Dentistry – Apparatus – Having intra-oral dispensing means
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-18
2001-06-19
Lucchesi, Nicholas D. (Department: 3732)
Dentistry
Apparatus
Having intra-oral dispensing means
C433S084000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06247929
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to oral irrigator handles and valves, and more particularly relates to oral irrigator handles having pressure control valves and a momentary stop or pause control.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Oral irrigators are very popular dental hygiene devices used for maintaining healthy gums by delivering pulses or streams of pressurized fluid through a handle to a user's teeth and gums. While some oral hygiene devices include electronic motors or other active elements in the handle, there is a need for an oral irrigator which supplies pressurized fluid to the teeth and gums of a user without having any active electronic elements within the handle of the device. One such passive oral irrigator is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,089, filed Aug. 11, 1993 by Kim Eichman, et al., entitled “Oral Hygiene Appliance” which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
In the design of an oral irrigator, one consideration involves the control of the flow rate of the water or fluid through the handle of the oral irrigator. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,089, for instance, a push button is biased outwardly by a spring, and when depressed, the push button moves the end of a rod inwardly to close an interior passage of a fluid flow conduit and thus cuts off fluid flow.
Rotary pressure controls used to control the pressure within an oral irrigator are typically located on the housing of the oral irrigator or the handle. When positioned on the housing, the rotary pressure controls can be inconvenient to use because the user has to reach to the housing of the oral irrigator in order to manipulate the dial. When the rotary pressure controls are located on the handle, the control is difficult to use because the user may have to move inconveniently his or her hand about or off of the handle in order to manipulate the rotary pressure control.
What is needed is an oral irrigator handle assembly having a pressure control valve and a stop valve, where the pressure control valve has a slide or linear control with linear travel to provide the user with visual and or audible feedback as to the pressure control setting of the slide control.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The oral irrigator hand piece assembly of the present invention, including the pressure control and stop valves, was developed with the shortcomings of conventional oral irrigators in mind.
In light of the above, and according to a broad aspect of the invention, a pressure control valve for a handle of an oral irrigation device is disclosed herein. The pressure control valve assembly includes a linearly actuated slide control positioned on the handle which is coupled to a rotary valve inside the handle along the fluid flow path. The linear motion of the slide control is converted into a proportional amount of rotational movement of the rotary valve within the valve body to control the fluid flow pressure. In particular, as the slide control is moved linearly along its actuating length, the slide control causes the rotary valve to rotate within the valve body and increases or decreases the effective diameter of the fluid flow path through the valve, thereby regulating the fluid flow pressure through the hand piece assembly. The pressure control valve assembly permits the user of the oral irrigator to continuously regulate fluid flow pressure through the hand piece assembly between a low pressure and a high pressure value of the fluid flowing to the user's teeth or gums.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the pressure control valve has a valve body, a valve member, and a slide control. The valve body has an input section defining an input fluid flow path, an intermediate section having a substantially cylindrical bore therethrough, and a output section defining an output fluid flow path, where the input fluid flow path is fluidly coupled to the output fluid flow path through the bore. The valve member has an orifice bored therethrough and is positioned in the cylindrical bore and is rotatable therein. The slide control is positioned on the housing of the handle of the oral irrigator, the slide control being coupled to the valve member so that as the slide control moves linearly along a portion of the housing, the valve member rotates within the bore of the valve body. As the slide control moves linearly along a portion of the housing, the valve member rotates within the bore of the valve body between a first position where the orifice is substantially aligned between the input fluid flow path and the output fluid flow path, to a second position where the orifice is substantially mis-aligned between the input fluid flow path and the output fluid flow path. In this manner, the effective diameter for fluid flow between the input fluid flow path and the output fluid flow path is altered which alters the pressure at which fluid is delivered to the output fluid flow path.
According to another broad aspect of the invention, a pressure control valve for a handle of an oral irrigation device is disclosed having a valve body, a valve gate, and a slide control. The valve body has an input section defining an input fluid flow path, an intermediate section having a substantially cylindrical bore therethrough, and a output section defining an output fluid flow path, where the input fluid flow path fluidly coupled to the output fluid flow path through the bore. The valve gate has a cylindrical portion having an orifice bored therethrough, a guide portion, and a control arm having a first end coupled to the cylindrical portion and a second end coupled to the guide portion. The slide control is coupled to guide portion of the valve gate, so that as the slide control moves linearly, the cylindrical portion of the valve gate correspondingly rotates within the bore of the valve body, thereby altering the pressure of fluid flow through the oral irrigation device.
The cylindrical portion of the valve gate has a pair of recessed annular channels about the orifice for receiving a pair of
0
-rings. The cylindrical portion is rotatable between a first orientation where the orifice is substantially aligned between the input fluid flow path and the output fluid flow path, to a second orientation where the orifice is substantially mis-aligned between the input fluid flow path and the output fluid flow path.
The slide control has pair of upwardly extending yokes with a gap formed therebetween, and the guide portion is positioned in the gap portion. The interior surface of the slide control has a plurality of raised indices adapted to contact a protrusion on the handle as the slide control is linearly moved along the housing, which provides the user with tactile and audible feedback.
According to another broad aspect of the invention, a handle assembly for an oral irrigator is disclosed having a housing and a pressure control valve having a slide control for adjusting the pressure of the fluid flow therein. The handle assembly can also include a stop valve assembly for momentarily stopping the flow of fluid through the handle assembly. The stop valve assembly includes a plunger having a generally elongated body and plurality of recessed annular rings along the body, a plurality of O-rings adapted to each be placed within one of the annular rings, and a stop valve body having an input chamber defining an input fluid flow path, an intermediate chamber having a first interior diameter and a second interior diameter, and an output chamber defining an output fluid flow path. The input fluid flow path is fluidly coupled to the output fluid flow path through the intermediate chamber, so that as the plunger is depressed within the stop valve body, the plunger blocks the fluid flow with the intermediate chamber. The stop valve assembly further includes a spring biasing the plunger in a normally open within the stop valve body.
A more complete appreciation of the present invention and its scope can be obtained from understanding the accompanying drawings, which are brie
Ashurst Gary
Bachman Timothy A.
Binder Floyd J.
Holland & Hart LLP
Lucchesi Nicholas D.
Teledyne Industries Inc.
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