U.S. patent number 3,775,849 [Application Number 05/236,252] was granted by the patent office on 1973-12-04 for dental handpiece attachment.
Invention is credited to John J. Condon.
United States Patent |
3,775,849 |
Condon |
December 4, 1973 |
DENTAL HANDPIECE ATTACHMENT
Abstract
A dental handpiece attachment is described for use on a dental
handpiece fitted with a prophy contra-angle. The attachment has a
cartridge filled with prophy paste that may be dispensed as desired
adjacent the working element of the polishing tool to provide a
lapping compound for accomplishing a polishing procedure without
the necessity of periodically removing the polishing tool to
replenish the lapping compound. The cartridge has a free piston
mounted therein that is responsive to the application of air
pressure to push the prophy paste. The cartridge is releasably
loaded in a spring-biased receiving fixture that is affixed to the
handpiece.
Inventors: |
Condon; John J. (Spokane,
WA) |
Family
ID: |
22888741 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/236,252 |
Filed: |
March 20, 1972 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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133173 |
Apr 12, 1971 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
433/87; 433/133;
433/125; 433/166 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61C
1/087 (20130101); A61C 17/005 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61C
17/00 (20060101); A61C 1/08 (20060101); A61c
013/22 () |
Field of
Search: |
;32/59,60
;222/83.5,389 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Peshock; Robert
Parent Case Text
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation-in-part application of a parent application
filed Apr. 12, 1971 having Ser. No. 133,173 and now abondoned.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A dental handpiece attachment for a dental handpiece having an
elongated body adapted to be gripped in one hand by an operator, in
which the dental handpiece has a prophy contra-angle adapted to
receive and rotate a prophy cup that is utilized for applying and
lapping flowable prophy paste to a patient's teeth during a
polishing or abrasive cleaning procedure, said attachment
comprising:
a tubular cartridge containing the flowable prophy paste in which
the cartridge has a reduced outlet at one end and a piston freely
movably mounted in the other end;
pressure supply means for delivering air under pressure into the
other end of the cartridge to apply air pressure directly to the
free piston to move the piston toward the one end of the cartridge
to push the flowable prophy paste through the reduced outlet;
an elongated delivery tube communicating with the reduced outlet
and extending to the prophy contra-angle of the handpiece
terminating in close proximity to the prophy angle cup for
delivering the prophy paste thereto; valve means for regulating the
air pressure applied directly to the free piston to control the
flow of the prophy paste from the tubular cartridge;
means for releasably receiving the cartridge and mounting the
cartridge on the handpiece;
said releasably receiving means having opposed ends that are spaced
substantially the length of the cartridge to realeasably received
the cartridge therebetween;
said opposed ends having sockets formed therein to receive
corresponding ends of the cartridge;
said releasably receiving means having spring means for biasing at
least one of the sockets toward the other to releasably grip the
cartridge between its ends to enable the cartridge to be readily
inserted or removed from between the sockets.
2. A dental handpiece attachment as defined in claim 1 wherein the
securing means secures the attachment to the handpiece with a
delivery tube terminating adjacent an inward side of the prophy
angle cup so that the prophy angle cup travels over the dispensed
prophy paste during a rearward stroke of the handpiece.
3. The dental handpiece attachment as defined in claim 1 wherein
the prophy contra-angle has a rotatable output shaft extending
therefrom with the prophy cup mounted thereon and further
comprising the feature of the output shaft being hollow to enable
the delivery tube to be extended through the hollow output shaft to
deliver the flowable prophy paste adjacent an interior wall of the
prophy cup.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to dental handpiece attachments and more
particularly to such attachments for dispensing prophy paste into a
patient's mouth during a polishing or abrasive cleaning
procedure.
Most teeth polishing and cleaning procedures are accomplished by
utilizing a dental handpiece having a polishing tool mounted on the
end thereof. The polishing tool includes a flexible prophy angle
cup that looks similar to a suction cup which receives a prophy
paste containing a pumice material for application to the patient's
teeth.
