 in this embodiment) teeth. The interdental cleaning tool D is integrally formed by a plurality of (two in this embodiment) connecting protrusions R that connect adjacent interdental cleaning tools D to each other. This interdental cleaning tool group Da is housed inside a transparent plastic package having a placement surface H and distributed on the market. The interdental cleaning tool D in this embodiment has a flat inverted S-shape that is stably placed on the placement surface H when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the paper surface. Hereinafter, a plan view will be described in which a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper faces the mounting surface H on which the interdental cleaning tool D is mounted.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the interdental cleaning tool D includes a main body A in which a base part 1 having a grip part 11 and an extending part 12, a bent part 2, and a shaft part 3 are integrally molded; The soft member B is made of an elastic material having a hardness lower than the hardness of the soft member B and has a cleaning part 4. Hereinafter, the interdental cleaning tool D will be described with the outside of the bend 2 (on the right side of the paper in FIG. 2) being the dorsal side, and the inside of the bend 2 (on the left side of the paper in FIG. 2) being the ventral side.

The main body A is made of one or a combination of two or more synthetic resins such as polypropylene, ABS, polybutylene terephthalate, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, and polyacetal. The main body A in this embodiment is made of polypropylene. Further, it is preferable that the synthetic resin constituting the main body A contains a reinforcing agent to increase rigidity. Examples of reinforcing agents include fibrous reinforcing agents such as glass fiber, nanocellulose fiber, aramid fiber, and carbon fiber, plate-like reinforcing agents such as mica and glass frames, powdered reinforcing agents such as talc, and wollastonite. Needle-shaped reinforcing agents are mentioned. The content of the reinforcing agent is 5% by weight or more and 50% by weight or less, preferably 10% by weight or more and 40% by weight or less, and more preferably 15% by weight or more and 40% by weight or less.

The soft member B is made of an elastomer having a hardness lower than that of the main body A. As this elastomer, styrene-based elastomer is preferable, and silicone, olefin-based elastomer, polyester-based elastomer, etc. may also be used.

The grip portion 11 has a flat shape that allows the user to grip it with the pads of two fingers. The grip part 11 has a through-hole part 11a and a partition wall 11c that divides the through-hole part 11a into a plurality of parts (two in this embodiment). Further, on the ventral side of the gripping portion 11, a plurality of (two in this embodiment) connecting protrusions R that protrude along the mounting surface H are provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the main body A, the extending portion 12 is configured in the shape of a flat rod extending from the grip portion 11 in the first direction Xa. The extending portion 12 includes a dorsal extending portion 12b located on the dorsal side, an extending ventral surface 12c located on the ventral side, and a mutually parallel portion formed between the dorsal extending portion 12b and the extending ventral surface 12c. It consists of two side surfaces 12d, 12d. The dorsal side extension portion 12b includes an extended back surface 12b2 that is a surface perpendicular to the side surface 12d, and an extended convex portion 12b1 that projects perpendicularly and outward from the extended back surface 12b2. The thickness of the extending protrusion 12b1 in the direction perpendicular to the protruding direction is thinner than the thickness between the two side surfaces 12d, and the extending rear surface 12b2 is formed on both sides of the base end of the extending protrusion 12b1. has been done. The extending back surface 12b2 and the extending convex portion 12b1 extend along the first direction Xa over the entire area of the back side extending portion 12b. The entire area of the extended ventral surface 12c is a flat surface. A recessed portion 12a recessed toward the ventral side is formed at the dorsal boundary between the extended portion 12 and the grip portion 11 in the extended convex portion 12b1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the dorsal side extending portion 12b of the extending portion 12 is covered with the soft member B in close contact with the extending convex portion 12b1 and the extending back surface 12b2. The pair of outer surfaces covered by the soft member B are flush with the two side surfaces 12d, 12d. Hereinafter, when the main body A is covered with the soft member B, the outer surface of the soft member B that is flush with the two sides 12d, 12d of the main body A will be referred to as two side surfaces 12d, 12d. As a result, out of the external shape formed by the extension part 12 and the soft member B, the soft extended rear surface 12b3 and the mounting surface H of the extension part 12, which are located on the back side on a plane perpendicular to the mounting surface H, The soft member B is visible in the dorsal area formed by the dorsal halves of the two parallel sides 12d, 12d. On the other hand, an extended ventral surface 12c (an example of a ventral part) of the extended portion 12 located on the ventral side on a plane perpendicular to the mounting surface H is not covered with the soft member B and is not covered with the soft member B. The synthetic resin forming part 12 is exposed. Furthermore, ventral halves of the two side surfaces 12d, 12d (an example of the ventral side) of the extending portion 12 that are parallel to the mounting surface H are not covered with the soft member B, and constitute the extending portion 12. The synthetic resin is exposed.

