Head module capable of reciprocal rotation for electric cleaning apparatus
10582990 ยท 2020-03-10
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
A61C17/222
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61C17/3418
HUMAN NECESSITIES
International classification
Abstract
A head module capable of reciprocal rotation for an electric cleaning apparatus comprises cleaning elements, a housing and a driven rod disposed in a hollow inner cavity of the housing, wherein the rod is provided with a hollow cavity body for accommodating a drive shaft; at least one gap is provided in a region surrounding the hollow cavity body; at least one inner side notch is distributed on a side wall of the inner cavity, for accommodating a protrusion; the rod further comprises a partially cylindrical or conical cavity body region. When the drive shaft is not yet inserted into the rod, there is a gap between the notch and the protrusion in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis (L1) of the drive shaft. The length of the gap is greater than or equal to the amount of single-side interference between the rod and the drive shaft.
Claims
1. A combination of a handle portion and a head module (2) of an electric cleaning apparatus, the handle portion comprises a handle (1) accommodating a driving portion therein, and a drive shaft (11) in the handle (1) extending upward out of the handle (1) in a direction of the rotation axis (L.sub.1) of the drive shaft (11) and reciprocally rotating around the rotation axis (L.sub.1) of the drive shaft (11), the head module (2) detachably coupled to the handle (1), and the drive shaft (11) driving the head module (2) to reciprocally rotate around the rotation axis (L.sub.1) of the drive shaft; the head module (2) comprises cleaning elements (21), a head module housing (22) and a head module driven rod (23) disposed in a hollow inner cavity (222) of the head module housing (22); the head module driven rod (23) is provided with a hollow cavity body (239) of the head module driven rod for accommodating the drive shaft (11), wherein at least one gap (231) of the head module driven rod is provided in a region surrounding the hollow cavity body (239) so that the head module driven rod (23) has elasticity in a radial direction of a cross section of the hollow cavity body (239) of the head module driven rod; at least one inner side notch (221) of the head module housing is distributed on a side wall of the inner cavity (222) of the head module housing, and the inner side notch (221) is used for accommodating a corresponding protrusion (233) of the head module driven rod that is disposed on the head module driven rod (23) so that the inner side notch (221) of the head module housing restricts a movement of the protrusion (233) of the head module driven rod in a direction of the rotation axis (L.sub.1) of the drive shaft; the head module driven rod (23) further comprises a partially cylindrical or conical cavity body region (238), and a diameter of the cylindrical or conical cavity body region (238) or the greatest diameter of a corresponding joining portion is less than a diameter of a cylinder or conoid region (113) of the drive shaft or the greatest diameter of a corresponding joining portion, both being an interference fit; when the drive shaft (11) is not yet inserted into the head module driven rod (23), there is a gap (240) between the inner side notch (221) of the head module housing and the protrusion (233) of the head module driven rod in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis (L.sub.1) of the drive shaft, and a length of the gap (240) in the direction perpendicular to the rotation axis (L.sub.1) of the drive shaft is greater than or equal to an amount of single-side interference between the head module driven rod (23) and the drive shaft (11); the amount of single-side interference is 0.01 mm to 1 mm.
2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein the gap (231) of the head module driven rod is distributed on the head module driven rod (23) in a direction that is not perpendicular to the rotation axis (L.sub.1) of the drive shaft.
3. The combination according to claim 2, wherein the inner side notch (221) of the head module housing is disposed on a side wall of the inner cavity (222) of the head module housing.
4. The combination according to claim 2, wherein the protrusion (233) of the head module driven rod is located below the top end of the gap (231) of the head module driven rod in a direction of the rotation axis (L.sub.1) of the drive shaft.
5. The combination according to claim 2, wherein two protrusions (233) of the head module driven rod are symmetrically distributed on the head module driven rod (23) along an axis of the head module housing, and the protrusions (233) of the head module driven rod are located below the top end of the gap (231) of the head module driven rod in a direction of the rotation axis (L.sub.1) of the drive shaft, and correspondingly two inner side notches (221) of the head module housing are symmetrically distributed on the side wall of the inner cavity (222) of the head module housing along an axis of the head module housing.
