TOOTHBRUSH HEAD, TOOTHBRUSH, METHOD FOR PRODUCING A TOOTHBRUSH HEAD, METHOD FOR PRODUCING A TOOTHBRUSH, ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING DEVICE, COMPUTER PROGRAM AND COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM

Abstract

A toothbrush head (3) is provided, the cleaning element carrier (11) of which and/or at least one cleaning element (12, 12a, 12b, 12c) of the toothbrush head (3) are/is produced via an additive manufacturing process.

Claims

1. A toothbrush head (3) comprising: a cleaning element carrier (11), at least one cleaning element (12, 12a, 12b, 12c) arranged on the cleaning element carrier (11), wherein at least one of the cleaning element carrier (11) or the at least one cleaning element (12, 12a, 12b, 12c) is produced by an additive manufacturing process.

2. The toothbrush head (3) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one cleaning element (12, 12a, 12b, 12c) is a bristle filament (13) produced by the additive manufacturing process.

3. The toothbrush head (3) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one cleaning element (12, 12a, 12b, 12c) is attached laterally to the cleaning element carrier (11) by the additive manufacturing process.

4. The toothbrush head (3) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one cleaning element (12, 12a, 12b, 12c) that is produced by the additive manufacturing process at least one of connects two different side surfaces (14, 15) of the cleaning element carrier (11) to each other or spans a front side (16) of the cleaning element carrier (11).

5. The toothbrush head (3) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one cleaning element (12, 12a, 12b, 12c) is produced by the additive manufacturing process and has at least two cleaning segments (17) at a free end thereof.

6. The toothbrush head (3) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one cleaning element (12, 12a, 12b, 12c) is produced by the additive manufacturing process and includes a cavity (18) adapted for receiving a substance and an outlet opening (20) from the cavity (12, 12a, 12b, 12c) for dispensing the substance.

7. The toothbrush head (3) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cleaning element carrier (11) has at least one receiving hole for the at least one cleaning element (12, 12a, 12b, 12c), and the receiving hole is produced by the additive manufacturing process.

8. The toothbrush head (3) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the toothbrush head (3), has a fastening interface (21) for fastening to a toothbrush handle (2), the fastening interface (21) comprises at least one of a latching element (22) of a latching connection (8), a fastening pin, or a pin receptacle (10).

9. A toothbrush (1) having a toothbrush handle (2) and a toothbrush head (3) as claimed in claim 7.

10. The toothbrush (1) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the toothbrush handle (2) and the toothbrush head (3) are releasably connected to each other.

11. The toothbrush (1) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the toothbrush handle (2) has a receptacle (4) for insertion of the toothbrush head (3), and the receptacle (4) has at least one of an introducing groove (5) or a latching groove (6) for fixing the toothbrush head (3) to the toothbrush handle (2).

12. The toothbrush (1) as claimed in claim 9, wherein at least one of a plug-in connection (7) or the latching connection (8) is formed between toothbrush handle (2) and toothbrush head (3) and connects the toothbrush head (3) to the toothbrush handle (2).

13. The toothbrush (1) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the toothbrush handle (2) has a fastening pin (9) and the toothbrush head (3) includes a matching pin receptacle (10), and the fastening pin is plugged in the pin receptacle.

14. The toothbrush (1) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the toothbrush handle (2) is comprised of a biodegradable material.

15. The toothbrush (1) as claimed in claim 9, further comprising at least of an electric or electronic functional part.

16. The toothbrush (1) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the at least one of the toothbrush head (3) or the toothbrush handle (2) that are produced by the additive manufacturing process are composed of different materials.

17. A method for producing a toothbrush head (3) individualized for a user, the method comprising: transmitting user-individualized production data to a controller (23) of an additive manufacturing device (24), and manufacturing at least one cleaning element carrier (11) or at least one cleaning element (12, 12a, 12b, 12c) of the toothbrush head (3) using an additive manufacturing process based on the user-individualized production data using the additive manufacturing device (24).

