U.S. patent application number 11/013673 was filed with the patent office on 2006-06-15 for dental device and method of use.
Invention is credited to Andre Michaelian.
Application Number | 20060127844 11/013673 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36051596 |
Filed Date | 2006-06-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060127844 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Michaelian; Andre |
June 15, 2006 |
Dental device and method of use
Abstract
A prophy device incorporating a shaft and one or more corrugated
members which eliminate the need for plastic gears of the prior art
is disclosed. The corrugated members effectively transfer
rotational energy from a shaft to an applicator. In another
version, a flexible paste chamber contains polish within a housing
of the device. A difference between a rotational speed at a front
of the paste chamber and rear of the paste chamber causes the
flexible chamber to contract on itself thereby automatically
forcing polish from the chamber and into a polish applicator. A
user dictates the amount of polish dispensed by controlling the
rotational speed at the front of the paste chamber by pressing the
polish applicator against the teeth of a patient. As the speed
differential increases, the amount of polish dispensed increases as
well. The design is simple and cost efficient such that the design
overcomes many shortcomings of the prior art.
Inventors: |
Michaelian; Andre; (Las
Vegas, NV) |
Correspondence
Address: |
GREENBERG TRAURIG
3773 HOWARD HUGHES PARKWAY
SUITE 500 NORTH
LAS VEGAS
NV
89109
US
|
Family ID: |
36051596 |
Appl. No.: |
11/013673 |
Filed: |
December 15, 2004 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
433/125 ;
433/84 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61C 17/005
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
433/125 ;
433/084 |
International
Class: |
A61C 3/06 20060101
A61C003/06; A61C 1/12 20060101 A61C001/12 |
Claims
1. An application device comprising: a housing; a rotatable shaft
having a first end for attachment to a drive means and a second end
attached to a corrugated member, said corrugated member further
attached to an applicator holding means; and an applicator to
contain an application material, said applicator attached to said
applicator holding means.
2. The application device of claim 1 wherein the housing contains
one or more internal protrusions received by corresponding notches
in the shaft.
3. The application device of claim 1 wherein the applicator is a
dental prophy cup for receipt of polishing paste.
4. The application device of claim 3 wherein the applicator holding
means includes a button for receipt by an opening in the prophy
cup.
5. An application device comprising: a housing; a first rotatable
shaft having a first end for attachment to a drive means and a
second end attached to a first corrugated member a second shaft
extending between the first corrugated member and a second
corrugated member, said second corrugated member further attached
to an applicator holding means; and an applicator to contain an
application material, said applicator attached to said applicator
holding means.
6. The application device of claim 5 wherein the housing contains
one or more internal protrusions received by corresponding notches
in the first and second shafts.
7. The application device of claim 5 wherein the applicator is a
dental prophy cup which receives polishing paste.
8. The application device of claim 7 wherein the applicator holding
means includes a button for insertion into an opening in the prophy
cup.
9. The application device of claim 5 wherein the first corrugated
member extends through an acute bend in the housing.
10. An application device comprising: a housing; a rotatable shaft
having a first end for attachment to a drive means and a second end
attached to a flexible application material chamber; a first
corrugated member attached to a applicator retaining means, said
applicator retaining means including a channel therethrough; an
applicator attached to said applicator holding means; and an
application material guide means for providing a path for said
application material to exit said application material chamber.
11. The application device of claim 10 wherein the application
material guide means comprises a disk member having a rod which
extends into said application material container, said rod having
one or more openings in communication with a channel through said
rod and disk member.
12. The application device of claim 11 wherein the disk member is
attached at a first end to said application material chamber and at
a second end to the corrugated member.
13. The application device of claim 10 wherein the applicator
includes a rotatable one way flap for providing an opening for
application material to be forced into the applicator.
14. The application device of claim 10 wherein the housing contains
two or more protrusions which are received by corresponding notches
in the shaft and disk member.
15. The application device of claim 10 wherein the application
material is polishing paste for teeth.
16. The application device of claim 10 wherein the applicator
retaining means includes a button for receipt by an opening in the
applicator.