6. The combination according to claim 2, wherein a width of the gap (231) of the head module driven rod is 0.3 mm-2 mm.
7. The combination according to claim 2, wherein each component of the head module (2) is all made of plastic.
8. The combination according to claim 2, wherein two elastic buckles (232) of the head module driven rod with protrusions at the lower end of the elastic buckles (232) are distributed at the lower part of the head module driven rod (23), and the elastic buckles (232) cooperate with an annular groove (112) of the drive shaft disposed on the drive shaft (11) so that the protrusions at the lower end of the elastic buckles (232) can fully or partially enter the annular groove (112) of the drive shaft, thereby restricting a movement of the head module driven rod (23) relative to the drive shaft (11) in a direction of the rotation axis (L.sub.1) of the drive shaft of the handle.
9. The combination according to claim 2, wherein an included angle between a median line of the gap (231) of the head module driven rod and the rotation axis (L.sub.1) of the drive shaft is greater than 90 degrees and less than 90 degrees.
10. The combination according to claim 9, wherein a width of the gap (231) of the head module driven rod is 0.3 mm-2 mm.
11. The combination according to claim 9, wherein the included angle between a median line of the gap (231) of the head module driven rod and the rotation axis (L.sub.1) of the drive shaft is greater than 45 degrees and less than 45 degrees.
12. The combination according to claim 11, wherein the included angle between a median line of the gap (231) of the head module driven rod and the rotation axis (L.sub.1) of the drive shaft is zero degree.
13. The combination according to claim 11, wherein a width of the gap (231) of the head module driven rod is 0.3 mm-2 mm.
14. The combination according to claim 12, wherein a width of the gap (231) of the head module driven rod is 0.3 mm-2 mm.
15. The combination according to claim 1, wherein the inner side notch (221) of the head module housing is disposed on a side wall of the inner cavity (222) of the head module housing.
16. The combination according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion (233) of the head module driven rod is located below the top end of the gap (231) of the head module driven rod in a direction of the rotation axis (L.sub.1) of the drive shaft.
17. The combination according to claim 1, wherein two protrusions (233) of the head module driven rod are symmetrically distributed on the head module driven rod (23) along an axis of the head module housing, and the protrusions (233) of the head module driven rod are located below the top end of the gap (231) of the head module driven rod in a direction of the rotation axis (L.sub.1) of the drive shaft, and correspondingly two inner side notches (221) of the head module housing are symmetrically distributed on the side wall of the inner cavity (222) of the head module housing along an axis of the head module housing.
18. The combination according to claim 1, wherein the amount of single-side interference is 0.20 mm.
19. The combination according to claim 1, wherein a width of the gap (231) of the head module driven rod is 0.3 mm-2 mm.
20. The combination according to claim 19, wherein the width of the gap (231) of the head module driven rod is 0.7 mm-1.2 mm.
21. The combination according to claim 1, wherein each component of the head module (2) is all made of plastic.
22. The combination according to claim 1, wherein two elastic buckles (232) of the head module driven rod with protrusions at the lower end of the elastic buckles (232) are distributed at the lower part of the head module driven rod (23), and the elastic buckles (232) cooperate with an annular groove (112) of the drive shaft disposed on the drive shaft (11) so that the protrusions at the lower end of the elastic buckles (232) can fully or partially enter the annular groove (112) of the drive shaft, thereby restricting a movement of the head module driven rod (23) relative to the drive shaft (11) in a direction of the rotation axis (L.sub.1) of the drive shaft of the handle.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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DESCRIPTION OF MAIN REFERENCE NUMERALS
(14) 1 handle 2 head module 11 drive shaft 12 handle housing 13 switch button 21 cleaning elements 22 head module housing 23 head module driven rod 111 first plane of the drive shaft 112 annular groove of the drive shaft 113 cylinder region of the drive shaft 114 second plane of the drive shaft 221 inner side notch of the head module housing 222 inner cavity of the head module housing 223 protrusion of the head module housing 224 buckle groove of the head module housing 231 gap of the head module driven rod 232 elastic buckle of the head module driven rod 233 protrusion of the head module driven rod 234 fixing portion of the head module driven rod 235 fixing portion groove of the head module driven rod 236 first plane of the head module driven rod 237 second plane of the head module driven rod 238 partially cylindrical cavity body region of the head module driven rod 239 hollow cavity body of the head module driven rod 240 gap between the head module housing and the head module driven rod L.sub.1 rotation axis of the drive shaft
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(15) Hereafter, a description will be made to the present invention in more detail with a head module of an electric toothbrush as an example in conjunction with the drawings. Although the illustration hereinafter is made merely in view of an electric toothbrush, the present invention is not limited thereto. Apparently, the present invention is also applied to other electric cleaning apparatus such as an electric face brush and the like.
