Patent Application
20190239636
The following documents are incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth: German Patent Application No. DE 10 2018 102 742.7, filed Feb. 7, 2018.
The invention relates to a clamping apparatus which is configured for clamping at least one bristle carrier.
The document DE 18 78 421 U discloses a cleaning device, in particular for motor vehicles, which has a plug-in apparatus for the releasable connection of a bristle carrier of a brush to a plug-on part which bears further cleaning means.
The document DE 30 13 495 A1 discloses a fluidic brush, in particular for skin massage and skin cleaning, with a brush head carrying a bristle ring. The brush head has at least one nozzle outlet opening which is surrounded by the bristle ring, and, for releasing a water jet from the nozzle outlet opening, a connection for a pressurized water source.
Furthermore, the invention also relates to a brush production machine for producing brushes, with at least one processing station and with at least one clamping apparatus of this type.
Brushes are generally manufactured in highly automated processes. In order to produce some brushes, use is made of premanufactured bristle carriers which have a bristle carrier plate with cluster holders. In order to produce the brushes, the cluster holders of the bristle carriers are equipped with clusters of bristles in order to produce a bristle arrangement on the bristle carrier plate.
Especially whenever the clusters of bristles are intended to be introduced into the cluster holders of the bristle carrier plates of such bristle carriers in an automated manner, it is expedient to temporarily fix the bristle carriers. For this purpose, use is made of clamping apparatuses of the type mentioned at the beginning. With the aid of said clamping apparatuses, the bristle carriers can be temporarily fixed for their processing.
Clamping apparatuses of the type mentioned at the beginning are previously known in practice in various embodiments. The clamping apparatuses here are in each case adapted to the type of bristle carrier to be clamped. It is therefore scarcely possible without a considerable outlay on retooling to clamp a different type of bristle carrier with a clamping apparatus adapted to a certain type of bristle carrier.
In addition, the bristle carriers can be damaged in the region of their bristle carrier plates, which are visible on the end product to an end user, by the use of clamping apparatuses of the previously known type. Even if said damage which remains visible does not necessarily also lead to functional impairments of the bristle carriers, said bristle carriers no longer satisfy customer requirements and have to be removed from the production process and disposed of. This waste leads to higher production costs which are perceived to be disadvantageous.
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a clamping apparatus, a brush production machine and a method for clamping a bristle carrier, with which the previously described disadvantages can be avoided.
In order to achieve this object, a clamping apparatus of the type mentioned at the beginning with one or more features of the invention which is directed toward such a clamping apparatus is provided which has at least one plug-in receptacle for a fastening stud of a bristle carrier, and at least one clamping element which is assigned to the plug-in receptacle and can be advanced transversely with respect to a longitudinal axis of the plug-in receptacle from a starting position into a clamping position in order to fix the bristle carrier to the clamping apparatus. When the clamping element is in the clamping position, the clamping element can contact the fastening stud introduced into the plug-in receptacle and can act thereupon with a clamping force without touching or even damaging a bristle carrier plate of the bristle carrier.
A clamping apparatus is therefore provided which is suitable for clamping bristle carriers which have a fastening stud. Such a bristle carrier is used, for example, in an electric toothbrush and is then also referred to as a brush head. On one side, such a bristle carrier has a bristle carrier plate (already described) with cluster holders formed therein. The fastening stud of the bristle carrier is formed on the rear side of the bristle carrier, the rear side facing away from the cluster holders. The clusters of bristles are introduced into the cluster holders and fastened to the bristle carrier plate of the bristle carrier in order to produce a bristle arrangement. In order to secure the bristle carrier to a handle or very generally to a brush body, the fastening stud can be plugged into a corresponding fastening holder on the handle or brush body.
The clamping apparatus provided according to the invention is now configured in such a manner that its clamping element does not contact the bristle carrier, which is to be clamped for its processing, on the bristle carrier plate which is still visible to an end user, even on the finished product, for example an electric toothbrush, as is the case in clamping apparatuses previously known from practice for this purpose. On the contrary, the contact between the clamping element of the present clamping apparatus and the bristle carrier takes place at the fastening stud thereof which is in any case no longer visible to the end user on the finished product. Superficial damage or marks on the bristle carrier that now occur by the clamping at most in the region of the fastening stud of said bristle carrier can thus be readily tolerated if they do not impair the function of the bristle carrier and the safety of the end user during use of the bristle carrier.