17. An application device comprising: a housing; a rotatable shaft
having a first end for attachment to a drive means and a second end
attached to a first corrugated member, said first corrugated member
attached to a first disk member, said first disk member attached to
a flexible application material container; a second corrugated
member attached to an applicator retaining means, said applicator
retaining means including a channel therethrough; an applicator
attached to said applicator holding means; and an application
material guide means for providing a path for said application
material to exit said application material container.
18. The application device of claim 17 wherein the application
material guide means comprises a second disk member having a rod
which extends into said application material container, said rod
having one or more openings in communication with a channel through
said rod and second disk member.
19. The application device of claim 17 wherein the second disk
member is attached at a first end to said application material
container and at a second end to the corrugated member.
20. The application device of claim 17 wherein the applicator
includes a rotatable one way flap for providing a passageway for
application material to be forced into the applicator.
21. The application device of claim 17 wherein the housing contains
three or more protrusions which are received by corresponding
notches in the shaft, the first disk member and the second disk
member.
22. The application device of claim 17 wherein the application
material is polishing paste for teeth.
23. The application device of claim 17 wherein the applicator
retaining means includes a button for receipt by an opening in the
applicator.
24. The application device of claim 17 wherein the first corrugated
member extends through an acute bend in the housing.
25. A method of applying a material comprising: rotatably driving a
shaft joined to at least one corrugated member, applicator
retaining member and applicator, said applicator containing an
application material; and causing the rotating applicator to make
contact with an item to receive the application material.
26. The method of claim 25 further comprising two corrugated
members.
27. A method of applying a material to an item comprising:
rotatably driving a shaft joined to a flexible application material
container, corrugated member, applicator retaining member and
applicator; and causing the applicator to make contact with an item
to receive the application material thereby creating a difference
in rotational speed between a front of the flexible application
material container and the rear of the flexible application
material container such that the flexible application material
container contracts on itself forcing application material to exit
therefrom.
28. The method of claim 27 wherein the application material exits
the application material container through a rod having one or more
openings in communication with a channel through said rod.
29. The method of claim 27 wherein the applicator is caused to make
contact.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The embodiments of the present invention relate to
dentistry. More particularly, the embodiments relate to a simple
and inexpensive disposable tool for polishing teeth and
automatically dispensing polishing paste.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Maintaining clean teeth is integral to having healthy oral
environment. Accordingly, a myriad of products and dental services
are available to clean teeth. More specifically, dental
professionals offer cleaning and polishing services. Moreover, most
experts recommend such services once or twice a year.
[0003] While the process of cleaning teeth utilizes one or more
rigid tools for prying tarter and related build-up from the teeth,
polishing paste is applied using an air or electric driven prophy
device. Prophy devices conventionally communicate with an air or
electric source which is driven by a motor. The prophy device may
be disposable or may be sterilized after each polishing. In either
case, the prophy device includes a polish applicator fabricated of
a pliable material, such as rubber. In practice, a portion of
polishing paste is manually placed in a small cup of the
applicator. The applicator is then rotatably driven and placed in
contact with the teeth to be polished. During a standard polishing,
the polishing cup must be intermittently filled with polishing
paste. Unfortunately, each filling of the polishing cup requires
the dentist or hygienist to stop the polishing process. Thus,
because of the numerous breaks, the time for polishing is
unnecessarily extended.
[0004] In addition to wasting time, the refilling of the prophy cup
requires the dentist to remove the instrument from the patient's
mouth and refill the cup. This repeated removal of the instrument
increases the risk of transferring a patient's saliva, food debris,
or plaque and potential associated blood-borne pathogens.
[0005] Another disadvantage is that gears inside the current prophy
devices tend to fail when used at high speed and/or for long
durations. The failure increases both time and cost.
[0006] The patent literature is replete with apparatuses and
devices integrating a source of polishing paste with the actual
applicator. Accordingly, the dentist is not required to stop the
polishing process to re-fill the cup. Nonetheless, each of the
prior apparatuses and devices are impractical, complex and overly
costly in relation to the conventional models discussed above.
