US 11,980,520 B2
Handle for oral-care implement having display and procedure for cleaning and disinfecting the same
Joern Utsch, Eschborn (DE); Ulrich Stoerkel, Bad Nauheim (DE); Bianka Becker-Salzsaeuler, Liederbach (DE); Boris Atlas, Wiesbaden (DE); Michael Anthony Kaminski, Cincinnati, OH (US); Todd Lynn Watterson, Liberty Township, OH (US); Darcie Ann Ohlman, Monroe, OH (US); Andrea Schuering, Eschborn (DE); Alexander Hilscher, Oberursel (DE); Kervin Heinrich Kuechler, Darmstadt (DE); Andreas Maennchen, Frankfurt (DE); and Erwin Paul Mark, Eschborn (DE)
Assigned to Braun GmbH, Kronberg (DE)
Filed by Braun GmbH, Kronberg (DE)
Filed on Mar. 9, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/690,469.
Prior Publication US 2023/0285131 A1, Sep. 14, 2023
Int. Cl. A61C 17/22 (2006.01); A61C 17/34 (2006.01)
CPC A61C 17/225 (2013.01) [A61C 17/221 (2013.01); A61C 17/34 (2013.01)] 7 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A handle for an oral-care implement for safe and hygienic use by multiple users, the handle comprising:
an electrical motor arranged to drive an output element structured and configured to couple the handle and a head attachable to and detachable from the handle;
a display for displaying instructions to control functional operation of the handle;
a microcontroller for controlling the motor and the display; and
at least one switch, in operative communication with the microcontroller, to allow a user to control the functional operation of the handle, wherein controlling the functional operation of the handle includes
(a) causing the output element to vibrate in at least one oral-hygiene mode having an oral-hygiene frequency during which the oral-care implement is being used for an oral-hygiene routine, and
(b) causing the output element to vibrate in a disinfection mode during a disinfection routine, when the handle is being disinfected before or after being used for the oral-hygiene routine, wherein the disinfection mode has a modulated frequency different from the oral-hygiene frequency, wherein during the disinfection routine the modulated frequency is alternating up and down between a low modulated frequency and a high modulated frequency, wherein the high modulated frequency is at least 50 percent greater than the low modulated frequency.