JP2012231968A - Toothbrush for pet - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a toothbrush for pets that facilitates brushing and effective removal of dental plaque, and is allowed to be manufactured at low cost.SOLUTION: The toothbrush 10 for pets includes: a grip part 12; and a brush part 14 provided at the end of the grip part 12, in which a plurality of brush bristles 16 are planted. In addition, the brush bristles 16 planted in the brush part 14 have one or two recessed part 16a so as to be recessed as viewed from a side.

Description

  The present invention relates to a pet toothbrush used when brushing pet teeth.

  In recent years, as with humans, pets (herein, pets mean dogs and cats) are becoming recognized as important for brushing their teeth in order to stay healthy and live longer. In dogs, the environment in the oral cavity is different from that of the human and the food intake is different, so although it does not cause tooth decay, it often causes periodontal disease, and such periodontal disease is often associated with pain and bad breath. Not only can this cause bacteria, but bacteria can be transported through the bloodstream to organs throughout the body, such as the kidneys, liver, and heart.

  For this reason, brushing teeth is recommended, but it is very difficult to brush teeth on dogs and cats, and it is necessary to accustom them while giving aesthetics. Moreover, when carrying out tooth brushing, it is not appropriate to use a normal human toothbrush. This is fundamentally different from the shape of human teeth and the shape of teeth of dogs and cats. Toothbrushes made with human teeth arranged in mind will have a sufficient brushing effect on the teeth of dogs and cats. Cannot be expected.

  Therefore, Patent Document 1 proposes a dog-specific toothbrush. This toothbrush has a structure in which three rows of bristles are planted adjacent to the longitudinal direction in the brush portion formed at the tip of the handle, and the tips of the bristles on both sides are curved toward each other. It has become. According to the toothbrush having such a structure, when the handle portion is gripped by hand and the brush part is inserted into the dog's oral cavity, the brush hairs on both sides come into contact with the inner and outer surfaces of the molar teeth. The effect | action and effect that it is easy to do and can reduce wrist fatigue are acquired.

JP-A-2005-151882

The above-mentioned toothbrush disclosed in Patent Document 1 opens the dog's mouth (opens the upper jaw and lower jaw), inserts the brush portion into the oral cavity, and reciprocates the brush portion in the longitudinal direction along the tooth meshing surface. It is a structure that considers moving.
However, dogs usually have the property that they are extremely reluctant to insert a foreign object into the mouth with their mouth open, and such a toothbrush cannot be used unless the dog is accustomed to a great extent. . Further, it is difficult to curve the tips of the brush portions on both sides so as to be close to each other, resulting in an increase in cost.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above-described problems, and provides a pet toothbrush that can be easily brushed, can effectively remove plaque, and can be manufactured at low cost. For the purpose.

  In general, even for dogs and cats, as with humans, to effectively prevent periodontal disease, it is most important to remove plaque that accumulates between teeth and gums when brushing teeth. It is known that In this case, it has been found that the inside of the teeth is relatively difficult to get plaque due to the movement of the tongue, and that a considerable effect can be obtained by brushing only the outside. In particular, the region on the surface side (exposed surface side) of the fourth anterior molar has an opening of the salivary gland in the buccal mucosa of this part, and the attached plaque easily changes to tartar with calcium contained in the saliva as a component. Therefore, it is necessary to brush this area appropriately.

  Here, the arrangement of dog teeth will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In the description of FIG. 1, the upper jaw 5 side will be described, and the description of the lower jaw 6 side will be omitted. Moreover, the line shown with the code | symbol P is a line in alignment with a substantially gum.

  When viewed from the side, the dog's teeth have four anterior molars 2a to 2d along the posterior side from the canine (fang) 1, and two posterior molars 3a and 3b are located behind the fourth anterior molar 2d. Existing. In this case, each tooth protruding from the gum P has a large gap between the teeth, and the surface of each tooth is not as flat as a human tooth but is a slightly curved surface. (Typically, it has a substantially conical or cylindrical curved surface). In such an arrangement of teeth and surface shape, if brushing is performed using a normal toothbrush for human beings, an unpolished portion can be left in the shaded portion in the figure. In particular, as described above, the unpolished portion appears remarkably on the front and back sides of the fourth anterior molar 2d, on the front side of the rear molars 3a and 3b, and further on the front and rear surfaces of the canine 1.

