Dentistry – Method or material for testing – treating – restoring – or...
Patent
1987-01-23
1989-04-04
Peshock, Robert
Dentistry
Method or material for testing, treating, restoring, or...
433 32, 433229, A61C 500
Patent
active
048182311
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention refers to a processing device for local irradiation of defined processing points with visible or invisible light. Devices of this type are primarily needed as treatment devices in dental medicine for hardening of tooth fillings, where masses of synthetic material are hardened by means of visible light but also by means of infrared light.
While initially the light rays from a light source were guided onto the treatment point via a relatively long light conductor, one currently accommodates the light source in a hand-held device according to a more recent development, said hand-held device having a rigid light carrier at its head. Thereby, the light beams generated by the light source are transferred in the interior of the hand-held device via the light conductor and by means of corresponding optical coupling elements to the processing or treatment point. Thereby, a fan is normally also accommodated in the processing device in order to sufficiently cool the light source, which has a relatively high power draw.
A disadvantage of the treatment with a device of this nature is the required power supply cable, which, particularly in the case of a device for dental medicine, must be inserted in the most varying spatial positions in order to harden the fillings even at inaccessible points in the mouth of a patient.
The purpose of the invention is to further develop a treatment device of this type so that the handling thereof is facilitated without any loss of efficiency of the irradiation proper.
This problem is solved by means of a processing device with the characteristics of patent claim 1.
Consequently, in the treatment device according to the invention, batteries are accommodated in the hand-held device proper, particularly rechargeable batteries, so-called accumulators. Since a precisely defined quantity of light with precisely defined intensity is always required for the hardening, a particularly advantageous further development of the invention concept also provides a voltage control device in the hand-held device, which control device immediately prevents the handling of the device if a pre-set terminal voltage on the batteries or accumulators is not reached, since the possibility exists that the desired and necessary hardening of the filling would not be guaranteed if the device were used under such conditions.
According to another further development of the invention concept, it is also possible to include a counter, if necessary of a mechanical nature, in addition to the voltage control device or instead of this, which counter registers the number of uses of the device, whereby, since each individual use covers a precisely defined time, it is very easy to establish when the counter must block further use of the device without need for high cost electronic monitoring devices. A counter of this type, which would show the dentist that a full recharge of the device is needed prior to use, possibly by eliminating the readiness of the device for use if this is required, would then only have to be reset after the charging process, and the device can then be used again in the same manner for the anticipated number of treatments.
Further details of a treatment device according to the invention will be explained in the following with reference to the enclosed drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawing, FIG. 1 indicates a treatment or processing device in general. Thereby, it is assumed that an individual dentist owns at least two processing devices of this type, which can be placed on a charger 9 which is common for both devices.
Each individual processing device consists of a housing 2, with an attached housing part 3, in which rechargeable batteries 48 are accommodated.
In the upper portion of the housing 2, a light source 50 and a fan 52 are accommodated in a manner known per se. At the head 5, a light conductor 6 is attached, by means of which the light generated by the light source in the interior of the housing 2 is transmitted to the treatment point via optical coupl
REFERENCES:
patent: 3109238 (1963-11-01), Marks
patent: 3509629 (1970-05-01), Kidokoro et al.
patent: 4445858 (1984-05-01), Johnson
Radio Fernsehen Elektronik, vol. 27, Issue 4, 1978, pp. 263-264.
Mitterndorfer Alois
Steiner Hans
Peshock Robert
Wilhelm Sedlbauer GmbH
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