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US 2006/0234184 A1Published application
Dental device
OwnerMichael Grimminventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dental device for gripping a dental drill bit includes axially aligned collar, spreader and actuator. The actuator is manually depressed to open the device to enable a drill bit to be inserted therein. When opened, the drill bit is passed through the collar and spreader into a receptacle in the actuator. Depressing the actuator forces the spreader into expandable ends in the actuator and collar. Releasing the actuator with the drill bit inserted in the device allows the expanded ends to grasp the drill bit at two spaced apart locations.
Claims23
A dental device for holding a dental drill bit including
- a housing having an axial, substantially cylindrical passageway extending between first and second opposed open ends of the housing,
- a substantially cylindrical actuator member, a substantially cylindrical collar member, and a spreader member, said actuator member, collar member and spreader member being substantially axially aligned within the housing passageway with the spreader member between the actuator and collar members and the collar member fixedly attached to the housing and the actuator and spreader members being moveable axially,
- said spreader member having a substantially cylindrical axial passageway extending between opposed open ends thereof and first and second opposed external tapered wall sections slanting towards each other,
- said collar member having an axial passageway extending between opposed outer and inner open ends of the collar member with the collar member inner open end proximate the first tapered wall section, said collar member including a flexible and resilient wall segment forming a spring mechanism having a predetermined strength, said collar member wall segment having a first position that restricts the collar member passageway to prevent a drill bit from passing through said collar member passageway and a second flexed position that expands the collar member passageway to allow a drill bit to pass through said collar member passageway,
- said actuator member having an axial receptacle therein terminating in an inner open end proximate the second tapered wall section, said actuator member including a flexible and resilient wall segment forming a spring mechanism having a predetermined strength that is less than the strength of the collar member spring mechanism, said actuator member wall segment having a first position that restricts the actuator member receptacle to prevent a drill bit from extending substantially into the receptacle and a second flexed position that expands the receptacle to allow a drill bit to extend substantially into the receptacle,
- said actuator member having its outer end projecting outward from the second end of the housing to enable said actuator member to be manually pushed into the housing to advance the actuator member inward a predetermined distance to engage the inner end of the actuator member and the second tapered wall section to move the actuator wall segment into the second position to expand the receptacle to allow a drill bit to be inserted therein and to advance the spreader member to engage the inner end of the collar member and the second tapered wall section to move the collar member wall segment into the second position to expand the collar member passageway to allow a drill bit to be inserted through the passageways of the collar and spreader members and into the receptacle,
- upon release of the actuator member with a drill bit inserted therein, the spring mechanism of the collar member first pushes the spreader member and the actuator member towards the second end of the housing with the collar member wall segment bearing against one portion of an inserted drill bit and then the spring mechanism of the actuator member pushes the actuator wall segment to bear against another portion of an inserted drill bit and further advances the actuator member towards the second end of the housing, whereby an inserted drill bit is held firmly in the device.
4 more elements
A dental device for holding a dental drill bit including
- a housing including an elongated passageway,
- a gripping mechanism within the passageway adapted to releasable retain a drill bit, said gripping mechanism including a pair of spaced apart holding members along the passageway that each grasp an inserted drill bit to apply a gripping force to an inserted drill bit at two spaced apart locations along the drill bit to avoid or minimize precession of the drill bit during rotation of the dental device,
- said gripping mechanism having a first position that prevents a drill bit from extending substantially into the passageway and being grasped by said holding members and a second position enabling a drill bit to extend substantially into the passageway and be held by said holding members, and
- a spring biased actuator member at least partially within the housing passageway, said actuator member having a portion thereof enabling manual actuation to advance the actuator member in a first direction into the passageway to move the gripping mechanism between the first and second positions, and upon release, said actuator member moving in a second direction opposite the first direction by spring action.
1 more element
A dental device for holding a dental drill bit including
- a housing having an axial passageway therein,
- a spreader member having an axial passageway,
- an actuator member having an axial receptacle and a wall segment that functions as a leaf spring,
- a collar member fixedly attached to the housing and having an axial passageway and a wall segment that functions as a leaf spring,
- said spreader, actuator, and collar members being axially aligned within the housing passageway and said actuator and spreader members being moveable along the housing passageway between a first position where the wall segments prevent substantial insertion of a drill bit into the dental device and a second position where the wall segments are flexed to expand the passageways of the actuator and collar members to allow a drill bit to be inserted into the device,
- said actuator member having a portion enabling manual actuation thereof to move said actuator member between the first and second positions, said actuator member upon being released said flexed wall members move towards their first positions.
3 more elements
A dental device for gripping a dental drill bit including
- a hollow housing member having opposed open ends, one end having a restricted opening therein formed by a lip member at said one end,
- a collar member extending into said housing and having a passageway there through with an external end into which a drill bit is inserted and an internal expandable end that prevents the passage of an inserted drill bit unless expanded,
- an axial moveable actuator member extending into said housing and having a stop member limits the axial movement of the actuator member in one direction,
- said actuator member having an end portion that fits through the restricted opening and a receptacle member adapted to receive an inserted drill bit that has an expandable end portion that prevents insertion of an inserted drill bit unless expanded, and
- a spreader member having opposed surfaces and a passageway that allows an inserted drill bit to pass freely there through, said surfaces interacting with the actuator member and collar member when the actuator is manually depressed to expand the internal expandable end of the collar member and to expand the expandable end portion of the receptacle member.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.