Patent Publication Number: US-2022218285-A1

Title: Toothbrush Having Physiological Sensing Function

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a toothbrush, especially to a toothbrush having a physiological sensing function. 
     2. Description of the Prior Arts 
     Recent years, wearable devices are getting more and more popular in the field of consumer electronics. A wearable device not only works in connection with a cellphone but also detects the physiological state of the user because it is light and close-fitting, thereby allowing the users to record their physical health conditions at any time. 
     However, when brushing teeth, a user might not wear any wearable device because brushing teeth is usually done before or after taking a shower, before going to bed, or right after getting up, and the user might want to feel comfortable and take off the wearable device. Thus, the user cannot obtain information about his/her physical state in real time in this situation, which is inconvenient. 
     To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a toothbrush to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The main objective of the present invention is to provide a toothbrush that is capable of detecting the physiological state of the user. 
     The toothbrush has a holding segment, a sensing module, and a brush head segment. The holding segment has an inner space, a top end, a bottom end, and a sensing area. The bottom end is opposite to the top end. The bottom end and the top end are arranged along a lengthwise direction of the holding segment. The sensing module is mounted in the inner space of the holding segment and corresponds in position to the sensing area. The sensing module runs a physiological sensing function at the sensing area and generates a physiological data. The brush head segment is mounted on the top end of the holding segment. 
     When a user brushes his/her teeth with the toothbrush of the present invention, a finger pad or a palm of the user touches the sensing area, and the sensing module runs the physiological sensing function and then generates physiological data. Then, the physiological data can be sent to an external processing module to run health management analysis or be shown to the user. Therefore, the user can understand his/her own health information more comprehensively. 
     Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a toothbrush in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the toothbrush in  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 3  is another exploded view of the toothbrush in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , a toothbrush  10  in accordance with the present invention comprises a holding segment  11 , a sensing module  12 , and a brush head segment  13 . The holding segment  11  has an inner space, a top end  1101 , a bottom end  1102 , and a sensing area  1103 . The top end  1101  and the bottom end  1102  are arranged along a lengthwise direction of the holding segment  11  and are opposite to each other. The sensing area  1103  is formed on a surface of the holding segment. The sensing module  12  is mounted in the inner space of the holding segment  11  and corresponds in position to the sensing area  1103 . The sensing module  12  runs a physiological sensing function and generates a physiological data. The brush head segment  13  is mounted on the top end  1101  of the holding segment  11 . 
     The physiological sensing function run by the sensing module  12  comprises heart rhythm sensing, blood oxygen sensing, blood pressure sensing, or body temperature sensing. The sensing module  12  can be implemented as an optical pulse detection module, an infrared blood oxygen sensing module, a blood pressure sensing module or a temperature sensing module, etc. 
     With reference to  FIG. 2 , in a first embodiment, the toothbrush  10  has a power module  14 . The power module  14  is also mounted in the inner space of the holding segment  11 , is electrically connected to the sensing module  12 , and supplies power to the sensing module  12 . The power module  14  can be implemented as a replaceable battery module or a rechargeable battery module. 
     With reference to  FIG. 2 , preferably, the toothbrush  10  has a switch  15 . The power module  14  is electrically connected to the sensing module  12  through the switch  15 . The switch  15  has an on state and an off state. When the switch  15  is in the on state, the power module  14  supplies power to the sensing module  12  through the switch  15 . When the switch  15  is in the off state, the power module  14  cannot supply power to the sensing module  12  such that the sensing module  12  cannot run the physiological sensing function. Preferably, the switch  15  is mounted on the holding segment  11  to facilitate user operation so that the user can easily control the power module  14  to supply power to the sensing module  12  for running the physiological sensing function. 
     In a second embodiment, the toothbrush  10  has a sensing cover  16 , and the holding segment  11  has a sensing area opening formed on the sensing area  1103 . The sensing area opening communicates with the inner space. The sensing cover  16  is mounted in the sensing area opening and the sensing module  12  corresponds in position to the sensing cover  16 . The sensing cover  16  protects the sensing module  12 . The material of the sensing cover  16  can be determined according to the type of the sensing module  12 , such as a transparent cover for optical physiological sensing, or a silicone elastic cover for pressure sensing, etc. 