Thus, even though patented designs exist, they are not available in
the market because of the noted shortcomings.
[0007] Conventional polishing devices also incorporate a system of
plastic gears designed to rotate the polishing applicator. More
specifically, a first plastic shaft attached at one end to a drive
device extends an internal length of the prophy device where a gear
resides at a second end of the shaft. A second shaft has a gear at
a first end such that it meshes with the gear at the second end of
the first shaft. The second shaft extends at an approximately
90.degree. angle from the first shaft and is fixed at a second end
to the polish applicator. Consequently, driving or rotating the
first shaft causes the first shaft gear to transfer power (i.e.,
rotational energy) to the second gear which then drives or rotates
the polish applicator for application of polish to the teeth.
Unfortunately, the plastic gears tend to fail during use thereby
requiring the operator to replace the prophy device. Not only is
time wasted, but the cost to the care provider and patient
increases.
[0008] Thus, there continues to be the need for a simple,
inexpensive polishing device capable of automatically dispensing
polish. In addition, the polishing device should eliminate the
plastic gears which can fail when in operation.
SUMMARY
[0009] Accordingly, a first embodiment of the present invention
comprises a disposable prophy device which contains and dispenses
polishing paste. The paste is contained in a flexible paste chamber
within a prophy housing. The unique design of the prophy angle
allows the user to operate the prophy device at any speed without
paste being dispensed as long as a prophy cup does not experience
any resistance such as that created during contact with a tooth. As
the prophy cup contacts a tooth, the resistance experienced by the
cup is transferred to the paste chamber such that the paste chamber
tends to contract around itself causing paste to be forced from the
paste chamber and into the prophy cup. As more pressure is applied
on the tooth, more paste is dispensed and when pressure is reduced,
less of the paste is dispensed into the prophy cup. Therefore, the
new prophy angle design delivers paste on demand in response to the
level of pressure placed on the tooth by the prophy cup. It is
common practice for the operator of a prophy angle to exert greater
pressure on teeth that have significant plaque buildup than on
teeth with little plaque buildup.
[0010] In addition, the use of corrugated sections in combination
with rigid shafts and disk members eliminates the gears of the
prior art and provides for an ergonomic design. Even through there
exists one or more bends in a housing of the prophy angle, the
corrugated sections transfer rotational energy from a rotating
shaft to a prophy cup without any gears.
[0011] During use a professional user (e.g., dental hygienist)
removes an individually packaged prophy angle and inserts the drive
end of the prophy device into the nose cone of a dental hand piece
and when ready to use, a seal on the prophy cup is peeled off and
the procedure may begin. Herein, throughout the description of the
embodiments of present invention, numerous references are made to
paste. It should be understood that paste is intended to be
construed broadly to cover any prophylaxis medium or dentifrice,
such as paste or gel. In fact, the device herein is not limited to
the dental industry and may facilitate non-dental applications of
any type of paste, gel or materials having similar properties.
[0012] Other features, embodiments and variations will become
evident from the following detailed description, drawings and
claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 shows an internal view of a first embodiment of the
present invention;
[0014] FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view along direction A of
FIG. 1;
[0015] FIG. 3 shows an internal view of a second embodiment of the
present invention;
[0016] FIG. 4 shows an internal view of a third embodiment of the
present invention; and
[0017] FIG. 5 shows an internal view of a fourth embodiment of the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] A disposable conventional prophy device is joined to an air
or electric source and motor (i.e., hand piece motor) which drive a
first shaft. The air or electric source is controlled by an
operator through hand or feet movements. The first shaft then
drives a second shaft via a pair of meshed gears. Then, the second
shaft drives a polish applicator. As disclosed below, the
embodiments of the present invention eliminate the need for gears
and the repetitive manual application of polish into the prophy
cup.
[0019] Reference is now made to the figures wherein like parts are
referred to by like numerals throughout. FIG. 1 shows a prophy
device generally referred to by reference numeral 100. In a
conventional manner, the prophy device 100 is received by a hand
piece motor handle (not shown). A main housing 105 comprises a
circular cross section, which incorporates a first bend 114, a
second bend 139, a first open end 103 and a second open end 146.