Generally, a batch of the prophy paste composition or abrasive
material is made up for each patient and placed in a container,
called a "prophy paste cup". The dentist or his assistant dips the
end of the handpiece into the prophy cup to scoop up some of the
prophy paste into the prophy angle cup. The polishing tool is then
inserted into the mouth of the patient with the prophy angle cup
bearing against a surface of a tooth. The handpiece is then
operated to rotate the prophy angle cup in a lapping fashion to
polish and abrasively clean the tooth surface. Additional amounts
of the prophy paste are scooped out of the prophy cup as needed.
Usually the teeth polishing and cleaning operation requires two
persons to perform; in which the operator has an assistant to hold
either the prophy cup or a vacuum tube which is utilized to remove
saliva and excess paste from the patient's mouth. Alternatively,
the operator will hold the handpiece with one hand and the vacuum
tube with the other hand while his assistant is holding the prophy
cup. If the dentist is short of help, he may call upon the patient
himself to hold the prophy cup to alleviate the need for an
assistant being present. When the patient holds the prophy cup, the
procedure becomes somewhat awkward. When additional prophy paste is
needed, the dentist has to lay down the vacuum tube with one hand
and then pick up the prophy cup and then dip the end of the hand
tool into the cup to replenish the prophy angle cup with the prophy
paste. He then puts down the prophy paste cup to free one hand to
be able to pick up the vacuum tube before continuing the polishing
procedure. Not only is this rather awkward, but it is quite time
consuming.
Some effort has been directed in providing an alternative to the
prophy paste cup. Such an alternative is illustrated in U. S. Pat.
No. 2,738,528 to Fridge, Sr. The Fridge, Sr. patent shows a
squeezable flexible container having prophy paste therein that is
attached to the dental handpiece. The container has an outlet that
extends through the contra-angle to dispense the prophy paste
directly into a lapping cup. However, it is found that a dentist is
unable to hold the handpiece in one hand to polish the patient's
tooth while at the same time squeezing the prophy paste container
to dispense the prophy paste.
One of the principle objects of this invention is to provide a
dental handpiece attachment that is relatively inexpensive to
manufacture and easy to assemble and attach to the handpiece.
A further object of this invention is to provide such a dental
handpiece attachment for automatically dispensing a prophy paste
from the end of the handpiece when desired without requiring the
physical exertion of the dentist or his assistant.
An additional object of this invention is to provide a dental
handpiece attachment having a cartridge containing a prophy paste
for dispensing the paste from the handpiece adjacent the polishing
tool in which the cartridge may be thrown away and replaced at the
conclusion of the polishing or abrasive cleaning procedure.
A further object of this invention is to provide a dental handpiece
attachment having a cartridge containing a prophy paste that may be
dispensed from the attachment utilizing a power source associated
with the handpiece without the necessity of modifying the handpiece
or associated dental equipment.
These and other objects and advantages of this invention will
become apparent from the reading of the following detailed
description of a preferred embodiment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred and alternate embodiments of this invention are
illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a side view of a dental handpiece having an attachment
secured thereto for dispensing prophy paste therefrom, in which
said attachment contains the principal features of this
invention;
FIG. 2 is an isometric expanded view showing the unassembled parts
of the attachment illustrated in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged side view of an alternate
embodiment in which the invention includes an improvement to a
polishing tool attached to the end of the handpiece in which a
portion of the attachment is incorporated in the polishing
tool;
FIG. 4 is a side view of an alternate embodiment of this invention
illustrating an alternative construction of the attachment;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal cross-section of a
section of the attachment taken from FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a side view of an alternate embodiment of the
invention;
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the alternate
embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6 taken along line 7--7 in FIG.
6;
FIG. 8 is a fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view of a front
end of the alternate embodiment shown in FIG. 6;
FIG. 9 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line 9--9
in FIG. 7 showing one operational position; and
FIG. 10 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 9
except showing a second operational view.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a
dental handpiece attachment generally identified by the numeral 10
for mounting on a dental handpiece identified by the numeral 11.
