Suction Machine Comprising a Housing Made of Expanded Plastic Material

The present invention relates to a suction device for dental, medical or industrial purposes, comprising a suction system and a housing in which the suction system is accommodated.

Suction devices or systems are commonly known and are offered for sale, for example by the Applicant, in the most diverse variants. Thus, for example, a suction device is known from publication DE 10 2006 058 955 A1. Basically, suction systems of this kind serve, for example, to suck substances which are produced in the course of dental treatment, such as waste water, blood, saliva, dentine or various filling materials, out of the patient's oral cavity and, optionally, to separate and deposit them. A suction system of this kind for dental purposes comprises a number of components such as, for example, a suction unit, a separating unit, a depositing unit, a control unit, etc., which have to be connected to one another to form a complete system. Individual components are set up, for example, on shaped sheet-metal parts or are located on a housing part, such as a sound-damper housing for example. On delivery, the suction systems are not directly ready for connection, particularly because even the control unit is accommodated separately in a switch box and has first to be installed. Additional noise-reducing measures are required in order to minimise the noises that occur when such a suction system is in operation.

Although suction systems of this kind have proved successful in practice, there remains an ongoing desire to configure suction systems or devices in a more compact manner, to simplify the composition and to reduce the noise emission.

In the case of the abovementioned suction device, this object is achieved through the fact that the housing is composed of at least two housing shells that can be assembled and are manufactured from a foamable material, at least one of the housing shells has support surfaces that support and/or hold the components of the suction system in the housing, and at least one of the housing shells forms at least one functional component of the suction system.

In other words, this means that the suction device now has a housing which not only simply surrounds the individual components of the suction device but, what is more, also provides additional functions, that is to say itself forms, in particular, functional components. Consequently, functional components are integrated into the housing which is formed from at least two housing shells that can be assembled. In addition, there is moulded into, that is to say integrated into, at least one of the housing shells, a support surface that supports and/or holds a component of the suction system, so that it is possible to dispense with special frame elements, metal plates, etc. Likewise, as a result of this, no fastening means, or only a few, such as screws, etc., are needed, since the individual components are accommodated and held in moulded formations that are constructed therein.

There are manifold advantages of such a suction device, among which particular mention should be made here of a compact composition with little outlay on assembly. Another important advantage is to be seen in the fact that a very high degree of noise insulation can be achieved by using a foamed material for the housing shells. Still another advantage is to be seen in the fact that structural outlay is reduced as a result of the integration of functional components into the housing shells, since these functional components do not have to be provided separately. It is thereby possible to reduce the number of functioning parts required, which has major effects, not only on costs, but also on the outlay on fitting.

With the aid of these measures, it is possible to provide the user with a suction device which can be brought into operation with minimal outlay on installation.

In one preferred further development, the suction system comprises at least one suction unit and/or at least one separating unit, which separates the sucked-off air from the liquid or solid substances, and/or a depositing unit which deposits, for example, amalgam.

In one preferred further development, the foamable material in question is a plastic material. In particular, the housing shells are expanded from a plastic material.

A foamable plastic material of this kind is, for example, polypropylene. Obviously it is also possible to use, in addition to expandable plastic materials, natural materials such as maize foam for example.

As has already been mentioned above, an essential aspect of the invention is to be seen in the fact that at least one of the housing shells forms at least one functional component of the suction system. The functional component in question may be, for example, an air-conducting duct, one or more supporting feet, a sound-insulating element, a vibration-decoupling element and/or a holding element for lines, connections, etc.

In other words, this means that, for example, ducts for conducting air are provided in one or both the foamed housing shells, so that it is possible to dispense with the former hose lines. Furthermore, there may be provided in the foamed housing shells, for example, gripping regions in which lines, etc., can then be inserted and secured. Finally, the housing shells have a sound-insulating and vibration-decoupling action, it being possible to further improve these effects by choosing the internal geometry in a suitable manner. Because of the high degree of flexibility of the housing shells in terms of design, it is conceivably possible to integrate other functional components into them.

