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US-12622771-B2 - Universal base for electric toothbrush

US12622771B2US 12622771 B2US12622771 B2US 12622771B2US-12622771-B2

Abstract

A universal base for an electric toothbrush has a body comprising a top surface, a bottom surface, and a side surface therebetween. The base can be coupled with the toothbrush for wireless communication therebetween. The base includes a charging component for inductively charging the electric toothbrush, a Bluetooth component for communicating usage data received from the toothbrush during a brushing session, an analyzing component for instantaneous processing of the usage data received from the toothbrush, a timer-clock component for displaying either a count-up or a countdown of the brushing session during the brushing session and time of day before and after the brushing session, and a multi-functional light component for instantaneously communicating, during the brushing session, at least one element of the usage data.

Inventors

  • Matthew Lloyd Newman
  • Matthias Paschold

Assignees

  • BRAUN GMBH

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20220804

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A universal base ( 100 ) for an electric toothbrush ( 155 ), the base having a body ( 101 ) comprising a top surface ( 110 ), a bottom surface ( 120 ) opposite to the top surface ( 110 ), and a side surface ( 130 ) extending between the top and bottom surfaces ( 110 , 120 ), wherein the base ( 100 ) is structured and configured to be coupled with the electric toothbrush ( 155 ) for wireless communication therebetween, wherein the base ( 100 ) comprises: a charging component ( 150 ) for inductively charging the toothbrush ( 155 ) when the toothbrush ( 155 ) is placed upon the top surface ( 110 ) of the base ( 100 ); a Bluetooth component ( 160 ) for receiving usage data from the electric toothbrush ( 155 ) during a brushing session; an analyzing component ( 180 ) arranged for instantaneous processing of the usage data received from the electric toothbrush ( 155 ) during the brushing session; a timer-clock component ( 190 ), including a timer-clock display ( 195 ) located on the side surface, for displaying (a) either a count-up or a countdown of the brushing session during the brushing session, and (b) time of day before and after the brushing session; and a multi-functional light component ( 200 ) located on the top surface ( 110 ) wherein the light component ( 200 ) comprises at least six segments ( 210 a , 210 b , 210 c , 210 x , 210 y , 210 z ) arranged for instantaneously communicating usage data during the brushing session with respect to brushing buccal, lingual, occlusal, and incisal surfaces of maxillary and mandibular teeth including at least six portions of the teeth comprising a portion including upper left posterior dentition, a portion including upper right posterior dentition, a portion including upper anterior dentition, a portion including lower left posterior dentition, a portion including lower right posterior dentition, and a portion including lower anterior dentition.
  2. 2 . The universal base of claim 1 , wherein the at least one element of the received usage data is selected from the group consisting of a battery charging status, a pressure applied by a user during the brushing session, a position or orientation of the toothbrush relative to the teeth of the user, a portion of the teeth being brushed, a progress of the brushing session, an indication that the brushing session is completed, an indication that the brushing session exceeded a threshold of time or a threshold of coverage, and any combination thereof.
  3. 3 . The universal base of claim 1 , wherein the light component ( 200 ) is structured and configured to be visible during the brushing session and invisible before and after the brushing session.
  4. 4 . The universal base of claim 1 , wherein the light component ( 200 ) is structured and configured to emit light selected from the group consisting of ambient light and night light before and after the brushing session.
  5. 5 . The universal base of claim 1 , wherein the light component ( 200 ) is structured and configured to emit light having at least one of a first personalized color and a first personalized brightness chosen by a first user.
  6. 6 . The universal base of claim 5 , wherein the light component ( 200 ) is structured and configured to emit light having at least one of a second personalized color and a second personalized brightness chosen by a second user, wherein the first personalized color differs from the second personalized color and/or the first personalized brightness differs from the second personalized brightness.
  7. 7 . The universal base of claim 1 , wherein the base ( 100 ) comprises an audio component including a speaker ( 199 ).
  8. 8 . The universal base of claim 1 , wherein the base ( 100 ) comprises a WLAN component ( 170 ) for communicating the usage data between the base and at least one of a smart-device application, another universal base, and a cloud.
  9. 9 . The universal base of claim 1 , wherein the body ( 101 ) of the base ( 100 ) has a substantially circular shape, wherein each of the top and bottom surfaces ( 110 , 120 ) is substantially round and the side surface ( 130 ) is annular, the top surface having an outer perimeter (P) having a first diameter (D 1 ) from about 45 mm to about 90 mm, wherein the multi-functional light component ( 200 ) is disposed at the top surface ( 110 ) adjacent to the outer perimeter (P) thereof and comprises a plurality of curved segments ( 210 ) positioned substantially equidistantly from the outer perimeter P, the plurality of curved segments ( 210 ) forming, in combination with one another, a circle having a second diameter (D 2 ) concentric with the first diameter (D 1 ), wherein the second diameter (D 2 ) is from about 35 mm to about 75 mm.
  10. 10 . The universal base of claim 9 , wherein the side surface ( 130 ) is disposed at an included angle (A) of about 90 degrees relative to the bottom surface ( 120 ).
  11. 11 . The universal base of claim 8 , wherein the side surface ( 130 ) is disposed at an included angle (A) of less than about 90 degrees relative to the bottom surface ( 120 ).
  12. 12 . The universal base of claim 10 , wherein the included angle (A) is at least 40 degrees.
  13. 13 . The universal base of claim 8 , wherein the top surface ( 110 ) and the side surface ( 130 ) are substantially smooth and devoid of sharp projections, recesses, edges, and corners susceptible to accumulation of residual dentifrice and products of waste resulting from brushing.
