Dental Articulator
OwnerJean J. Elnajjarinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A dental articulator apparatus and method of forming dental casts utilizing a dental articulator having pivotally connected upper and lower arms that each have a ball socket which receives a ball at the outer end of a respective model anchor, the opposed end of which is cast into a dental model. The model anchor ball is adjustably secured in the ball socket of the articulator arms by a set screw coupled with a rotatable magnetic extension rod that are installed, removed, advanced, and retracted as a unit and allow relative rotation between the set screw and the extension rod to facilitate fitting and positioning the ball in the socket when the set screw is loosened, and eliminate manually installing and positioning separate small shims and plungers that can be accidentally dropped and lost.
Claims8
A dental articulator apparatus comprising:
- an upper and a lower integrally molded generally U-shaped articulator arm, each having a transverse portion with laterally spaced link members extending from opposed ends, said laterally spaced link members of said upper and lower arms releasably and pivotally connected together at an outer end for relative pivotal movement, said transverse portion of each said arm having a ball socket intermediate said opposed ends, and one of said opposed ends having a threaded portion in communication with said ball socket;
- a set screw magnetically coupled with a rotatable magnetic extension rod at a tip end of said set screw, said set screw threadedly engaged in said threaded portion of said transverse portion and said magnetically coupled rotatable magnetic extension rod having a first end disposed adjacent to said ball socket;
- and
- said set screw and said magnetically coupled rotatable magnetic extension rod being installed, advanced, and retracted in, and removable from said transverse portion as a unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.