Within the main housing 105, there are multiple protrusions 106,
118, 131, and 146 which act to maintain certain inner components in
fixed positions while allowing the inner components to rotate about
their longitudinal axes. The first open end 103 is sized to accept
a standard nose cone of a dental hand piece motor and the second
open end 146 accommodates placement of a prophy cup 147. In
combination, the two bends 114, 139 provide an ergonomically
designed device 100 for the user and also permit a wider range of
access inside a patient's mouth.
[0020] The main housing 105 can be manufactured with different
materials having different colors, textures and/or dimensions. It
should be understood that the embodiments of the present invention
are not intended to be limited to prophy paste and should be hereby
construed to cover the application of any liquids, gels, pastes or
similar materials.
[0021] A drive shaft 104 has a first rounded end 101 received by a
nose cone of a hand piece motor and a second end 108 attached to a
first corrugated drive 111. The hand piece motor maintains
connection with the slender shaft 102 by means of a friction grip
and transfers rotational energy from the hand piece motor to the
drive shaft 104. The circular drive shaft 104 includes a slender
shaft 102, widened body 104 and circular notch 107. The circular
notch 107 receives protrusion 106 for maintaining the drive shaft
104 in place with respect to the main housing 105 and allowing free
rotation of the drive shaft 104 about its longitudinal axis. The
second end 108 of the drive shaft 104 is attached to the first
corrugated drive 111 such that all the rotational energy generated
by the hand piece motor is directly transferred to the first
corrugated drive 111.
[0022] The first corrugated drive 111 is a hollow multi-fold member
which transfers the rotational energy of the drive shaft 104 to a
middle drive disk 116. The first corrugated drive 111 also
facilitates transfer of the rotational energy through the first
bend 114 of the main housing 105 between the drive shaft 104 and
the middle drive disk 116. As the first corrugated dive 111 rotates
about its longitudinal axis it forces the corrugated segments to
contract on one side 110 and expand on the opposite side 109. This
change in shape during rotation is possible because of the
flexibility of the material used, the hollow nature of the design
and the alternating wide 112 and narrow 113 circumferences forming
the drive 111. By using this type of corrugated drive 111, the need
for the gears of the prior art are eliminated. Prior art gear
systems can fail and generate significant noise levels during use.
Because of the unique design and function of the first corrugated
drive 111 as described herein, the bend 114 between the axis of the
drive shaft 104 and the axis of the middle drive disk 116 can be
altered per final design requirements.
[0023] The circular middle drive disk 116 is attached to the first
corrugated drive 111 at a first end 115 and a paste chamber 126 at
a second end 120. The paste chamber 126 is fabricated a flexible
material. The middle drive disk 116 also has a circular notch 117
which receives protrusion 118 for maintaining the middle drive disk
116 in place with respect to the main housing 105 and allowing free
rotation of the middle drive disk 116 about its longitudinal axis.
A concave portion 119 of the middle drive disk 116 extending into
the paste chamber 126 accommodates a pointed end 121 of central rod
123. This accommodation permits the central rod 123 to rotate
independently about its longitudinal axis while being prevented
from diverging too substantially from a suitable position with
respect to the middle drive disk 116.
[0024] The paste chamber 126 functions like a flexible reservoir
wherein paste is stored and dispensed on demand during use. The
paste chamber 126 attaches at a first end 120 to the middle drive
disk 116 and a second end 128 to drive disk 129 which is hollow in
the center. Consequently, the rotational energy of the middle drive
disk 116 is transferred to the drive disk 129 by the paste chamber
126 only. As long as there is no resistance placed on the drive
disk 129, the paste chamber 126 is able to transfer the same
rotational energy of the middle drive disk 116 to the drive disk
129 such that both rotate at the same speed. Since the chamber 126
is filled with paste 125, which has mass and occupies a certain
volume, it functions like a solid segment. When resistance is
placed on the drive disk 129, it creates a speed differential
between the drive disk 129 and the middle drive disk 116 causing
the paste chamber 126 to compensate for the speed differential by
collapsing its flexible walls. As the chamber 126 turns on itself,
the volume of the chamber 126 is decreased forcing the paste 125
within the chamber 126 to be pushed out through multiple openings
122 of the central rod 123. The greater the differential speed, the
more paste 125 that is pushed out of the chamber 126 through
openings 122. When the resistance on the drive disk 129 is removed,
no further paste 125 is pushed out.
