Brushhead replacement indicator system for power toothbrushes
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
InventorsWilliam G. Lundell, Clifford Jue, Annetta M. Papadopoulos
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for determining when the brushhead portion of a power toothbrush should be replaced. The system includes a piezoelectric transducer for detecting oscillations of the brushhead. The piezoelectric transducer produces an output signal which is used to drive a counter which accumulates the total number of such oscillations. When the total number of oscillations reaches a preselected number, which is representative of typical use of the toothbrush for a predetermined amount of time, e.g. six months, a signal is produced which drives an alarm indicator, the action of which is recognizable by the user of the toothbrush.
Claims14
A system for determining when a brushhead portion of a power toothbrush should be replaced and for providing an indication thereof to a user, comprising:
- a system carried within the toothbrush for detecting and accumulating the number of oscillations of the brushhead during operation of the toothbrush, wherein the detecting system includes a piezoelectric transducer which is actuated by the oscillations of the brushhead and detects said oscillations, and which is further adapted and arranged to generate power for a counter which forms part of the accumulating system, wherein the piezoelectric transducer in operation produces a signal output for each detected oscillation and applies the signal output to said counter;
- means for determining when the number of said oscillations reaches a preselected number, said preselected number correlating to sufficient use of the brushhead that the brushhead should be replaced;
- and
- an indicator for communicating to the user that the brushhead should be replaced.
A system for determining when a brushhead portion of a power toothbrush should be replaced and for providing an indication thereof to a user, comprising:
- a brushhead assembly which includes a brushhead;
- a system carried within the brushhead assembly for detecting and accumulating the number of oscillations of the brushhead during operation of the toothbrush, wherein the system includes a piezoelectric transducer which is actuated by oscillations of the brushhead and detects said oscillations and which is adapted and arranged to generate power for a counter which forms part of the accumulating system, wherein the piezoelectric transducer in operation produces a signal output for each detected oscillation and applies the signal output to said counter;
- means for determining when the number of said oscillations reaches a preselected number, said preselected number correlating to sufficient use of the brushhead that the brushhead assembly with the brushhead should be replaced;
- and
- an indicator for communicating to the user that the brushhead assembly should be replaced.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.