Pendulum drive system for personal care appliances
First Claim
1. An actuator mechanism for a personal care appliance having a housing, comprising:
- A yoke assembly having two or more spaced outer coil support legs and an intermediate workpiece support leg wherein the outer and intermediate support legs extend in an axial dimension between first ends and opposing free ends thereof;
an armature positioned adjacent the free ends of the support legs of the yoke assembly;
a spring assembly connecting the armature to the housing of the personal care appliance;
an output drive shaft extending from the armature member adapted to receive a workpiece mounting shaft and/or a workpiece member at a free end thereof;
at least one coil wound on the coil support legs of the yoke assembly;
a source of power for the actuator mechanism; and
a programmable control system for applying power to the coils to move the armature and the output drive shaft in at least two dimensions, including said axial dimension and a second dimension which is different than the axial dimension.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The actuator (10, 90) of a personal care appliance, such as a toothbrush (11), which includes a housing member (12), a double E shaped yoke assembly (14, 52) with two electrical coils (36, 38) wound around the opposing E shaped sections. An armature (28) extends adjacent the top of the yoke assembly (14, 52), extending beyond the edges thereof. The armature (28) further includes side portions which extend adjacent the sides of the E shaped yoke (52), with each side portion including two spaced magnets which are aligned with the coils (36, 38) when the actuator (10, 90) is in a rest position. Power is supplied from a battery source, and a programmable control assembly (46) applies power to the coils (36, 38) in a selected manner to produce axial and/or tangential or complex movement of the brushhead workpiece (33) at the end of an output shaft extending from the armature (28).
24 Citations
11 Claims
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1. An actuator mechanism for a personal care appliance having a housing, comprising:
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A yoke assembly having two or more spaced outer coil support legs and an intermediate workpiece support leg wherein the outer and intermediate support legs extend in an axial dimension between first ends and opposing free ends thereof; an armature positioned adjacent the free ends of the support legs of the yoke assembly; a spring assembly connecting the armature to the housing of the personal care appliance; an output drive shaft extending from the armature member adapted to receive a workpiece mounting shaft and/or a workpiece member at a free end thereof; at least one coil wound on the coil support legs of the yoke assembly; a source of power for the actuator mechanism; and a programmable control system for applying power to the coils to move the armature and the output drive shaft in at least two dimensions, including said axial dimension and a second dimension which is different than the axial dimension. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An actuator for a personal care appliance, which includes a housing, comprising:
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a yoke assembly which includes at least two coils mounted thereon, the yoke assembly having first and second opposing ends, wherein the yoke assembly extends in a Y dimension between said first and second opposing ends; an armature assembly, comprising a top portion which extends above and over the top of the yoke assembly, adjacent one of said first and second opposing ends thereof, and two depending side portions which extend downwardly past the two coils of the yoke assembly, the depending portions having first and second spaced magnet assemblies secured thereto, aligned with the corresponding electrical coils when the actuator is in a rest position, wherein energizing the coils causes a corresponding movement of the armature; at least one spring assembly which tends to orient the armature to said rest position; a source of power for application to the coils; and a programmable control system for applying power to the coils manner to accomplish movement of the actuator, wherein current applied to both coils in opposing directions results in movement of the armature assembly in the Y dimension upon successive reversals of the current, and wherein current applied through one or both coils in the same direction results in movement of the armature in an X dimension which is different than the Y dimension upon successive reversals of the current. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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Specification