JP2006006778A - Method for sorting hair pieces and method for manufacturing toothbrush using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for assembling a bristle piece capable of stably and efficiently producing a high-quality toothbrush by eliminating brush tip irregularities as much as possible, and a method for producing a toothbrush using this sorting method. thing.
A hair piece 1 to be judged is divided into a plurality of height region groups A, B, and C according to a predetermined height division, and the plurality of divided height region groups are adjacent to each other. Boundary heights that divide matching height region groups are set as sorting values H ₁ and H ₂ for sorting hair pieces into each height region group, and the plurality of sorting sorting values H ₁ and H are set. ₂ was measured in order from the highest one, the height of each hair piece 1 was measured, and when it was determined to be a hair piece having a height lower than the sorting value to be used sequentially, it was determined The hair pieces were sequentially sorted as hair pieces belonging to the height region groups A, B, and C divided by the sorting selection value.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for sorting hair pieces in which tapered hairs are bundled for each predetermined height section, and a method for manufacturing a toothbrush using this sorting method.

  The most common method of manufacturing a toothbrush is a so-called flat-wire-type flocking method in which a bundle of hairs of a predetermined length is folded in half, and this is driven into a flocked surface of a toothbrush head by a flocking machine together with a flat wire. Is the method. Usually, in the case of this flat-line type hair transplantation method, the toothbrush with the brush tip cut into a flat or mountain shape is trimmed with a rotary cutter after planting, and then the hair tip is rounded with a grinder or the like, Finished in a predetermined brush shape. On the other hand, when using taper hair with a sharpened tip, the hair piece is preliminarily melted and sharpened by chemical treatment before flocking, and the taper with the sharpened tip is accurately placed in the center. The target toothbrush is obtained by flocking in two.

  In the case of the above-described tapered hair, when the hair tip is trimmed, the sharpened portion is lost, and therefore, the processing such as cutting the hair tip and adjusting the brush length after hair transplantation is basically not performed. For this reason, the manufacture of a toothbrush using tapered bristles requires a high flocking technique and a hair length adjustment effort. Moreover, the hair piece which bundled the taper hair manufactured by a chemical | medical solution process has the variation of about preset value +/- 1mm in hair length from the problem of reaction accuracy. Therefore, it is very difficult to manufacture a toothbrush consisting of a taper hair having a stable brush length at all times. If the hair length of the adjacent hair piece is different when the hair piece is switched, the brush being planted is inevitable. The hair length is uneven and causes defective products. As described above, it is very difficult to manufacture a toothbrush using tapered bristles with high quality and stability at a low cost.

  As toothbrushes using this kind of tapered bristles, the following are conventionally known, but an attempt was made to solve the unevenness of the hair length at the time of changing the hair piece at the time of flocking, which is a problem of the present invention. I can't see anything.

Patent Document 1 (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-154)
Toothbrush with sharp tapered bristles made of synthetic filaments. The bristles used in this toothbrush are both-end tapered bristles in which both ends of the filament are sharply tapered, but there is no description about the method of manufacturing the toothbrush.

Patent Document 2 (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-15834)
A toothbrush in which a substantially central portion of a tapered bristles made of a thermoplastic polyester monofilament with sharpened ends of the bristles by chemical treatment is bent, and the bent portions are planted on a flocking table. This toothbrush also uses both-ends tapered bristles with both ends tapered, but there is no description about the details of the manufacturing method of the toothbrush. Further, if the center of the bristles is not accurately folded in two, the hair tips will be displaced, resulting in a difference in hair length for each hair bundle, resulting in a toothbrush with an inferior feeling of use due to uneven hair tips.

Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-169232)
A toothbrush in which sharply tapered bristles and straight bristles are combined, and the sharp tapered bristles are 0.5 to 2.0 mm higher than the straight bristles. This toothbrush also uses both-ends tapered bristles, but there is no description of an appropriate toothbrush manufacturing method for aligning the bristle length as specified. In addition, when controlling the height of tapered hair and straight hair with an accuracy of 0.5 to 2.0 mm, the management of the height of the tapered hair is very important. There is no description about whether to align.

Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-154 (full description, full view) Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-15834 (full description, full view) Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-169232 (the whole specification, all drawings)

  When taper hair that does not trim the brush is used, since the hair pieces before flocking vary in height (hair length) in units of pieces, the resulting toothbrushes tend to have uneven brushes.

  When adjusting the variation in the height of the hair piece made of taper hair at the time of flocking, there is a method to adjust the hair plate height of the flocking machine as needed so that it is folded in half at the center of the hair, but always monitoring The height adjustment must be continued and the production cost will be high.

  If multiple hair pieces set on the hair plate have different heights, the toothbrush being implanted at the time of changing the hair piece will cause a step difference in hair length within the same brush, so will it be a product with poor usability? There is a risk of becoming a defective product.

