1. Manufacturing Process of TOOTHBRUSH
Marco Mirabella 马可 ( )
Course of Manufacturing-Tongji University

2. A toothbrush is a mental equipment used for cleaning teeth
Background
A toothbrush is a mental equipment used for cleaning teeth
It is composed by a plastic handle and a nylon bristle attached to the brush head
The total market from 1990’s has swelled 600 million $ ( ¥)
The first toothbrush known belongs to the Egyptian period 3000BC
Marco Mirabella 马可 ( )
Course of Manufacturing-Tongji University

3. The Manufacturing process is composed upon 3 processes :
Manufacturing phases
The Manufacturing process is composed upon 3 processes :
Molding the handles
Filling the core with bristles
Trimming the bristles
Marco Mirabella 马可 ( )
Course of Manufacturing-Tongji University

4. Molding the handles Plastic is mixed and shaped into pellets
The Molding process is undergone by an injection molding machine, it is composed by 5 steps:
Plastic is mixed and shaped into pellets
The pellets are placed in an injection molding machine(IMM), which melts the plastic.
A rotating screw or plunger forces the liquid into the handle mold.
The mold hold form the entire handle including small holes called cores.
The molds are securely clamped, and pressure is applied while plastic cools.
Once the molds are cooled, the clamps are removed and small pins push the handles out
Marco Mirabella 马可 ( )
Course of Manufacturing-Tongji University

5. Further explanation on IMM
The injection molding machine(IMM) is also is also known as injection press.
It has two main part:
Injection unit
Clamping unit
In the injection unit:
Polymers are injected into the injection barrel
Material is heated by heaters till the melting point to form the liquid
Plastic fluid is injected into the molds where it cools off
In the clamping unit:
The material is carefully removed from the molds by a pin
Marco Mirabella 马可 ( )
Course of Manufacturing-Tongji University

6. Filling the core
The filling process involves the core and the bristles:
Bristles are very thin wires ,usually made by nylon
The cores are small holes located in the head of the toothbrush
In the filling process:
Bristles are stapled into the core with tiny metal staples
All the process is completely automated
Marco Mirabella 马可 ( )
Course of Manufacturing-Tongji University

7. Trimming the bristles
The final process in the production of toothbrushes is called trimming:
In this process:
The toothbrush pass throughout a trimming machine that slices the bristles.
The scope of this process:
Have all the bristles with the same length
Obtain a good design for the head of the toothbrush
Marco Mirabella 马可 ( )
Course of Manufacturing-Tongji University

8. Curiosity and History
The first toothbrush developed by Egyptians was made by twigs and leaves
Indian, Greek and Roman use frayed twigs to penetrate more effectively between teeth
In the 15th century Chinese developed the first sophisticated toothbrush
Until 1900’s bristle were made by Siberian hog hair
In 1961 the first electric toothbrush was developed
Oral-B is the most common brand for toothbrush
A toothbrush should be changed once every two months
Marco Mirabella 马可 ( )
Course of Manufacturing-Tongji University

9. Thank you