With the previously known clamping apparatuses, bristle carriers of this type, as already indicated previously, are gripped in the region of an outer side of their bristle carrier plates. This can lead to damage to the bristle carriers that may be perceived by an end user of a product equipped with such a bristle carrier on account of the position of said bristle carriers. As previously stated, the outer sides of the bristle carrier plates can remain visible even when the bristle carrier is in the use position. Bristle carriers which are damaged in the region of their bristle carrier plates constitute waste and cannot be used further.
By the special configuration of the clamping apparatus according to the invention, during the clamping of the bristle carriers damage occurs at most at the fastening stud where the damage can be tolerated. This is because the clamping apparatus, for clamping with its clamping element, does not grasp and securely clamp the respective bristle carrier on the outer side of its bristle carrier plate, but rather at its fastening stud.
A further advantage of the clamping apparatus according to the invention can be considered that of enabling different bristle carriers of a product family to be clamped with a clamping apparatus of this type. Bristle carriers which have a bristle carrier plate with a fastening stud are used, as already mentioned previously, for example, in the case of electric toothbrushes. Depending on the design and user target group, the bristle carriers are configured differently in particular in the region of their bristle carrier plates. A bristle carrier for an electric toothbrush for children has, for example, a smaller bristle carrier plate than a bristle carrier which is intended for an electric toothbrush for adults.
While the bristle carrier plates of bristle carriers of a product family can be of considerably different configuration, the fastening studs on the rear side of the bristle carrier plates of the bristle carriers of a product family generally have similar or even the same dimensions and shapes. Since the clamping apparatus according to the invention now acts on the fastening stud of a bristle carrier of this type and no longer acts on the bristle carrier plate of the bristle carrier, a plurality of, or even all of the, members of a product family that have fastening studs configured similarly or even identically can be clamped with a clamping apparatus according to the invention without any structural modifications of the clamping apparatus being necessary at all. Up to now, it has been necessary to stock dedicated clamping apparatuses for each model of a product family, which is associated with an outlay and ultimately with unnecessarily high costs.
It can be advantageous if the clamping element which is assigned to the at least one plug-in receptacle of the clamping apparatus can be advanced transversely with respect to the plugging-in direction of the fastening stud into the plug-in receptacle of the clamping apparatus in order to move the clamping element into its clamping position. The clamping element can be advanced here in such a manner that a free cross section of the plug-in receptacle is reduced by the lateral advancing of the clamping element. For this purpose, it can be expedient if the clamping element at least partially projects in the clamping position into the plug-in receptacle to which said clamping element is assigned.
In order to avoid damage to the bristle carrier plate, contact between the at least one clamping element and an outer side of the bristle carrier plate of the bristle carrier should be effectively avoided. This is possible in particular whenever the at least one clamping element is arranged spaced apart from a surface of the clamping apparatus, in which surface a plugging-in opening of the plug-in receptacle is formed. By the plugging-in opening formed in the surface, the fastening stud can be introduced into the plug-in receptacle and fixed with the clamping element. The bristle carrier plate is held back from the surface of the clamping apparatus and therefore remains outside the plug-in receptacle. It is thus effectively prevented that the clamping element comes into contact with the bristle carrier plate. In this connection, it is expedient if a clear cross section of the at least one plug-in receptacle is smaller than a cross section of the bristle carrier plate of a bristle carrier to be clamped with the clamping apparatus.
