US 12,213,805 B2Granted

Mouth guard having low-profile printed circuit board for sensing and notification of impact forces

AssigneeForce Impact Technologies, Inc.

InventorsAnthony M. Gonzales, Robert M. Merriman, Susan M. Merriman, Christopher T. Cooper

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A mouth guard senses impact forces and determines if the forces exceed an impact threshold. If so, the mouth guard notifies the user of the risk for injury by haptic feedback, vibratory feedback, and/or audible feedback. The mouth guard system may also remotely communicate the status of risk and the potential injury. The mouth guard uses a local memory device to store impact thresholds based on personal biometric information obtained from the user and compares the sensed forces relative to those threshold values. The mouth guard and its electrical components on the printed circuit board are custom manufactured for the user such that the mouth guard provides a comfortable and reliable fit, while ensuring exceptional performance.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A mouth guard system for detection of impact forces, comprising:

a main body configured to receive teeth from the maxilla region of the user, the main body including a front portion that is configured to generally follow a contour of the teeth and is located in front of the teeth;
a printed circuit board embedded within the main body and including at least a force sensor, a battery, and a charging coil, the printed circuit board having a middle portion and two end portions, the two end portions being connected to the middle portion by respective bridge portions, the two bridge portions have widths that are measured within the front portion of the main body, the widths of the two bridge portions being smaller than a width of the middle portion that is measured within the front portion of the main body;
wherein the bridge portions are configured to allow the printed circuit board to be fitted to the main body and accommodate for physical variations in the main body across different users of the mouth guard system;
and
wherein the force sensor is mounted in the middle portion of the printed circuit board, the battery and the charging coil are each mounted in one of the two end portions of the printed circuit board.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 18/510,226Filed 15 Nov 2023 · continuation
Priority: 20 Dec 2018
Published: US 2024/0081737 A114 Mar 2024
Granted: 4 Feb 2025
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification52 codes

A61B 5/682
Head: mouth, e.g., oral cavity; tongue; Lips; Teeth
A61B 5/1126
Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor or mobility of a limb: using a particular sensing technique
A61B 5/4064
For evaluating the central nervous system: evaluating the brain
A61B 5/742
Details of notification to user or communication with user or patient; User input means: using visual displays

Family

Application62/782,965Us provisional application · filed 20 Dec 2018
Application16/723,263Parent of this continuation · filed 20 Dec 2019
Application17/816,942Parent of this continuation · filed 2 Aug 2022
US 11,432,767 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 6 Sep 2022
Application18/176,379Parent of this continuation · filed 28 Feb 2023
US 11,607,171 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 21 Mar 2023
Application18/143,900Parent of this continuation · filed 5 May 2023
US 2024/0081737 A1Pre-grant publication · published 14 Mar 2024
US 11,826,169 B2Parent of this continuation
US 11,819,341 B2Parent of this continuation
US 2020/0196946 A1Published application
US 2022/0361816 A1Published application
US 2023/0210465 A1Published application
US 2023/0270383 A1Published application
US 12,213,805 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.