Of the external shape constituted by the extending portion 12 and the soft member B, the portion of the soft extended rear surface 12b3 on the bending portion 2 side is configured in a convex arc shape having a center of curvature on the ventral side. Of the external shape constituted by the extending portion 12 and the soft member B, the portion of the soft extended rear surface 12b3 on the gripping portion 11 side is configured in a concave arc shape with the center of curvature on the back side, It forms a smooth continuous arc flush with the back surface of the. As a result, the back shape of the interdental cleaning tool D is an inverted S-curve, and the external shape composed of the extending portion 12 and the soft member B changes in width in plan view as it goes from the gripping portion 11 to the bent portion 2. is gradually becoming narrower.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the main body A, the bent portion 2 extends from the end of the extending portion 12 on the opposite side from the grip portion 11, and intersects with the first direction Xa from the first direction Xa (see FIG. In the first embodiment, the inner bending angle is 120 degrees), and it has a flat shape bent toward the second direction Xb. In other words, the dorsal bent part 21 (an example of a dorsal part) located on the dorsal side of the bent part 2 is configured in an arc shape with the center of curvature on the ventral side, and the ventral part 21 located on the ventral side of the bent part 2 The bent portion 22 (an example of a ventral portion) is also configured in an arcuate shape having a center of curvature on the ventral side. In this embodiment, the radius of curvature of the dorsal side bending part 21 is configured to be larger than the radius of curvature of the ventral side bending part 22. In other words, the dorsal bent region 21 has a smaller curvature and is gentler than the ventral bent region 22. Note that the intersection angle between the first direction Xa and the second direction Xb (the internal bending angle of the bent portion 2) is 30 degrees or more and 150 degrees or less, preferably 80 degrees or more and 140 degrees or less, and more preferably 100 degrees or more and 130 degrees or less. It is good that it consists of

In addition, in the entire area of the dorsal bent portion 21, a bent convex portion 21b that is flush with and continuous with the extended convex portion 12b1 of the extension portion 12, and a bent back surface 21a that is flush and continuous with the extended rear surface 12b2 are formed. has been done. The bent convex portion 21b projects outward from the bent back surface 21a, and extends in a gradually bent direction from the first direction Xa toward the second direction Xb. The bent ventral surface 22a of the ventral bent portion 22 is flush with and continuous with the extended ventral surface 12c, and the entire region of the bent ventral surface 22a is constituted by an arcuate flat surface.

A protrusion 23 is formed on the bent convex portion 21b of the bent portion 2 of the main body A so as to protrude along a direction parallel to the second direction Xb. As described later, this protrusion 23 is configured to be able to come into contact with a mold for forming the soft member B on the main body A, and the surface of the protrusion 23 that comes into contact with the mold is formed as a flat surface. has been done. The protrusion 23 in this embodiment is arranged at the center of the dorsal bending portion 21 of the bending portion 2 in the bending direction. As shown in FIG. 4, the protrusion 23 has a widthwise dimension W2 orthogonal to the first direction Xa and the second direction Xb on the curved back surface 21a of the dorsal curved region 21; It is formed smaller than W1. The widthwise dimension W2 of this projection 23 is a ratio of 10% to 80%, preferably 20% to 60%, more preferably 30% to 45%, with respect to the widthwise dimension W1 of the dorsal bent region 21. It is good that it consists of

