Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090025156 | ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH - An electric toothbrush includes a driving source; a vibrating member having a brush; a transmission mechanism which converts an output of the driving source into vibration of the vibrating member; and a control unit that controls the output of the driving source. The vibrating member has a first resonance point in which the brush resonates in a first direction, and a second resonance point in which the brush resonates in a second direction; and the control unit has a first operation mode which controls the output of the driving source so that a resonance in the first direction is generated, and a second operation mode which controls the output of the driving source so that a resonance in the second direction is generated. | 01-29-2009 |
20110005015 | ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH - An electric toothbrush includes a driving source, a vibrating member having a brush, a transmission mechanism for converting output of the driving source into vibration of the vibrating member, and control means for controlling output of the driving source. The control means has a plurality of operation modes for allowing the brush to perform a predetermined operation. The plurality of control modes are switched at high speed to allow brushing using a transient state at a time of operation mode switching. It is suitable to switch at high speed between operation modes using two resonance points in which resonance occurs in different directions. Accordingly, the electric toothbrush is improved in plaque removing power and sense of medical treatment. | 01-13-2011 |
20110010875 | ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH - A three-axis acceleration sensor is mounted to a body of an electric toothbrush. A CPU detects the three-dimensional attitude of the body based on an output from the acceleration sensor and, based on the attitude of the toothbrush, estimates which portion is being brushed. Then, the CPU performs control for switching between operation modes (such as the rotational direction of a motor and the frequency of vibration of the brush) according to the estimated portion being brushed. | 01-20-2011 |
20110041269 | ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH - An electric toothbrush includes an electric toothbrush main body that includes a grip portion; a brush member that includes a brush; a motor that moves the brush; an actuator that relatively rotates the brush member with respect to the electric toothbrush main body in order to change an orientation of the brush; an acceleration sensor that detects an attitude of the main body; and a CPU that controls the actuator such that a brush angle becomes a predetermined optimum value based on the detected attitude. | 02-24-2011 |
20110047729 | ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH - An electric toothbrush capable of greatly vibrating a brush with less vibration by a vibration source is provided. An electric toothbrush includes a cylindrical case; and a vibration body having one end located within case and the other end provided so as to protrude through an opening at the tip of the case to the outside of the case and vibrating a brush located in proximity to the other end. Vibration body is provided with a vibration source on the one end side and has an outer peripheral surface supported in the position close to the vibration source side with respect to the midpoint in the longitudinal direction of vibration body. | 03-03-2011 |
20110056033 | ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH - There is provided an electric toothbrush with which teeth can be brushed in a relaxed pose while imperfect brushing is suppressed. | 03-10-2011 |
20120036657 | ELECTRICAL TOOTHBRUSH - An electrical toothbrush includes an electrical toothbrush main body including a drive source of a brush; an orientation sensor configured to detect an orientation of the electrical toothbrush main body; and a controller configured to switch an operation mode of the electrical toothbrush according to a result of comparing an orientation value, which is a value calculated from an output of the orientation sensor, and a threshold value set in advance. A threshold value used for switching determination from an operation mode to an operation mode, and a threshold value used for switching determination from the operation mode to the operation mode are set to different values. | 02-16-2012 |
20120251975 | ORAL CARE APPARATUS - An oral care apparatus is an apparatus for performing care on an oral cavity using a care member, and includes an accelerometer, a driving unit for vibrating the care member, and a vibration frequency detection unit for detecting a vibration frequency of the care member. The vibration frequency detection unit detects the vibration frequency based on the waveform of a signal outputted by the accelerometer. | 10-04-2012 |
20120266397 | ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH - An electric toothbrush includes bristles, a bristle driving unit, an orientation detection sensor, and an electrode-based contact detection unit for detecting contact with a body. The contact detection unit includes a first detection unit for detecting contact with or proximity to a rear surface side of a brush portion. The electric toothbrush detects orientation information based on an output from the orientation detection sensor, and estimates a brushing area based on at least the orientation information. In the area estimation, in the case where the brushing area determined based on the orientation information is a dentition surface on a right buccal side or a left lingual side or a dentition surface on a left buccal side or a right lingual side, it is determined whether the brushing area corresponds to the buccal side or the lingual side based on an electric signal obtained from the first detection unit. | 10-25-2012 |