  In the case where the hair is planted by combining tapered hair and straight hair and the straight hair is cut at the tip, the straight hair's length accuracy is usually controlled at about ± 0.2mm, while the tapered hair is It has the above hair length variation. For this reason, in the case of a specification in which each hair length is made equal or a specification in which one of the brushes is set high, it is very difficult to manufacture and the defect rate also increases.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. When a toothbrush is manufactured using a bristle piece made of tapered hair with a sharpened tip, the bristle piece made of tapered hair is used. By sorting the hairs according to the predetermined hair length range and using the sorted hair pieces as a unit, it is possible to produce high-quality toothbrushes stably and efficiently by eliminating as many brush tips as possible. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for sorting hair pieces that can be performed and a method for manufacturing a toothbrush using the sorting method.

  The sorting method of the present invention is a method for sorting toothbrush flocking hair pieces made of tapered bristles having a tapered shape with at least one of the tip portions into predetermined height region groups, The hair height to be judged is divided into a plurality of height region groups according to a predetermined height division, and the boundary height that divides adjacent height region groups for the plurality of divided height region groups. The height is set as a sorting value for sorting the hair pieces into each height region group, and the height of each hair piece is set using the set sorting values in order from the highest one. When it is determined that the hair piece has a height higher than the sorting value to be measured and used sequentially, the hair belonging to the height region group defined by the sorting value is classified. Than that sequentially sorting as over the scan, to achieve the above object.

  In addition, the method for producing a toothbrush of the present invention is characterized in that the bristle pieces sorted for each predetermined height region group by the sorting method of the present invention are switched for each sorted height region group while the toothbrush head flocking is performed. Folded in half and planted.

  As the hair piece height measuring means, it is desirable to use a height gauge made of a gate-shaped or Γ-shaped plate. In particular, a strain detection type height gauge in which a strain gauge is attached to the height gauge makes the structure simple and more desirable. The gauge height may be either a variable type or a fixed type, but the fixed height type is preferred from the viewpoint of easy management and prevention of human error.

  The taper hair used in the present invention may be hair for which both ends of the brush or any one of the ends are tapered. Although there is no restriction | limiting in particular as a hair material, When performing sharpening process by a chemical | medical solution process, it is preferable to use polyester monofilaments, such as a polyethylene terephthalate, a polybutylene terephthalate, a polytrimethylene terephthalate. An organic solvent may be used as the chemical solution, but it is preferable to use an acid or an alkali because the treatment process is relatively easy. Although there is no limitation on the bristle diameter and the bristle length, in the case of a general toothbrush, the bristle maximum diameter is preferably in the range of 100 to 300 μm and the bristle length is in the range of about 15 to 40 mm.

  For example, after a polyester monofilament is spun by an extruder, the bristles are bundled to a length of about 1.2 m, and then wound around a tape to produce a bristles. The hair bundle is cut into predetermined lengths to obtain hair pieces, which are dipped in a chemical bath of acid or alkali for a certain time to sharpen the hair tips. After the treatment, washing and drying are performed to obtain a hair piece made of tapered hair.

  When flocking to the toothbrush head, after setting the hair pieces sorted into one height region group on the hair plate and setting the height of the hair plate at the position where the center of the hair is correctly folded in half Then, the hair is planted with a flat wire type planter. And after using the hair piece contained in one height area group, hair is similarly planted using the hair piece contained in another height area group. In this way, the variation in hair length of the toothbrush becomes extremely small, and not only can the flocking accuracy be easily increased, but also the necessity of monitoring during flocking and fine adjustment of the height of the hair dish can be eliminated.

  When manufacturing a toothbrush that combines taper hair and straight hair, after straight hair is implanted in the toothbrush head part, straight hair cut, tip rounding treatment, etc., hair pieces for each height region group What is necessary is just to plant so that it may become predetermined | prescribed hair length using. In addition, the hair length in the case of planting the hair pieces of the group higher than the set value is higher than the set value, and the hair length in the case of using the hair pieces of the group lower than the set value is lower than the set value. Therefore, if necessary, the cut length of the straight hair is adjusted in advance so that the height of the hair ends is matched with the straight hair and the tapered hair.

  According to the present invention, the following various excellent effects can be achieved.

(1) To provide a high-quality toothbrush with brush tips aligned by sorting hair pieces made of taper hair into predetermined height region groups and planting the hair pieces into the sorted hair piece groups. Can do.

(2) By dividing the hair pieces made of taper hair into different height groups, it is possible to minimize the variation in height between adjacent hair pieces in the hair plate. It is possible to minimize the adjustment of the hair plate during flocking only when changing the hair group. For this reason, it is sufficient to adjust the height of the hair dish only when changing the hair height group, and it is possible to reduce the work labor, and it is inevitable if the height group is not divided. It is possible to eliminate the occurrence of defects in the hair height difference at the time of switching.