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising deriving the production data from anatomical data of a user with a data processing device (26).

19. The method as claimed in claim 18, further comprising acquiring the anatomical data of a user (27) with a data acquisition device (28) by scanning a dental impression of a user (27) in order to obtain dental anatomy data of the user (27).

20. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein data from a database (33) are used as user-individualized production data.

21. The method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising deriving user-individualized production data from anatomical data which are stored in a database (33) and which match a dental anatomy of a user (27).

22. The method as claimed in claim 21, further comprising transmitting the user-individualized production data to at least one of a data processing device (26) or the controller (23) of the additive manufacturing device (24) in order to additively produce the at least one of the cleaning element carrier (11) or the at least one cleaning element (12, 12a, 12b, 12c) of the toothbrush head (3) depending on the user-individualized production data using the additive manufacturing device (24).

23. The method as claimed in claim 22 wherein at least one of a geometry or an arrangement of at least one of the at least one cleaning element (12, 12a, 12b, 12c) or the cleaning element carrier (11) is adapted to an anatomy of the user (27).

24. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the cleaning element carrier (11) of the toothbrush head (3) is molded additively onto at least one held-ready cleaning element (12, 12a, 12b, 12c).

25. The method as claimed in 17, wherein the at least one cleaning element (12, 12a, 12b, 12c) is molded additively onto a held-ready cleaning element carrier (11).

26. A method for producing a toothbrush (1), the method comprising: producing at least a toothbrush handle (2) of the toothbrush (1) by an additive manufacturing process using an additive manufacturing device (24) based on user-individualized production data.

27. The method as claimed in claim 26, further comprising: producing a toothbrush head (3) of the toothbrush (1) by transmitting user-individualized production data to a controller (23) of an additive manufacturing device (24), and manufacturing at least one cleaning element carrier (11) or at least one cleaning element (12, 12a, 12b, 12c) of the toothbrush head (3) using an additive manufacturing process based on the user-individualized production data using the additive manufacturing device (24), and molding the toothbrush handle (2) onto the toothbrush head (3), or molding the toothbrush head (3) is molded onto the toothbrush handle (2), wherein the toothbrush handle (2) and the toothbrush head (3) are produced from different materials.

28. The method as claimed in claim 27, further comprising connecting at least one of an electric or electronic functional part to at least one of the toothbrush handle (2) or to the toothbrush head (3) using additive material application.

29. An additive manufacturing device (24) configured for producing at least one of a toothbrush head (3) or a toothbrush (1) according to the method claimed in claim 27.

30. The additive manufacturing device (24) as claimed in claim 27, wherein the additive manufacturing device (24) comprises a 3D printing device (25).

31. The additive manufacturing device (24) as claimed in claim 30, wherein the additive manufacturing device (24) has a data acquisition device (28) for acquiring anatomical data of a user, or is configured to be connected at least temporarily to said data acquisition device.

32. The additive manufacturing device (24) as claimed in claim 30, wherein the additive manufacturing device (24) has a data processing device (26) for deriving user-individualized production data from anatomical data of a user, or is configured to be connected at least temporarily to said data processing device, the additive manufacturing device (24) has a controller (23) or is at least configured to be temporarily connected to said controller, said controller being designed to convert user-individualized production data into control signals for the user-individualized production of at least one of the toothbrush head (3), the toothbrush handle (2), or the toothbrush (1).

33. A computer program (31), comprising commands for carrying out the method as claimed in claim 27, the commands being fixed in a non-transitory computer readable medium.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION FO THE DRAWINGS

[0051] The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to exemplary embodiments. The invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiments shown. Further exemplary embodiments of the invention emerge from a combination of the features of individual claims or a plurality of claims with one another and/or in a combination of individual features or a plurality of features of the exemplary embodiments shown.