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the dorsal bent portion 21 of the bent portion 2 is covered with the soft member B in close contact with the bent convex portion 21b and the bent back surface 21a. The pair of outer surfaces covered by the soft member B are flush with the two side surfaces 25, 25. Hereinafter, when the main body A is covered with the soft member B, the outer surfaces of the soft member B that are flush with the two side faces 25, 25 of the main body A are also referred to as two side faces 25, 25. As a result, out of the outer shape formed by the bending part 2 and the soft member B, the soft bending back surface 21c located on the back side and the dorsal half of the two side surfaces 25, 25 parallel to the mounting surface H in the bending part 2 are formed. The soft member B is visible in the dorsal region. Further, among the external shapes formed by the bending portion 2 and the soft member B, the soft bending back surface 21c located on the back side is configured in an arc shape having a center of curvature on the ventral side. On the other hand, a bent ventral surface 22a (an example of a ventral portion) located on the ventral side of the bent portion 2 is not covered with the soft member B, and the synthetic resin forming the bent portion 2 is exposed. Furthermore, the ventral halves of the two side surfaces 25, 25 (an example of the ventral side) of the bending part 2 that are parallel to the mounting surface H are not covered with the soft member B, and the synthetic material forming the bending part 2 Resin is exposed.

With such a configuration, the soft member B covers the dorsal bent portion 21 of the bent portion 2 of the main body A, and is continuous with this dorsal bent portion 21 to cover the dorsal extended portion 12b of the extended portion 12. It's even more covered. Further, the contact surface of the protrusion 23 that can come into contact with the molding die is not covered with the soft member B and is exposed. In other words, the protrusion height of the protrusion 23 is configured to be equal to the thickness of the soft member B surrounding the protrusion 23 (the soft member B adjacent to the protrusion 23).

As shown in FIG. 3, the shaft portion 3 is formed in the shape of a truncated conical rod that gradually tapers along the second direction Xb from the end opposite to the extension portion 12 with respect to the bent portion 2. . The outer shape of the shaft portion 3 has a linear taper such that the diameter decreases from the connection portion (base end) with the bent portion 2 toward the distal end.

The cleaning part 4, which constitutes a part of the soft member B, has an outer shape that covers at least a part of the outer surface of the shaft part 3 and can be inserted between the teeth. As shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning part 4 in this embodiment includes a covering part 41 that is in close contact with the entire area of the shaft part 3, and a brush part 42 having a plurality of bristles protruding outward from the covering part 41. have. The covering portion 41 has a thickness smaller than the diameter of the shaft portion 3. The brush portion 42 is formed into a conical shape that becomes tapered as it moves away from the covering portion 41 . In the interdental cleaning tool D according to this embodiment, when the cleaning part 4 is inserted between the teeth, the bristles of the brush part 42 are flexibly deformed, and the covering part 41 and the brush part 42 are in contact with the teeth. It is possible to remove foreign substances present between the teeth (food particles, etc.) and foreign substances attached to the teeth (dental plaque, etc.).

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram illustrating the molding of the interdental cleaning tool D using the molding die K. The molding die K is used to inject a molten elastomer (hereinafter referred to as "molten elastomer"), which will become the soft member B after molding, into a main body A, which is a primary molded product, and then performs interdental cleaning, which is a secondary molded product. This is a mold for manufacturing tool D. The molding die K is composed of an upper mold Ka and a lower mold Kb, each having a mold surface (matching surface) parallel to the mounting surface H.

A detailed explanation of the molding of the main body A, which is a primary molded product, will be omitted, but the main body A is made by pouring molten resin from a gate provided at the gate mark 11c1 formed on one surface of the partition wall 11c described above. Molded by injection.

The molded main body A is formed between the upper mold Ka and the lower mold Kb, including the above-mentioned grip portion 11, the portion of the extending portion 12 excluding the dorsal side extending portion 12b, and the dorsal bent portion of the bent portion 2. The portion other than 21 and the tip of the protrusion 23 are arranged so as to come into contact with the inner surface of the molding die K. That is, between the upper mold Ka and the lower mold Kb, there is melting in the shaft part 3, the part of the dorsal bent part 21 of the bent part 2 excluding the protrusion 23, and the dorsal extended part 12b of the extending part 12. A cavity is provided through which the elastomer flows. Further, a gate G is provided on the tip side of the shaft portion 3 between the upper mold Ka and the lower mold Kb, and the molten elastomer is injected into the cavity from this gate G along the second direction Xb. .

