US 4,818,229 A · Dental ultrasonic endodontic unit

Abstract

A readily manipulatable fastening for a dental endodontic file and tip assembly for operation by ultrasonic vibrations. The fastening is compatible with a wide range of handpieces of different domestic and foreign manufacturers of dental instruments, and may be used interchangeably with ultrasonically operated scaling tips of various shapes and configurations, also catheters and other dental cleaning and scraping tools. A simple and rugged two-part unit consisting of a flow-through tip fastened to the outlet end of the vibratory stack and a completely enclosed housing for the outer end of the tip, other than a single small aperture therein, preferably bored at a small obtuse angle to the longitudinal axis of the tip for the shank of the file, permits a rapidly executed secure fastening or release of the shank from between the end of the tip and the internal end wall of the housing. Preferably, the end wall of the housing and the outer end of the tip are specially contoured to provide a large contact area for the fastening, to transmit the vibratory energy from the transducer to the file with maximum effectiveness and accurate control, with minimum possibility of breakage.

Claims13

Dependent claims

In an assembly for operating an endodontic file in a dental handpiece at ultrasonic frequencies,

(a) a rectilinear tip provided with a central passage for fluids or medicaments adapted to have one end thereof connected to the output end of an ultrasonic vibratory unit within the handpiece, and the other end of the tip extending beyond the free end of said handpiece and having an external thread along an intermediate portion of said tip,
(b) housing means for entirely covering said tip, said housing means including a housing having a closed outer end and internal threads adjacent to the open end thereof for threaded engagement with said external thread along said intermediate portion of said tip,
(c) said housing having a single opening in the lateral wall thereof adjacent to its closed end extending transversely to the longitudinal axis of said tip,
(d) said opening adapted to accommodate loosely the shank of an endodontic file for clamping against the inner wall of the closed end of said housing by the outer end of said tip while leaving room for the discharge of fluid from said passage and through said opening to the remaining portion of said file beyond said housing, and
(e) said housing means further including rotary means at the end of said handpiece for effecting movement of said housing relative to the outer end of said tip in an axial direction, thereby to selectively clamp and release the shank of the file between the tip and the inner wall of said housing.

2 more elements

In an assembly for operating an endodontic file in a dental handpiece at ultrasonic frequencies,

(a) a rectilinear tip provided with a central passage for fluids or medicaments adapted to have one end thereof connected to the output end of an ultrasonic vibratory unit within the handpiece, and the other end of the tip extending beyond the free end of said handpiece,
(b) a housing for covering the outer portion of said tip having a closed outer end and internal threads adjacent to the open end thereof for threaded engagement with an intermediate portion of said tip,
(c) said housing having a single opening in the lateral wall thereof adjacent to its closed end extending at a small obtuse angle transversely to the longitudinal axis of said tip,
(d) said opening adapted to accommodate loosely the shank of an endodontic file for clamping against the inner wall of the closed end of said housing by the outer end of said tip while leaving room for the discharge of fluid from said passage and through said opening to the remaining portion of said file beyond said housing, and
(e) a rotary collar keyed to said open end of said housing for imparting limited translatable movement to said housing by slight rotation of said collar, to clamp and release the shank of said file between the end of said tip and the inner face of the end wall of said housing.

2 more elements

An assembly for operating an endodontic file, comprising

(a) a rectilinear tip provided with a central passage for fluids or medicaments;
(b) threads on one end of said tip for detachably connecting said tip to the output end of an ultrasonic vibratory unit adapted to be contained within a handpiece to which are fed said fluids and power for operating said unit,
(c) additional external threads at the midportion of said tip,
(d) a housing for covering the outer portion of said tip having a closed outer end and internal threads adjacent to the open end thereof for engagement with said external threads,
(e) said housing having a single opening in the lateral wall thereof adjacent to its closed end extending at a small obtuse angle transversely to the longitudinal axis of said tip,
(f) said opening adapted to permit insertion of the shank of an endodontic file into said housing for clamping against the inner face of said closed end of said housing by the outer end of said tip, while leaving room for the discharge of fluid from said passage through said opening to the remaining portion of said file beyond said housing, and
(g) a rotary collar keyed to said open end of said housing for imparting limited translatable movement to said housing to clamp and release the shank of said file between the end of said tip and the inner face of the end wall of said housing.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Dental ultrasonic endodontic unit

Life of this patent

Dental ultrasonic endodontic unit

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims13