Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Philips Oral Healthcare

Scott E Hall

Richard Taylor

Kevin Arnold Miller

Joseph W Grez

Martinus Bernardus Stapelbroek

Tyler G Kloster

Patrick A Headstrom

Michiel Allan Aurelius Schallig

Hendrik Richard Jousma

Craig D Hanela

James N Larimer

Bruce E Taber

William E Bryant

Wolter F Benning

Ronald C Lilley

Piet C J Van Rens

Jerry Wood

Gerrit Jan De Jong

Jeffrey Raymond Gueble

Devin M Nelson

Kurt Sadek

D I Stephan Leitner

Craig Kortick Black

Jeffrey Michael Alexander

Friedrich Stoeffler

John W Pace

Daniel Bayeh

Paul Gruber

Andreas Loibnegger

Marc Darrin Bovenkamp

Kevin T Underwood

Dharshan Manjunath

Paulus L W M Barten

Andreas Lolbneggar

Raviteja Senadhipathi

Paul L W M Barten

Barath Kumar Soundararajan

Patrick Headstrom

R Jousma

Martijn Stapelbroek

The replaceable brushhead, used for a power toothbrush, includes a neck portion () having a hollow part located at a proximal end thereof. The brushhead assembly includes a bristle portion () at a distal end of the neck portion. A connecting assembly () is positioned within the hollow portion of the neck, the connecting assembly having two distinct, mechanically stable, positions. In the first position, the connecting assembly has a first physical arrangement in which the brushhead assembly is conveniently removable or insertable onto an output shaft () from a handle portion of the power toothbrush. In the second position, the connecting assembly has a second physical arrangement, in which a portion of the connecting assembly makes physical contact with the output shaft such that the force or torque produced by the output shaft in operation is transferred to the brushhead assembly for movement thereof.

Brushhead for a power toothbrush with a two position coupling assembly

An attachment mountable to an electric toothbrush handle having a drive shaft comprises a neck member having an elongated body with a principal axis and a cavity; a slide member with an engagement surface; a guide sleeve member having a cavity, a first outer surface with an engagement opening, and a transition surface; and a collar member. The guide sleeve member, with slide member inserted within the engagement opening, is inserted within the neck member cavity. Insertion of the drive shaft into the collar member and guide sleeve member from a first radial position along an axis offset and parallel to the principal axis to a second radial position in-line with the principal axis, via the transition surface, results in the drive shaft being held in frictional contact with the engagement surface of the slide member to enable transfer of force/motion from the drive shaft to the neck member.

Attachment for an electric toothbrush handle and method of attaching

A nodal-mounted spring arrangement for an electronic toothbrush includes a V-shaped spring member secured at both ends so that it can operate in out-of-phase torsion mode along the axial dimension thereof. In one embodiment, the V-shaped spring member includes two extended end regions, which extend below a longitudinal edge of the middle portion of the V-spring. The free ends of the extended portions are joined by a flat cross-piece. This 'closed end' region is present at both ends of the V-spring.

Nodal spring assembly for an electronic toothbrush

The power toothbrush includes a handle (), a brushhead () and a drive assembly () which includes a processor () for driving the brushhead at a selected frequency and amplitude. A miniature gyroscope (MEMS) () and an accelerometer () are mounted on the brushhead or on a portion of the drive assembly within the handle for detecting rotational velocity of the brushhead and orientation of the brushhead in the mouth during operation. Information from the gyroscope (rotational) and the accelerometer are then provided to the processor for determining amplitude of brushhead movement. The amplitude information is provided to the user, or can be further processed and fed back () to the drive assembly for control of brushhead movement.

System for determining amplitude of a power toothbrush brushhead in the mouth

A V-spring member () for use in a driving system for a personal care appliance has regions () at the ends of the spring which are large enough to support a contact with an end clamping assembly, the spring member including a cross-piece () extending between the longitudinal edges of the spring at the end regions, such that the ends of the spring member define a closed line. End clamping assemblies () provided for such a V-spring member include a body portion () having a lower support portion () on which the V-spring is supported and a mating clamping member () positioned in registry with the support portion on top of the V-spring. The support portion and the clamping member include peripheral edges () which have a curved cross-sectional configuration, and which are in registry, making contact with the spring member in the end regions in such a manner as to reduce stress concentrations in the end regions of the spring, thereby reducing fretting fatigue and fretting damage in the spring.

V-spring configuration and end attachment assemblies therefor for use in a personal care appliance

A nodally mounted spring arrangement for a drive train which is used in an electronic toothbrush which includes a housing. A V shaped spring member () is secured at both ends thereof, wherein the spring member has a node point () along a ridge line, approximately halfway along the length of the spring member. A mounting plate () member is fixedly connected to the node point of the spring member and also fixedly connected to the housing of the toothbrush.