     Preferably, the sensing module  12  has a sensing unit and a wireless communication unit. The sensing unit runs the physiological sensing function and generates the physiological data. The wireless communication unit is electrically connected to the sensing unit to receive the physiological data generated by the sensing unit. The wireless communication unit is wirelessly connected to an external processing module and sends the physiological data to the external processing module. 
     The external processing module can be implemented as a cloud server, a wireless receiving and display module, or a smart mobile device. In the case of the smart mobile device, the smart mobile device is wirelessly connected to the wireless communication unit of the toothbrush  10 . The smart mobile device receives the physiological data generated by the sensing unit via the wireless communication unit, and then performs data analysis, such as curve analysis, abnormal surge value analysis, etc., and provides results of analysis to the user through the display screen to remind the user to pay attention to his/her health. 
     With reference to  FIG. 1 , in a third embodiment, the holding segment  11  has a front side and a back side arranged along a thickness direction and being opposite to each other. The sensing area  1103  is preferably mounted on the front side of the holding segment  11 , so as to conform to the holding posture of general users, which is clamping the holding segment  11  by the thumb and index finger front and back. Therefore, when brushing teeth, the thumb or the index finger of the user will touch the sensing area  1103  so that the sensing module  12  can run the physiological sensing function. The sensing area  1103  can also be mounted on the back side, or there are multiple said sensing areas  1103  respectively configured with multiple said sensing modules  12  so as to increase the number of sensing samples and improve the accuracy of sensing. The bristles of the brush head segment  13  extend toward the front side. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , in a fourth embodiment, a main body  111  and a back cover  112  are assembled to form the holding segment  11 . The main body  111  faces toward the front side, and the back cover  112  faces toward the back side. The main body  111  has an accommodating groove  1111 . The sensing module  12  and the power module  14  are mounted in the accommodating groove  1111 . The accommodating groove  1111  has a first opening  1110 , and the first opening  1110  faces toward the back side. A peripheral contour of the back cover  112  conforms to that of the first opening  1110 . The back cover  112  is mounted on a periphery of the first opening  1110  to cover and seal the first opening  1110  and is assembled with the main body  111  to form the holding segment  11 . After the main body  111  and the back cover  112  are assembled, the accommodating groove  1111  of the main body  111  forms the inner space of the holding segment  11 . 
     In a fifth embodiment, the holding segment  11  has a bottom end opening  110  and a bottom cover  113 , and the power module  14  is implemented as a replaceable battery module. The bottom end opening  110  communicates with the inner space, and the bottom cover  113  is sleeved on the bottom end  1102  to cover the bottom end opening  110 . The bottom cover  113  can be detached for the user to replace the battery in the inner space. The replaceable battery can be carbon-zinc batteries, alkaline batteries, lithium batteries, etc. 
     Preferably, the holding segment  11  has a sealing unit  17  mounted between the main body  111 , the back cover  112 , and the bottom cover  113  to seal the gap between the main body  111 , the back cover  112 , and the bottom cover  113  and to ensure water resistance during use. The sealing unit  17  is preferably a sealing gasket made of rubber. The sealing unit  17  has a first opening sealing segment  171 . The periphery of the first opening  1110  and the periphery of the back cover  112  are both concaved to form an engaging groove. The engaging groove extends along the periphery of the first opening  1110  and the periphery of the back cover  112 . When assembling the sealing unit  17 , the first opening sealing segment  171  of the sealing unit  17  is mounted into the engaging groove and is tightly fit in the engaging groove. The sealing unit  17  covers the junction between the periphery of the first opening  1110  and the periphery of the back cover  112  in order to prevent liquid from leaking into the inner space of the holding segment  11  and damaging the power module  14  or the sensing module  12 . Further, the sealing unit  17  has a bottom end opening sealing segment  172  sleeved on an outer wall of the bottom end  1102  of the holding segment  11 . When the bottom cover  113  covers the bottom end  1102 , the bottom end opening sealing segment  172  is tightly mounted between an outer wall of the holding segment  11  and an inner wall of the bottom cover  113  to prevent liquid from leaking into the inner space of the holding segment  11 . 
     Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.