Dental handpieces are manufactured by a variety of companies for
use by a dentist or his assistant during drilling and polishing
procedures. The handpiece is normally held in one hand by the
operator between the thumb and index finger in a manner similar to
holding a pencil. The specific dental handpiece shown in FIG. 1 is
manufactured by Midwest American, a dental division of American
Hospital Supply Company of Melrose Park, Illinois. Although the
dental handpiece attachment 10 is shown specifically designed for
utilization on such a handpiece, it is intended that the attachment
10 be utilized generally on any of the other handpieces.
The dental handpiece 11 is adapted to have several different types
of tools or contra-angles attached thereto for performing different
dental procedures. Generally a handpiece is adapted to receive
various types of drilling contra-angles to perform drilling
procedures on patient's teeth. The handpiece is also adapted to
receive a prophy contra-angle to be used in the polishing of the
teeth generally near the conclusion of a teeth-cleaning procedure.
The dental handpiece attachment 10 is intended to be used in
conjunction with the prophy contra-angle.
Specifically, the dental handpiece 11 has a back or head end 12 and
a forward end 13 with an intermediate gripping section 14. The
intermediate gripping section 14 is generally slender and is
adapted to be easily gripped by the operator between the thumb and
the index finger in a manner similar to holding a pencil. The
dental handpiece 11 is generally weighted so that it is rather well
balanced for easy handling. As illustrated, a prophy contra-angle
16 is mounted on the forward end 13, for use in a polishing or
abrasive cleaning procedure. Prophy contra-angle 16 includes a
housing 18 having an output shaft 20 for rotating a prophy cup 21.
Prophy cup 21 is quite similar to a suction cup having a cavity on
the end for receiving a prophy paste for lapping application on a
tooth surface. The prophy cup 21 is generally constructed of a
rather flexible material such as rubber.
The head end 12 generally contains an air driven turbine for
rotating a longitudinal drive shaft (not shown) that extends the
general length of the handpiece for rotating an output shaft 20
through a right angle drive (not shown) in the contra-angle. The
details of the turbine, the longitudinal shaft and the right angle
drive are not shown as these are common elements to a dental
handpiece. The turbine is generally capable of rotating between 100
and 25,000 rpm.
The dental handpiece has a spindle knob 23 adjacent the rear end 12
which is connected to a tightening rod (not shown) for securing
various tools or contra-angles to the forward end 13. A speed
change ring 24 is rotatably mounted on the head end to enable the
operator to adjust the speed of the tool. A fluid supply housing 26
is formed integrally with the head end 12, and projects outward at
an angle. The fluid supply housing 26 includes a main air-in
connector tube 27 and a main air-return connector tube 28. A
reverse flow button 30 is mounted in the housing 26 for changing
the direction of the flow between the air-in and the air-return
connector tubes to change the rotation of the air driven turbine.
Smaller auxilliary lines 31 and 32 are included in the housing 26.
Auxilliary line 31 supplies air and the auxilliary line 32 supplies
water. An auxilliary service tube 33 is mounted to the supply
housing 26 communicating with auxilliary line 31. A similar
auxilliary service tube 34 is mounted to the housing 26
communicating with the auxilliary water line 32. Generally during a
grinding or drilling operation two flexible tubes (not shown) are
connected to the tubes 33 and 34 and extend forward along the
dental handpiece terminating adjacent the grinding tool so that the
operator by use of control valves can spray air or water into the
patient's mouth adjacent the grinding area to blow or wash tooth
particles or the like away from the grinding area. In the past,
auxilliary tubes 33 and 34 have been rather unneeded appendages
without serving any function during the polishing procedures.
As part of this invention, dental handpiece attachment 10, includes
a pneumatic tube 37 that has one end 38 communicating with the
auxilliary air service tube 33 shown in FIG. 1. Pneumatic tube 37
has an opposite end 40 for supplying air to a prophy paste
cartridge 41. The prophy paste cartridge 41 has an open end 42 and
a reduced end 43. The reduced end 43 has a reduced opening 44.