  14. 14 . The universal base of claim 9 , wherein the base ( 100 ) is structured and configured to receive, for wireless charging, the electric toothbrush ( 155 ) having a maximal equivalent diameter (dmax), the handle ( 155 ) to be disposed in a vertical orientation on the top surface ( 110 ) of the base ( 100 ) for inductive coupling therewith, wherein the first diameter (D 1 ) is at least 1.5 times greater than the maximal equivalent diameter (dmax) of the toothbrush ( 155 ).
  15. 15 . The universal base of claim 14 , wherein the first diameter is at least 2 times greater than the maximal equivalent diameter of the toothbrush.
  16. 16 . The universal base of claim 1 , wherein the base ( 100 ) comprises a magnetic element ( 140 ) structured and configured to form a magnetic connection with the electric toothbrush ( 155 ) when the toothbrush ( 155 ) is received by the base ( 100 ) for charging.
  17. 17 . The universal base of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of curved segments ( 210 ) of the multi-functional light component ( 200 ) comprises at least four curved segments.
  18. 18 . The universal base of claim 1 , wherein the base ( 100 ) has a height (H 1 ) of from about 20 mm to about 40 mm, measured from a lowest point of the bottom surface ( 110 ) to a highest point of the top surface ( 120 ), wherein the highest point is situated at or adjacent to a geometric center ( 151 ) of the top surface ( 110 ).
  19. 19 . The universal base of claim 18 , wherein the highest point is part of a central portion ( 105 ) of the top surface ( 110 ), the central portion ( 105 ) being shaped as a convex and smooth protrusion having a radius (Rc) of from about 15 mm to about 35 mm and a plane-view diameter (D 3 ) of from about 10 mm to about 35 mm.
  20. 20 . The universal base of claim 19 , wherein the radius (Rc) is from about 20 mm to about 30 mm and the diameter (D 3 ) is from about 15 mm to about 25 mm.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure is concerned with a universal base for an electric toothbrush, which base is arranged to wirelessly charge the toothbrush and to provide an oral-care analyzing and monitoring functions. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Inductively coupled power-transfer methods and systems are known in the art, particularly in the field of inductively charging electric-power handheld tools and personal devices, such as, e.g., electric toothbrushes. For example, a commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 10,218,212, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a wireless charging device. It is generally known in the field of oral care that monitoring, recording, and classification of the usage of an electric toothbrush can be desirable for particular applications. For example, the position/location of the toothbrush in the user's mouth relative to the teeth during brushing could be determined by computing the posture of the toothbrush based on data from a triaxial accelerometer and a terrestrial magnetism sensor. This is described in US 2010/0145654 A1, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. A commonly assigned Patent Application US 2019/0278786, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a system for classifying the usage of a handheld consumer device, including a toothbrush. The disclosed system comprises a movable handheld device that includes a sensor unit for determining at least one usage data at successive time instants and an analyzing unit. The sensor unit can be arranged to provide a temporally successive sequence of usage data during a usage session. The analyzing unit can be arranged to classify the usage of the device with respect to at least one set of usage classes relating to different usage properties and to assemble a temporally successive sequence of input tuples of usage data relating to a predetermined time period of the usage session, each of the input tuples having at least one element representing the usage data at the respective time instant. The analyzing unit can be arranged to input the sequence of input tuples into at least one artificial neural network arranged to output at least one output tuple that comprises a number of elements in accordance with the number of usage classes, each element of the output tuple representing a prediction value that the usage of the consumer device at the given time instant relates to a respective usage class. A “usage class” is an output class of an artificial neural network (ANN) and is defined by the designer of the ANN. In the context of the present disclosure, the usage class relates to the usage of an electric toothbrush and differentiates between different usage properties. The usage of an electric toothbrush is essentially determined by a temporal sequence of usage data that may include at least one of motion data, including orientation data; force data; capacitive data relating to the environment of the toothbrush; temperature data; audio data; picture and/or video data; barometric data; pH data; et cetera. The classification may be performed with respect to a target space comprising a target surface; and the device may be arranged for treating the target surface. The artificial neural network may be arranged to output a sequence of output tuples, in particular a sequence of output tuples having the same length as the sequence of input tuples. A single usage-class answer per predetermined time period may be determined based on the sequence of output tuples, e.g., by applying a majority criterion and/or a maximum criterion, in particular after applying an argmax function on each output tuple. It has now been discovered that a “live” classification (i.e., the classification of the usage and related data while the toothbrush is being used) can be communicated to the user via a universal charging unit that comprises, aside from a charging component, components for analyzing and communicating the usage data during a brushing session. Such analysis and communication facilitates a holistic and comprehensive understanding by the user of the usage data information during the completed brushing session. Consequently, the present disclosure is concerned with a universal base for an electric toothbrush, wherein the base is structured and configured to be coupled with the electric toothbrush for inductive charging the toothbrush when the toothbrush is inductively coupled with the base, and for wireless communication between the base and the toothbrush during a brushing session. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A universal base for an electric toothbrush is structured and configured to be coupled with the electric toothbrush for wireless communication therebetween during and after a brushing session. The base has a body comprising a top surface, a bottom surface opposite to the top surface, and a side surface extending between the top and bottom surfaces. The base comprises a charging component fo