Tether for intraoral devices
AssigneeEpoch Dental LLC
InventorLouis Kaufman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A safety device for tethering an object during intraoral use, such as a dental finger driver. A tether includes a semi-rigid tip portion connected to a flexible, inelastic tail. The tip portion is oriented parallel with the length of the tail during use. The tail may be formed from a filament, such as nylon monofilament. The tip portion may be formed from plastic. The tip can be easily inserted through an aperture in the device being tethered, with the tail portion being pulled through the aperture and secured to the intraoral object. The tail portion may be secured by a knot, a stopper, or a loop formed in a second end of the tail, through which the tip may be passed.
Claims19
A safety device for tethering tools or other objects utilized intraorally and having an aperture formed therein, the device comprising:
- a tail portion comprised of a length of relatively non-rigid and non-elastic filament;
- and
- a semi-rigid elastic tip connected to a first end of the tail portion, the tip being oriented in parallel with the first end of the tail portion to which it is attached.
A method of quickly and temporarily tethering a safety line to an intraoral device, said method comprising:
- gripping onto a safety line comprised of a tail portion formed from a length of relatively non-rigid and non-elastic filament, and a semi-rigid elastic tip connected to a first end of the length of filament in a configuration parallel with said first end;
- threading the semi-rigid elastic tip through an aperture formed in an intraoral device;
- and
- securing a second end of the length of filament to the intraoral device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.