Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Philips Oral Healthcare

Koninklijkle Philips N.v.

Kevin Arnold Miller

Wolter F Benning

Scott E Hall

Richard Taylor

Ari Lumbantobing

Joseph W Grez

John W Pace

James N Larimer

Patrick A Headstrom

Meindert Lambertus Norg

Aafke G Koster

Richard K Tanaka

Gregory Russ Goddard

David R Seward

Bruce E Taber

Evert Alle Helfrich

Piet C J Van Rens

William E Bryant

Jerry Wood

Craig D Hanela

Jeffrey Raymond Gueble

David Desmarais

Kurt Sadek

D I Stephan Leitner

Eric Healy

Devin M Nelson

Tyler G Kloster

Pieter Johannes Bax

Michiel Allan Aurelius Schallig

Hermanus Mathias Joannes Rene Soemers

Daniel James Faulkner

Bethany Joyce Johnson

Folkert Vrijburg

Ronald C Lilley

Brian Johanski

Lisa Bethany Schmalhurst

Tijn Pieter Lodewijk Huttenhuis

Andreas Loibnegger

Jurriaan Bernhard Rudolf Leveling

Geert Hendrik Westrup

Kevin T Underwood

Ian Blanch

Jeffrey Thomas Skaanland

Andreas Lolbneggar

Harold Robert Rowan

Paul L W M Barten

Paulus L W M Barten

Jeffrey Garrigues

Patrick Headstrom

Affke G Koster

A suspension system () configured to minimize transmission of acoustic and vibrational energy in a device, comprising: (i) a rigid support (): (ii) an operative element () positioned within the rigid support and comprising a drive frequency when the device is in operation; and (iii) a resilient element () engaging the rigid support and configured to create a resilient force against vibrations generated by the operative element in one or more degrees of freedom: wherein the natural frequency of a suspension mode in one or more of the degrees of freedom are tuned into a narrow resonant frequency range by the suspension, and wherein the resonant frequency is greater than the drive frequency.

Sound isolation suspension system

A directed jet mouthpiece () comprises at least one mouthpiece trough () configured to fit over a front portion of a dental arch of a user's teeth. The at least one mouthpiece trough includes a buccal-side vertical member (), a lingual-side vertical member () and an occlusal-side horizontal member () extending in between. The at least one mouthpiece trough further includes at least one fluidics inlet (), a plurality of jet orifices () on both buccal- and lingual-side vertical members, and at least one fluidics path () disposed between the fluidics inlet and jet orifices. A plurality of directed jet orifices () is disposed in end regions () of the at least one mouthpiece trough. The at least one fluidics path () is further disposed between the fluidics inlet and plurality of directed jet orifices. The plurality of directed jet orifices () direct fluid jets rearward towards a remainder of teeth in a user's mouth beyond the end regions () of the at least one mouthpiece trough.

Mouthpiece with directed jets

An actuator () for a personal care appliance () having an eccentric core () to preload the actuator () to prevent rattling caused by detrimental reactionary forces. The eccentric core () includes a pole assembly () radially extending from a spindlehaving at least a first set (-) and a second set (-) of pole members. The first set (-) has a greater length as measured from the center of the spindlethan the second set (-), reducing the magnet gap on one side of the spindle () to create an eccentric core and preload the actuator (). Alternatively, the preload can be mechanically created by a set of bearings () disposed within housing () of the actuator, where the bearings () have a centerline (A) offset from the principal axis (A) of the housing ().

Personal care device actuator with rattle mitigation

Mouthpiece with directed fluid jets

An oral care device () with a pump assembly () including: a plunger assembly () having a rack assembly (); a compressible spring () configured to exert a forward force on the plunger assembly; and a rack and pinion assembly () configured to exert a force on the plunger assembly opposite the forward force, wherein the rack assembly includes a plurality of rack teeth () and the pinion assembly () includes a plurality of teeth () arranged around a portion of the pinion; where the plurality of rack teeth include an angled front surface () and an angled rear surface (), the front surface of at least some of the plurality of rack teeth including a different angle than the rear surface, and further where at least some of the plurality of rack teeth include a pointed or rounded tip ().

Spring-driven pump for dispensing discrete bursts of liquid

An actuator () for a personal care appliance () having an eccentric core () to preload the actuator () to prevent rattling caused by detrimental reactionary forces. The eccentric core () includes a pole assembly () radially extending from a spindle () having at least a first set (-) and a second set (-) of pole members. The first set (-) has a greater length as measured from the center of the spindle () than the second set (-), reducing the magnet gap on one side of the spindle () to create an eccentric core and preload the actuator (). Alternatively, the preload can be mechanically created by a set of bearings () disposed within housing () of the actuator (), where the bearings () have a centerline (A) offset from the principal axis (A) of the housing ().

The power toothbrush includes a handle portion which includes a power drive assembly and a brushhead assembly () which includes a brushhead arm () and a brush element () at a distal end thereof. A V-spring assembly () converts the action of the power drive assembly to drive the brushhead assembly in a back-and-forth action. A mounting member () at the rear end of the V-spring assembly provides a base for a magnet (). The V-spring assembly and the brushhead assembly comprises a unit which moves about a pivot point at the forward end of the V-spring assembly, so that the back end of the V-spring assembly is displaced in accordance with pressure applied to the brush member. A Hall effect sensor () is mounted within the changing magnetic field produced by the magnet as the rear end of the V-spring assembly is displaced due to pressure on the brushhead. A processor () is responsive to the output from the Hall sensor and stored information to produce a signal indicative of the pressure on the brushhead and to provide an indication of when the pressure exceeds a threshold value.

