Nodal mounted system for driving a power appliance
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
InventorsKevin A. Miller, John W. Pace, Aafke G. Koster
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The power toothbrush, which has a rotating brushhead movement, includes a housing with a motor mounted therein having an armature which in operation rotates through an arc of predetermined magnitude. The toothbrush also includes a brushhead mounted on a shaft which is connected to an output mass. A spring assembly couples the armature to the output mass, the spring assembly including two spring portions with a node point therebetween, wherein when the armature rotates, the brushhead moves in an opposite direction. The frequency of the movement of the armature is set equal to the resonant frequency of the spring coupling system and the output assembly.
Claims18
A power toothbrush, comprising:
- a toothbrush housing;
- a drive assembly comprising:
- a motor having an armature which in operation rotates back and forth through an arc of predetermined magnitude;
- an output assembly which includes a brushhead;
- a coupling assembly having a node point, the coupling assembly connecting the armature to the output assembly, wherein the coupling assembly operates in response to a drive signal having such a frequency that the brushhead rotates 180° out of phase from the rotation of the armature, such that the drive assembly is substantially isolated vibrationally from the housing;
- and
- at least one support element connected between the drive assembly and the housing, wherein the node point remains substantially stationary during operation of the toothbrush.
A power appliance, comprising:
- an appliance housing;
- a drive assembly, comprising:
- a motor having an armature which in operation oscillates through an arc of predetermined magnitude;
- an output assembly which includes a workpiece element;
- a coupling assembly having a node point, the coupling assembly connecting the armature to the output assembly, wherein the coupling assembly operates in response to a drive signal of a selected frequency such that the output assembly rotates 180° out of phase from rotation of the armature, wherein the drive assembly is thus substantially isolated vibrationally from the housing;
- and
- a support element connected between the node point and the housing, wherein in operation of the appliance, the node point remains substantially stationary.
A power appliance, comprising:
- an appliance housing;
- a driving assembly which moves a driving mass back and forth through a distance;
- an output assembly which includes a workpiece element;
- and
- a coupling assembly which connects the driving mass to the output assembly, wherein the coupling assembly includes a torsion member having a node point therealong;
- and a support element connected between the node point and the housing, wherein the driving assembly operates in such a mode that the workpiece element moves in the opposite rotational direction from the driving assembly, wherein the moments of inertia of the output assembly and the driving assembly, respectively, oppose each other, thereby substantially preventing coupling of vibrations to the housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.