Electrically driven toothbrush

In an electrically driven toothbrush including a handle portion, an electrically operated motor accommodated in said handle portion, said motor having a shaft, a toothbrushing portion engaged with one end of said handle portion, a dry cell cap having a dry cell disposed therein so as to be engaged with the other end of said handle portion, said dry cell being selectively electrically connected to said motor, and an eccentric weight for producing vibration when said motor is actuated being mounted on said shaft of said motor, thereby bringing said toothbrushing portion into vibration which is utilized to clean teeth, the improvement comprising:

• a switch lever received in a hole for switching said motor on and off, said hole being defined through an end wall of said dry cell cap, said switch lever includes a manipulation control portion positioned outside said dry cell cap when said switch lever is mounted on said dry cell cap, a revolving shaft portion fixedly attached to said manipulation control portion and sealingly but rotatably fitted in said hole, an operating portion positioned inside said dry cell cap, and a lever portion joined between said operating portion and said revolving shaft portion, said manipulation control, revolving shaft, operating, and lever portions of said switch lever are an integrally formed member, said handle portion has square corners therein, said dry cell cap has a handgrip part, and further including a positioning protrusion defined at each said corner of said handle portion at a predetermined distance from an end surface of said handle portion for fixing said dry cell cap in position, an engagement protrusion formed on an outer surface of said dry cell cap for engaging said positioning protrusions of said handle portion, and a stepped outer periphery defined on said handgrip part of said dry cell cap for permitting releasing engagement between said handle portion and said dry cell cap when said dry cell is to be replaced.

In an electrically driven toothbrush including a handle portion, an electrically operated motor accommodated in said handle portion, said motor having a shaft, a toothbrushing portion engaged with one end of said handle portion, a dry cell cap having a dry cell disposed therein so as to be engaged with the other end of said handle portion, and an eccentric weight for producing vibration when said motor is actuated being mounted on said shaft of said motor, thereby bringing said toothbrushing portion into vibration which is utilized to clean the teeth, the improvement comprising:

• a switch lever engaged with a hole for switching said motor on and off, said hole being defined through an end wall of said dry cell cap;
• and an electric circuit-connecting terminal means for joining said motor and said dry cell in communication with one another in order to actuate said motor, said electric circuit-connecting terminal means being formed by a first terminal member whose one end contacts said motor while the other end of said first terminal member extends toward said dry cell, and a second terminal member whose one end contacts the other end of said first terminal member while the other end of said second terminal member communicates with said switch lever and extends over said dry cell;
• said first terminal member including a platelike main body of an electrically conductive metallic member formed into a L-shaped configuration having shorter and longer legs, a first cut and raised tab portion formed on said shorter leg of said platelike main body, a second cut and raised tab portion formed on the longer leg of said platelike main body and adjacent to a location where the longer and shorter legs of said platelike main body are joined together, a bent portion formed adjacent to said second cut and raised tab portion, and a curved portion formed at an end portion of the longer leg of said platelike main body;
• said second terminal including a platelike primary body of an electrically conductive metallic member bent into a L-shaped configuration, a contact portion formed at one end portion of said platelike primary body for contacting said curved portion of said first terminal member, a cut and raised tab portion formed substantially midway along said platelike primary body, a bent portion formed by the other end portion of said platelike primary body being slightly decreased in width dimension and further being bent into a L-shape in cross-section, and a swinging end portion bent and formed at an end portion of said bent portion so as to be directed downward, and wherein said platelike primary body of said second terminal is resilient so as to return to a predetermined L-shaped configuration when no external forces are exerted on said platelike primary body of said second terminal.