(3) It is only necessary to adjust the height of the hair dish only when changing the hair height group, and continuous hair transplantation can be performed until one height region group is used up. For this reason, while the operating rate of the hair transplanter is improved, the number of workers to be arranged in the hair transplanting work process is conventionally required for each hair transplanter. It can be about one person, and the number of personnel can be greatly improved. Moreover, since the process is stabilized by reducing the defect rate, the labor for product inspection can be greatly reduced. By the way, the operating rate of the hair transplanter improved from about 70% to about 85%. In addition, in the case of a system of eight flocking machines, the number of workers arranged in the entire flocking process could be reduced from 16 to 7. Furthermore, the defect rate could be reduced from 10% to 2%.

(4) The selection accuracy of hair pieces made of tapered hair can be freely set according to the number of height region groups to be set. For this reason, all the brushes can sufficiently obtain the hair length accuracy in the specification of the same hair length or the combined specification of the taper hair and the straight hair, and the toothbrush with high quality can be stably manufactured.

(5) It is possible to eliminate the occurrence of a defective product having a large bristle height difference when the bristle piece is switched as in the prior art, and the yield of the product is greatly improved. Generally, about 50 toothbrushes can be planted per bristle piece, but if there is a step between the bristle pieces when the bristle piece is switched, about 5 defects will occur at the time of switching, so the maximum However, in the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the defect on a regular basis.

(6) Taper hair can be implanted with any hair length accuracy by improving the accuracy of selecting hair pieces, and in the case of taper hair specifications of the same hair length, a more uniform hair length and good usability Toothbrushes can be manufactured. Further, when manufacturing a toothbrush having a combination of tapered hair and straight hair, production with high hair length accuracy can be performed. Therefore, the tolerance can be made smaller than that of a conventional toothbrush design using tapered bristles, and a toothbrush having a higher technical difficulty can be stably manufactured.

(7) Even if the range of variation in the height of the hair pieces is unknown, it can be sorted according to a predetermined height region group accurately and efficiently and at a low cost. Moreover, it can be applied to an existing toothbrush production line only by adding a height measuring means such as a height gauge and a bristle piece sorting means, and does not require a large facility investment, so that the initial investment is not so much.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a hair piece sorting apparatus constructed by applying the method of the present invention. In addition, this example is an example in the case of classifying the hair pieces to be determined into three height region groups.

In the figure, 1 is a bristle piece in which tapered hairs having a predetermined length are bundled, 2 ₁ and 2 ₂ are belt conveyors arranged in series for conveying the bristle piece 1. As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the bristle piece 1 has both ends tapered hair 4 ₁ formed with tapered portions 3 on both left and right ends, or a tapered portion 3 only on one end as shown in FIG. 2 (b). the formed one end tapered bristles 4 ₂ a bundle predetermined number is obtained by collectively wrapped in FIGS. 3 (a) paper wrapper 5 around appropriate width as shown in (b).

The belt conveyors 2 ₁ and 2 ₂ are rotationally driven at predetermined speeds by electric motors 6 ₁ and 6 ₂ , respectively, and the bristle pieces 1 are locking plates 7 ₁ and 7 provided at predetermined intervals on the belt conveyor. While being locked at a fixed position by ₂ , it is fed at a constant speed in the direction of the arrow.

Two height gauges 8 ₁ , 8 ₂ for measuring the height h of the hair piece 1 to be sent are disposed at appropriate positions of the belt conveyors 2 ₁ , 2 ₂ , in the illustrated example, at positions near the end of each conveyor. Are fixed. The height gauges 8 ₁ and 8 ₂ are made of a plate having a gate-type structure as shown in FIG. 4A or a Γ-type structure as shown in FIG. 4B, for example. Thus, the height measuring means for classifying the hair piece 1 to be sent into the three predetermined height region groups A, B and C is configured. The heights H ₁ and H _{2 of} the height gauges 8 ₁ and 8 ₂ , that is, the height from the conveyor surface of the belt conveyors 2 ₁ and 2 ₂ , are the three height region groups A and B for the hair piece 1 to be described later. , C are respectively set to predetermined values for sorting.

_On the rear side of the first and second height gauges 8 ₁ and 82, the bristle piece 1 that has passed through the height gauge is pushed out from above the belt conveyors 2 ₁ and 2 ₂ , and a third bristle piece containing box 9 _3. Extrusion mechanisms 10 ₁ and 10 ₂ each including a piston cylinder or the like for accommodating in the _second bristle piece accommodating box 92 are disposed. The second belt conveyor 2 ₂ end positions, use hair piece receiving box 9 ₁ first for accommodating the use hair piece 1 remaining until the end is arranged. Reference numerals 10 ₁ , 10 ₂ , and 10 ₃ denote sliding sliders that connect the belt conveyor and the bristle piece storage boxes 9 ₁ , 9 ₂ , and 9 ₃ .