[0052] In a partially highly schematized illustration:

[0053] FIG. 1 shows a perspective illustration of a first embodiment of a toothbrush, comprising a toothbrush head and a toothbrush handle, wherein the toothbrush handle has a fastening pin and the toothbrush head has a pin receptacle matching said fastening pin, with which the toothbrush head and the toothbrush handle can be connected releasably to each other,

[0054] FIG. 2 shows the toothbrush from FIG. 1 with the toothbrush head pushed onto the fastening pin of the toothbrush handle,

[0055] FIG. 3 shows the toothbrush from FIGS. 1 and 2 with the toothbrush head located in the fastening position on the toothbrush handle,

[0056] FIG. 4 shows a partially sectioned side view of the toothbrush from FIGS. 1 to 3,

[0057] FIG. 5 shows the detail marked by the circle in FIG. 4, in an enlarged illustration,

[0058] FIG. 6 shows a perspective illustration of an individual part of the toothbrush head of the toothbrush depicted in the previous figures,

[0059] FIG. 7 shows a perspective illustration of a toothbrush head and a toothbrush handle of a toothbrush according to a further embodiment, wherein the toothbrush handle has a receptacle for introducing the toothbrush head,

[0060] FIG. 8 shows a perspective illustration of the toothbrush from FIG. 7 with the toothbrush head partially introduced into the receptacle of the toothbrush handle,

[0061] FIG. 9 shows a perspective illustration of the toothbrush from FIGS. 7 and 8 with the toothbrush head positioned in the receptacle of the toothbrush handle,

[0062] FIG. 10 shows the detail marked by the circle in FIG. 7, in an enlarged illustration, and

[0063] FIG. 11 shows a sequence of pictograms for illustrating a method for producing a toothbrush head and/or a toothbrush, as at least partially shown in FIGS. 1 to 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] In the description below of various embodiments of the invention, elements which correspond in their function obtain corresponding reference numbers even if they differ in design or shaping.

[0065] FIGS. 1 to 10 show at least parts of toothbrushes that are denoted in their entirety by 1. The toothbrushes 1 which are shown each have a toothbrush handle 2 and a toothbrush head 3 which is connectable or connected to the toothbrush handle 2.

[0066] FIGS. 1 to 6 show a first embodiment of a toothbrush 1 with its toothbrush handle 2 and its toothbrush head 3. FIGS. 7 to 10 show a second embodiment of a toothbrush 1 which likewise has a toothbrush handle 2 and a toothbrush head 3.

[0067] In both embodiments of the toothbrush 1, the toothbrush handle 2 and the toothbrush head 3 are connected releasably to each other. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, the toothbrush handle 2 has a receptacle 4 for the insertion of the brush head 3. The receptacle 4 comprises an introducing groove 5 and a latching groove 6 serving for fixing the toothbrush head 3 in the receptacle 4 of the toothbrush handle 2.

[0068] In the case of the toothbrush 1 which is illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6, a plug-in connection 7 and a latching connection 8 are formed between the toothbrush handle 2 and the toothbrush head 3 and can be used to connect the toothbrush head 3 securely to the toothbrush handle 2 of said toothbrush 1. The toothbrush handle 2 of the toothbrush 1, which is illustrated at least in parts in FIGS. 1 to 6, has a fastening pin 9 onto which the toothbrush head 3 with its pin receptacle 10 matching said fastening pin can be plugged. The position of the fastening pin 9 in the pin receptacle 10 of the toothbrush head 3 can be seen particularly readily in the sectional illustrations according to FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0069] FIGS. 4 and 5 also show the latching connection 8 which is formed between the toothbrush handle 2 and the toothbrush head 3, in more precise terms between the fastening pin 9 of the toothbrush handle 2 and the pin receptacle 10 of the toothbrush head 3.

[0070] In all of the toothbrushes 1 which are shown in the figures, the toothbrush handles 2 are produced from a biodegradable material. In the case of the toothbrushes 1 which are shown, the biodegradable material is a biodegradable plastic. Of course, the use of other biodegradable materials, for example wood or else wood materials, is possible.