  The reason for this is that, as described above, the surface of each tooth is a curved surface. In order to polish the surface thoroughly with a human toothbrush, in addition to reciprocating the handle part in the longitudinal direction, In order to allow the bristles to be in close contact with the curved region, it is necessary to vibrate in the lateral direction as well, and such a toothbrush operation is caused by the dog's dislike. Also, as described above, dogs and cats have the property that they are extremely reluctant to open their mouths and insert foreign objects inside.

In the present invention, the unpolished portion as shown in FIG. 1 is less likely to occur due to the following toothbrush structure based on the above situation.
That is, in order to achieve the above-described object, a pet toothbrush according to the present invention has a grip part, and a brush part provided at the tip of the grip part and planted with a plurality of brush hairs, The bristles implanted in the brush portion have one or two concave portions so as to be recessed in a side view when viewed from the side.

According to the above-described configuration, it becomes possible to apply one concave portion formed on the brush hair so as to follow the curved surface of the molar tooth or canine tooth (in the case of two concave portions, two continuous teeth Can be along the surface). That is, according to the pet toothbrush having such a structure, the upper and lower jaws of dogs and cats are not opened and the brush part is inserted, but the tooth surface is exposed by simply turning up the lips. The brush bristles are pressed from the side to the molar teeth and canines, and can be polished without leaving the surface polished by simply reciprocating the grip in the longitudinal direction without shaking in the lateral direction.
Further, the brush bristles do not bend the tip as in Patent Document 1, but simply change the height so that a concave portion is formed, so that the bristles can be easily manufactured.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, while being able to brush easily, plaque can be removed effectively and the pet toothbrush which can be manufactured at low cost is obtained.

The schematic side view which shows the structure of a dog's tooth. The side view which shows 1st Embodiment of the toothbrush for pets concerning this invention. The perspective view of the toothbrush for pets shown in FIG. The top view which shows typically the state brushing with respect to a dog's tooth | gear. It is a figure which shows the modification of 1st Embodiment, (a) is a side view, (b) is a front view. The side view which shows 2nd Embodiment of the toothbrush for pets concerning this invention. The side view which shows the modification of 2nd Embodiment. (A)-(c) is a figure which shows the various modifications of the bristle by which each is flocked.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a pet toothbrush according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIGS. 2 to 4 are views showing a first embodiment of a pet toothbrush according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view, FIG. 3 is a perspective view, and FIG. It is a top view which shows the state to do typically.

  The pet toothbrush 10 of this embodiment includes a grip portion 12 formed in a rod shape, and a substantially rectangular plate-shaped brush portion 14 provided at the tip of the grip portion 12. In this case, the grip portion 12 and the brush portion 14 can be integrally formed of a synthetic resin material, and a large number of brush hairs 16 are planted on one surface of the brush portion 14.

  The brush bristles 16 can be formed of nylon, animal hair, or the like (a soft material can be used to relieve discomfort for pets), and a substantially rectangular recess 14 a is formed on the surface of the brush portion 14. In this recess 14a, a large number of hairs are uniformly planted without any gaps. A large number of brush bristles 16 that have been implanted have their surfaces (tips) cut to a substantially uniform height and, when viewed from the side, are cut so as to have one recess 16a that is recessed in a concave shape.

  The recess 16a is specified according to the size of the pet's teeth used (the diameter of the rearing dog, the molars of the cat, and the gum region of the canine), and the teeth enter and touch the curved surface. What has the width | variety L of the grade which sticks is sufficient. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the concave portion 16a is recessed in the longitudinal direction when viewed from the side, and the width L is set according to the size of the pet used (the size of the teeth). Is done. Specifically, in the case of a large dog such as a retriever, since the mouth (tooth) is large, the brush portion 14 becomes large, and the width L of the concave portion 16a is also set accordingly. Further, in the case of a small dog such as a Chihuahua, the mouth (teeth) is smaller than that of a large dog, so the brush portion 14 is also made smaller, and the width L of the recess 16a is accordingly set smaller (such as this) The recesses are completely different from the cuts of a human toothbrush suitable for human teeth with a flat surface). The width L of the recess 16a described above depends on the size of the teeth of the pet (diameter of the gum region), but is formed in the range of about 3 mm to 12 mm including small to large ones. Just do it.