The extruding mechanisms 11 ₁ , 11 ₂ are used to move the hair pieces 1 transferred on the belt conveyor by the extruding plates 12 ₁ , 12 ₂ attached to the piston rod tips as the piston rods advance and retreat. It is comprised so that it can selectively extrude toward the storage boxes 9 ₁ and 9 ₂ .

On the other hand, the belt conveyor 2 _1, 2 ₂ to the respective electric motor 6 _1, 6 ₂ for rotationally driving from a change in the motor current when the use hair piece 1 passes in sliding contact with the height gauge _81, 82 The pressing force sensors 13 ₁ and 13 ₂ for detecting the pressing force by the bristle piece 1 are connected to each other, and the detection signals are input to the control device 14.

Controller 14, the pressing force sensor 13 _1, 13 preset determination value detection signal of the pressing force transmitted from the ₂ compared to (e.g. 100 gf), the use if the pressing force is greater than the determination value The bristle piece 1 is determined to be a bristle piece having a gauge height H ₁ or higher than H ₂ , and the corresponding extruding mechanisms 11 ₁ , 11 ₂ are selectively driven to make the bristle piece 1 applicable to a first or second controller for controlling to accommodate the use hair piece receiving box 9 _1, 9 _2. The control device 14 is constituted by, for example, a microcomputer.

Next, the hair piece sorting operation by the above apparatus will be described.
It is assumed that the height h of a large number of bristle pieces 1 used for toothbrush flocking varies in the range of h = 31 ± 1.5 mm, and the height h = 31 ± 1.5 mm. A case where hair pieces are sorted into the following three height region groups A, B, and C will be described as an example.
First height region group A: 29.5 mm ≦ h <30.5 mm
Second height region group B: 30.5 mm ≦ h ≦ 31.5 mm
Third height region group C: 31.5 mm <h ≦ 32.5 mm

Then, as the sorting selection values for sorting into the three height region groups A, B, and C, the boundary values of adjacent height region groups are employed. That is, in this example, the boundary value between the first height region group A and the second height region group B is 30.5 mm, and the second height region group B and the third height region. 31.5 mm, which is the boundary value with the group C, is adopted as the sorting selection value, and the sorting value 31.5 mm, which has the larger value among the two sorting values, is positioned upstream. 1 of height gauges _{8 1} gauge height _H 1 (= 31.5 mm) and sets the second height gauge _{8 2} gauge height positioned the smaller sorting for sorting values 30.5mm of its value on the downstream side Set as H ₂ (= 30.5 mm).

In the above setting state, the two belt conveyors 2 ₁ and 2 ₂ are driven to rotate at a constant speed by the electric motors 6 ₁ and 6 ₂ , and the hair pieces 1 are sequentially placed one by one from the upstream side of the _first belt conveyor 21. Supply on the conveyor. Use hair piece is supplied onto the belt conveyor 2 ₁ 1 is locked to the locking plate ₇₁ thus position on the conveyor, it will be conveyed toward the first height gauge 8 _1. When the bristle piece 1 is supplied, if the bristle piece 1 is composed of one-end tapered hair 4 ₂ (see FIG. 2B), the belt conveyor is made such that the tapered portion 3 is on the upper side. 2 It shall be placed on ₁ .

And it reaches the first height gauge 8 _1, use hair piece 1 is going to pass went through height gauge _81, but during this passage, use hair piece 1 of the height h is a height gauge ₈₁ gauge height H ₁ = When higher than 31.5 mm, the taper portion 3 of the tip of the use hair piece 1 (see FIG. 2) is in sliding contact with the height gauge ₈₁ while bending by its elasticity, a height gauge 8 ₁ with a pressing force corresponding to the height h Pass through while pressing. Thus, the use hair piece 1 is gradually passes while sliding on the height gauge _81, the load amount corresponding belt conveyor 2 ₁ of the pressing force by use hair piece 1 when increases, the electric motor 6 ₁ torque, thus the drive current of the electric motor ₆₁ is increased by an amount corresponding to the increase of the load.

On the other hand, if the height h of use hair piece 1 is height gauge 8 ₁ lower than the height H _{1 =} 31.5 mm, the use hair piece 1 tip somewhat tapered bristles because of the individual tapered bristles variation sometimes sliding contact, but most of the tapered bristles continue to pass without sliding contact with the height gauge 8 _1. Therefore, when the height h of use hair piece 1 is low, or the pressing force is little relative height gauge _81, was also extremely small, therefore if almost no change in the electric motor ₆₁ of the drive current, there are Is extremely small.

Electric motor 6 pressing force sensor 13 ₁ which is attached to ₁ obtains the pressing force by use hair piece 1 at that time from the change of the electric motor ₆₁ of the drive current, and sends to the controller 14.

Controller 14 compares the determination value of the pressing force sensor 13 pressing force is set in advance the pressing force signal sent from the ₁ (e.g. 100 gf), when the detected pressure is equal to or greater than the determination value determines that the bristles piece 1 is high for a hair piece height than the first height gauge 8 ₁ gauge height H _{1 =} 31.5 mm, and driving the first pushing mechanism 11 _1, by the piston rod end pushing plate 12 _first pushes toward the bristles piece 1 from the conveyor on the side of the slider 10 _1.