[0071] In an embodiment of the toothbrush 1 that is not shown in the figures, the toothbrush has at least one functional part in its toothbrush handle 2 and/or in its toothbrush head 3. The functional part used can be, for example, a motor, a vibrator, a preferably wireless communication module and/or a sensor. The possible benefit of a preferably electric/electronic functional part has already been explained further above in the general part of the description.

[0072] In the case of the two toothbrushes 1 which are shown in the figures, toothbrush handles 2 are each produced additively, in particular 3D printed.

[0073] As already mentioned previously, the two toothbrushes 1 each have a toothbrush head 3. Each toothbrush head 3 which is shown comprises a cleaning element carrier 11 and a plurality of cleaning elements 12 arranged on the cleaning element carrier 11. In the case of the toothbrush heads 3 which are shown in the figures, both the cleaning element carrier 11 and the cleaning elements 12 are produced additively, in particular 3D printed.

[0074] The two toothbrush heads 3 have a plurality of different cleaning elements 12, 12a, 12b, 12c. Some of the cleaning elements 12 are composed of additively produced, in particular 3D printed bristle filaments 13. The toothbrush head 3 illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6 moreover comprises a plurality of cleaning elements 12a which are attached laterally to the cleaning element carrier 11, namely are molded additively thereon, in particular 3D printed thereon.

[0075] According to FIG. 6, the toothbrush head 3 furthermore has an additively produced, preferably 3D printed, arcuate cleaning element 12b which connects two different, namely mutually averted side surfaces 14 and 15 of the cleaning element carrier 11, to each other and, in the process, spans a front side 16 of the cleaning element carrier 11. The side surfaces of the cleaning element carrier 11 are the surfaces which are oriented transversely with respect to the front side 16 of the cleaning element carrier 11.

[0076] The cleaning elements 12a attached laterally to the cleaning element carrier 11 can be used for cleaning mouth portions that are located laterally adjacent to the toothbrush head 3 when the toothbrush 1 is used, when the free ends of other cleaning elements 12 are brought into contact with teeth and gum of a user 27.

[0077] According to FIG. 6, the toothbrush head 3 of the toothbrush 1 illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6 has, on each of the previously mentioned side surfaces 14 and 15, a row of additively produced, in particular 3D printed, lateral cleaning elements 12a which each have four protruding cleaning segments 17 at their free ends. Each of the cleaning segments 17 has a smaller cross section than the cleaning element 12a carrying them in the portion adjacent to the cleaning segments 17. The cleaning segments 17 are thus suitable because of their comparatively slender form for interdental cleaning, for example.

[0078] The sectional illustration of the toothbrush head 3 according to FIG. 5 shows that the two outer cleaning elements 12c at a distal and a proximal end of the toothbrush head 3 each have a cavity 18 for receiving a substance, here a cleaning agent 19, and an outlet opening 20 from the cavity 18 for dispensing the substance. The cleaning elements 12, 12a, 12b, 12c shown in the figures are built up on the respective cleaning element carrier 11 by additive material application. In an embodiment of a toothbrush head that is not illustrated in the figures, it is provided that the cleaning element carrier of said toothbrush head has at least one receiving hole for a cleaning element, which receiving hole is produced by additive material application, in particular by 3D printing.

[0079] The two toothbrush heads 3 each have at their cleaning element carriers 11 a fastening interface 21 for the releasable fastening of the toothbrush head 3 to a toothbrush handle 2.

[0080] The fastening interface 21 of the toothbrush head 3 illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6 comprises a plurality of latching elements 22 which, when the toothbrush head 3 is fastened to the toothbrush handle 2, are part of the latching connection 8 already mentioned previously. The latching elements 22 are designed as latching projections within the pin receptacle 10 of the cleaning element carrier 11. The latching projections engage in latching openings 34 which are formed on the fastening pin 9 of the toothbrush handle 2 when the toothbrush head 3 according to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 is plugged onto the fastening pin 9 of the toothbrush handle 2.