The power toothbrush includes a handle () and a brushhead () having a conductive electrode sensing element () therein. The toothbrush includes a driver assembly () for the brushhead and a sensor system () for measuring the capacitance between the sensing element on/in the brushhead and an electronics ground () in the handle of the toothbrush. A microprocessor/controller () is programmed to determine whether the measured capacitance is above a threshold value, which indicates that the toothbrush is near or within the mouth of the user. The microprocessor actuates the driver assembly for operation of the toothbrush when the capacitance value is above the threshold value.

Toothbrush with automatic actuation

A method for tuning resonant spring assembly systems used in appliances such as power toothbrushes, particularly leaf spring systems, includes the step of measuring the frequency-dependent amplitude of the appliance workpiece, and then removing a portion of the spring member so as to decrease its spring rate sufficiently that the resonant frequency of the spring member closely approximates the drive frequency of the appliance.

Apparatus for converting side-to-side driving motion to rotational motion with a spring assembly and system for tuning the spring assembly

A nodal-mounted spring arrangement for an electronic toothbrush includes a V-shaped spring member secured at both ends so that it can operate in out-of-phase torsion mode along the axial dimension thereof. A mounting plate is connected between a node point along the V-shaped spring member and the housing of the toothbrush. In one embodiment, the V-shaped spring member includes opposing slots on opposite sides of the node point, the slots extending in an axial direction, creating an integrated torsion bar node spring, while reducing stress in the vicinity of the nodal point. In another embodiment, a nodal assembly comprises a diamond shaped or round insert having an upper surface configured generally to fit flush with the lower surface of the V-shaped spring member, a V-block shaped or flat shim member which is configured to mate the upper surface of the V-shaped spring member and the node spring, and an attachment member, such as a screw and nut combination, which tightly connects the mounting plate, the shim, the V-shaped spring member and the insert.

The brushhead includes a brushhead member which includes a bristle field, the brushhead member being adapted for cleaning teeth as part of a power toothbrush, wherein the brushhead in operation moves in a reciprocating action. In one embodiment the brushhead includes a rim member which extends around at least a substantial portion of the brushhead, the rim member extending around the entire bristle field and having an upper edge which is lower than the top of the bristles. The rim member has a different flexibility than the bristles so that the movement of the rim member and the bristles is out of phase during operation of the toothbrush, which results in fluid from the bristles being directed toward the teeth during operation of the toothbrush.

Power toothbrush brushhead with fluid-directing member

The system includes a plurality of joining assemblies () for removably attaching a driven member assembly () of the appliance to an appliance body portion (), wherein the joining assemblies are separate from the torsional axis of the workpiece. The joining assemblies each include an extending pin member () on the appliance body and a receiving element () in the driven member assembly for receiving the extending pin member. A drive shaft () for the workpiece is connected to a head portion () of the driven member assembly by two springs (), wherein the extending pin member mates with the receiving element in such a manner that there is no lost motion of the workpiece during operation but also such that the driven member assembly is readily removable from the appliance body.

System for removably joining a driven member to a driven member with workpiece

The fluid-dispensing power toothbrush includes a selected toothbrush architecture, generally, a handle portion, a head portion which is removable from the handle portion and a fluid-dispensing system which is removable with the head portion. The fluid-dispensing portion includes a pump and a fluid reservoir, with the reservoir being removable from the pump. The entire reservoir extends down along an exterior surface of the handle, below the lower edge of the head portion. A cover member overlies and mates with the handle, covering the reservoir when the cover member is in a closed position.

Structural arrangement for a fluid-dispensing power toothbrush

The drive system drives a brushhead at a driving frequency. The drive system includes a frequency modulation system which changes. the driving frequency about a center frequency in such a manner, with selected frequency deviation and modulation frequency, which interacts with the resonance of the brushhead to produce a change of amplitude in the movement of the brushhead within a range of 5-30%.

Changing amplitude of movement by changing the drive frequency of a toothbrush brushhead

A pump () for a personal care appliance which includes a flexible fluid cartridge member () having an exit opening () for the fluid at a forward end thereof (), a base member () having a cutout portion () into which a fluid-filled portion () of the cartridge () can nest, and a pressing member () having a configuration which nests with the cutout portion over a substantial portion of its length, such that as the pressing member moves forwardly along its path, fluid in the fluid-filled portion is pressed out the exit opening and into a line connected to a workpiece element, such as a toothbrush brushhead.

Growing community of inventors

Issaquah, WA, United States of America

Scott E Hall