In one preferred further development, there is moulded into at least one of the housing shells at least one accommodating region which serves to accommodate at least one component of the suction device. Such a component of the suction device may be, for example, an electrical connecting element, a hose-connecting element, a control unit housing, an electrical line or a cable guide for lines.

In other words, this means that there are provided in the housing shells clearances into which the components of the suction device can be introduced and which then at least partly surround the components that have been introduced. Thus it is possible to partition off or separate certain components, such as a control unit housing for example, from other components inside the two housing shells, which has advantages, for example, in the case of air conduction, particularly for cooling purposes. Electrical lines or other lines can be routed into clearances of this kind in the housing shells in a simple and defined manner, so that, for example, contact with hot parts inside the housing cannot occur.

In conjunction with the support surfaces provided in the housing shells, the components, such as the control unit, fan unit, separating unit and/or driving unit for example, can be accommodated in the housing shells in a simple manner since, on the one hand, the positions for the individual components are predetermined in a fixed manner and, on the other hand, no other fastening means etc. are required since the components are held securely via the support surfaces when the housing shells are assembled.

All in all, what is produced is a suction device which can be of lighter and more compact construction and in the case of which a weight saving of 30 to 40% can be realised. Furthermore, the noise emissions are markedly reduced through the fact that the respective components are encapsulated by the housing shells. The use of small parts such as screws, cable clamps, vibration-dampers, etc. are reduced to a minimum, resulting in marked advantages when fitting is carried out.

Obviously the features which have been mentioned above and which are to be explained again below can be used, not only in the combination indicated in each case, but also in other combinations or on their own, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Further advantages and refinements of the invention emerge from the following detailed description of a preferred form of embodiment and from the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a suction device according to the invention, in a first perspective view;

FIG. 2 shows the suction device according to the invention, in a second perspective view;

FIGS. 3
a, b show the suction device according to the invention, in an exploded perspective representation;

FIGS. 4
a, b show, in each case, an internal view of a housing shell of the suction device according to the invention, in a perspective representation;

FIGS. 5
a, b show the two housing shells with the individual components inserted, in a perspective representation;

FIG. 6 shows a sectional view of a suction device according to the invention, for the purpose of explaining functional components; and

FIG. 7 shows another sectional view of the suction device according to the invention.

A suction system or suction device is shown in a perspective representation in FIG. 1 and is identified by the reference numeral 10. A suction device of this kind is used, for example, for dental purposes and serves to suck liquids such as saliva, blood, etc., and solid substances, such as, for example, plastic material, ceramics, amalgam, precious metals, etc., out of the oral cavity of a patient who is being treated. Under these circumstances, the suction device 10 is provided either in the immediate vicinity of the treatment chair or else remotely from the latter, for example in another area. In addition, a suction device 10 of this kind may be designed for one or more treatment stations. Without such removal by suction, a cooling spray in the form of an aerosol cloud which is used by modern high-speed instruments would spread throughout the treatment room. The germs, bacteria and viruses contained in such an aerosol cloud would allow a risk of infection to arise, which is to be prevented.

For this purpose, the suction device 10 has various modules which are accommodated in a housing 12. This housing 12 consists of a number of housing shells 14, 16, preferably two. The two housing shells 14, 16 are capable of being assembled, which means, among other things, that those surfaces of the two housing shells which face towards one another are shaped so as to fit one another. The overall result is a substantially closed housing 12, which only possesses openings for feeding power, air and liquids in and out.

The two housing shells 14, 16 are preferably produced from the same material, the latter preferably being a foamable plastic material. A foamable plastic material of this kind is, for example, polypropylene. Obviously other foamable materials, in particular natural materials, are also conceivably possible as the material for the housing. As will be explained again later on, the material for the housing 12 is selected, among other things, according to its damping capacity as regards sound and vibrations.

