Dentistry – Apparatus – Having motor or means to transmit motion from motor to tool
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-28
2001-02-13
Philogene, Pedro (Department: 3732)
Dentistry
Apparatus
Having motor or means to transmit motion from motor to tool
C433S132000, C433S019000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06186784
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to dental handpieces, and in particular to air-driven high speed turbines.
BACKGROUND ART
Dentists use high speed turbines in dental handpieces to rotate dental burrs at high speeds (i.e. in excess of 100,000 rpm). To enable the drill to be rotated at such high speeds, the drill bit is held by bearings and a turbine in the head of the handpiece. Air is forced into the head of the handpiece to rotate the turbine, which in turn rotates the drill bit. The air is then exhausted out the back of the handpiece.
When the handpiece is used, the head of the handpiece, which is inserted in the patient's mouth, becomes contaminated. The handpiece must thus be cleaned and sterilized between uses. The most effective way to fully sterilize the hand piece is to autoclave it. However, the heat from the autoclave can, over time, damage the turbine bearings. Once the bearings have been damaged, the high speed handpiece cannot be effectively run at the necessary speeds to be used as a drill. Further, grit can sometimes get into the handpiece. This grit can sometimes be removed by ultrasonically cleaning the handpiece. However, ultrasonic cleaning will also damage the bearings. Proper cleaning and sterilizing of the handpiece will thus effectively shorten the life of the high speed handpiece. High speed handpieces are very expensive. Thus, to prevent the possibility of shortening the useful life of the handpiece, some dentists resort to merely wiping down the outside of the handpiece. This may clean off the contaminants on the outside of the handpiece, but it cannot not properly disinfect the exterior of the handpiece, and does not clean or disinfect the interior of the handpiece. Grit which may accumulate in the handpiece will therefore remain in the handpiece unless the handpiece is opened and manually cleaned.
To overcome this problem, some manufacturers have introduced fully disposable high speed handpieces. One such handpiece was produced by OralSafe, of Temecula, Calif. Another is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,516, to Choisser. Although fully disposable handpieces overcome the problems associated with the inability to fully clean a high speed handpiece without ruining its bearings, they are still expensive.
Currently available high speed handpieces typically include a fiber-optic cable to light the area where the doctor is working in the patient's mouth and a water stream to cool the bit as the dentist performs a drilling operation on the patient's teeth. Typically, the water and light outputs are located on the sleeve of the handpiece, behind the head which carries the turbine. The placement of the light and water outputs can be seen, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,552 to Gonser. The light coming from an area behind the head of the handpiece does not adequately light the work area in the patient's mouth. Because the light is rather far from the drill bit, the light becomes diffused because of the longer distance traveled, and thus does a poorer job of lighting the workarea. Further, because the light comes from one direction, rather than all around the drill, it is possible that the light will be totally ineffective for use when the handpiece is used in certain angles. Similarly, with the water exiting the handpiece from the sleeve, the water is not accurately aimed at the drill bit, or may not contact the drill bit. Thus, the drill bit may not be adequately cooled during use.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
One object of the present invention is to provide a high-speed dental handpiece which may be autoclaved and/or ultrasonically cleaned.
Another object is to provide such a handpiece which has a metal, autoclavable body part and a disposable cartridge which carries the turbine and bearings.
Another object is to provide such a handpiece in which the cartridge may be inexpensively produced.
Another object is to provide such a handpiece in which the cartridge can be run at high speeds for at least the duration of one session.
Another object is to provide such a handpiece which will more fully light the area in which the dentist is working.
Another object is to provide such a handpiece in which the cooling water will be more accurately directed at the drill bit so that more of the cooling water will contact and cool the drill bit.
Another object is to provide such a handpiece having a removable fiberoptic bundle.
These and other objects will become apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the following disclosure and accompanying drawings.
In accordance with the invention, generally stated, a high-speed dental handpiece of the present invention includes a metal non-disposable body and a disposable cartridge received in the body. The body is a one-piece body having a sleeve and an annular head at an end of the sleeve. The sleeve carries an air input line, a water line and a fiber optic cable and defines an exhaust air path. The air input and water lines are operatively connected to a supply of air and water, respectively. The fiber optic cable is operatively connected to a source of light to carry the light to the disposable cartridge and transmit the light through the cartridge to light up the area in the patient's mouth where the doctor or dentist is working so that the doctor or dentist to more clearly see the area being operated upon.
The disposable cartridge is received in the head of the body. The disposable cartridge includes a cartridge body which receives a turbine and a cap which closes the cartridge body. The cartridge body has a bottom portion and an annular wall extending upwardly from the bottom portion to define an upwardly opening chamber or cavity in which the turbine is received. The cartridge body bottom portion has a centrally positioned bore through which a bit is passed to be removably received in the turbine. The cartridge body wall is sized so that it is frictionally received in the annular head of the handpiece. The cartridge body wall and bottom portion define an outwardly radially extending shoulder which abuts a bottom surface of the annular head.
The cartridge cap includes an upper portion and a cylindrical lower portion. The upper portion and lower portions define a shoulder which abuts the annular wall of the cartridge body. The cylindrical lower portion is sized to be frictionally received within the cartridge body. The cartridge cap can be glued or snap-locked to the cartridge body to prevent the cartridge from opening during use.
The cartridge body bottom portion and the cap define bores which receive self-lubricating bearings. The turbine includes upper and lower bosses which are received in the bearings. Washers may be positioned between the turbine bosses and the bearings to vertically position the turbine in the cartridge to substantially prevent axial movement of the turbine relative to the cartridge. The bearings have bores aligned with the turbine bore and the dental bit has a shaft extending through the bores. In one embodiment, the bearings are self-aligning. In this embodiment, the cartridge body bore and the cap bore are defined by curved surfaces and the bearings have arcuate outer surfaces. The bearings, in this second embodiment, may pivot independently of each other about a vertical axis in the bores such that the bearing bores may be aligned with the turbine bore.
To facilitate positioning of the cartridge in the handpiece body, the body sleeve has a rectangular cutout defined by side walls and a back edge and which opens into the annular head. A manifold is positioned in the forward end of the sleeve and forms a back wall of the cutout. The air input and water lines in the sleeve are received in the manifold to place them in fluid communication with the cutout. The manifold includes an opening to allow for exhaust air to enter the sleeve exhaust path. The cartridge includes a heel which is received in the rectangular cutout. The cartridge heel has an air supply bore and an air exhaust bore extending from the back wall of the heel to the cartridge chamber. The air supply bore
Philogene Pedro
Polster Lieder Woodruff & Lucchesi
Young Dental Manufacturing Company
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