The clamping element can be a cylindrical clamping pin. The clamping element can be oriented here with respect to its plug-in receptacle in such a manner that a longitudinal axis of the clamping element is oriented transversely or at right angles with respect to a longitudinal axis of the plug-in receptacle. The use of a clamping element in the form of a cylindrical clamping pin can be advantageous in order to be able to clamp bristle carriers which have an encircling groove on an outer circumference of their fastening stud, said groove being bounded by at least one oblique surface oriented obliquely with respect to the longitudinal axis of the fastening stud. With its cylindrical surface, the clamping element, which is present in the form of a cylindrical clamping pin, can then be advanced laterally onto the oblique surface of the fastening stud. The oblique surface, on account of its orientation, can convert a clamping force oriented transversely with respect to the longitudinal axis of the plug-in receptacle and of the fastening stud positioned in the plug-in receptacle into a normal force which acts at right angles to the advancing movement of the clamping element and is therefore oriented in the direction of the longitudinal axes of the plug-in receptacle and of the fastening stud. With the aid of said normal force, the bristle carrier which is clamped in such a manner can be secured reliably and especially in a defined manner on the clamping apparatus. A rear side of the bristle carrier plate of the bristle carrier, from which side its fastening stud also protrudes to the rear, can be pressed here against a surface of the clamping apparatus.
The clamping apparatus can have at least one clamping spring for the at least one clamping element. With the aid of said clamping spring, the at least one clamping element can be automatically movable into its clamping position. It is therefore possible to keep a bristle carrier, which is plugged with its fastening stud in a plug-in receptacle of the clamping apparatus, clamped with the aid of the at least one clamping spring without a dedicated clamping drive and to fix same on the clamping apparatus. In particular whenever the clamping apparatus is not intended to be or cannot be continuously supplied with energy, a bristle carrier clamped with the clamping apparatus can thus be secured on the clamping apparatus. Should a malfunction of the energy supply or power supply of a brush production machine equipped with a clamping apparatus of this type occur, the clamping force on the bristle carrier which is clamped with a clamping apparatus of this type can be maintained. Even in the event of a power failure, bristle carriers which are already clamped can continue to remain fixed on the clamping apparatus. An unintentional loss of clamped bristle carriers can thus be prevented.
In order to be able to predetermine a position of the bristle carriers on the clamping apparatus in a defined manner, it can be advantageous if the at least one plug-in receptacle of the clamping apparatus is configured for centering a fastening stud in the plug-in receptacle and therefore for centering a bristle carrier on the clamping apparatus. For this purpose, the at least one plug-in receptacle of the clamping apparatus can have centering surfaces oriented at an angle to one another. Said centering surfaces are preferably formed on an inner side of the plug-in receptacle, said inner side being arranged opposite the at least one clamping element, and form a centering receptacle there. With the aid of the centering receptacle and of the at least one clamping element, the fastening stud which is introduced into the plug-in receptacle can be centered by advancing the clamping element into its clamping position on the clamping apparatus. In particular in the case of fastening studs which have an oblique surface formed in a complementary manner with respect to the centering surfaces, the position of the fastening studs in the plug-in receptacle can thereby be secured in a reproducible and unambiguous manner.
Due to its centering surfaces, the at least one plug-in receptacle of the clamping apparatus can be produced with an oversize in comparison to the fastening stud of the bristle carrier to be clamped. The oversize makes it possible to introduce the fastening stud comparatively easily into the plug-in receptacle of the clamping apparatus. With the aid of the at least one clamping element and the two centering surfaces, the position and orientation of the fastening stud and therefore of the bristle carrier in the plug-in receptacle can be sufficiently precisely determined despite said oversize.
It should be emphasized at this juncture that “centering” within the context of the claimed technical teaching does not necessarily mean a central or centric orientation. On the contrary, within the context of the described technical teaching, “centering” is very generally understood as meaning the correct orientation of the bristle carriers and in particular of the fastening studs thereof on the clamping apparatus, said orientation being desirable or required for processing the bristle carriers.
It can furthermore be advantageous if the clamping apparatus has a guide for the at least one clamping element. The clamping element can thereby be moved in a defined path between its starting position and its clamping position and back again.
Furthermore, the clamping apparatus can also have a resetting element with which the clamping element can be moved back out of its clamping position, in particular counter to the spring force of its clamping spring, into its starting position. In addition, the clamping apparatus can have a basic body in which the at least one plug-in receptacle is formed. The basic body can furthermore have a contact surface which surrounds the at least one plug-in receptacle and which is designed as an abutment for a bristle carrier plate of a bristle carrier which is plugged with its fastening stud into the at least one plug-in receptacle of the clamping apparatus.