On one of its sides 22, the housing 12, which is preferably parallelepipedal, possesses three circular openings 18 in which connecting elements, for example for hose lines or pipelines, are inserted. The connecting elements, which are identified by the reference numeral 20, may have connecting surfaces, for example threads, on the periphery, so that hose lines can be connected in a simple manner. In the present exemplary embodiment, the opening 18 on the right in FIG. 1 is intended for blowing out waste air, the opening 18 for conducting away secretion that has been deposited, and the opening 18 on the left for sucking in air and secretion from a patient's oral cavity. A further slit-like opening 23, which likewise serves for blowing out air, is provided in the upper region of this side 22.

As already mentioned, the housing 12 is assembled from the two housing shells 14, 16, the line of separation between said two housing shells being identified by the reference numeral 24. The three circular openings 18 are intersected by this line of separation 24 on the side 22, which means that these openings 18 in the housing 12 are formed by circular segment-shaped clearances, which are open at the rim, in the two housing shells.

On the lower side, which forms the base 26, of the lower housing shell 16, there are likewise provided openings 28 which provide a connection to the interior space of the housing 12. These openings 28, too, can be used for the purpose of sucking in or blowing out air.

Also formed on the base 26 are four supporting feet 30, said supporting feet 30 being an integral constituent part of the lower housing shell 16. In other words, this means that these supporting feet 30 are moulded in conjunction with the housing shell when it is manufactured, and consequently do not have to be connected to the base in any way, for example by bonding or screwing.

Finally, it is possible to make out, in the representation in FIG. 2, two more clearances 32 which are provided at the transition between the base and the side and which serve as gripping recesses 33.

Another opening in the housing 12 is located on the upper side—the lid 36 of the upper housing shell 14—and is identified by the reference numeral 38. This opening 38 is of slit-like construction in order to prevent the possibility of foreign bodies getting into the interior of the housing 12.

Finally, it is also possible to make out, from the outside, an electronics housing 40, the externally located cover plate 41 of which is approximately L-shaped and extends from the lid side onto the side 22. This electronics housing 40 contains the constituent parts required for control and power supply purposes and is supplied from outside via a mains plug which can be plugged into the mains socket that can be seen. The cover plate 41 terminates on the side 22 in the region of the opening 23 and is constructed in such a way that air is able to flow to the outside from the housing 12 through the opening 23.

The housing 12 is represented in the open position in FIGS. 3a and 3b, so that the internals of said housing 12 are visible. Accommodated within the housing 12 is a suction system which is identified, in general, by the reference numeral 50. This suction system 50 may have a number of modules, namely, in particular, a suction unit 54 or suction machine 54, for example a separating unit 52, which is preferably constructed as a radial suction machine 55, and in addition, for example, a depositing unit for depositing amalgam or other accessories. Since the composition of a suction system of this kind is commonly known, it will not be gone into any further. At this point, it should also be observed that the suction system 50 may also comprise a number of the abovementioned individual modules, that is to say, for example, two or more suction machines.

For the purpose of accommodating the suction system 50, the two housing shells 14, 16 have, on the sides 44 and 46 that face towards one another, clearances which are adapted to said suction system 50, so that, as emerges from FIG. 3b, the individual modules of the suction system 50 can be simply inserted in the lower housing shell 16, and are then held securely in the housing 12 by putting on the upper housing shell 14. Consequently, no metal framework or the like is required inside the housing 12 in order to hold the modules of the suction system 50 in a fixed position in relation to one another.

The two inner sides 44, 46 of the housing shells 14, 16 each possess a rim 48 which has a step. On the one hand, this step permits defined positioning of the upper housing shell 14 on the lower housing shell 16, since the step 48 on the upper housing shell 14 is a “negative” of the lower step. Furthermore, this step leads to a more leakproof connection, so that the interior space of the housing 12 is more successfully encapsulated.