(16) In the present invention, the terms indicating spatial relative positions, such as inside, outside, up, down, upper (or upper end), lower (or lower end), etc., are used to briefly describe the relationship of one element or feature relative to another element(s) or feature(s) as shown in the drawings. In this description, the terms inside and outside are defined with respect to the radial direction of the electric cleaning apparatus, where being adjacent to its center is defined as inside, and being away from its center is defined as outside; the terms up, down, upper, lower, upper end, lower end are defined with respect to the rotation axis of the drive shaft of the electric cleaning apparatus, where the end adjacent to the cleaning elements is defined as up, upper or upper end, and the end opposite thereto is defined as down, lower, or lower end when the electric cleaning apparatus works at an upright or inclined state.
(17) When an element is described as disposed on . . . or coupled to another element, it may be either directly located on or coupled to another element, or there may be intervening element(s) located between the element and the other element. However, when an element is described as directly disposed on . . . or directly coupled to another element, there is no intervening element(s) located between the element and the other element. As to other wordings and expressions describing the relationship among elements, it will be appreciated that the similar meanings (e.g., between . . . corresponding to directly between . . . , and the like) are embraced.
(18) Although the terms first, second, etc., are used in the present invention to describe a plurality of elements or constituents, these elements or constituents should not to be limited by these words. These words are used simply to distinguish one element or constituent from another element or constituent, without including any order. Thus, the first element or constituent discussed below referred to as a second element or constituent does not go beyond the concept and scope of the present invention.
(19) Referring to
(20) Referring to
(21) Referring to
(22) Referring to
(23) In the present invention, the head module housing 22 and the head module driven rod 23 are both plastic products. The plastic products are suitable for large-volume industrial production and have good economy, but the mechanical fastening force between the plastic products will deteriorate over time due to the creep characteristics of plastic materials, and so the mechanical fastening of simple plastic products cannot be fixed to one another reliably and for a long time.
(24) Therefore, in the present invention, a inner side notch 221 of the head module housing may be distributed on a side wall of the inner cavity 222 of the head module housing, and the inner side notch 221 of the head module housing is used for accommodating a corresponding protrusion 233 of the head module driven rod; the inner side notch 221 of the head module housing restricts the movement of the protrusion 233 of the head module driven rod in a direction of the rotation axis L.sub.1 of the drive shaft, and the coupling between the inner side notch 221 and the protrusion 233 of the head module driven rod is achieved by the cooperation of the notch 221 and the protrusion 233, and thus the constraint of the inner side notch 221 of the head module housing on the protrusion 233 of the head module driven rod does not deteriorate over time. Two protrusions 233 of the head module driven rod are symmetrically distributed on the head module driven rod 23 along an axis of the head module housing, and the protrusions 233 of the head module driven rod are located below the top end of the gap 231 of the head module driven rod in a direction of the rotation axis L.sub.1 of the drive shaft, and correspondingly the inner side notch(notches) 221 of the head module housing is distributed on the side wall of the inner cavity 222 of the head module housing. Preferably, two inner side notches 221 of the head module housing are symmetrically distributed on the side wall of the inner cavity 222 of the head module housing along an axis of the head module housing. Two buckle grooves 224 of the head module housing are distributed on the side wall of the lower end of the inner cavity 222 of the head module housing to accommodate the elastic buckles 232 of the head module driven rod. The buckle groove 224 of the head module housing can be designed to allow the elastic buckle 232 of the head module driven rod to move in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis L.sub.1 of the drive shaft without interference with the buckle groove 224 of the head module housing.