The hair piece 1 pushed out by the _first push-out mechanism 111 ₁ slides down on the slider 101, and the hair piece in the third height region group C (31.5 mm <h ≦ 32.5 mm). It is accommodated in the third use hair piece receiving box 9 ₃ for housing.

On the other hand, when the detected pressure is below the determination value (e.g., 100 gf) is the bristles piece 1 is first height gauge _{8 1} gauge height _H 1 = a hair lower height than 31.5mm it is determined to be a piece, the control unit 14 without driving the first pushing mechanism 11 _1, leave the conveyance by the belt conveyor 2 ₁ of the bristles piece 1, transferred onto the second belt conveyor 2 ₂ To do.

Use hair piece 1 is transferred onto the second belt conveyor 2 _2, similarly to the first belt conveyor 2 _1, it is locked in place by the locking plate 7 ₂ provided on a conveyor, It is conveyed toward the second height gauge 8 _2.

And it reaches ₂ second height gauge 8, although use hair piece 1 continue to pass went through second height gauge 8 _2, during this passage, the height h of use hair piece 1 is height gauge ₈₂ gauge high When higher than the H _{2 =} 30.5 mm, sliding contact with the height gauge ₈₂ while bending the tapered portion 3 of the tip of the use hair piece 1 is in its elastic, press height gauge ₈₂ with a pressing force corresponding to the height h Passing through. Thus, the use hair piece 1 is gradually passes while sliding on the ₂ second height gauge 8, wherein as in the first height gauge 8 _1, minute pressing force by use hair piece 1 at that time only the second belt conveyor 2 _second load increases, the torque of the electric motor 6 _2, thus the drive current of the electric motor 6 ₂ increases by an amount corresponding to the increase of the load.

On the other hand, if the height h of use hair piece 1 is height gauge 8 ₁ lower than the height H _{1 =} 30.5 mm, the use hair piece 1 tip somewhat tapered bristles because of the individual tapered bristles variation sometimes sliding contact, but most of the tapered bristles continue to pass without sliding contact with the height gauge _82. Therefore, when the height h of use hair piece 1 is low, or the pressing force is little relative height gauge _82, was also extremely small, therefore if almost no change in the electric motor ₆₁ of the drive current, there are Is extremely small.

Pressure sensor 13 ₂ which is attached to the electric motor 6 ₂ obtains the pressing force by use hair piece 1 at that time from the change of the drive current, and sends to the controller 14.

Controller 14 compares the pressing force sensor 13 the determination value of the pressing force is set in advance the pressing force transmitted from the ₂ (e.g. 100 gf), when the detected pressure is equal to or larger than the reference value , the bristles piece 1 is determined to be high for a hair piece height than the second height gauge 8 ₂ gauge height H _{1 =} 30.5 mm, and driving the second pushing mechanism 11 _2, the piston the pushing plate 12 _{and second} rod end pushing towards the bristles piece 1 from the conveyor on the side of the slider 10 _2.

Use hair piece 1 that has been pushed out by the second pushing mechanism 11 _2, continue to slide down the slider 10 ₂ above, use hair pieces of the second height region group B (30.5mm ≦ h ≦ 31.5mm) It is accommodated in use the hair piece receiving box 9 ₂ second for housing.

Further, when the detected pressure is below the determination value (e.g., 100 gf) is the bristles piece 1 and the second height gauge _{8 2} gauge height _H 2 = hair for a lower height than 30.5mm it is determined to be a piece, the control unit 14 without driving the second pushing mechanism 11 ₂ is continued as it is conveyed by the belt conveyor 2 ₂ of the bristles piece 1.

When hair piece 1 for being conveyed reaches the second belt conveyor 2 ₂ termination, use hair piece 1 is transferred onto the slider 11 _3, by slipping the upper slider 11 _3, the first height region is accommodated in use the hair piece receiving box _{9 1} first for accommodating the use hair piece group a (29.5mm ≦ h <30.5mm) .

  By repeating the above sorting operation for each hair piece, all of the hair pieces 1 are either the first height region group A, the second height region group B, or the third height region group C. Can be automatically sorted into groups.

In the above-described embodiment, the description has been made on the assumption that the variation in the height h of the hair piece 1 is within a range of ± 1.5 mm centering on the set value 31 mm. When there are more than this, a height gauge with a sorting selection value of 29.5 mm and a height gauge with a sorting selection value of 32.5 mm are prepared. Using these two height gauges, a sorting mechanism similar to that shown in FIG. and 2 ₁ of the upstream side, and attached respectively to the downstream side of the belt conveyor 2 _2, after sorting the height five level-area each for hair piece and divided into groups of the division use hair pieces, and the reference range What is necessary is just to process about the hair piece of the height area group of the upper and lower ends which becomes a defective article.