The inner sides of the two housing shells 14, 16 can now be seen, without the suction system 50 inserted, in the two FIGS. 4a and 4b. The lower housing shell 16 has a first depression 60 which is adapted to the lower part of the separating unit 52 and supports the latter. Adjacent to this depression, which has an annular supporting rim 62, is another depression 64 which possesses the shape of a recumbent half-cylinder. This depression 64 is adapted to the suction unit 54 and supports the latter. The depression 64 thus has the function of a support surface for the suction unit, the two openings 28 being provided in the said depression 64.

The two depressions 60, 64 are separated by a wall which has, however, a semicircular cutout 67 which is open at the rim and is intended to accommodate a tubular connecting element between the separating unit 52 and the suction unit 54.

The inner side of the lower housing shell 16 also has a depression 70 which opens, on one of its sides, into the depression 64 and, on its other side, into a semi-cylindrical clearance or depression 72 which, in turn, opens into the opening 18 for the air outlet. A tubular sound-damping element 74 is inserted in this semi-cylindrical depression 72. The two depressions 70, 72 are designed in such a way that an air flow can be conducted from the region of the depression 64, through the depression 70 and the sound-damping element 74 lying in the depression 72, to the outside through the opening 18.

On the inner side 44 of the upper housing shell 14, there are likewise provided depressions which are adapted to the corresponding geometry of the suction system 50. Thus, a cylindrical depression 76 is provided which then forms, together with the depression 64 in the lower housing shell 16, a substantially cylindrical receptacle for the suction unit 54. There is also provided, for the separating unit 52, a depression 78, the geometry of which is adapted to the upper part of said separating unit 52 and which, together with the depression 76, holds the suction system 50 securely in the housing 12.

There is also provided, in the housing shell 14, a raised region 80 which is adapted to the shape of the depression 70 and forms with the latter, when the housing shells are put on, a duct which is closed in the upward direction. This raised region 80 seals off the depression 70, so to speak, in the upward direction. For these sealing-off functions, there are provided in the lateral boundaries of the depression 70, mounting surfaces 82, for example, which interact with corresponding surfaces 84. An air duct is thereby formed, in a manner comparable to a tubular section, merely as a result of the configuration of the inner sides of the two housing shells 14, 16.

In order to hold the sound-damping element 74 securely in the depression 72, there is provided in the upper housing shell 14 a suitably shaped support surface or holding surface 86 which extends from the raised region 80 to the opening 18 shown on the right in FIG. 1. In FIG. 4a there can be seen, inside this opening 18, a groove 88 which runs in the peripheral direction and which serves, for example, to accommodate a sealing-off ring for a connecting element 20.

In FIG. 4a, an opening 90 which opens into the region of the electronics housing 40 is provided in the region between the support surface 86 and the depression 76. This opening 90 has the function of a duct 91 which is intended to direct air from the region of the suction unit 54 into the region of the electronics housing 40.

The two FIGS. 5a and 5b show the inner sides 44, 46 of the two housing shells 14, 16, with the inserted suction system 50, sound-damping element 74 and connecting elements 20.

These connecting elements 20 preferably possess an annular web or flange 94 which engages in the groove 88 and thereby seals off the opening 20 on the one hand, and, on the other, secures the connecting element 20 against displacement in the axial direction.

As likewise emerges from the two FIGS. 5a, 5b, the suction unit 54, which is designed as a radial suction machine 55, has a lateral air outlet 96 out of which the suction air, which has been freed from secretions, is blown. Said air outlet 96 opens into the depression 70 which forms, together with the raised region 80 in the upper housing shell 14, an air duct which opens into the tubular sound-damping element 74. This sound-damping element 74 then conducts the blown-out air to the opening 18 in which the connecting element 20 is provided.

It can be seen in FIG. 5a that the suction unit 54—viewed in the longitudinal direction—has a central region 98 with cooling ribs which is smaller in diameter than the two outer longitudinal regions. Since the two depressions 64, 76 in combination have—viewed in the longitudinal direction—an identical diameter, a clear space 100 is produced around the said central region 98. At the same time, this clear space 100 possesses a connection to the opening 90.

