WO2004030889A1

WO2004030889A1 - The forming process of tooth brush formed tooth brush hair pieces

Info

Publication number: WO2004030889A1
Application number: PCT/KR2002/001861
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hyo-Moon Park
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-10-04
Filing date: 2002-10-04
Publication date: 2004-04-15
Anticipated expiration: 2005-04-04
Also published as: AU2002353546A1

Abstract

This invention relates to molding method for a piece where brushes are hereafter planted on being related with Korea Utility Model Patent No.20-1999-8238 and 20-2000-8396 previously applied by present inventor to minimize manufacturing cost through mass production along with high quality products in short period of time not by molding respectively but molding the piece as plate spring being inserted to the part. In accordance with the invention, a molding method for aforementioned brush-planting piece is provided distinctively being consisted of composition of banding step (S1); cutting step (S2); tooth brush holder forming step (S3); operating plate mounting step (S4); brush planting step (S5).

Description

DESCRIPTION

(The forming process of tooth brush formed tooth brush hair pieces)

1. FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention relates to a method for molding a toothbrush, and more particularly, to a method for molding a toothbrush, in which a brush piece with a leaf spring inserted therein is bent and mounted on a toothbrush holder piece, thereby achieving mass production of the brush piece in short period of time bent and thus minimizing a production cost thereof.

2. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Recently, the inventor has proposed an improved toothbrush, in which brush rows can be closely positioned or spaced apart from each other to easily clean and dry the brush, as disclosed in Korean Utility Model Nos. 20-1999-8238 and 20-2000-8396, which are incorporated by reference herein. The toothbrush includes a brush piece assembly with a plurality of brush pieces inserted into a leaf spring, and an operating plate, mounted on one side of a toothbrush holder piece, for attaching or detaching the brush piece assembly to or from the toothbrush holder piece.

When manufacturing the toothbrush constructed as described above, after moulds having thin partitions for shaping the brush piece are closely positioned to each other, the brush piece is manufactured by injection n molding. At that time, a synthetic resin poured into the moulds leaks out ofthe mould, so that the brush pieces are stuck to each other to produce many defectives. Recently, after the brush piece with a receiving hole is separately formed, the formed brush piece is inserted into the leaf spring, respectively. Such a process extends its production time and increases production costs thereof.

Accordingly, the inventor has supposed a device for molding a brush piece to solve the above problem. See Korean Patent Application No. 10-2001-0060083, which incorporated by reference herein. The present invention relates to a method for molding the toothbrush with the brush piece by use ofthe device.

3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems involved in the prior art, and to provide a method for molding a toothbrush, in which a brush piece with a leaf spring inserted therein is bent and mounted on a toothbrush holder piece, thereby achieving mass production of the brush piece in short period of time bent and thus minimizing a production cost thereof. In order to accomplish the above mentioned object, the present invention provides, in a conventional device for molding a brush piece including: an upper mould having a pair of divided moulds mounted to a lower surface of the upper mould, in which the respective divided moulds is formed with a protruded portion, in which a plurality of brush piece molding chambers with a pin for forming a brush hole are arranged at regular intervals in the upper mould, in which a groove for receiving a leaf spring is formed on a lower center portion ofthe upper mould, and brush pieces are closely arranged or are spaced apart from each other by the leaf spring, and in which permanent magnets for attracting the leaf spring and latching pins inserted into a leaf spring fixing hole for fixing the leaf spring are provided between the respective brush piece molding chambers; and a lower mould having brush piece molding chambers opposed to the brush piece molding chambers of the upper mould and an inlet path along which a synthetic resin flows, a method for molding a toothbrush using the above molding device comprising the steps of: a) bending both ends of the leaf spring, with a plurality of brush pieces inserted into the leaf spring at regular intervals being closely arranged toward both ends of the leaf spring; b) cutting a middle portion of the bent leaf spring by use of a cutter; c) inserting the brush pieces, which are inserted into the bent leaf spring, into a unit for molding a toothbrush holder piece of a desired shape, and forming the toothbrush holder piece on a lower end ofthe brush piece; d) mounting an operating plate for moving the brush pieces to one side of the toothbrush holder piece; and e) implanting brush into the brush pieces of the toothbrush holder piece, to which the operating plate is mounted, using an implanting device.

Alternatively, the brush piece 1 with the leaf spring inserted therein is formed into a toothbrush by molding each of both ends thereof through molding injection by use of the brush piece molding device, and performing the steps a, c, d, and e, without performing the step b.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation ofthe present invention as claimed.