  The hair pieces 1 sorted into the three height region groups A, B, and C as described above are implanted on the flocked surface of the toothbrush head using only the hair pieces of the same height region group. Manufacturing toothbrushes.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the hair pieces 1 of the same height region group sorted as described above are used, for example, first, only the hair pieces 1 sorted into the height region group A are used. Then, after unwinding the wrapping paper 5 (see FIG. 3B), it is placed together on the hair plate 15. Then, the height adjustment knob 16 is turned to adjust the height of the hair plate 15, and the position of the hair plate is adjusted so that the picker 17 is positioned at the center of the both ends tapered hair 4 ₁ (or one end tapered hair 4 ₂ ). After the adjustment, the picker 17 scrapes off both ends of the tapered bristles 4 ₁ (or one end tapered bristles 4 ₂ ) from the top of the hair plate 15, and this is used as a bunch 18 of one hole to be a toothbrush by the planter head 19 A flat wire (not shown) is folded into the flocking hole 22 of the head portion 21 of the handle 20 and driven. This is performed with respect to all the flock holes of the toothbrush head to produce the intended toothbrush.

  Then, when the hair pieces 1 sorted into the height region group A are used up, for example, only the hair piece 1 of the next height region group B is used to plant the hair in the same manner as described above, and the height region group B When the hair piece 1 is used up, the hair is similarly planted using only the hair piece 1 of the remaining height region group C.

  As described above, when the toothbrush is manufactured using only the hair pieces of the same height region group, the difference in the height h between the hair pieces within the same height region group is extremely small. A large hair height step due to the difference between the two is eliminated, and the occurrence probability of defective products can be significantly reduced.

  In the above example, the difference in the height h between the hair pieces within the same height region group is 1 mm at the maximum, and when this is folded in two, the maximum step of the hair length is 0.5 mm. When the hair regions are not sorted as in the present invention, the variation in the height h between the hair pieces is 3 mm at the maximum in the above example. The maximum height difference is 1.5 mm, which is three times that of the present invention.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the hair pieces 1 are sorted into the three height region groups A, B, and C has been described. However, the number of the height region groups to be sorted is the number of sorting selection values, that is, the height gauge. Any number can be set freely by increasing the number of.

In the case of the above embodiment, the pressing force sensor 13 ₁ detects the pressing force from the change in the driving current of the height gauge 8 ₁ (8 ₂ ) having a simple gate shape or Γ shape and the electric motor 6 ₁ (6 ₂ ). The height h of the hair piece 1 is measured by combining (13 ₂ ), but instead of these, a strain detection type height gauge 23 ₁ (23 ₂ ) as shown in FIG. 5 is used. You may make it measure.

5A is a schematic front view showing an example of a strain detection type height gauge, and FIG. 5B is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I in FIG. The type height gauge 23 ₁ (23 ₂ ) has a sliding contact plate 24 having flexible elasticity fixed downward at a ceiling position of a gate-type (or Γ-type) height gauge, and a lower end of the slide contact plate 24 and a conveyor. A gauge height H ₁ (H ₂ ) is set between the surface and a strain gauge 25 such as a wire strain gauge is attached to a base portion of the sliding contact plate 24. As the material of the sliding contact plate 24, for example, a synthetic resin plate such as nylon, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, etc., which is not plastically deformed within the range of use, or a metal plate such as spring steel can be used. As the strain gauge 25, a commercially available general gauge can be used.

When the strain detection type height gauge 23 ₁ (23 ₂ ) is used, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 5B, when the hair piece 1 passes under the height gauge, the hair piece at that time The sliding contact plate 24 is pushed and deflected according to the height h of 1, and the output of the strain gauge 25 changes according to the amount of deflection. Therefore, if the output signal of the strain gauge 25 is sent to the control device 14 as the height measurement signal of the hair piece 1, the height gauge 23 ₁ (23 ₂ ) below the height gauge 23 ₁ (23 ₂ ) as in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. The passing hair piece 1 can be automatically sorted according to its height. In addition, as shown in the figure, it is desirable that the tip portion of the sliding contact plate 24 is curved toward the feeding direction of the bristle piece so as not to be caught when the bristle piece 1 passes.

  A polybutylene terephthalate monofilament having a diameter of 190 μm is spun by a general extrusion molding machine, and this is bundled into a hair bundle having a diameter of about 45 mm using a wrapping paper or the like. The hair bundle is cut into cut pieces every 40 mm, dipped in a NaOH solution having a temperature of 110 ° C. and a concentration of 40%, and both ends of the hair are sharpened until the cut piece length is 31 mm.

