Electrically operated hand-held device for body care

• US 10,282,976 B2
• Filed: 04/17/2014
• Issued: 05/07/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trisa Holding AG
• Original Assignee: Trisa Holding AG
• Inventors: Pfenniger, Philipp, Meier, Hanspeter
• Primary Examiner(s): Chen, Junpeng
• Application Number:
  US15/032,854
• Publication Number:
  US 20160284208A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,846 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A45D 34/042 using a brush or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A45D 40/262 using a brush or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 11/0072 Details
• CPC Class Codes: A47K 7/043 hand operated
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 17/221 Control arrangements therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 17/224 Electrical recharging arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 17/3481 Vibrating brush body, e.g. by using eccentric weights
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 2204/002 using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 17/02 using a radio link

Abstract

An electrical hand-held device for body treatment, having a treatment part for performing at least one electrically operated body treatment function, and having a handle body for holding the hand-held device. The hand-held device further includes an electronic component for controlling the at least one electrically operated body treatment function. The electronic component contains a data transmission module for wireless, bidirectional data transmission. The data transmission module includes a microcontroller, at least one memory for storing data, and an antenna, wherein the data transmission module is designed to produce, in a contact-free manner, at least some of the electrical energy which is required for operation of said data transmission module.

Claims

1. An electrical toothbrush for dental care, comprising:

a dental care part;

a grip body for holding the toothbrush;

an electromotoric drive disposed in the grip body for mechanical movement of the dental care part and carrying out an electrically operated dental care function; and

an electronics part comprising;

a device processor that controls the electrically operated dental care function;

an energy cell that supplies electrical energy to the device processor and the electromotoric drive; and

a data transmission module configured to perform wireless bidirectional data transmission with an electronic mobile device using near-filed communication technology (NFC), the data transmission module comprising;

a microcontroller;

at least one memory for storing data; and

an antenna disposed in the grip body,

wherein the data transmission module is configured to obtain all of the electrical energy necessary for its operation in a contact-free manner via electromagnetic waves produced by the electronic mobile device, when the antenna is located in an influence region of the electronic mobile device, and not receive electrical energy from the energy cell.

2. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the data transmission module is configured to obtain electrical energy via electromagnetic waves which are received by the antenna.

3. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the data transmission module comprises a permanent memory.

4. The toothbrush according to claim 1, further comprising an electrical functional element for carrying out a further electrically operated dental care function.

5. The toothbrush according to claim 4, wherein the electrical functional element is:

an electrical heater for heating a dental care element;

a UV device for producing UV light for disinfection of the toothbrush or parts thereof;

a pump for delivering a fluid;

or

an ionisation device.

6. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the electromotoric drive and the antenna of the data transmission module are arranged in the grip body at a distance from one another of at least 2 cm.

7. The toothbrush according to claim 6, wherein the electromotoric drive is arranged in an upper section of the grip body which faces the dental care part, and the antenna of the data transmission module is arranged in a lower section of the grip body which is away from the dental care part.

8. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the grip body comprises a housing, and the antenna of the data transmission module is:

disposed directly on an inner side of a wall of the housing,

disposed directly on an outer side of the wall,

disposed between a first and second layer of the wall, or

integrated into the wall.

9. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the electronics part is configured for data from the microcontroller or data from the electronic mobile device to be stored on the memory.

10. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the toothbrush is configured to transmit data onto the electronic mobile device, by way of actuating a key or a mechanical switch on the toothbrush.

11. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the toothbrush is configured to communicate with the electronic mobile device using different communication means in different directions.

12. The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein an opto-electronic code is attached on the dental care part or dental care element, and this code comprises coded information which can be read out by the electronic mobile device.

13. A functional unit comprising:

the toothbrush according to claim 1, and

the electronic mobile device,

wherein the electronic mobile device comprises an active transmitting and receiving unit for bidirectional wireless data transmission between the toothbrush and the electronic mobile device.

14. The functional unit according to claim 13, further comprising:

a charging device for contact-free charging of the toothbrush, the charging device comprising a data transmission module for unidirectional or bidirectional wireless data transmission between the data transmission module of the toothbrush and the data transmission module of the charging device.

15. The functional unit according to claim 14, wherein

the transmitting and receiving unit of the electronic mobile device is configured for unidirectional or bidirectional wireless data transmission between the charging device and the electronic mobile device, and

the data transmission module of the charging device is configured for unidirectional or bidirectional wireless data transmission between the electronic mobile device and the charging device.

16. The functional unit according to claim 13, wherein the toothbrush and the electronic mobile device are configured to communicate with one another using different communication means in different directions.

17. A method for operating the functional unit according to claim 13 by way of the electronic mobile device, wherein dental care parameters or dental care programs are transmitted wirelessly onto the toothbrush via a software application operated on the electronic mobile device.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein operating data of the toothbrush is received wirelessly by the electronic mobile device and evaluated by the software application operated thereon.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein sensor data of the toothbrush is received by the electronic mobile device wirelessly and evaluated by the software application which is operated thereon.

20. The method according to claim 17, wherein at least one picture recording or video recording of a dental location to be treated is created by a camera of the electronic mobile device, and the at least one picture recording or video recording is evaluated via the software application, and suitable dental care parameters or dental care programs are determined based on the evaluation and via the electronic mobile device are suggested to the user or transmitted onto the toothbrush, or dental care hints or other information is communicated to the user via the electronic mobile device.