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention; examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

A conventional device 100 for molding a brush piece includes: an upper mould 101 having a pair of divided moulds 101a and 101b mounted to a lower surface of the upper mould, in which the respective divided moulds is formed with a protruded portion 101-2, in which a plurality of brush piece molding chambers 101-1 with a pin 101-3 for forming a brush hole are arranged at regular intervals in the upper mould 101, in which a groove 101-4 for receiving a leaf spring 2 is formed on a lower center portion of the upper mould 101, and brush pieces are closely arranged or are spaced apart from each other by the leaf spring 2, and in which permanent magnets 101-5 for attracting the leaf spring 2 and latching pins 101-6 inserted into a leaf spring fixing hole for fixing the leaf spring 2 are provided between the respective brush piece molding chambers 101-1; and a lower mould 102 having brush piece molding chambers 102-1 opposed to the brush piece molding chambers 101-1 of the upper mould 101 and an inlet path 102-2 along which a synthetic resin flows. A method for molding a toothbrush using the conventional molding device according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention includes steps of: bending both ends of the leaf spring 2, with a plurality of brush pieces 1 inserted into the leaf spring at regular intervals being closely arranged toward both ends ofthe leaf spring (step SI); cutting a middle portion of the bent leaf spring 2 by use of a cutter 10 (step S2); inserting the brush pieces 1, which are inserted into the bent leaf spring 2, into a unit 20 for molding a toothbrush holder piece 3 of a desired shape, and forming the toothbrush holder piece on a lower end of the brush piece 1 (step S3); mounting an operating plate 4 for moving the brush pieces 1 to one side of the toothbrush holder piece 3 (step S4); and implanting brush into the brush pieces 1 of the toothbrush holder piece 3, to which the operating plate 4 is mounted, using an implanting device 30 (step S5).

Alternatively, the brush piece 1 with the leaf spring 2 inserted therein may be formed into a toothbrush by molding each of both ends thereof through molding injection by use of the brush piece molding device 100, and performing the above steps S3, SI, S4 and S5, in turn, without performing the step S2.

Reference numeral 100 indicates a device for molding a brush piece. With the above construction, the brush piece molding device 100 (see Korean Patent Application No. 10-2001-0060083) consisting of the upper mould 101 and the lower mould 102 is filled with the synthetic resin through the inlet path 102-2, as shown in Figs. 2a and 2b. The brush piece molding chambers 101-1 and 102-1 of the upper and lower moulds 101 and 102 is supplied with the synthetic resin, so that a plurality of brush pieces 1 each having a brush hole 1-3 and an operating plate guiding path 1-2 are formed at regular intervals along the leaf spring 2 inserted into the groove 101-4. A width of an upper brush piece 1-4 is different from that of a lower brush piece 1-5, because of a width difference between the brush piece molding chamber 101-1 of the upper mould 101 and the brush piece molding chamber 102-1 of the lower mould 102. A number of brush pieces 1 inserted to the leaf spring 2 are able to be closely arranged or spaced apart from each other on a smooth outer surface ofthe leaf spring 2.

When a number of brush pieces 1 inserted into both ends of the leaf spring 2 is injection molded, the brush pieces 1 spaced apart from each other at regular intervals are closely arranged toward each end of the leaf spring, as shown in Fig. 3. At arranging the brush pieces closely, if the upper brush piece 1-4 and the lower brush piece 1-5 are applied with the same power, the narrow lower brush piece 1-5 has a large curvature than that of the wide upper brush piece 1-4 due to the width difference, so that the leaf spring 2 is bent at a given curvature.

After the bending step SI, when the leaf spring 2 and the brush pieces 1 are passed through the cutter 10, as shown in Fig. 4, the middle portion of the leaf spring 2 is cut to be divided into two parts. The divided leaf springs 2 and brush pieces 1 are inserted into the toothbrush holder molding unit 20 with a toothbrush holder piece molding chamber 20-1 of a desired shape, as shown in Fig. 5. Then, the divided leaf springs 2 and brush pieces 1 are integrally molded with the toothbrush holder piece 3 by the synthetic resin supplied into the toothbrush holder piece molding chamber 20-1. The operating plate 4 for moving the brush pieces 1 is mounted to one portion of the toothbrush holder piece 3 with the divided leaf springs 2 and brush pieces 1 formed, as shown in Fig. 6. The brush pieces 1 with the operating plate 4 mounted are passed through the implanting step S5 for implanting the brush

5 into the brush hole 1-3 by a conventional implanting device 30, as shown in Figs. 7a and 7b.