In the case of Example 1, the hair piece 1 to be obtained has a variation of about ± 1 mm in its height h, so using the sorting device of FIG.
First height region group A (30.0 mm ≦ h <30.5 mm)
Second height region group B (30.5 mm ≦ h ≦ 31.5 mm)
Third height region group C (31.5 mm <h ≦ 32.0 mm)
Assorted into three areas. Specifically, installation and height gauge ₈₁ of the portal consisting of the belt conveyor line ₂ 1, _{2 2} on the gauge height 31.5 mm, the height gauge ₈₂ of the portal consisting of the gauge height 30.5 mm, all The hair piece 1 was run on a belt conveyor.

During passage through the first height gauge 8 ₁ gauge height 31.5 mm, the highest third height area group C of 30gf or more loads (pressing forces) by selecting only takes what height h (31 .5mm <h ≦ 32.0mm) sorting as, then, the use hair pieces 1 having passed through the first height gauge _{8 1} is passed through a second height gauge _{8 2} gauge height 30.5 mm, similarly 30gf or higher Were selected and classified as a second height region group B (30.5 mm ≦ h ≦ 31.5 mm) having a medium height h. Then, sorting the remaining use hair pieces 1 having passed through the second height gauge _{8 2} as the height h is the lowest first height region group A (30.0mm ≦ h <30.5mm) .

  Using the hair pieces classified into the three height region groups as described above for each height region group, a polypropylene resin having a number of flocking holes of 30 (hole diameter 1.5 mm × hole depth 3.7 mm) The hair of the toothbrush handle consisting of the above was implanted as follows.

  That is, first, only the hair pieces 1 classified into the second height region group B (30.5 mm ≦ h ≦ 31.5 mm) having a height “medium” as set values are used, and the wrapping paper is used. After unwinding 5 (see FIG. 3A), it is placed together on the hair plate 15 as shown in FIG.

Next, the height of the hair plate 15 is adjusted by the height adjusting knob 16 so that the position of the picker 17 is accurately aligned with the center position of the both ends tapered hair 4 ₁ (or one end tapered hair 4 ₂ ) placed on the hair plate 15. After adjusting the thickness, the picker 17 scrapes off both ends of the taper hair 4 ₁ (or one end taper hair 4 ₂ ) from the top of the hair plate 15, and this is used as a hair bundle 18 for one hole to be a hair transplanter head 19. Thus, the flocking hole 22 of the head portion 21 of the toothbrush handle 20 was folded in two along with a flat line, and flocked. In this way, an excellent toothbrush having a bristles with a bristle length of 12.0 ± 0.5 mm was obtained.

  After the hair pieces of the second height region group B are used up, the hair pieces 1 of the first height region group A (a group that is 1 mm shorter than the height region group B) having a height “low” are used. After setting it on the hair plate 15 and readjusting the position of the hair plate 15 higher by 0.5 mm so that it was folded in half at the center of the hair, flocking was continued until the hair was used up. As a result, an excellent toothbrush having bristles with a bristle length of 11.5 ± 0.5 mm was obtained.

  Finally, the hair piece 1 of the third height region group C (group 1 mm higher than the height region group B) of the remaining height “high” is set and folded in half at the center of the hair After the hair plate 15 was readjusted by 0.5 mm lower than the position in the height region group B, the flocking was continued until the hair was used up. As a result, it was possible to obtain an excellent toothbrush having bristles with a bristle length of 12.5 ± 0.5 mm.

  The toothbrush obtained as described above was finally passed through an inspection process to remove defective products based on other causes, and then only good products were packaged to obtain products.

  A polybutylene terephthalate monofilament having a diameter of 150 μm is spun by a general extrusion molding machine, and this is focused on a hair bundle having a diameter of about 45 mm using a wrapping paper or the like. The hair bundle is cut into cut pieces every 40 mm, dipped in a NaOH solution having a temperature of 110 ° C. and a concentration of 40%, and both ends of the hair are sharpened until the cut piece length becomes 27 mm.

Also in the case of Example 2, since the resulting hair piece 1 has a variation of about ± 1 mm in its height h, using the sorting apparatus of FIG.
First height region group A (26.0 mm ≦ h <26.5 mm)
Second height region group B (26.5 mm ≦ h ≦ 27.5 mm)
Third height region group C (27.5 mm <h ≦ 28.0 mm)
Assorted into three areas. Specifically, installation and height gauge ₈₁ of the portal consisting of the belt conveyor line ₂ 1, _{2 2} on the gauge height 27.5 mm, the height gauge ₈₂ of the portal consisting of the gauge height 26.5 mm, all The hair piece 1 was run on a belt conveyor.

During passage through the first height gauge 8 ₁ gauge height 27.5 mm, the highest third height area group C of 30gf or more loads (pressing forces) by selecting only takes what height h (27 .5mm <h ≦ 28.0mm) sorting as, then, the use hair pieces 1 having passed through the first height gauge _{8 1} is passed through a second height gauge _{8 2} gauge height 26.5 mm, similarly 30gf or higher Were selected and sorted as a second height region group B (26.5 mm ≦ h ≦ 27.5 mm) having a medium height h. Then, sorting the remaining use hair pieces 1 having passed through the second height gauge _{8 2} as the height h is the lowest first height region group A (26.0mm ≦ h <26.5mm) .

