CONNECTING STRUCTURE FOR ELECTRIC CLEANING DEVICE HANDLE AND HEAD ASSEMBLY
20220142343 · 2022-05-12
Inventors
Cpc classification
A46B15/0079
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A46B5/0008
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A47K7/04
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A46B2200/1006
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61C17/222
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A46B2200/1066
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A46B13/023
HUMAN NECESSITIES
International classification
A46B15/00
HUMAN NECESSITIES
Abstract
Provided is a connecting structure for connecting a head assembly and a handle portion of a vibration cleaning appliance, the handle portion includes a handle housing with a hollow portion and a vibration shaft, the head assembly includes a brush handle housing with a handle interface, a blind hole is provided in the middle of the interface, the rear end of the shaft is tightly inserted into the hole; a buckle cavity is provided on the interface, the front end surface of the cavity is a buckle locking surface of the interface; a buckle combination part including a cantilever and a protrusion is provided in the housing along its rear end, the cantilever is formed in and separated from the housing, the rear end of the cantilever is provided with the protrusion, a locking surface of the combination part is provided on the protrusion accommodated by the cavity of the interface.
Claims
1. A connecting structure for connecting a head assembly and a handle portion of a vibrating electric cleaning appliance, the vibrating electric cleaning appliance including a handle portion (1) and a head assembly (2) detachably mounted on the handle portion (1); the handle portion (1) including a handle housing (11) with a hollow portion, a vibration motor (19), and a vibration shaft (3); the head assembly (2) being assembled on the handle portion (1) along an axial direction of the vibration shaft (3), the head assembly (2) including a cleaning element (21) and a brush handle housing (22); the brush handle housing (22) having a central axis (L.sub.1); a handle interface (111) being provided on the top of a front end of the handle housing (11); the handle interface (111) and the vibration shaft (3) being accommodated in the hollow portion of the rear end of the brush handle housing (22), wherein a blind hole (114) of the handle interface is provided in the middle of the handle interface (111); the rear end portion of the vibration shaft (3) is tightly inserted into the blind hole (114) of the handle interface; a buckle cavity (113) of the handle interface is provided on the handle interface (111) in a length direction of the vibration shaft (3) along a direction perpendicular to the central axis (L.sub.2) of the vibration shaft (3); the front end surface of the buckle cavity (113) is a buckle locking surface (112) of the handle interface; a buckle combination part including a buckle cantilever (24) and a buckle protrusion (29) is provided in the brush handle housing (22) along its rear end; the buckle combination part extends along a direction from the head assembly (2) towards the handle portion (1) in the brush handle housing (22); the buckle cantilever (24) is formed in the brush handle housing (22) and is separated from the brush handle housing (22); the buckle cantilever (24) has a central axis (L.sub.3); the rear end of the buckle cantilever (24) is provided with the buckle protrusion (29); a locking surface (23) of the buckle combination part is provided on the buckle protrusion (29); the buckle protrusion (29) is accommodated by the buckle cavity (113).
2. The connecting structure according to claim 1, wherein a contact part of the cleaning element (21) and an object to be cleaned is located on one side of the central axis (L.sub.1) of the brush handle housing, and the buckle cavity (113) and the buckle protrusion (29) are located on one side of the central axis (L.sub.1) of the brush handle housing (22) opposite to the cleaning element (21).
3. The connecting structure according to claim 1, wherein the buckle combination part extends along a direction from the head assembly (2) towards the handle portion (1) parallel to a direction of the central axis (L.sub.1) of the brush handle housing (22) in the brush handle housing (22).
4. The connecting structure according to claim 1, wherein the included angle among the central axis (L.sub.1) of the brush handle housing (22), the central axis (L.sub.2) of the vibration shaft (3) and the central axis (L.sub.3) of the buckle cantilever (24) is less than 30°, and the included angle between the buckle protrusion (29) and the central axis (L.sub.2) of the vibration shaft (3) is 60°-120°.
5. The connecting structure according to claim 1, wherein there are at least one group of the buckle combination part and the buckle cavity (113) that are respectively provided in the brush handle housing (22) or on the handle interface (111), and generate a buckle retention force (F.sub.1).