[0081] The toothbrush heads 3 illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6 and 7 to 10 can be produced in a user-individualized manner in accordance with the method described below.

[0082] According thereto, it is provided that user-individualized production data are transmitted to a controller or control device 23 of an additive manufacturing device 24. The additive manufacturing device 24 comprises a 3D printing device 25 and is illustrated in highly schematized form in FIG. 11 in the pictogram rows of FIG. 11. Depending on the user-individualized production data, a cleaning element carrier 11 and at least one cleaning element 12, 12a, 12b, 12c of the toothbrush head 3 are then produced additively with the aid of the additive manufacturing device 24.

[0083] The production data are derived from anatomical data of the user 27 with a data processing device 26 which is part of the additive manufacturing device 24 or is at least temporarily assigned thereto. The anatomical data of the user 27 can be dental anatomy data of the user 27.

[0084] The anatomical data of the user 27 are acquired with a data acquisition device 28. For this purpose, the data acquisition device 28 can have, for example, a scanner with which a dental impression of the user 27 can be acquired, in particular measured, in order to obtain the dental anatomy data of the user 27 for further data processing. The data acquisition device 28 can be temporarily assigned at least temporarily to the additive manufacturing device 24 or can be at least temporarily part of the additive manufacturing device 24.

[0085] In principle, it is also possible to keep data sets ready for selection, for example dental anatomy data sets in a database 33. The additive manufacturing device 24, in particular via its control device 23, can at least temporarily access said database 33 in order to obtain and/or to read the data sets. It is thus possible to use an as far as possible matching, dental anatomy data set for the user-individualized production of the toothbrush head 3 without undertaking an individual acquisition of the dental anatomy of the user 27.

[0086] The database 33 can furthermore contain data sets with production data which can be used as user-individualized production data. The production data can represent different models of toothbrush heads and/or toothbrushes. From the production data contained in the database 33, the user 27 can select the matching production data in order to produce a toothbrush handle 2, a toothbrush head 3 or an entire toothbrush 1 in accordance with the user's individual ideas.

[0087] The user-individualized production makes it possible to adapt a geometry and/or an arrangement of cleaning elements 12, 12a, 12b, 12c and/or a geometry of the cleaning element carrier 11 to an anatomy, in particular to a dental anatomy, of the user 27. This permits optimized use of the toothbrush 1 provided with the toothbrush head 3.

[0088] In one embodiment of the method, it is provided to mold the cleaning element carrier 11 of the toothbrush head 3 onto a held-ready cleaning element 12. This can preferably take place by means of 3D printing.

[0089] In one embodiment of the method, it is provided to additively mold at least one cleaning element 12 onto a held-ready cleaning element carrier 11. This can also take place, for example, by means of 3D printing.

[0090] In order to produce an entire toothbrush 1, it is provided in terms of the method that at least the toothbrush handle 2 of the toothbrush 1 is produced additively, in particular 3D printed, with the aid of the additive manufacturing device 24 already mentioned previously, preferably depending on user-individualized production data.

[0091] In order also to permit full user individualization of the toothbrush 1, it is expedient to produce the toothbrush head 3 of the toothbrush 1 in a user-individualized manner according to the method already explained previously. The toothbrush handle 2 can be molded here onto the toothbrush head 3. It is also possible to mold the toothbrush head 3 during its additive manufacturing onto the toothbrush handle 2.

[0092] When required, it is also possible to connect at least one, preferably electric and/or electronic, functional part to the toothbrush handle 2 and/or to the toothbrush head 3 by means of additive material application. In this case, a preferably electric and/or electronic functional part can be held ready and then surrounded with material during the additive production of the toothbrush handle 2 and/or during the additive production of the toothbrush head 3 and housed by the toothbrush handle 2 and/or by the toothbrush head 3. The electric and/or electronic functional part can be, for example, a motor, a vibrator, a preferably wireless communication module and/or a sensor.