As already indicated previously, it can be advantageous if the at least one clamping element is configured for producing such a clamping force on a bristle carrier, which clamping force is oriented in the plugging-in direction defined by the plug-in receptacle and/or in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the plug-in receptacle. It is thereby possible, by advancing the clamping element into its clamping position, to secure a fastening stud of a bristle carrier on the clamping apparatus with a holding force which is oriented transversely with respect to the advancing direction of the clamping element. For this purpose, it can be provided that the position of the clamping element on the clamping apparatus relative to the plug-in receptacle is selected in such a manner that a bristle carrier lies with the rear side of its bristle carrier plate against a contact surface of the clamping apparatus for the bristle carrier plates. Said resultant defined contact of the bristle carriers on the clamping apparatus can avoid undesirable damage of the brush bodies during the processing thereof in the production process and can promote precise processing of the bristle carriers and especially precise introduction of the clusters of bristles into the cluster holders of the bristle carrier.
According to the invention, it is furthermore provided that the clamping apparatus is designed as a movable carrier cassette. It may furthermore be expedient if the clamping apparatus has a plurality of plug-in receptacles. The clamping apparatus can thereby simultaneously receive a plurality of bristle carriers and can also serve as a transport for the bristle carriers, with which the clamped bristle carriers can be moved from processing station to processing station through the brush production process. Clasping of the bristle carriers and associated handling steps at the individual processing stations can therefore be omitted, which further simplifies the brush production.
The clamping device can furthermore have at least one fastening element with which said clamping device can be secured releasably in a processing position, for example at or adjacent to a processing station of a brush production machine. It can be particularly advantageous if said at least one fastening element is a magnet. The magnet can be arranged on the clamping apparatus, in particular on or in a basic body of the clamping apparatus. The clamping apparatus thus only has to be deposited in the corresponding position at a processing station, for example on a holder for the clamping apparatus. Via the at least one magnet serving as the fastening element, the clamping apparatus can then be fixed on the holder of the brush production machine without further mechanical locks.
In order to be able to define the orientation of the clamping apparatus, it is advantageous if the clamping apparatus has at least one centering arrangement. Said centering arrangement can be, for example, a centering hole and/or a centering pin. It is advantageous if the clamping apparatus has at least two centering arrangements of this type. The at least one centering arrangement can be formed on a side of the clamping apparatus that faces, for example, a holder of the brush production machine in the fastening position of the clamping apparatus.
It should also be mentioned once again in this connection that “centering” within the context of the claimed technical teaching does not inevitably mean a central or centric orientation. On the contrary, within the context of the previously described technical teaching, “centering” is understood very generally as also meaning the correct orientation of the clamping apparatus in its use position on a brush production machine, said orientation being desirable or required for processing the bristle carriers. Centering arrangements are therefore arrangements which permit a correct orientation of the clamping apparatus, for example, on a brush production machine. The at least one centering arrangement of the clamping apparatus can therefore also be referred to as an orientation arrangement.
In order to be able to move the clamping apparatus from one processing station to a next processing station of a brush production machine in an automated manner, the clamping apparatus can have at least one handling interface for a handling gripper. For example, a grid which comprises one or more holes or bores or receptacles, in which a gripper with corresponding projections or fingers for grasping and moving the clamping apparatus can engage, can serve as the handling interface for a handling gripper.
The object is also achieved with a brush production machine of the type mentioned at the beginning which has at least one clamping apparatus, wherein the clamping apparatus has at least one plug-in receptacle for a fastening stud of a bristle carrier, and at least one clamping element which is assigned to the plug-in receptacle and can be advanced from a starting position into a clamping position transversely with respect to a longitudinal axis of the plug-in receptacle.
It can be expedient if the at least one clamping apparatus of the brush production machine is a clamping apparatus having one of more features of the invention.
Finally, in order to achieve the object, a method for clamping a bristle carrier is also provided. It is provided in particular here that the bristle carrier is clamped by a clamping element of a clamping apparatus, wherein the clamping element acts on a fastening stud of the bristle carrier, via which fastening stud the bristle carrier is fastenable to a brush body of a brush.