The molten elastomer that has flowed into the cavity passes around the shaft portion 3 and passes through the dorsal bent portion 21 located on the dorsal side of the bent portion 2 and the dorsal extended portion 12b located on the dorsal side of the extended portion 12. It flows in the order of. At this time, the injection pressure of the molten elastomer acts on the shank 3 and the step at the boundary between the shank 3 and the bent part 2, and the shank 3 and the bent part 2 receive a force that causes them to tilt dorsally. acts. However, in this embodiment, since the protrusion 23 is provided on the back surface of the bent convex part 21b of the bent part 2, the tip of the protrusion 23 comes into contact with the molding die K, and the injection pressure causes the shaft part 3 and the bent part 2 to It is possible to prevent the tip from tilting. Further, with this configuration, the molten elastomer wraps around the protrusion 23. As a result, the soft member B can be molded at a predetermined position and at a desired thickness, so that a homogeneous product can be manufactured and products with poor durability can be prevented from being produced.

Moreover, if the protrusion 23 is made to protrude along a direction parallel to the second direction Xb as in this embodiment, it will coincide with the injection direction of the molten elastomer. As a result, since the injection pressure acts on the protrusion 23 in the protruding direction, the protrusion 23 will not break due to the injection pressure, and the protrusion 23 can reliably perform its tilting prevention function. Furthermore, as in the present embodiment, if the width of the protrusion 23 is made smaller than the width of the dorsal bent portion 21 of the bent portion 2, the molten elastomer will pass through both sides of the protrusion 23 and enter the cavity downstream of the protrusion 23. The molten elastomer can be smoothly supplied to the elastomer. As a result, the soft member B can be molded in a more predetermined position and with a desired thickness. Further, it is possible to prevent the possibility that the protruding height of the protrusion 23 is too small and the tilt prevention function is impaired.

FIG. 6 shows how to use the interdental cleaning tool D. The interdental cleaning tool D having the bent portion 2 can be held in the following three ways.
(1) A first gripping method in which the gripping portion 11 is held between the thumb and index finger (2) A second gripping method in which the gripping portion 11 is held between the thumb and middle finger and the index finger is placed along the soft extended back surface 12b3 of the extension portion 12 Grasping method (3) Third grasping method of grasping the entire area of the grasping part 11 and the extension part 12

The user holds the interdental cleaning tool D using any gripping method and inserts the cleaning part 4 into the oral cavity from the distal end to the proximal end so that the cleaning part 4 is inserted between the teeth of the back teeth. Then, the user operates the interdental cleaning tool D to reciprocate the cleaning unit 4 within the interdental space. When the cleaning part 4 (shaft part 3) is inserted between the teeth and moved back and forth with an external force applied to the grip part 11, due to the friction and contact between the cleaning part 4 covering the shaft part 3 and the teeth, Stress in the reciprocating direction or in a direction crossing the reciprocating direction is transmitted from the shaft portion 3 to the extension portion 12 via the bent portion 2 .

As described above, in this embodiment, the soft member B, which is less hard and more flexible than the main body A, which is composed of the shaft portion 3, the bent portion 2, and the base portion 1 (the gripping portion 11 and the extending portion 12), It covers the dorsal bent part 21 of the bent part 2. Therefore, while maintaining appropriate strength due to the high rigidity of the main body A, the soft member B can absorb the stress concentrated on the bent portion 2 and exhibit a buffering function. Furthermore, since the bent portion 2 is appropriately deformed, the stress load acting on the shaft portion 3 (particularly the boundary portion between the shaft portion 3 and the bent portion 2) can be alleviated.

Furthermore, if the dorsal side extension portion 12b of the extension portion 12 is also covered with the soft member B as in the present embodiment, it becomes possible to appropriately deform the base portion 1, while dispersing the stress concentrated on the bent portion 2. , the stress load acting on the shaft portion 3 can be further alleviated. Furthermore, the ventral side of the bent portion 2 and the extended portion 12 that is not covered with the soft member B is less likely to be elastically deformed than the dorsal side. Therefore, by deforming the bent part 2 dorsally while ensuring appropriate strength, the stress load acting on the shaft part 3 (particularly the boundary part between the shaft part 3 and the bent part 2) and the bent part 2 can be effectively reduced. can be relaxed.