  The concave portion 16a of the present embodiment has a curved surface (arc-shaped surface) when the surface is viewed from the side, and is formed so as to substantially match the surface of the dog or cat teeth that are curved. Has been. Moreover, about the recessed part 16a formed in this way, if too deep, the bristle of the part will become short and will not contact the surface of a tooth, and conversely if too shallow, both sides of the recessed part will be curved. It becomes impossible to reach both ends (front and rear areas) of the, and in any case, there is a lot of unpolished material. For this reason, when the depth (the deepest part) of the recess 16a is D and the length of the brush hair is H, it is set in the range of D = (1/2) H to (1/3) H. Is preferred.

  In addition, about the bristle 16 which has the above-mentioned recessed part 16a, it cuts so that the recessed part 16a may be formed after planting the bristle 16 of uniform length with respect to the recessed part 14a of the brush part 14 at once. Alternatively, the bristles 16 in which the concave portions 16a are formed in advance may be implanted in the recesses 14a of the brush portion 14.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the grip part 12 grasped by the hand extends in a rod shape, and the extending direction is such that the brush hair is implanted in the longitudinal direction X of the brush part 14 as shown in FIG. Is bent to the side that is not. In this way, the actual brushing operation can be easily performed by bending the grip portion 12 to the side opposite to the bristle side.

  When a brushing operation is actually performed on a dog using the above-described pet toothbrush, the lips are turned up to expose the teeth. At this time, the dog's head may be held aside, the head may be pressed, or the lips may simply be turned up without pressing the head if adequately wrinkled. . And in this state, the brush part 14 is made to approach a tooth | gear from a side surface side (refer FIG. 4 arrow), and the brush hair 16 is applied to the surface of a tooth | gear.

  FIG. 4 shows a state in which the brush bristles 16 are pressed against the surface of the fourth anterior molar 2d of the upper jaw 5 shown in FIG. 1, and when pressed, the recess 16a substantially coincides with the fourth anterior molar 2d. As a result, it is possible to apply the brush bristles on both sides of the recess 16a to the regions 2d ′ and 2d ″ of the front and rear of the fourth anterior molar 2d that are easily left unpolished. That is, the bristle can be effectively applied to the surface of the front molar and the rear molar where the gap between the teeth is large and the surface is curved. In this state, the grip portion 12 is moved in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, it is possible to effectively remove plaque that could not be removed with a normal human toothbrush. Further, the grip portion 12 only needs to be moved mainly in the longitudinal direction, and does not need to be moved in the lateral direction.

  As described above, the recess 16a is formed in the brush bristles 16 so that it can be brushed so as to wrap the curved (conical or columnar) teeth. It is possible to press the bristles also on the front side and the back side, particularly the back side of the back molar. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, when the grip portion 12 is bent, the brush gripping operation is not interfered with when the brush gripping operation is performed by moving the hand gripping the grip portion 12 in the front-rear direction. It is easy to operate and does not cause any discomfort to the dog.

  In addition, by making the said brush part 14 small (specifically making it smaller than the size of the brush part of the toothbrush for human infants), while being able to approach a molar tooth easily, it can reduce the discomfort to a dog. It becomes possible.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a modification of the above-described embodiment, in which (a) is a side view and (b) is a front view.
In this modification, a large number of circular recesses 24a are formed on the surface of the brush portion 24, and brush hairs 26 and 26 'are planted in each recess 24a (a configuration in which a large number of dots are planted). Yes. The recesses 24a are formed in 3 rows in the longitudinal direction and 11 columns in the width direction (3 × 11), and a bunch of brush hairs 26, 26 ′ are planted in each recess 24a. . In this case, the short bristle 26 'is used as the bristle planted in the intermediate region in the width direction (all 4 to 8 rows from the tip side of the brush portion 24), and the long bristle 26 is used otherwise. As shown in FIG. 5, a recess 26 a is formed by short brush hairs 26 ′ in the intermediate region.