Force sensor providing continuous feedback for a resonant drive toothbrush using a hall sensor

The toothbrush includes a handle portion which includes a power drive system () and further includes a brushhead assembly (), which includes a brushhead arm having a brush element () at a distal end thereof A drive train assembly () is responsive to a drive signal from the power assembly for converting the action of the power assembly to a motion of the brushhead assembly. A magnet () is secured to the rear of the drive train, with a Hall effect sensor () mounted within the magnetic field produced by the magnet as the toothbrush moves in operation. Pressure on the brush element produces a phase shift of the Hall sensor output. A processor () determines the value of the phase shift of the Hall sensor signal as pressure is applied to the brush member and produces a signal indicative of the pressure applied by using stored information () which relates phase shift to pressure for the particular appliance.

Resonantly driven power toothbrush having a pressure-sensing capability using a hall effect sensor

The power toothbrush includes a brushhead arm () and a brush element () at a distal end thereof. A V-spring assembly () converts the movement of a power drive assembly in a back-and-forth movement. A mounting member () at the rear end of the V-spring assembly provides a base for a magnet (). The back end of the V-spring assembly is displaced in accordance with pressure applied to the brush member. A Hall effect sensor () is mounted within the changing magnetic field produced by the magnet as the rear end of the V-spring assembly is displaced due to pressure on the brushhead. A processor () is responsive to the output from the Hall sensor and provides an indication when the pressure exceeds a threshold value.

An oral cleaning appliance, such as a toothbrush () or a mouthpiece (), includes a bristle arrangement which comprises a base member and a field of bristles for contacting and cleaning teeth, wherein the bristle field () has bristles with a density of between 2-7%, and wherein the individual bristle filaments have a stiffness characterized by a deflection of no greater than 50% of their length for a bristle tip pressure of 6 Newtons/cmand a deflection reaching 50% for a bristle tip pressure of 85 Newtons/cm.

Oral hygiene appliance with bristle characteristics for effective cleaning

The adaptive system includes a power toothbrush () which determines bristle force or pressure applied by the user against the teeth. The toothbrush includes a processing system () for comparing the determined force with a threshold value of excessive force and a threshold adaptive value which is below the excessive force threshold but serves as a warning for the user. The system is capable of raising the initial adaptive value threshold () following the user exceeding the adaptive value for a selected number of brushing events and then further for decreasing the adaptive value () back toward the initial adaptive value when the increased adaptive value is not exceeded for a selected number of brushing events, thus providing the ability to encourage/coach the user toward a brushing force which is below the threshold adaptive level and into a safe region of operation.

Adaptive system for modifying user brushing system

The power appliance () for cleaning teeth includes a drive system () and a substrate () for supporting a field of bristles () which contact teeth for cleaning. The drive system is connected to the substrate, moving the substrate in operation to produce an action of the bristle field against the teeth. The assembly, which includes internal stiffeners () in one embodiment, has two physical states, including a first state in which the substrate is softened so as to be formable to conform to the geometry of the teeth, and a second hardened state following its conformance to the teeth in which the substrate is sufficiently rigid to effectively transmit a driving motion to the bristles.

Oral hygiene appliance with formable substrate

The personal care appliance () comprises a handle/housing (), a workpiece assembly (), a motor assembly () which is mounted to the handle for driving the workpiece assembly and a secondary resonator () connected to the motor assembly or the handle, the secondary resonator comprising a spring mass assembly characterized in that at resonant operation thereof, vibrations produced by action of the motor assembly which would otherwise be transmitted to the handle, are significantly reduced/cancelled.

Vibration-canceling secondary resonator for use in a personal care appliance

The toothbrush includes a sensor system for determining pressure on the teeth by a direct force measurement such as displacement, and a system for determining pressure on the teeth by a dynamic load measurement system, such as phase shift. These different pressure results are combined with peak-to-peak bristle motion values of Hall effect output values and compared to a table to obtain a more accurate value of bristle pressure against the teeth and to raise, lower or maintain the trigger threshold of excessive pressure accordingly.

Pressure sensing electric toothbrush

A method and the resulting product for optimizing the configuration of a mouthpiece for cleaning teeth in which the configuration of the mouthpiece is optimized to the oral geometry of individual users. The method includes a first step () of producing a digital scan of the oral geometry of the individual user and then producing a rigid shell () for the mouthpiece substantially matching the digital scan. The configuration of the resulting mouthpiece is characterized by the outer surface of the shell not extending from the buccal surface of the individual teeth more than 7 mm (); further, by the rear edge of the shell not contacting the tissues to the rear of the rearmost teeth (), and still further by no more than a 2 mm overlap into the gum line (), when the mouthpiece is operatively positioned in the user's mouth.

Process and resulting product for matching a mouthpiece for cleaning teeth to a user's oral geometry

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Bellevue, WA, United States of America

Kevin Arnold Miller