Brush section for an electric toothbrush
DCFirst Claim
1. A brush section for an electric toothbrush hand piece having a rotary drive shaft, comprisinga carrier tube to which is fitted a bristle carrier carrying a plurality of bristle tufts distributing over a face of said bristle carrier, each said bristle tuft comprising a plurality of bristles, said bristle carrier and said plurality of tufts rotatable in unison relative the carrier tube, a longitudinal axle rotationally disposed within the carrier tube and drivingly connected to the bristle carrier and adapted to be coupled to the rotary drive shaft of the hand piece, and said carrier tube being adapted to plug onto a mount of the hand piece of the electric toothbrush, wherein at least one spring element is attached to the brush section and is arranged between a radially inwardly directed surface of the carrier tube and a confronting radially outwardly directed surface of the mount and biases the carrier tube relative to the mount and the plugged-on carrier tube is non-rotatable relative the mount.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention is directed to a brush section (2) for an electric toothbrush (1), having a carrier tube (4) to which is fitted a bristle carrier (5) comprising a plurality of bristles (6). The carrier tube (4) is adapted to plug onto a mount (7) of a hand piece (3) of the electric toothbrush (1). Provision is made for spring elements (14) arranged between the carrier tube (4) and the mount (7). Noises and vibrations are thereby reduced when the electric toothbrush (1) is in the activated condition.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1. A brush section for an electric toothbrush hand piece having a rotary drive shaft, comprising
a carrier tube to which is fitted a bristle carrier carrying a plurality of bristle tufts distributing over a face of said bristle carrier, each said bristle tuft comprising a plurality of bristles, said bristle carrier and said plurality of tufts rotatable in unison relative the carrier tube, a longitudinal axle rotationally disposed within the carrier tube and drivingly connected to the bristle carrier and adapted to be coupled to the rotary drive shaft of the hand piece, and said carrier tube being adapted to plug onto a mount of the hand piece of the electric toothbrush, wherein at least one spring element is attached to the brush section and is arranged between a radially inwardly directed surface of the carrier tube and a confronting radially outwardly directed surface of the mount and biases the carrier tube relative to the mount and the plugged-on carrier tube is non-rotatable relative the mount.
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10. A brush section for an electric toothbrush hand piece having a rotary drive shaft extending therefrom, comprising
a carrier tube having a major longitudinal axis to which is fitted a bristle carrier carrying a plurality of bristle tufts distributed over a face of said bristle carrier, each said bristle tuft comprising a plurality of bristles and said carrier tube being adapted to plug onto a mount of the hand piece of the electric toothbrush, the mount being not rigidly connected to the drive shaft, said bristle carrier and said plurality of tufts being rotatable in unison relative said carrier tube, a longitudinal axle rotationally disposed within the carrier tube and drivingly connected to the bristle carrier and adapted to be driven by the rotary drive shaft of the hand piece, and wherein at least one elongate shoulder made of a plastics material forms a spring element arranged between the carrier tube and the mount, said elongate shoulder being attached to the brush section and disposed on an inwardly directed surface of the carrier tube and having, along a length of said elongate shoulder, an average height in a radially inward direction protruding inwards from the adjacent inwardly directed tube surface, and wherein the elongate shoulder'"'"'s length along the longitudinal axis is substantially greater than its average height so as to define a distributed abutment surface area for contacting the mount.
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17. A brush section for an electric toothbrush having a rotary output drive shaft extending from a hand piece, comprising
a carrier tube to which is fitted a bristle carrier carrying a plurality of bristle tufts distributed over a face of said bristle carrier, each said bristle tuft comprising a plurality of bristles, said bristle carrier and said plurality of tufts being rotatable in unison relative said carrier tube, a longitudinal axle rotationally disposed within the carrier tube and drivingly connected to the bristle carrier and adapted to be driven by the rotary drive shaft of the hand piece, said carrier tube formed of a plastics material and having a base region adapted to be removably and fixedly attached to a substantially inflexible mount of the toothbrush hand piece by movement of said carrier tube along a tube connection axis toward said mount, said mount extending from the hand piece along an extension axis, and said output drive shaft being rotationally disposed within said mount, said base region having inwardly directed side surfaces for mating with outwardly directed surfaces of said mount, said base region having a mount-receiving recess partially defined by said inwardly directed surfaces and longitudinally extending along said tube connection axis, said base region including a resilient latch member formed of plastics material and disposed on a portion of said inwardly directed side surfaces and projecting into the recess and partially occluding entry therein of the mount, said latch member being deflectable relative said carrier tube in a direction transverse the carrier tube connection axis by movement of said mount into said recess translationally along its extension axis aligned with the tube connection axis so as to bias the latch member between said carrier tube and said mount in contacting relationship with said outwardly directed surfaces of said mount to frictionally engage said brush section on said mount.
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31. A brush section for an electric toothbrush having a hand piece and an output drive shaft rotationally disposed therein, comprising
a carrier tube to which is fitted a bristle carrier carrying a plurality of bristle tufts distributed over a face of said bristle carrier, each said bristle tuft comprising a plurality of bristles, the bristle carrier and its said plurality of tufts being rotatable in unison relative the carrier tube, said carrier tube having a base region adapted to be removably and fixedly attached to a mount of the toothbrush hand piece by movement of said carrier tube along a tube connection axis toward said mount, said mount extending from the hand piece along an extension axis, and said output drive shaft being rotatable with respect to said mount, said base region being at least partially defined by radially directed lateral surfaces and longitudinally extending along said tube connection axis, said mount having a corresponding base region-receiving portion partially defined by substantially rigid radially directed lateral surfaces of said mount, said base region radially directed lateral surfaces mating in confronting relationship with opposing said radially directed lateral surfaces of said mount, a longitudinal axle rotationally disposed within the carrier tube parallel the connection axis and drivingly connected to the bristle carrier and adapted to be coupled to the hand piece output drive shaft during translational movement of the mount into mating relationship with the base region along the connection axis, wherein the base region of the carrier tube and the base region-receiving portion of the mount have cooperating cross-sectional shapes permitting the brush section base region to be attached to the mount at only a certain angular orientation about the extension axis, said base region including a resilient beam member disposed along a portion of said radially directed lateral surfaces thereof, said beam having a transverse extent transverse the carrier tube connection axis so as to partially occlude mating engagement, as the carrier tube is moved towards the mount along the connection axis, of the confronting radially directed lateral surfaces of each of the base region of the carrier tube and the base region-receiving portion of the mount, said resilient beam member extending longitudinally parallel the carrier tube connection axis and being deflectable relative said carrier tube, in a direction transverse the carrier tube connection axis and generally parallel said beam transverse extent, by movement of said mount towards mating relationship with said base region translationally along the mount extension axis aligned with the tube connection axis so as to arrange the resilient beam member between said mount and said base region of said carrier tube to secure the carrier tube from inadvertant axial motion parallel the connection axis relative the mount, whereby a force tending to pull the brush section in an opposite direction away from the mount and parallel the connection axis is inhibited by the resilient beam.
Specification