6. The connecting structure according to claim 1, wherein the material of the vibration shaft (3) is stainless steel.
7. The connecting structure according to claim 1, wherein the rear end portion of the vibration shaft (3) is provided with grooves (31).
8. The connecting structure according to claim 5, wherein the buckle retention force (F.sub.1) is 0.5N to 50N.
9. The connecting structure according to claim 8, wherein the buckle retention force (F.sub.1) is 0.7N to 30N.
10. The connecting structure according to claim 9, wherein the buckle retention force (F.sub.1) is 10N to 20N.
11. The connecting structure according to claim 6, wherein the rear end portion of the vibrating shaft (3) is provided with grooves (31).
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014]
[0015]
[0016]
[0017]
[0018]
[0019]
[0020]
[0021]
[0022]
EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
[0023] 1 Handle portion [0024] 2 Head assembly [0025] 3 vibration shaft [0026] 4 Handle back cover [0027] 11 Handle housing [0028] 12 Switch button [0029] 13 Rack [0030] 14 Circuit board [0031] 15 Battery [0032] 16 Spring [0033] 17 Power negative plate [0034] 18 Power positive plate [0035] 19 Vibration motor [0036] 191 Motor eccentric vibrator [0037] 21 Cleaning element [0038] 22 Brush handle housing [0039] 23 Locking surface of buckle combination part [0040] 24 Buckle cantilever [0041] 25, 26 vibration shaft joint circular arc surface and vibration shaft joint surface respectively provided on housing [0042] 27, 28 Fastening surface of brush handle [0043] 29 Buckle protrusion [0044] 31 Groove of vibration shaft [0045] 32 vibration shaft circular arc surface disposed on vibration shaft [0046] 33 vibration shaft plane disposed on vibration shaft [0047] 111 Handle interface [0048] 112 Buckle locking surface of handle interface [0049] 113 Buckle cavity of handle interface [0050] 114 Blind hole of handle interface [0051] 115, 116 Fastening surface of handle interface [0052] L.sub.1 Central axis of brush handle housing [0053] L.sub.2 Central axis of vibration shaft [0054] L.sub.3 Central axis of buckle cantilever
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0055] Hereinafter, the exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail by taking an electric toothbrush as an example and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. As stated above, although the electric toothbrush is only used below as an example for explanation, the present invention is not limited thereto. The present invention is also applicable to the cleaning appliances, such as a vibrating electric shaver, a vibrating electric cleanser, a vibrating electric shower, and the like.
[0056] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular exemplary embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. For the sake of clarity, words expressing spatial relative positions, such as “front end”, “rear end”, etc., are used in this specification to simply describe the interrelation between one element or feature and another element(s) or feature(s) as shown in the drawings, and define that along the direction of the central axis L.sub.1 of the brush handle housing, the end of each component facing the cleaning element is the front end, and the end of each component facing away from the cleaning element is the rear end.
[0057] In this specification, except for the specific surface clearly indicated as “circular arc surface” or “arc surface”, other unrestricted “surfaces” may be of any shape, preferably “plane”.
[0058] The singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” used herein may include plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The words “comprising”, “including” and “having” are broad in scope and specify the presence of stated features, collections, steps, operations, elements and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, collections, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
[0059] The term “and/or” used in this application comprises any one or all combinations of one or more listed relevant words.
[0060] In all the drawings, similar reference numerals indicate similar components.
