1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to dental instruments and, more specifically, to apparatus for effecting the replacement of tips of dental hand pieces, such as ultrasonic scalers, in a manner that ensures proper function and avoids damage to either the replacement tip or the handpiece.
2. Related Art
Ultrasonic scalers are used to remove calculus from teeth. A prescribed torque must be exerted when a new tip is inserted in the hand piece to achieve proper installation. A loose tip may detrimentally impact proper function of the device. An over-tightened tip may result in damage to the tip, the hand piece, or both, such as by stripping the threads used to secure the tip within the hand piece of the ultrasonic scaler.
After each use of an ultrasonic scaler, its tips must be sterilized. It is desirable to prevent the tips from colliding with a sterilization tray or with other instruments during sterilization, as such collisions may damage the tips or cause them to prematurely become dull. It would be desirable to provide an apparatus that not only ensured application of the proper amount of torque during tip replacement, but that also serves to protect individual tips during sterilization. Apparatus achieving these and other desired characteristics are described in the following Summary and Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments.
A torque wrench for an ultrasonic scaler comprises a housing, a wrench, a spring, a washer, and a retaining spring. The spring may be provided in the form of, for example, a torsion spring, a leaf spring, or another elastic member providing resistance proportional to deflection thereof
In order to avoid damage due to the application of an excessive amount of torque during installation of a tip on the hand piece of an ultrasonic scaler, the torque wrench initially rotates while permitting the application of a prescribed amount of torque to be transmitted to the threads of the hand piece onto which the tip is secured. Once the prescribed amount of torque is exceeded, the torque wrench continues to rotate, but does not permit transmission of additional torque to the threads on the hand piece.
In order to facilitate proper installation of a tip on a hand piece of an instrument, such as a scaler tip 10 on a hand piece 12 of an ultrasonic dental instrument 14, torque wrenches 16 are disclosed herein. The torque wrenches 16 of the present disclosure serves to limit the amount of torque which is transmitted to threads of a male threaded connecting portion 18 of the hand piece 12 onto which the scaler tip 10 is to be secured.
Upon exertion of torque to a housing 20 of a torque wrench 16 of the present disclosure, up to a prescribed or threshold amount, the torque wrench 16 transmits the torque to a core 22 of the torque wrench 16, with which the scaler tip 10 is releasably secured. Such transmission results in exertion of a rotational force on the scaler tip 10, thereby tightening engagement of the scaler tip 10 with the male threaded connection portion 18 of the hand piece 12. Once the prescribed or threshold amount of torque is exceeded, the torque wrench 16 is adapted to cease transmission of torque to the core 22, thereby insulating the scaler tip 10 and male threaded connection portion 18 from excessive loads. The housing 20 of the torque wrench 20 continues to rotate, but the rotation ceases to result in tightening the engagement of the scaler tip 10 with the male threaded connection portion 18 of the hand piece 12.
With reference to
The opposing flat surfaces 30, 32 along the exterior of the connecting shaft 24 of the scaler tip 10 facilitate selective, releasable securement of the scaler tip 10 to the core 22 of the torque wrench 16. The core 22 has a mounting neck 34 having an axial bore 36 therethrough, and an annular collar 37 at a distal end of the mounting neck 34. As used herein, the terms “proximal” and “distal” are with respect to the hand piece 12. Thus, the distal end of the mounting neck 34 is the end of the mounting neck 34 furthest from the hand piece 12 when the torque wrench 16 is engaged with the hand piece 12. The axial bore 36 may have a diameter slightly greater than an outside diameter of the connecting shaft 24 of the scaler tip 10.
A U-shaped retaining spring 38, having fingers forming first and second legs 40, 42 of the retaining spring 38, and a curved intermediate portion 44, is provided in the core 22 to selectively engage the opposing flat surfaces 30, 32 of the connecting shaft 24 of the scaler tip 10. The U-shaped retaining spring 38 is received in a spring-receiving channel 46 provided in the mounting neck 34 in communication with the axial bore 36. The spring-receiving channel 46) may be disposed in a plane normal to the axial bore 36.
The spring-receiving channel 46 may include a first track 48 sized to receive the first leg 40, and a second track 50 sized to receive the second track 48 of the U-shaped retaining spring 38. The first track 48 and second track 50 may be separated by a post 52. When the U-shaped retaining spring 38 is inserted in the spring-receiving channel 46, an interior of the curved intermediate portion 44 of the retaining spring 38 abuts the post, i.e. is stopped by the post 52, to prevent over-insertion of the retaining spring 38 in the spring-receiving channel 46. The core 22 is received in the housing 20, as explained in more detail below.
To prepare the torque wrench 16 for use with a scaler tip 10 and hand piece 12 of a dental instrument, the connecting shaft 24 of the scaler tip 10 is inserted into a proximal end of the core 22, through the axial bore 36, such that a working end 54 and a functional shank 56 (i.e., that portion between the distal end of the connecting shaft 24 and the working end 54) of the scaler tip 10 are received in a protected chamber 58 within the housing 20 of the torque wrench 16. The opposing flat surfaces 30, 32 along the exterior of the connecting shaft 24 are aligned with the tracks 48, 50 of the spring-receiving channel 46. As the scaler tip 10 is inserted into the core 22, the opposing flat surfaces 30, 32 along the exterior of the connecting shaft 24 come into contact with the respective legs 40, 42 of the U-shaped retaining spring 38.
