Dental handpiece
AssigneeDen-Tal-Ez Mfg. Co.
InventorsJoe W. Page, Jr., Paul H. Stahlhuth
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A straight dental handpiece has a tubular housing for a motor driven collet mechanism rotatably supported at one end of the housing. The burr receiving collet mechanism is actuated by a pair of diammetrically opposed cams supported for rotational movement about an axis extended transversely of the housing. In response to rotation of the cams, a cam follower on the collet mechanism is axially moved to actuate the collet mechanism to a burr receiving position. The cams are rotated by an external lever on the housing that is pivotally movable from a longitudinally extended operating position in nested relation with the housing, wherein the burr is gripped in the collet mechanism, to a burr releasing position projected generally radially of the housing.
Claims6
A dental handpiece having a tubular housing with forward and rearward end portions and a motor supported in said housing, comprising:
- (a) a burr receiving collet mechanism rotatably supported within said forward portion, including an elongated collet shaft connected at one end in a driven relation with the motor,
- (b) said collet shaft having a plurality of circumferentially spaced and radially yieldable fingers longitudinally extended from the other end thereof,
- (c) a collet receiving sleeve telescopically mounted on said collet shaft for relative axial movement,
- (d) coacting means on said collet shaft and collet receiving sleeve, responsive to axial movement of the sleeve in one direction to move said yieldable fingers radially inwardly and responsive to axial movement of the sleeve in the opposite direction to permit said fingers to move radially outwardly,
- (e) bias means urging the collet receiving sleeve in said one direction,
- (f) a cam means supported on the housing for rotation about an axis extended transversely of the housing, said cam means having a cam surface arranged internally of the housing,
- (g) cam follower means on said collet receiving sleeve for moving the collet receiving sleeve in said opposite direction in response to rotation of said cam means,
- (h) lever means externally of the housing for actuating said cam means,
- (i) said cam means includes a pair of cams spaced transversely of the housing, and
- (j) means connecting said lever means to said pair of cams for concurrent actuation,
- (k) said pair of cams having like cam surfaces engageable with respective portions of said cam follower means to move the collet sleeve in said opposite direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.