Further, if the projection 23 is provided on the bent portion 2 as in this embodiment, the soft member B will be in close contact with the projection 23, so that even if the soft member B is expanded or contracted, it will not easily peel off from the main body A. Furthermore, the protrusion 23 can compensate for the decrease in strength caused by the soft member B. Moreover, if the protrusion height of the protrusion 23 is made equal to the thickness of the soft member B, the protrusion 23 will not protrude from the soft member B and damage the inside of the oral cavity.

[Other embodiments]
(a) As shown in FIG. 7, the soft member B may be configured to cover only the dorsal bent portion 21 of the bent portion 2. That is, the entire extension portion 12 may be exposed without being covered with the soft member B. Further, a portion of the dorsal side extending portion 12b of the extending portion 12 on the bent portion 2 side may be covered with the soft member B.

(b) As shown in FIG. 8, the soft member B may be configured to cover not only the dorsal extension portion 12b of the extension portion 12 but also the entire area including the ventral bent portion 22. Further, the soft member B may be configured to cover a portion of the dorsal side extension portion 12b on the bent portion 2 side and a portion of the ventral side bent portion 22 on the bent portion 2 side.

(c) In the embodiment described above, the protrusion 23 is formed to protrude from the back surface of the bent convex portion 21b of the bent portion 2 along the direction parallel to the second direction Xb. Instead, the protrusion 23 may be formed to protrude from the back surface of the bent convex portion 21b along the direction intersecting the second direction Xb. Further, the formation position of the protrusion 23 is not limited to the central part in the bending direction of the dorsal bending part 21 of the bending part 2, but may be provided at any position in the bending direction of the dorsal bending part 21, or It may be provided on the extending convex portion 12b1 of the portion 12.

(d) The interdental cleaning tool D is not limited to the form in which a plurality of interdental cleaning tools D are distributed on the market in a connected state. For example, the interdental cleaning tool D alone may be distributed on the market.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION This invention can be utilized for the interdental cleaning tool suitable for cleaning the interdental space of back teeth.

1 : Base part 2 : Bent part 3 : Shaft part 4 : Cleaning part 11 : Grip part 12 : Extension part 12b : Dorsal extension part 21 : Dorsal bend part (dorsal part)
22: Ventral bending part (ventral part)
23: Protrusion A: Main body B: Soft member D: Interdental cleaning tool Xa: First direction Xb: Second direction

Claims (6)

a base having a grip portion that can be gripped with fingers and an extension portion extending from the grip portion in a first direction; a bent portion bent from a first direction toward a second direction intersecting the first direction; and an axis extending along the second direction from an end of the bent portion opposite to the extending portion. a main body having a part;
a soft member made of an elastic material having a hardness lower than that of the main body, and having a cleaning part that covers at least a part of the outer surface of the shaft part and has an outer shape that allows insertion between the teeth. Prepare,
The intersection angle between the first direction and the second direction is set to 30 degrees or more and 150 degrees or less,
A protrusion is formed on the bent portion or the extended portion so as to protrude from the dorsal side, which is the outside of the bent portion,
The soft member is an interdental cleaning tool that covers at least a dorsal part located on the dorsal side of the bent part. The interdental cleaning tool according to claim 1, wherein the soft member further covers a dorsal side extending portion located on the dorsal side of the extending portion so as to be continuous with the dorsal side portion of the bent portion. The interdental cleaning tool according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a ventral side portion of the bent portion and the extended portion, which is an inner side of the bent portion, is not covered with the soft member. The interdental cleaning tool according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a protrusion height of the protrusion is equivalent to a wall thickness of the soft member adjacent to the protrusion. The interdental cleaning tool according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the protrusion protrudes from the dorsal portion of the bent portion along a direction parallel to the second direction. The interdental cleaning according to claim 5, wherein a dimension of the protrusion in the width direction perpendicular to both the first direction and the second direction is smaller than the dimension of the dorsal region in the width direction. Ingredients.

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