The initial distance between the first and second legs 40, 42 of the retaining spring 38 is less than the diameter of the connecting shaft 24, and less than the distance between the opposing flat surfaces 30, 32 along the exterior of the connecting shaft 24. As the scaler tip 10 is inserted further into the core 22, using a small amount of axial force, the first and second lets 40, 42 are forced to flex outwardly from one another, permitting the opposing flat surfaces 30, 32 to be received between the first and second legs 40, 42. The flexed first and second legs 40, 42 are biased, by the intermediate portion 44 of the retaining spring 38, back toward one another, thereby loading the retaining spring 38. This restoring force of the retaining spring 38 serves to hold the scaler tip 10 in place. The recessed shoulder portions 28 of the connecting shaft 24 serve as stops when they come into contact with the flexed first and second legs 40, 42, preventing further axial insertion of the scaler tip 10.
In order to limit the amount of torque which is transmitted to threads of the male threaded connecting portion 18 of the hand piece 12 onto which the scaler tip 10 is to be secured, the core 22 may be received in a selective engagement member, such as a cam mechanism 60 having one or more cam follower members 62, 64, each of which selectively engages a series of ramps 66 formed in notches 67 provided in a circular pattern within the housing 20. The mounting neck 34 of the core 22 is mounted within a central aperture 68 of the cam mechanism 60. To facilitate this mounting, the central aperture 68 has a shape complementary to an exterior of the mounting neck 34. As shown, for example, in
To facilitate gripping, the housing 20 may be provided with a plurality of indentations 25 around an exterior thereof. Prior to application of torque in excess of a prescribed or threshold amount, the housing 20 of the torque wrench 16 may be rotated in a first direction, and the rotation will be transmitted to the scaler tip 10, with the cam follower members 62, 64 received in the notches 67, as shown in
In order to prevent such further transmission, when the threshold torque is exceeded, upon further rotation of the housing 20 of the torque wrench 16 in the first direction, as indicated in
The user may hear an audible clicking sound as the cam follower members 62, 64 reach each successive notch 67, indicating to the user that the threshold torque has been exceeded. If the user is satisfied that the scaler tip is in the desired threaded engagement with the hand piece 12, the torque wrench 16 may then be removed from the hand piece 12, leaving the scaler tip 10 secured to the hand piece 12. If, on the other hand, it is desired to remove the scaler tip 10 from the hand piece 12, the user may simply reverse the direction of rotation of the housing 20 of the torque wrench 16. The cam follower members 62, 64 are each provided with a flat surface 92, which can engage a complementary radially-extending surface 94 in each of the notches 67, arranged opposite the ramp 66 of each of the notches 67. Upon rotation of the housing 20 in a second direction opposite the first direction, the flat surface 92 of each of the cam follower members 62, 64 engage one of the radial-extending surfaces 94. Continued rotation of the housing 20 in the second direction transmits torque to the core 22 and the scaler tip 10, causing the scaler tip 10 to be withdrawn from its threaded engagement with the hand piece 12.
Because the scaler tip 10 may be retained by the first and second legs 40, 42 of the U-shaped retaining spring 38 in a secure relationship with the housing 20, and with the working end 54 and functional shank 56 of the scaler tip 10 received in the chamber 56 of the housing 20, the torque wrench 20 conveniently serves as an isolation cage for use in carrying the scaler tip 10 during sterilization, thereby protecting the scaler tip 10 from damage due to impacts with other instruments undergoing sterilization. When the scaler tip 10 is securely received in the housing 20, the user is protected from being scratched or cut while manipulating the scaler tip 10 during insertion or removal of the scaler tip 10 from a sterilization tray (not shown), or at any other time prior to installation of the scaler tip 10 on the hand piece 12.
Turning to
Upon encountering resistance to tightening of the scaler tip 10 to a hand piece, further rotation of the housing 104 causes one of the ramp surfaces 106 to move relative to the extended arm 102 of the torsion spring 100, causing deflection of the extended arm 102. The friction forces between the extended arm 102 and the saw teeth 108, as well as forces developed within the torsion spring 100 due to the deflection of the extended arm 102, serve to limit the amount of torque applied to the scaler tip.
A plurality of torque wrenches 16 of the present disclosure may be provided as a set, with each torque wrench 16 of the set having a distinguishing characteristic from the others to facilitate differentiation of scaler tips 10 securely received in the respective torque wrenches 16 of the set. For example, each of the torque wrenches 16 of the set may be provided in a different color from any other torque wrenches of the set. By way of example, each torque wrench 16 of the set may have distinguishing indicia on the housing 20 thereof to facilitate differentiation of the scaler tips 10 received in the respective housings 20 from one another. For instance, each housing 20 of the set may include one or more markings on the exterior thereof. The color of the markings of each torque wrench 20 of the set may be unique from any of the other torque wrenches 20 of the set, and the markings may be provided, for example, between recesses 25 the housing 20. Such markings may not only facilitate distinguishing different scaler tips, but may convey additional information to a dental technician associated with the particular scaler tip 10 to be inserted in the torque wrench 16, such as a recommended or preferred power setting to be used on the dental instrument to which the associated scaler tip 10 is installed.
While certain embodiments of a torque wrench for use in the application of scaler tips of hand pieces of dental instruments have been disclosed herein, the appended claims are not limited thereto. For instance, while various forms of a selective engagement member between the core and an interior of the housing, and at least one engagement arm of such selective engagement member received on one of a plurality of ramps within the housing, have been disclosed herein, such as the cam mechanism 60 with cam follower members 62, 64, and the torsion spring 100 with extended arm 102, there are other alternative forms the selective engagement member may take, such as, by way of example only, a leaf spring. Other variations may also be made to the disclosed embodiments that are still within the scope of the appended claims.
This application claims priority to, and is entitled to the benefit of the filing date of, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/635,761, filed Dec. 14, 2004, as to all subject matter commonly disclosed therein.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60635761 | Dec 2004 | US |