Alternatively, after the brush pieces 1 inserted into not both ends but one end of the leaf spring 2 are molded by the brush piece molding device 100, as shown in Figs. 8a and 8b, the leaf springs 2 and brush pieces 1 are inserted into the toothbrush holder molding unit 20 to form the toothbrush holder piece 3. Then, after the closely arranged brush pieces 1 are passed through the bending step SI, the operating plate 4 is mounted to the toothbrush holder piece 3. In turn, the brush pieces 1 with the operating plate 4 mounted are implanted with the brush by a conventional implanting device 30. As disclosed above, according to the present invention, the brush pieces 1 are injection molded, with the leaf spring being mounted thereon, thereby minimizing the production process. The bending is achieved by the width difference between the upper brush piece 1-4 and the lower brush piece 1-5, without using a separate bending device, thereby minimizing a production cost and maximizing its efficiency. While the present invention has been described and illustrated herein with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers all modifications and variations of this invention that come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

4. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a flowchart showing a method for molding a toothbrush according to one preferred embodiment ofthe present invention.

Figs. 2a, 2b and 2c are perspective views and a cross-sectional view of a device for molding a brush piece according to one preferred embodiment ofthe present invention.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a bent state of a brush piece according to one preferred embodiment ofthe present invention. Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a cut state of a brush piece according to one preferred embodiment ofthe present invention.

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a toothbrush holder piece and a mould.

Fig. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a toothbrush holder piece and an operating plate.

Figs. 7a and 7b are cross-sectional views of a brush piece according to one preferred embodiment ofthe present invention.

Figs. 8a and 8b are perspective views showing another embodiment of the present invention.

< ANNOTATION OF THE NUMBERS > l: Brush piece 1-2: Guide path 1-3". Brush hole

1-4: Upper area of the brush piece 1-5: Lower area of the brush piece

2: Leaf spring 3: Toothbrush rod 4: Operating plate 5: Brush 10: Cutting device 20: Toothbrush rod molding device

30: Planting device 100: Brush piece molding device

101: Upper mold 101a, 101b: Separated molds

101-1: Brush piece molding room 101-2: Protrusion

101-3: Pin 101-4: Groove 101-5: Magnetic 101-6: Stopping pin

102: Lower mold 102-1: Brush piece molding room

102-2: Synthetic resin path SI: Bending stage

S2: Cutting stage S3: Toothbrush rod molding stage S4: Operating plate mounting stage S5: Planting stage

5. INDUSTRY AVAILABILITY

According to the present invention, the brush pieces 1 injection molded by the brush piece molding device are bent and mounted to the toothbrush holder piece 3, and the operating plate 4 and the brush 5 are formed on the toothbrush holder piece 3. Therefore, the present invention maximizes the produce efficiency, mimmizes defectives and reduces a production cost. In addition, the mass production of a high quality of product may be achieved.

Claims

Claimed Scope of the Invention

1. In a conventional device 100 for molding a brush piece including: an upper mould 101 having a pair of divided moulds 101a and 101b mounted to a lower surface of the upper mould, in which the respective divided moulds is formed with a protruded portion 101-2, in which a plurality of brush piece molding chambers 101-1 with a pin 101-3 for forming a brush hole are arranged at regular intervals in the upper mould 101, in which a groove 101-4 for receiving a leaf spring 2 is formed on a lower center portion ofthe upper mould 101, and brush pieces are closely arranged or are spaced apart from each other by the leaf spring 2, and in which permanent magnets 101-5 for attracting the leaf spring 2 and latching pins 101-6 inserted into a leaf spring fixing hole for fixing the leaf spring 2 are provided between the respective brush piece molding chambers 101-1; and a lower mould 102 having brush piece molding chambers 102-1 opposed to the brush piece molding chambers 101-1 of the upper mould 101 and an inlet path 102-2 along which a synthetic resin flows, a method for molding a toothbrush using the above molding device comprising the steps of: a) bending both ends of the leaf spring 2, with a plurality of brush pieces 1 inserted into the leaf spring at regular intervals being closely arranged toward both ends of the leaf spring; b) cutting a middle portion ofthe bent leaf spring 2 by use of a cutter 10; c) inserting the brush pieces 1, which are inserted into the bent leaf spring 2, into a unit 20 for molding a toothbrush holder piece 3 of a desired shape, and forming the toothbrush holder piece on a lower end ofthe brush piece 1 ; d) mounting an operating plate 4 for moving the brush pieces 1 to one side of the toothbrush holder piece 3; and e) implanting brush into the brush pieces 1 of the toothbrush holder piece 3, to which the operating plate 4 is mounted, using an implanting device 30.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the brush piece 1 with the leaf spring 2 inserted therein is formed into a toothbrush by molding each of both ends thereof through molding injection by use ofthe brush piece molding device 100, and performing the steps a, c, d, and e, without performing the step b.