  Using the hair pieces classified into the three height region groups as described above for each height region group, a polypropylene resin having a number of flocking holes of 20 (hole diameter 1.5 mm × hole depth 3.7 mm) The hair of the toothbrush handle consisting of the above was implanted as follows.

  That is, first, the hair pieces 1 sorted into the second height region group B (26.5 mm ≦ h ≦ 27.5 mm) having a height “medium” according to the set value are placed on the wrapping paper 5 ( After unraveling (see FIG. 3 (a)), they are put together on the hair plate 15 as shown in FIG.

Next, the height of the hair plate 15 is adjusted by the height adjusting knob 16 so that the position of the picker 17 is accurately aligned with the center position of the both ends tapered hair 4 ₁ (or one end tapered hair 4 ₂ ) placed on the hair plate 15. After adjusting the thickness, the picker 17 scrapes off both ends of the taper hair 4 ₁ (or one end taper hair 4 ₂ ) from the top of the hair plate 15, and this is used as a hair bundle 18 for one hole to be a hair transplanter head 19. Thus, the flocking hole 22 of the head portion 21 of the toothbrush handle 20 was folded in two along with a flat line, and flocked.
In this way, an excellent toothbrush having a bristle tip with a hair length of 10.0 ± 0.5 mm was obtained.

  After the hair pieces of the second height region group B are used up, the hair pieces 1 of the first height region group A (a group shorter by 1 mm than the height region group B) having a height of “low” are used as hair. After setting the hair dish 15 to a height of 0.5 mm so as to be folded in half at the center of the hair, the hair was continuously planted until the hair was used up. As a result, an excellent toothbrush having bristles with a hair length of 9.5 ± 0.5 mm was obtained.

  Finally, the hair piece 1 of the third height region group C (group 1 mm higher than the height region group B) of the remaining height “high” is set and folded in half at the center portion of the hair After the hair plate 15 was readjusted by 0.5 mm lower than the position in the height region group B, the flocking was continued until the hair was used up. As a result, it was possible to obtain an excellent toothbrush having bristles with a bristle length of 10.5 ± 0.5 mm.

  The toothbrush obtained as described above was finally passed through an inspection process to remove defective products based on other causes, and then only good products were packaged to obtain products.

It is a figure which shows an example of the hair piece sorting apparatus comprised by applying the method of this invention. The example of a taper hair shape is shown, (a) shows the example of both ends taper hair, (b) shows the example of one end taper hair, respectively. The example of the hair piece which bundled the taper hair is shown, (a) is a side view, (b) is a top view. An example of the shape of the height gauge is shown. (A) shows an example of a gate-type height gauge, and (b) shows an example of a Γ-type height gauge. An example of a strain detection type height gauge is shown, (a) is a schematic front view, and (b) is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along a line II in (a). It is a figure which shows the example of the flocking method using a flat wire type | formula hair transplanter.

Explanation of symbols

Hair piece 2 ₁ for 1, _{2 2} belt conveyor 3 the tapered portion 4 ₁ ends tapered bristles 4 ₂ one end tapered bristles 5 wrapper 6 _{1, 6 2} electric motor 7 _{1, 7 2} engaging plate 8 ₁ a first height gauge 8 ₂ second 2 height gauges 9 _{1 to} 93 ₃ hair piece storage boxes 10 ₁ to 102 ₂ sliders 11 ₁ and 11 ₂ extruding mechanisms 12 ₁ and 12 ₂ extruding plates 13 ₁ and 13 ₂ pressing force sensor 14 controller 15 hair plate 16 height Adjustment knob 17 Picker 18 Hair bundle for one hole 19 Flocking machine head 20 Toothbrush handle 21 Head 22 Flocking holes 23 ₁ , 23 ₂ Strain detection type height gauge 24 Slide contact plate 25 Strain gauge

Claims (2)

It is a method for sorting the hair pieces for toothbrush flocking consisting of tapered bristles having a tapered shape with at least one of the tip ends according to a predetermined height region group,
The hair height to be judged is divided into a plurality of height region groups according to a predetermined height division, and the boundary height that divides the adjacent height region groups with respect to the plurality of divided height region groups. Is set as a selection value for sorting hair pieces into each height region group,
Measure the height of each hair piece using the set sorting values in order from the highest one,
When it is determined that the hair pieces have a height higher than the sorting selection value to be sequentially used, the determined hair pieces are sequentially used as hair pieces belonging to the height region group defined by the sorting selection value. A method for sorting hair pieces, characterized by sorting.   The bristle piece sorted for each predetermined height region group by the hair piece sorting method according to claim 1 is folded in half on the flocked surface of the toothbrush head while switching for each sorted height region group. A method of manufacturing a toothbrush characterized by flocking.

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