  According to such a configuration, it is only necessary to use a short brush hair (brush hair 26 ′) to be implanted in the intermediate region, and the toothbrush itself can be easily manufactured. The number, color, hardness, and the like of the brush hairs 26, 26 'planted in the respective recesses 24a of the brush part 24 can be appropriately changed. For the recesses 24a, for example, The arrangement can be modified as appropriate, for example, the first column at the front end has two rows. In the configuration shown in the figure, 11 rows are arranged in the longitudinal direction. However, if the brush portion 24 is made small, it may be about 5 rows. In this case, for example, if the third row is cut to form a recess, the structure is suitable for small dogs and cats. Furthermore, it is desirable that the depth D of the concave portion 26a be the same as that shown in FIG. 2 in relation to the height H of the bristle.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a second embodiment of the pet toothbrush according to the present invention.
As in the first embodiment, the brush bristles 16 of this embodiment have recesses formed on the surface of the brush portion 16, and a large number of hairs are uniformly planted in the recesses without any gaps. And many bristle bristles 16 planted are cut so that it may have two continuous concave parts 16a and 16b so that it may become concave when viewed from the side.

  According to such a configuration, when the bristles 16 are pressed against the teeth, it is possible to wrap up two continuous molars, and it is possible to brush efficiently.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a modification of the above-described embodiment.
In this modified example, as in the modified example shown in FIG. 5, a large number of recesses 24a are formed on the surface of the brush portion 24, and brush hairs 26, 26 'are implanted in each of the recesses 24a. Yes. The recesses 24a are formed in 3 rows (3 × 13) in the longitudinal direction and 13 rows in the width direction, and a bunch of brush hairs 26 and 26 ′ are planted in each recess 24a. . In the brush portion, two concave portions 26a and 26b are formed continuously in the longitudinal direction (short brush hairs 26 'are formed in all the 3-5 rows and 9-11 rows from the tip side of the brush portion 24). Used).

  Thus, also about the bristle | planted by dot shape, it becomes possible to form two recessed parts easily like 2nd Embodiment. Further, in the configuration shown in the figure, 13 rows are arranged in the longitudinal direction. However, if the brush portion 24 is made small, it may be about 5 rows as in the configuration shown in FIG. In this case, if the second row and the fourth row are cut to form two recesses, the structure is suitable for small dogs and cats.

  FIGS. 8A to 8C are diagrams showing various modifications of the brush hairs that are planted in the above-described point-like manner. As shown in these drawings, brush hairs 26 ″ that are longer than the brush hairs 26 ′ that form the recesses may be partially planted in the recesses 26a and 26b formed in the brush hairs. Even if comprised in this way, it becomes possible to make it easy to make a bristle closely_contact | adhere to a molar.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, the recessed part of the bristle in this invention should just be formed in one place or two places along the longitudinal direction with respect to the bristle. In this case, if three or more locations are formed, it is not preferable because the brush portion needs to be formed large in order to allow the brush hair to reach around each molar tooth. Further, the grip portion 12 may have a structure extending linearly so as to bend the brush portion 14 side and intersect the longitudinal direction X.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Pet toothbrush 12 Grip part 14,24 Brush part 16,26 Brush hair 16a, 16b, 26a, 26b Recessed part

Claims (4)

In a pet toothbrush for brushing pet teeth, having a grip part and a brush part provided at the tip of the grip part and having a plurality of brush hairs implanted therein,
The brush bristles implanted in the brush part have one or two recesses so as to be recessed in a side view, and the pet toothbrush is characterized in that   The pet toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the concave portion is formed of a curved surface.   The depth of the said recessed part is set to D = (1/2) H- (1/3) H, when the length of the said bristle is set to H and the brush hair length is set to H. Pet toothbrush.   4. The grip according to claim 1, wherein the grip portion extends in a longitudinal direction and is bent toward a side where the brush hair is not implanted with respect to the longitudinal direction of the brush portion. The described toothbrush for pets.

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