Since, when a bristle carrier is in the fastening position on a brush holder, the fastening stud is not visible to a user of the brush, such superficial damage and marks on the fastening stud that only have visual disadvantages are harmless. On account of the concealed arrangement of the fastening stud on the finished end product, such damage and marks can also be easily covered, and therefore they are not perceived as being irritating. Production waste caused by superficial damage brought about during the clamping of the bristle carriers during the processing thereof can thereby be reduced or even completely avoided.
According to the invention, it is provided that a clamping apparatus having one or more featrures of the invention is used for clamping the bristle carrier.
An exemplary embodiment of the invention is described in more detail below with reference to the drawing. The invention is not restricted to said exemplary embodiment. Further exemplary embodiments emerge by a combination of the features of individual claims or a plurality of claims with one another and/or by a combination of individual features or a plurality of features of the exemplary embodiment. In the illustration, in partially highly schematized form:
In order to be able to stuff the clusters of bristles into the held-ready bristle carriers, the bristle carriers 7 are clamped on a clamping apparatus denoted as a whole by 8. According to
A fastening stud 12 which, in practice, is also referred to as a spike can be seen on a rear side of the bristle carrier 7 that faces away from the front side of the bristle carrier 7. The bristle carrier 7 can be connected to a handle, stem, brush body or to another part of a brush via said fastening stud 12. Even in the case of bristle carrier plates 11 configured differently within a product family of bristle carriers, the fastening studs 12 of the individual product family members are generally configured identically or at least very similarly. This circumstance now makes use of the clamping apparatus 8 which is described in detail below.
The clamping apparatus 8 which is shown in
Each of the plug-in receptacles 13 is furthermore assigned a clamping element 14 which, for the clamping of a bristle carrier 7 which is plugged with its fastening stud 12 into the plug-in receptacle 13 assigned to the clamping element 14, can be advanced from a starting position into a clamping position transversely with respect to a longitudinal axis of the plug-in receptacle 13.
Clear cross-sections of the plug-in receptacles 13 and of the plugging-in openings 21 thereof are noticeably smaller than the cross sections of the bristle carrier plates 11 of the bristle carrier 7 to be clamped. In addition, the clamping elements 14 are arranged spaced apart from a surface 8a of the clamping apparatus 8 in which the plugging-in openings 21 of the plug-in receptacles 13 are also formed. In this manner, undesirable contact between the clamping elements 14 and the bristle carrier plates 11 is prevented and damaged caused by the clamping of the bristle carriers 7 in the region of the bristle carrier plates 11 is avoided.
The clamping elements 14 are in the form of cylindrical clamping pins 14. The longitudinal axes of the clamping pins 14 are oriented transversely and here even at right angles to the longitudinal axes of the plug-in receptacles 13 to which the clamping pins 14 are in each case assigned.
The clamping apparatus 8 has a respective clamping spring 16 for each of its clamping elements 14. The clamping springs 16 automatically hold the clamping elements 14 in their clamping position. If the clamping elements 14 are therefore not loaded, i.e. displaced counter to the direction of force of the clamping springs 16 on the clamping apparatus 8 in the direction of their starting position, the bristle carriers 7 which are clamped on the clamping apparatus 8 remain fixed on the clamping apparatus 8. This considerably facilitates the handling of the clamping apparatus 8. In particular whenever the clamping apparatus 8 is also used as a carrier cassette which is moved with bristle carriers 7 clamped thereon from processing station to processing station of the brush production machine 1, clamping of the bristle carriers 7 can be maintained even without power being supplied to the clamping apparatus 8.
The plug-in receptacles 13 are furthermore configured for the centering, i.e. for the correct and reproducible positioning of fastening studs 12 and bristle carriers 7 on the clamping apparatus 8. For this purpose, each of the plug-in receptacles 13 has two centering surfaces 17 oriented at an angle to each other. Since the centering surfaces 17 are arranged lying opposite the respective clamping element 14 in the direction of force of the clamping springs 16, fastening studs 12 of the bristle carriers 7, said fastening studs being plugged into the plug-in openings 13, are automatically centered in their clamping position on the clamping apparatus 8 by the advancing of the clamping elements 14 and are positioned for correct further processing.