[0025] The circular drive disk 129 is held in place by protrusion
131 which is received by circular notch 130 on the drive disk 129.
A first end 128 is attached to the paste chamber 126 and a second
end 133 is attached to a second corrugated drive 138. The central
rod 123 is an extension of the drive disk 129 with a pointed end
121 accommodated by the middle drive disk 116. The central rod 123
has multiple openings 122 leading to a central channel 132 with one
or more rigid support segments 124 for maintaining the shape of the
rod 123 during use. As the paste chamber 126 begins collapsing the
paste 125 within the chamber 126 is forced to pass through the
openings 122 in the rod 123 into the central channel 132 which
guides the paste 125 through the drive disk 129. The central rod
123 maintains a fixed distance between the middle drive disk 116
and the drive disk 129 preventing the collapsing paste chamber 126
from pulling the middle drive disks 116 and drive disk 129 toward
one another during use. As the paste 125 within the chamber 126 is
depleted, the flexible chamber 126 wraps completely around the
central rod 123 with no further speed differential
compensation.
[0026] FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view in the direction of A
depicted in FIG. 1. The aspects, namely the channel 132, multiple
openings 122 and rigid support segments 124, of the rod 123 are
clearly visible in FIG. 2. During contraction of the chamber 126,
paste 125 is forced from paste chamber 126 through openings 122 and
into channel 132 where the paste 125 is forced through drive disk
129.
[0027] The second corrugated drive 138 functions like the first
corrugated drive 111. The second corrugated drive 138 accepts paste
125 from the central channel 132 which leads through the central
rod 123 and the drive disk 129. The second corrugated drive 138 is
attached at a first end 133 to the drive disk 129 and at a second
end 140 to a prophy cup holder 141. In this manner, the second
corrugated drive 138 guides the paste 125 into a channel 145 of the
prophy cup holder 141. The second corrugated drive 138 is a hollow
multi-fold member which transfers the rotational energy of the
drive disk 129 to the prophy cup holder 141. As the second
corrugated drive 138 rotates about its curved longitudinal axis, it
forces the corrugated segments to contract on one side 135 and
expand on an opposite side 134. This change in shape during
rotation is possible because of the flexibility of the material
used, the hollow nature of the design and the alternating wide 136
and narrow 137 circumferences forming the drive 138. Using this
type of corrugated drive 138 transfers rotational energy through
bend 139 and eliminates the need for gears as used with prior art
prophy designs. Because of the unique design of the second
corrugated drive 138, paste 125 is forced and guided through the
bend 139.
[0028] A circular notch 142 of the prophy cup holder 141 receives
protrusion 146 maintaining prophy cup holder 141 in a fixed
position during rotation about its longitudinal axis. Since the
prophy cup holder 141 is attached to the second corrugated drive
138 which is attached to the drive disk 129, any rotational energy
of the drive disk 129 is transferred to a button 144 of the prophy
cup holder 141 with no loss in rotational speed. The prophy cup
holder 141 defines a central channel 145 which allows paste 125 to
be forced and guided from the second corrugated drive 138 into
prophy cup 147. Beyond the second open end 146 of the housing 105,
the prophy cup holder 141 incorporates a disk segment 143 which
maintains the prophy cup holder 141 in place and prevents it from
being pulled into the housing 105. Button 144 inserts into the
prophy cup 147 to secure the cup 147.
