1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrically-powered cleaning devices, and more particularly to hand-held ultrasonic personal care cleaning devices.
2. The Prior Art
Hand-held electrically-powered personal care cleaning devices are well known and commonly available throughout the developed world. Such personal care cleaning devices include ultrasonic toothbrushes, ultrasonic tongue cleaners and ultrasonic facial skin brushes. These ultrasonic devices generate vibrations by a motor operating a rotary mechanism, the motor being powered by an attached battery pack, a contained rechargeable battery, or by a power chord connected to a wall outlet. The effectiveness of these devices is related to the resonant frequency of the vibration of the implement (e.g., brush or scraper) at the tip end of the attachment shaft connected to the powered handle. Typically, the motor in the powered handle will operate at 1,550-1,650 rpm and provide 31,000-33,000 back-forth strokes. And typically this cannot be changed.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2003/0208870 A1 discloses a toothbrush attachment for an electric handle which includes a neck having a pivot joint formed of multiple rings and intermediate valleys or connecting sections creating an undulated outer surface (see
The applicant has discovered that, in one embodiment, by including two parallel, transversely-extending channels (flex grooves) in a front surface of the mounting shaft between its base end and the implement attached to its tip end, the resonant frequency of vibration of the tip end and the connected implement in a forward and rearward direction is significantly increased. He has also discovered that, in a second embodiment, by including two parallel, transverse channels in the opposite side surfaces of the mounting shaft between its base end and the implement attached to its tip end (the channels on opposite sides being in register), resonant frequency of vibration of the tip end and the implement attached thereto is significantly increased in a side-by-side (lateral) direction. The channels can be provided in the mounting shaft during manufacture (molding) or machined therein after manufacture. The channels advantageously have semicircular cross sections which are the same or different. The implements are for personal care, i.e., brushes for cleaning teeth, scrapers for cleaning tongues (oral cleaning implements), or brushes for removing facial skin. Only two parallel channels on the front surface, or two parallel channels on the opposite side surfaces are used. If only a single channel is present, the vibrational increase is not achieved, and if more than two are present, an undesirable weakening of the attachment shaft can occur.
Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the accompanying drawings taken with the following discussion.
a-1e depict a resonance-enhancing cleaning attachment according to a first embodiment of the present invention,
a-2c depict the cleaning attachment of
a-3c depict a second embodiment of a cleaning attachment according to the present invention,
a-4b depict the cleaning attachment of
a and 5b depict a third embodiment cleaning attachment according to the present invention when attached to an ultrasonic powered handle,
a and 6b depict a fourth embodiment of a cleaning attachment according to the present invention when attached to an ultrasonic powered handle,
a-9c show further views of the embodiments of cleaning attachments depicted in
A first embodiment of a resonant-frequency-enhancing cleaning attachment 10 for an ultrasonic powered handle according to the present invention is shown in
a-3c depict a second embodiment of inventive resonant frequency-enhancing cleaning attachment 20 which is similar to the first embodiment except that the rear surface 21d of the shaft 21 is straight. This embodiment is similarly attachable to an ultrasonic powered handle 60 (see
A third embodiment of inventive resonant vibration-enhancing cleaning attachment is shown in
A fourth embodiment of inventive resonant vibration-enhancing cleaning attachment is shown in
Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, variations therein can be made and still fall within the scope of the appended claims.
This application derives from (and claims the benefit of) U.S. provisional application No. 61/457,694, filed May 16, 2011, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61457694 | May 2011 | US |