[0061]
[0062] As shown in
[0063] As shown in
[0064] As shown in
[0065] When the battery 15 supplies power to the vibration motor 19, the vibration motor 19 drives the motor eccentric vibrator 191 to rotate and generates vibration whose amplitude changes periodically. Driven by the vibration motor 19, the rack 13 also vibrates with periodically varying amplitude, and accordingly the rack 13 drives the handle housing 11 to generate vibration with periodically varying amplitude. The handle housing 11 drives the handle interface 111 and the vibration shaft 3 to generate vibration with periodically varying amplitude. The handle interface 111 and the vibration shaft 3 drive the brush handle housing 22 and the cleaning element 21 to generate vibration with periodically varying amplitude. The handle housing 11 and the brush handle housing 22 are made of plastic injection molding. In the tightly fitted state, the plastic may creep. The creep will weaken the enclasp force between plastics in the tightly fitted state and accordingly decrease the retention force F.sub.2, F.sub.3, and thereby affect the reliable connection between the head assembly 2 and the handle portion 1. In addition, the handle interface 111 drives the brush handle housing 22 to generate vibration with periodically varying amplitude, thereby generating a force with periodically varying amplitude between the fastening surfaces 115, 116 of the handle interface and the brush handle fastening surfaces 27, 28, and generating a disengage force F5.sub.R (not shown in the figure) with periodically varying amplitude between the fastening surfaces 115, 116 of the handle interface and the brush handle fastening surfaces 27, 28. The direction of the disengage force F5.sub.R is approximately parallel to the central axis L.sub.2 of the vibration shaft 3. The force with periodically varying amplitude and the static enclasp force of the brush handle housing 22 and the handle interface 111 are superimposed to form the dynamic enclasp force of the brush handle housing 22 and the handle interface 111. The dynamic friction force F7.sub.R (not shown in the figure) is the product of the dynamic enclasp force and friction coefficient. Obviously, the dynamic enclasp force of the brush handle housing 22 and the handle interface 111 may be less than the static enclasp force thereof at certain moments. The amplitude of the dynamic friction force F7.sub.R also change periodically. The disengage force F5.sub.R and the dynamic friction force F7.sub.R synthesize the dynamic retention component force F3.sub.R, such that the amplitude of the dynamic retention component F3.sub.R change periodically under the influence of the vibration motor 19, and may be less than the amplitude of the static retention force F3.sub.S at certain moments in a cycle.
[0066] In the same way, the vibration shaft 3 drives the brush handle housing 22 to generate vibration with periodically varying amplitude, thereby generating a force with periodically varying amplitude between the vibration shaft circular arc surface 32, the vibration shaft surface 33 and the corresponding vibration shaft joint circular arc surface 25, the vibration shaft joint surface 26, and generating a disengage force F6.sub.R (not shown in the figure) with periodically varying amplitude in the direction perpendicular to the normal direction of the vibration shaft circular arc surface 32, the normal direction of the vibration shaft surface 33, the normal direction of the vibration shaft joint circular arc surface 25, and the normal direction of the vibration shaft joint surface 26. The direction of the disengage force F6.sub.R with periodically varying amplitude is approximately parallel to the central axis L.sub.2 of the vibration shaft 3. The force with periodically varying amplitude and the static enclasp force of the brush handle housing 22 and the vibration shaft 3 are superimposed to form the dynamic enclasp force of the brush handle housing 22 and the vibration shaft 3. The dynamic friction force F8.sub.R (not shown in the figure) is the product of the dynamic enclasp force and friction coefficient. Obviously, the dynamic enclasp force of the brush handle housing 22 and the vibration shaft 3 may be less than the static enclasp force thereof at certain moments. The amplitude of the dynamic friction force F8.sub.R also change periodically. The disengage force F6.sub.R with periodically varying amplitude and the dynamic friction force F8.sub.R with periodically varying amplitude synthesize the dynamic retention force F2.sub.R, which is the resultant force of the disengage force F6.sub.R and the dynamic friction force F8.sub.R, such that the amplitude of the dynamic retention force F2.sub.R change periodically under the influence of the vibration motor 19, and may be less than the amplitude of the static retention force F2.sub.S at certain moments in a cycle. When the dynamic retention force F2.sub.R and the dynamic retention force F3.sub.R are under the combined influence of the disengage forces F5.sub.R, F6.sub.R with periodically varying amplitude and the dynamic friction forces F7.sub.R, F8.sub.R, at certain moments, the head assembly 2 may even disengage from the handle portion 1. The disengaged head assembly 2 may cause harm to a human body, such as suffocation, etc.