As the sectional illustrations according to
In addition, each clamping element 14 can be assigned a resetting element which is not illustrated separately in the figures. With the aid of the resetting element, the clamping elements 14 can be set back out of their clamping position into their starting position counter to the action of the clamping springs 16 and optionally can also be locked there. Examples of resetting elements can be pin- or sword-shaped drivers which can be moved onto the clamping elements 14 in order to bring the clamping elements 14 back out of their clamping position into their starting position.
As already mentioned previously, the clamping apparatus 8 is in the form of a carrier cassette and has a basic body 20. The total of four plug-in receptacles 13 are formed on said basic body. The basic body 20 has contact regions 22 on its front side, on which plugging-in openings 21 into the plug-in receptacles 13 are also formed. The contact regions 22 surround the total of four plug-in receptacles 13. The contact regions 22 which surround the respective plug-in receptacles 13 and the plugging-in openings 21 thereof serve as abutments for the bristle carrier plates 11 of the bristle carriers 7 when the bristle carriers 7 are clamped on the clamping apparatus 8 with the aid of the clamping elements 14.
On the basis of their configuration in the form of cylindrical clamping pins 14, the clamping elements 14 are configured for producing a clamping force on the respectively clamped bristle carrier 7. The clamping force has a force component which is defined in the plugging-in direction of the fastening studs 12 into the plug-in receptacle 13, said plugging-in direction being defined by the respective plug-in receptacle 13. In specific terms, this means that the clamping elements 14 by their contact on a flank 23, which faces away or is remote from the bristle carrier plate 11, of the V-shaped annular groove or notch 15 lie against the fastening stud 12 located in each case in the clamping position. Via the flank 23 oriented obliquely with respect to the advancing direction of the clamping element 14, the clamping force transmitted by the clamping element 14 to the fastening stud 12 is deflected transversely or at right angles to the advancing movement of the clamping element 14 in such a manner that the bristle carrier plate 11, which is connected to the fastening stud 12, of the bristle carrier 7 is brought into contact with one of the contact regions 22 on the basic body 20 of the clamping apparatus 8. Each of the bristle carriers 7 clamped with the clamping apparatus 8 thus obtains a defined contact against the contact region 22 assigned thereto. Reliable and precise processing of the bristle carriers 7 is thus promoted.
The clamping apparatus 8 designed as a carrier cassette 24 can be moved from one processing station of the brush production machine 1 to a subsequent processing station. In order to move the clamping apparatus 8 which is in the form of the carrier cassette 24, the brush production machine 1 according to
As handling interfaces 26 for the handling gripper 25 of the brush production machine 1, the clamping apparatus 8 has, on its basic body 20, a plurality of recesses 27 which are arranged in a grid matching the handling gripper 25.
In addition, the clamping apparatus 8 is equipped with fastening elements 28 with which the clamping apparatus 8 can be secured releasably to a processing station 3, in the present exemplary embodiment according to
On its rear side or lower side 20a facing away from the plugging-in openings 21 into the plug-in receptacles 13, the clamping apparatus 8 has a total of two centering arrangements 29 in the form of centering holes 29. The clamping apparatus 8 can be placed with its two centering holes 29 on correspondingly arranged centering pins which are arranged, for example, on the holding stand 9 of the brush production machine 1 from
The above-described clamping apparatus 8 makes it possible to carry out the method described below for clamping a bristle carrier 7. It is provided in this connection that the brush head 7 is clamped by a clamping element 14 of the clamping apparatus 8, wherein the clamping element 14 does not act on an outer circumference of the bristle carrier plate 11 of the bristle carrier 7, but rather on the fastening stud 12 of the bristle carrier 7, said fastening stud protruding on the rear side from the bristle carrier plate 11 of the bristle carrier 7.
The invention is concerned with improvements in the technical field of brush production. For this purpose, inter alia, the clamping apparatus 8 is provided. The latter has at least one plug-in receptacle 13 for a fastening stud 12 of a bristle carrier 7 to be clamped, and at least one clamping element 14 assigned to the plug-in receptacle 13. The clamping element 14 can be advanced transversely with respect to a longitudinal axis of the plug-in receptacle 13 from a starting position into a clamping position in which said clamping element secures the bristle carrier 7 via its fastening stud 12 on the clamping apparatus 8.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102018102742.7 | Feb 2018 | DE | national |
