Electric U or H toothbrush

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The electric U or H toothbrush is an electric version of the U shape toothbrush applied for patent Ser. No. 12/554,880 by the author in Sep. 5, 2009 and H shape toothbrush applied for patent Ser. No. 12/701,585 by the author in Feb. 7, 2010.

The electric U or H toothbrush incorporated an electric motor into the toothbrush handle. The electric motor drives the rotators inside the electric U or H toothbrush heads through a reciprocating mechanism. The rotators make fast reciprocating rotations and the brushes extending from the surface of the rotator clean the top, front and back of the teeth at the same time. The electric U or H toothbrush cleans the teeth with high efficiency and effectiveness. It is a useful tool for maintaining the dental health.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The electric U or H toothbrush is an intended improvement over the U shape toothbrush and H shape toothbrush. All the objectives for inventing the U shape toothbrush and H shape toothbrush are still valid for the electric U or H toothbrush. With the help of electric motor and driving system, the electric U or H toothbrush will be even more efficient and effective in cleaning teeth. The objectives for inventing the electric U or H toothbrush are similar to those for inventing the U shape toothbrush and H shape toothbrush.

The first objective of the present invention is to provide a toothbrush that can minimize the hard to reach areas especially on the back of the teeth for the ordinary toothbrush and ordinary electric toothbrush to make the tooth brushing most effective.

The second objective of the present invention is to provide a toothbrush that can clean the top, front and back of teeth at same time, or even clean the teeth on both top and bottom jaw at same time. With the fast reciprocating rotational motions to brush the teeth, the electric U and H toothbrush makes the tooth brushing most efficient.

The third objective of the present invention is to provide an electric toothbrush that can follow the tooth profile and automatically adjust itself to fit teeth of different sizes.

The fourth objective of the present invention is to provide an electric toothbrush that uses a U or H shape toothbrush head moving along teeth like a train moving along its rail track to make the tooth brushing fun and enjoyable.

The fifth objective of the present invention is to provide an electric toothbrush that uses a toothbrush handle that can rotate with respect to the toothbrush head to allow the U or H shape toothbrush head moving all the way along teeth from one end to the other end continuously and smoothly to make the tooth brushing more convenient.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1-8 are used to describe the invention. Those Figures are simple, straightforward and self-explanatory. References to those FIGs are listed here as the description of the invention.

• 1. The electric U or H toothbrush comprises a U or H shape toothbrush head and a toothbrush handle as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.
• 2. FIGS. 1 and 2 show that toothbrush handle 1 is assembled onto U shape toothbrush head 8 which allows the toothbrush handle 1 to rotate with respect to the U shape toothbrush head 8.
• 3. FIGS. 3 and 4 show that toothbrush handle is assembled onto H shape toothbrush head which allows the toothbrush handle to rotate with respect to the H shape toothbrush head. The portion of the toothbrush handle with batteries and electric motor inside is similar to that of electric U toothbrush shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Hence, that portion of the toothbrush handle is not showing on FIGS. 3 and 4.
• 4. Inside a U shape toothbrush head, there are 3 rotators driven by an electric motor inside the toothbrush handle through a reciprocating mechanism as shown in FIG. 2.
• 5. The H shape toothbrush head comprises 2 U shape toothbrush heads, one U shape head facing upward and another one facing downward. Therefore, inside a H shape toothbrush head, there are 6 rotators driven by an electric motor inside the toothbrush handle through a reciprocating mechanism as shown in FIG. 4.
• 6. Because the H shape toothbrush head can be looked as 2 U shape toothbrush heads working together, the description here will focus on the U shape toothbrush head. The working principle described for the U shape toothbrush head also applies to the H shape toothbrush head.
• 7. The different views of the toothbrush handle are shown in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6. The motions of the electric U toothbrush are illustrated in FIG. 8.
• 8. When the switch 2 shown on FIGS. 2 and 5 is turned on, the electric motor 16 receives electric power from batteries 17 and rotates. The electric motor 16 drives a pair of gears 15 and 14 to change the direction of rotation. Through 15 and 14, the gear pair, the rotation speed is reduced and the output torque is increased.
• 9. A linkage 13 links the miter gear 14 and the rack 12. The rotational motion of miter gear 14 is converted to the linear reciprocating motion of the rack 12. Inside the toothbrush handle, guides 21 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 are designed in 2 locations to restrain the rack 12 moving in straight line.
• 10. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the rack 12 is used to drive the gear 19. This design achieves 2 purposes. The first purpose is to convert the linear reciprocating motion of rack 12 to the rotational reciprocating motions of the gear 19. The second purpose is to allow the toothbrush handle rotate with respect to the U or H shape toothbrush heads while converting the motion.
• 11. Gear 19 drives the rotator 6 through shaft 18.
• 12. Linkage bars 7 extend from both sides of rotator 6 drive linkage bars 9 inserted into other 2 rotators. The rings on the end of linkage bars 7 and 9 to link the linkage bars 7 and 9 together to transfer the rotational reciprocating motion of rotator 6 to the other 2 rotators. Hence, the 3 rotators inside the U toothbrush head rotate together in rotational reciprocating motions.
• 13. The linkage bars 7 are fixed inside the rotator 6 and move with the rotator 6 together. The linkage bars 9 are inserted into the other 2 rotators. As shown in FIG. 8, the linkage bars 9 are not fixed inside the other 2 rotators. Some degree of relative motions are allowed for the linkage bars 9 to the other 2 rotators, so that the linkage bars 9 can transfer the rotational reciprocating motion to the other 2 rotators smoothly.
• 14. The brushes extended from the surface of these 3 rotators facing the top, front and back of the teeth. They clean the top, front and back of the teeth through fast rotational reciprocating motions.
• 15. In a U shape toothbrush head; there are 6 pins (pin 10) as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Those pins are used to retain the rotators in their positions inside the U shape toothbrush head while allow them to rotate.
• 16. It is necessary for the U or H shape toothbrush head to have elasticity so that they can deform to fit the size of different teeth. The entire U or H shape toothbrush head can be made from elastic materials as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 for the elasticity. Or, part of the U shape toothbrush head can be made from elastic materials as shown in FIG. 7.
• 17. Humps 11 on FIG. 1 are designed on the inner surfaces of the U or H shape toothbrush heads. The humps are used to control the deformation of the U or H shape toothbrush heads to fit the size of different teeth. When the U or H shape toothbrush head moves to small teeth, the humps can not touch the teeth and the U or H shape toothbrush head contracts under its own elasticity. When the U or H shape toothbrush head moves to large teeth, the humps will touch the teeth and force the U or H shape toothbrush head to expand. In this way, it helps the brushes touch the teeth with similar pressure whether it cleans small teeth or large teeth.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-8 show the electric U or H toothbrush of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows the side View of the electric U toothbrush.