In FIG. 7, this clear space 100, which surrounds the said central region 98 of the suction unit 94 can be seen in its entirety. In addition to this, the said clear space possesses a connection to the outside via the openings 28 in the base of the lower housing shell 16. In addition to this, it can be clearly seen in FIG. 7 that the clear space 100 opens into the opening 90 and the duct 91. Said duct 91 opens into a clear region which is provided in the upper housing shell 14 and which accommodates the electronics housing 40 and is sealed off by the cover plate 41 in the upward direction and towards the front in relation to the side 22. There is a connection to the outside only via the opening 23.

As a result of this special configuration of the two housing shells 14, 16, it is possible to bring about an air flow which is sucked in through the openings 28 in the base of the lower housing shell 16, flows past the cooling ribs belonging to the central region 98 of the suction unit 54 within the clear space 100, into the duct 91 and then passes into the space bounded by the cover plate 41 and finally flows to the outside via the opening 23. This air flow serves, on the one hand, for cooling the suction unit 54 and, on the other hand, for cooling electrical components within the electronics housing 40. The various surfaces of the two housing shells 14, 16 consequently form air-conducting ducts without any additional constituent parts being needed for this purpose.

FIG. 6 shows another sectional view of the suction device 10, in which the suction unit 54 has been omitted and the separating unit 52 is represented instead. The sectional view in FIG. 6 provides an unobstructed view of the duct 91 which runs perpendicularly upwards into the region below the cover plate 41 of the electronics housing 40. Opening into this duct 91 is not only the clear space 100 which has been described above and which surrounds the suction unit 54, but also a duct 102 which runs horizontally and provides a connection to a clear space 104. This clear space 104 surrounds at least part of the upper region of the separating unit 52 and possesses a connection to the opening 38 on the upper side of the upper housing shell 14. This clear space 104 makes it possible to conduct air round the upper region of the separating unit 52 and into the duct 102 and from there, via the duct 91, into the region lying underneath the cover plate 41, and to the outside through the opening 23. This air flow is generated by the separating unit 52 and serves mainly for cooling the latter. Furthermore, this air flow also additionally cools components within the electronics housing 40.

It emerges from FIGS. 6 and 7 that the duct 91 combines two air flows which cool the suction unit 54 and separating unit 52 individually in each case and also, in addition, jointly cool electronic components within the electronics housing 40. These air-conducting elements are configured solely by suitably configuring the two housing shells 14, 16, so that separate structural parts, such as hose lines, etc., are not required.

It becomes apparent, all in all, that the two housing shells 14, 16 form a multiplicity of functional components without any other structural parts being required for this purpose. These functional components include, for example, the air-conducting ducts which make it possible, for example, to conduct air round the suction unit 54 and the separating unit 52 and the electronics housing 40. The supporting feet, holding elements for lines, connections, motors, etc., or even the above-described step on the rim as a sealing-off measure, can also be described as functional components. In addition, sound-damping and vibration-decoupling is achieved by suitable selection of a foamable or expandable material, so that other functional components are provided via the housing shells 14, 16. Thus, for example, rubber cushions or the like for vibration-decoupling are no long required.

Furthermore, the two housing shells 14, 16 provide support surfaces which, on the one hand, support the modules provided inside the housing 12, such as, for example, the separating unit, suction unit or electronics housing or, for example, valves, lines, etc., and, on the other hand, fix them in position inside the housing.

As a result of these measures, a very compact, light suction device can be provided, which is very satisfactorily sound-damped and vibration-decoupled. In addition, the manufacture or fitting of this suction device 10 is markedly simplified, compared with previous solutions, since the modules have to be inserted in the housing shells 14, 16 without having to carry out numerous screwing operations.

Suction Machine Comprising a Housing Made of Expanded Plastic Material

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