The dental handpiece attachment 10 further includes a releasable
mounting and receiving means 46 for operatively receiving the
cartridge 41 and mounting the cartridge 41 to the handpiece. The
means 46 includes a male element 47 and a female element 48. In the
embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the female element 48 includes a
receiving head 50, having a cylindrical cavity 51 formed therein
with shoulder grooves 52 extending longitudinally therein with
shoulders to form an interlock with the male element 47 when the
cartridge end 42 is inserted into the cavity 51 and rotated. The
male element 47 in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes
projecting shoulders 55, extending outward from the periphery of
the cartridge end 42 that will slide in the grooves 52 and engage
the female shoulders to interlock and releasably connect cartridge
end 42 to the receiving head 50. The cavity 51 has a passageway
communicating with pneumatic tube 37.
The cartridge 41 is initially filled with a flowable prophy paste
57. A free piston 58 is mounted in the open end 42 for movement
toward the reduced end 43 to push the prophy paste from the
cartridge out through the reduced opening 44. The flowable prophy
paste is a mixture of various materials that are effective to
polish or abrasively clean teeth. It is preferable to mix the
ingredients to obtain a paste that is rather viscous but one which
will flow when air pressure of between 25 and 60 psia is applied to
the piston 58.
The dental handpiece attachment 10 further includes an elongated
delivery tube 60 having one end 61 formed integrally with or
connected to the reduced end 43 of the cartridge. Elongated
delivery tube 60 has a terminating end 62 that, when mounted to the
dental handpiece terminates at a location adjacent the prophy angle
cup 21. It is preferable for the end 62 to be positioned on the
inward side of the prophy angle cup as shown in FIG. 1 so that the
prophy paste will be dispensed from the end 62 forward of the cup
when the dental handpiece 11 is moved in a rearward stroke.
Generally the operator will first polish or abrasively clean the
molar teeth and will then continue forward along the side teeth
towards the front of the patient's mouth.
In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the elongated delivery
tube 60 is composed of a plurality of parts including a flexible
tube 63 having a collar mounted to one end thereof. A syringe
element 65 is connected to the collar 64 having a rather small
diameter needle tube 66 which is bent to form the terminating end
62.
The mounting and receiving means 46 further includes a securing
means 68 for securing the dental handpiece attachment 10 to the
handpiece 11 in a very convenient manner so that the dental
handpiece attachment will not interfere with the ease of handling
of the handpiece and will prevent the dislodgement of the dental
handpiece attachment under normal use. In this embodiment the
securing means includes three releasable clips 70, 71 and 72. Each
of the clips are of differing sizes to accommodate the different
diameters at various locations along the dental handpiece. However,
each of the clips are constructed in a rather similar design in
which each has an annular upper section 74 circumscribing and
holding a section of the dental handpiece attachment. Each slip
further includes an enlarged lower section 75 that extends around a
peripheral section of the handpiece to hold and mount the dental
handpiece attachment to the dental handpiece. A slot 76 is formed
in the enlarged section 78 so that the enlarged seciton 75 may be
resiliently spread open to enable the clips to extend about the
peripheral portion of the handpiece. The clips 70, 71 and 72 are
designed to adapt to the particular handpiece utilized by the
dentist. The releasable clip 70 has the annular section 74
extending about the receiving head 70 to secure the receiving head
50 firmly to the rear end 12. The clip 71 is utilized to secure the
reduced end 43 of the cartridge to the immediate section 14 just
rearward of the location where the hand grips the handpiece. The
clip 72 is utilized for securing the delivery tube 60 to the
forward end 13.