[0029] The prophy cup 147 is a separate item which snaps into place
on the button 144. The attachment is achieved via the flexible
prophy cup 147 having an opening 148 for securely receiving the
button 144. To achieve this attachment and prevent paste 125 from
exiting therethrough, opening 148 of prophy cup 147 is slightly
smaller in size than the receiving button 144 of the prophy cup
holder 141. At an inside center of the prophy cup 147 a one way
valve opening 149 allows extruding paste 125 to be forced through
the prophy cup holder 141 and into the prophy cup 147 where it is
used to clean the surface of teeth. The one way valve 149 prevents
back flow of paste 125 and/or air from entering and traveling into
the paste chamber 126. Ideally, the one way valve 149 is a circular
flap which is greater in circumference than the channel 145 of the
prophy cup 141. The one way valve 149 rotates about notch 150.
Finally, the end of the prophy cup 147 is sealed by a removable
film 151 to prevent drying of the paste 125 inside the device. It
should be understood that the prophy cup 147 may include other
designs and should be hereby construed to include different types
of prophy items including prophy brushes and different shaped
polishers.
[0030] FIG. 3 shows an alternative prophy design 200 without the
first bend 114, first corrugated drive 111, middle drive disk 116,
paste chamber 126, and drive disk 129. Additionally, prophy cup
holder 141 does not contain a central channel. In this alternative
design, a shaft 202 extends through a majority of the length of
housing 203. A first end 201 of the shaft 202 is for attachment to
a hand piece motor and a second end 227 attaches to a corrugated
drive 221. The shaft 202 comprises a first expanded portion 204
having notch 207 for receipt of protrusion 206. As with the
previous design, the protrusion 206 maintains the shaft 202 in
place during rotation along its longitudinal axis. Similarly, and
for the same purpose, a second expanded portion 210 has notch 212
for receipt of protrusion 211. Section 208 extends between the
first expanded portion 204 and second expanded portion 210.
[0031] The corrugated drive 221 is a hollow multi-fold member which
transfers the rotational energy of the shaft 202 to the prophy cup
holder 214. As the corrugated drive 221 rotates about its curved
longitudinal axis, it forces the corrugated segments to contract on
one side 213 and expand on an opposite side 222. This change in
shape during rotation is possible because of the flexibility of the
material used, the hollow nature of the design and the alternating
wide 225 and narrow 223 circumferences forming the corrugated drive
221. Using this type of corrugated drive 221 transfers rotational
energy through bend 224 and eliminates the need for gears as used
with prior art prophy designs.
[0032] A second end 220 of the corrugated drive 221 attaches to
prophy cup holder 214. A disk 216 beyond the second end 215 of the
housing 203 prevents the prophy cup holder 214 from being pulled
into the housing 203. Like the embodiment of FIG. 1, a button 219
receives a flexible prophy cup 217. In this embodiment, only the
prophy cup 217 contains paste loaded from a separate container by
the operator for polishing teeth. For a new patient, a completely
new prophy device is attached to the hand piece motor.
[0033] FIG. 4 shows an alternative prophy design 300 without the
ability to dispense prophy paste. This embodiment of a prophy
device 300 comprising two rigid shafts 302 and 321 within housing
303. Rigid shaft 321 replaces the paste chamber 126 of the
embodiment shown in FIG. 1. Like the embodiment shown in FIG. 3,
the prophy cup 329 is manually loaded with prophy paste from a
separate container by the operator.
[0034] FIG. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of a prophy device 400
similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 without first corrugated
drive 111, middle drive disk 116 and first bend 114. The first
corrugated drive 111 and drive disk 116 is replaced with rigid
shaft 404.
[0035] The prophy device designs described herein solve the
problems, namely complexity, cost of manufacture and failure,
associated with the prior art devices. Consequently, the instant
designs are able to functionally compete with current commercial
models at less cost. Dentists and consumers will both benefit from
the unique uncomplicated design.
[0036] It should be understood that materials besides dental paste
may be applied to items in fields of use unrelated to the dental
industry.
[0037] Although the invention has been described in detail with
reference to several embodiments, additional variations and
modifications exist within the scope and spirit of the invention as
described and defined in the following claims.
* * * * *