[0067] It can be seen from the above analysis that the resultant force of the dynamic buckle retention force F.sub.1, the dynamic retention force F2.sub.R, and the dynamic retention force F3.sub.R should ensure that the head assembly 2 remains on the handle portion 1 when the vibrating electric toothbrush works normally, while the dynamic retention force F2.sub.R and the dynamic retention force F3.sub.R generated by the existing vibrating electric toothbrush structure cannot ensure that the head assembly 2 is held on the handle portion 1. In order to further guarantee that the head assembly 2 is held on the handle portion 1, the present invention provides a buckle combination part in the brush handle housing 22, and a buckle cavity 113 of the handle interface and a buckle locking surface 112 of the handle interface on the handle interface 111. By the fit of the buckle combination part with the buckle cavity 113 of the handle interface and the buckle locking surface 112 of the handle interface, the buckle retention force F.sub.1 is generated. The structure of the present invention can keep the buckle retention force F.sub.1 basically unchanged either in dynamic or static state (i.e., F.sub.1S≈F.sub.1R), and the buckle retention force F.sub.1 will not be affected by plastic creep. The applicant has derived from a large number of experiments that if the buckle retention force F.sub.1 is maintained at 0.5N to 50N, it can not only ensure that the head assembly 2 can be readily assembled on the handle portion 1, but also the head assembly 2 can be reliably fixed to the handle portion 1 when the toothbrush works. Preferably, the buckle retention force F.sub.1 is maintained at 0.7N to 30N, and more preferably, the buckle retention force F.sub.1 is maintained at 10N to 25N. According to the present invention, multiple buckle combination parts and multiple buckle cavities of the handle interface may also be provided.
[0068] In the present invention, by the tight fit of the vibration shaft circular arc surface 25 and the vibration shaft joint surface 26 with the vibration shaft circular arc surface 32 and the vibration shaft surface 33 respectively, and by the tight fit of the brush handle fastening arc surface 27 and the fastening arc surface 28 with the fastening arc surface 115 and the fastening arc surface 116 of the handle interface respectively, the vibration of the vibration motor 19 is transported to the head assembly 2 and then to the cleaning element 21 to achieve the purpose of cleaning teeth.
[0069] As shown in
[0070] The applicant has also derived from experiments that if the included angle among the central axis L.sub.1 of the brush handle housing 22, the central axis L.sub.2 of the vibration shaft 3, and the central axis L.sub.3 of the buckle cantilever 24 is less than 30°, and the included angle between the buckle protrusion 29 and the axis L.sub.2 of the vibration shaft 3 is 60°-120°, the handle interface 111 can be easily inserted into the head assembly 2. After insertion, the head assembly 2 and the handle portion 1 may produce the retention force F.sub.1, the retention force F2.sub.R, and the retention force F3.sub.R, so the head assembly 2 and the handle portion 1 can be reliably connected. The rear end portion of the brush handle housing 22 is provided with a hollow portion for accommodating the handle interface 111 and the vibration shaft 3. Due to the above structure, the handle interface 111 can be easily inserted into the head assembly 2. After insertion, the head assembly 2 and the handle portion 1 generate the retention force F.sub.1, the retention force F2.sub.R, and the retention force F3.sub.R, so the two can be reliably connected. In a similar way, the user can easily overcome the retention force FIR, the retention force F2.sub.S, and the retention force F3.sub.S to pull out the head assembly 2 from the handle portion 1. The head assembly 2 may be conveniently connected to or separated from the handle portion 1 by the user's plugging and unplugging. At the same time, the handle portion 1 can be reused, thereby saving the use cost. Moreover in the present invention, the vibration shaft 3 can be directly assembled into the blind hole 114 of the handle interface without overmolding or over-injection molding process as in conventional manufacturing, such that the injection molding process of the brush handle housing 22 is simplified.
[0071]
[0072] In the present invention, the handle interface 111 on the handle portion 1 is provided with a blind hole 114 of the handle interface, and a metal vibration shaft 3 is assembled in the blind hole 114 of the handle interface. The metal vibration shaft 3 is tightly fitted with the handle interface 111. The material of the handle interface 111 is plastic. Due to the small size of the vibrating electric toothbrush and small bending strength of the pure plastic handle interface 111, the built-in metal vibration shaft 3 greatly increases the bending strength of the handle interface 111, thereby solving the problem of reducing the cleaning efficiency of the toothbrush and breaking the handle interface, which can not only ensure that the vibrating electric toothbrush is more efficient and safer, but also does not increase the volume of the connecting part and thereby does not increase the volume of the toothbrush.