[0093] The previously explained methods can be carried out on the additive manufacturing device 24 already mentioned previously. The additive manufacturing device 24 is designed here both for producing the toothbrush heads 3, already explained in detail previously, and for producing the entire toothbrush 1 which then comprises the toothbrush head 3 and a toothbrush handle 2.

[0094] The already previously mentioned data acquisition device 28, the already previously mentioned data processing device 26 and also the already previously mentioned control device 23 can be at least temporarily assigned to the additive manufacturing device 24. The control device 23 is designed to convert user-individualized production data into control signals for the user-individualized production of the toothbrush head 3 or the toothbrush handle 2 and/or even the entire toothbrush 1.

[0095] With reference to the sequence of pictograms from FIG. 11, an application of the method explained previously can be described as follows:

[0096] a user 27 goes to a dentist 29 to have an impression of the user's teeth made (step I). The impression of the teeth is acquired and measured by a dental laboratory 30 with a data acquisition device 28 (step II). User-individualized production data are produced here and are made available to the user for further use (step III). The user-individualized production data and/or the anatomical data, in particular the dental anatomy data, can be stored on a computer-readable medium 32, for example in a data memory, and the computer-readable medium 32 can be passed to the user 27. The user 27 can use the user-individualized production data passed to the user and/or the anatomical data to additively produce a user-individualized toothbrush 1, which then has a user-individualized toothbrush head 3 and/or a user-individualized toothbrush handle 2, with the aid of an additive manufacturing device 24 (step IV in FIG. 11). The result of this method is a toothbrush 1 which is individualized to the dental anatomy of the user 27 and can be used by said user (step V in FIG. 11).

[0097] The user-individualized production data made available to the user 27 can be made available to the user in the form of and/or as part of a computer program 31 on a computer-readable medium 32. The computer program 31 can be stored in the database 33 already mentioned previously. The computer program comprises commands which cause the additive manufacturing device 24 and in particular the 3D printing device 25 thereof to execute the required method steps for producing the toothbrush 1 or the toothbrush head 3. The commands of the computer program 31 and/or the user-individualized production data can be converted here by the control device 23 of the additive manufacturing device 24 into corresponding actuating and/or control signals, with the aid of which the additive manufacturing device 24 and in particular the 3D printing device 25 thereof with its corresponding actuators produce the toothbrush 1, the toothbrush handle 2 and/or the toothbrush head 3.

[0098] The invention is concerned with improvements in the technical field of toothbrushes. For this purpose, inter alia, a toothbrush head 3 is proposed, the cleaning element carrier 11 of which and/or at least one cleaning element 12, 12a, 12b, 12c of the toothbrush head 3 are/is produced additively.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0099] 1 toothbrush [0100] 2 toothbrush handle [0101] 3 toothbrush head [0102] 4 receptacle for 3 [0103] 5 introducing groove [0104] 6 latching groove [0105] 7 plug-in connection [0106] 8 latching connection [0107] 9 fastening pin [0108] 10 pin receptacle [0109] 11 cleaning element carrier [0110] 12 cleaning element [0111] 12a lateral cleaning element [0112] 12b arcuate cleaning element [0113] 12c cleaning element with cavity [0114] 13 bristle filament [0115] 14 side surface of 11 [0116] 15 side surface of 11 [0117] 16 front side of 11 [0118] 17 cleaning segments [0119] 18 cavity [0120] 19 cleaning agent [0121] 20 outlet opening [0122] 21 fastening interface [0123] 22 latching element [0124] 23 control device [0125] 24 additive manufacturing device [0126] 25 3D printing device [0127] 26 data processing device [0128] 27 user [0129] 28 data acquisition device [0130] 29 dentist [0131] 30 dental laboratory [0132] 31 computer program [0133] 32 computer-readable medium [0134] 33 database [0135] 34 latching opening in 9