In the alternate embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the dental
handpiece attachment includes a prophy contra-angle 80 that is
attachable to the forward end of the handpiece. Prophy contra-angle
80 has a delivery tube 81 incorporated therein. Delivery tube 81 is
included in angle 80. The angle has a longitudinal drive shaft 83,
that is connectable to the longitudinal shaft of the dental
handpiece. Power is transmitted from the longitudinal shaft through
a right angle drive 84 and out an output shaft 85. One of the
principle features of this embodiment is that the output shaft 85
is hollow, with the delivery tube 81 extending through the hollow
shaft 85. A prophy angle cup 86 is removably mounted on the output
shaft 85. The prophy angle cup 86 has an outer peripheral wall 87
and an inner cavity 88 defining an inner wall 90. A seal 91 is
formed in the upper end of the pumice cavity to hold the pumice cup
on the output shaft 85 during operating conditions. The delivery
tube 81 has an end 93 that extends downward through the hollow
output shaft 85 and into the cavity 88 to dispense the prophy paste
directly into the cavity 88 instead of adjacent the exterior of the
cup as shown in FIG. 1. In this embodiment the prophy angle 80 is
removed with the rest of the attachment. It may also be desirable
to construct the angle 80 of rather inexpensive material so that
the tool 80 may be thrown away after each operation.
A second alternate embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 4 in which the
dental handpiece attachment 10 is a throw-away unit having a
pneumatic tube 95 extending from the auxilliary air service tube 33
to an integrally connected cartridge 96. The dental handpiece
attachment 10 further includes a delivery tube 97 that is formed
integrally with the output end of the cartridge 96. In this
embodiment, the attachment is designed as an integral unit so that
the entire unit can be thrown away after the prophy paste 100 has
been exhausted or at the conclusion of a polishing procedure. An
important feature of this embodiment is the form of the free piston
101. The free piston 101 is in the form of a ball constructed of
either glass or plastic that is originally mounted on the rear end
of the cartridge 96 for pushing the prophy paste through the
delivery tube 97 to the prophy angle cup.
An additional alternate embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 6-10. A
cartridge 105 is illustrated in FIG. 6 releasably received in a
mounting and receiving means 106 so that when the prophy paste is
removed from the cartridge, the cartridge may be readily ejected
from means 106 and a full cartridge 105 inserted. The cartridge 105
has a cylindrical body 108 with a reduced open front end 110 and a
reduced open rear end 111. A free piston is enclosed in the body
108.
The means 106 includes a frame 115 having a longitudinal member 116
that extends alongside the handpiece and nose and tail end member
118 and 128 respectively. The nose end member 118 has a axial
passageway 120 therethrough for communicating with tube end 44
through which the paste passes. The nose end member 118 has a
socket cavity 121 formed therein to receive the open front end 110
of the cartridge 105. The nose end member has a valve 124 formed
therein to regulate the flow of paste through the axial passageway
120. The valve 124 has a handle 126 exteriorly exposed for manual
manipulation.
The tail end member 128 is slidably mounted on the frame for
limited axial movement to enable the cartridge 105 to be grippingly
inserted between the ends 118 and 128. The end member 128 has a
socket cavity 129 found therein to receive the rear end 111 of the
cartridge. A spring 130 is mounted in the frame bearing against the
tail end member 128 to bias the member 128 axially toward the end
member 118 to grip the cartridge therebetween and to enable an
empty cartridge to be readily removed and a full cartridge
inserted.
Valve means is provided for regulating the air pressure to the free
piston 112. The valve means includes a main passageway 132 through
the tail end member 128 for receiving air from the tube 37 and
transmitting the air to cartridge end 111. A needle valve 136 is
mounted in the member 128 communicating with the passageway 132 to
regulate the flow of air therethrough. A bleed passageway 133 is
formed in member 128 communicating with the passageway 132 to bleed
air from the passageway 132. A needle valve 138 is mounted in the
member 128 communicating with the passageway 133 to set the maximum
pressure to be applied to the piston 112.
A securing means 140 is provided having clips 141 and 142 formed
integrally with the frame to releasably attach the attachment 10 to
the handpiece.
It should be understood that the above described embodiments are
simply illustrative of the principles of this invention and that
numerous other embodiments may be readily devised without deviating
therefrom. Therefore only the following claims are intended to
define this invention.
* * * * *