FIG. 2 shows the cross section view of the electric U toothbrush.

Note: In FIGS. 1 and 2, it is too long to show the entire toothbrush handle in one piece. The toothbrush handle is shown in 2 pieces.

FIG. 3 shows the side View of the electric H toothbrush.

FIG. 4 shows the cross section view of the electric H toothbrush.

Note: In FIGS. 3 and 4, it is too long to show the entire toothbrush handle. Only one part of the toothbrush handle is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The other part of the toothbrush handle with batteries and electric motor inside is similar to that in the FIGS. 1 and 2. To save the space, it is not shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 5 shows the top view of the toothbrush handle for the electric U or H toothbrush.

Note: In FIG. 5, it shows the top view of the toothbrush handle with the top cover opened and it shows the cross section view for the cap of the battery compartment.

FIG. 6 shows the front cross section view of the electric U toothbrush.

FIG. 7 shows the electric U toothbrush head using mixing of elastic and non-elastic materials.

FIG. 8 illustrates the motions of the electric U toothbrush.

REFERENCE CHARACTERS IN THE DRAWINGS

• 1 refers to the top cover of the toothbrush handle
• 2 refers to the power switch
• 3 refers to the cap of the battery compartment
• 4 refers to the bottom cover of the toothbrush handle
• 5 refers to the flange that connects the toothbrush handle to the toothbrush head
• Note: For the electric U toothbrush, it uses only one flange 5. For the electric H toothbrush, it uses two flanges 5.
• 6 refers to the rotator with brushes extending form its surface to face the top of teeth
• Note: For the electric U toothbrush, it has other two rotators with brushes extending form their surfaces to face the front and back of teeth. For the electric H toothbrush, it has two rotators 6 with brushes extending form its surface to face the top of teeth on both the top and bottom jaws. It also has four other rotators with brushes extending form their surfaces to face the front and back of teeth on both the top and bottom jaws.
• 7 refers to the linkage bars extending from rotator 6
• 8 refers to the U toothbrush head
• 9 refers to the linkage bars inserted into the other two rotators
• 10 refers to the pins for restraining the rotators in their position
• 11 refers to the humps for control the deformation of the toothbrush head
• 12 refers to the rack that makes linear reciprocating motion
• 13 refers to the linkage that converts the rotation of miter gear 14 to the linear reciprocating motion of rack 12
• 14 refers to the miter gear
• 15 refers to the gear on the electric motor output shaft
• 16 refers to the electric motor
• 17 refers to the batteries
• 18 refers to the shaft to transfer rotational reciprocating motion from gear 19 to the rotator 6
• 19 refers to the gear to convert the linear reciprocating motion of rack 12 to the rotational reciprocating motion
• 20 refers to the shafts for the rotators with brushes facing the front and back of teeth
• 21 refers to guides in 2 locations to restrain the rack 12 moving in straight line
• 22 refers to the elastic materials on the toothbrush head using mixing of elastic and non-elastic materials
• 23 refers to the non-elastic materials on the toothbrush head using mixing of elastic and non-elastic materials