(25) Referring to
(26) In this case, the width of the gaps 231 of the head module driven rod is 0.3 mm-2 mm, preferably 0.7 mm-1.2 mm.
(27) Referring to
(28) Referring to
(29) Referring to
(30) The present invention creatively provides at least one inner side notch 221 of the head module housing on the head module housing 22, and provides at least one protrusion 233 of the head module driven rod on the head module driven rod 23, wherein the protrusion 233 of the head module driven rod is located below the top end of the gap 231 of the head module driven rod in a direction of the rotation axis L.sub.1 of the drive shaft, and the inner side notches 221 of the head module housing respectively accommodate the corresponding protrusions 233 of the head module driven rod. Obviously, when the drive shaft 11 is not inserted into the head module driven rod 23, there is a gap 240 between the inner side notch 221 of the head module housing and the protrusion 233 of the head module driven rod in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis L.sub.1 of the drive shaft. Preferably, the length of the gap 240 in the direction perpendicular to the rotation axis L.sub.1 of the drive shaft is greater than or equal to the amount of single-side interference between the head module driven rod 23 and the drive shaft 11.
(31) The present invention creatively provides at least one gap 231 of the head module driven rod on the head module driven rod 23 in a direction that is not perpendicular to the rotation axis L.sub.1 of the drive shaft, and an included angle between a median line of the gap 231 of the head module driven rod and the rotation axis L.sub.1 of the drive shaft is greater than 90 degrees and less than 90 degrees. Preferably, the included angle between a median line of the gap 231 of the head module driven rod and the rotation axis L.sub.1 of the drive shaft of the handle is greater than 45 degrees and less than 45 degrees, and more preferably, the included angle between a median line of the gap 231 of the head module driven rod and the rotation axis L.sub.1 of the drive shaft is zero degree. The respective median lines of the plurality of gaps 231 of the head module driven rod may be parallel to each other or may also be interlaced with each other. The gaps 231 of the head module driven rod make the head module driven rod 23 have elasticity in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis L.sub.1 of the drive shaft, and make the protrusions 233 of the head module driven rod have elasticity in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis L.sub.1 of the drive shaft.
(32) To sum up, according to the present invention, there is an interference between the partially cylindrical cavity body region 238 of the head module driven rod and the cylinder region 113 of the drive shaft in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis L.sub.1 of the drive shaft, and the amount of single-side interference of the interference is called the amount of single-side interference between the head module driven rod and the drive shaft of the handle. The amount of single-side interference between the head module driven rod and the drive shaft is 0.01 mm to 1 mm, while the gaps 231 of the head module driven rod make the protrusions 233 of the head module driven rod have elasticity in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis L.sub.1 of the drive shaft, and the inner side notches 221 of the head module housing accommodate the protrusions 233 of the head module driven rod. When the drive shaft 11 is not inserted into the head module driven rod 23, a length of the gap 240 between the head module housing 22 and the head module driven rod 23 in the direction perpendicular to the rotation axis L.sub.1 of the drive shaft is greater than or equal to the amount of single-side interference between the head module driven rod and the drive shaft.
(33) When the drive shaft 11 is inserted into the head module driven rod 23, since there exists the amount of single-side interference between the head module driven rod and the drive shaft, and due to the elasticity of the protrusion 233 of the head module driven rod formed by the gap 231 of the head module driven rod and the cooperation between the inner side notch 221 of the head module housing and the protrusion 233 of the head module driven rod, the drive shaft 11 can push the protrusion 233 of the head module driven rod deeper into the inner side notch 221 of the head module housing so that the inner side notch 221 of the head module housing more reliably restricts the movement of the protrusion 233 of the head module driven rod along the rotation axis L.sub.1 of the drive shaft, thereby ensuring that when the drive shaft 11 is inserted into the head module 2 and starts to drive the head module 2 to make a reciprocal rotation movement, the head module driven rod 23 is undetachably held in the head module housing 22, thereby effectively preventing the head module housing 22 from flying out of the head module driven rod 23 during the movement to injure a user.
(34) Referring to