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US 5,082,007 AGranted
Multi-laminar mouthguards
AssigneesLoren S. Adell, Michael Adell
InventorLoren S. Adell
Life of this patent
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AssigneesLoren S. Adell, Michael Adell
InventorLoren S. Adell
Estimating the term…
A mouthguard that possesses a number of unique features including: a two part main body in which the two parts are exactly identical so that they can be fabricated by the same mold; the main body has internal pockets that provide for the placement of a lower durometer material within the main body, particularly the molar regions; the main body is constructed in two parts to provide for the inclusion of air/saliva ducts and the attachment of a separate attaching strap; the relative thicknesses of the liner material and the main body material can be varied in particular ways at the occlusal wall; the buccal wall has pocketry containing different durometer material; a bite locator is provided; and the liner forms a significant portion of the buccal wall as a smooth rounded edge.
A mouthguard comprising a main body having two individual parts, in which one of said two parts forms an upper trough portion and the other of said two parts forms a lower trough portion, and liner material of a lower durometer than the durometer of said two main body parts lines both troughs and also integrally joins the liner material lining said upper trough portion with the liner material lining said lower trough portion such that the liner material interlocks said two main body parts in juxtaposition to create an integral mouthguard unit wherein said one main body part juxtaposedly overlies said other main body part.
A mouthguard comprising two individual main body parts each of which forms a corresponding one of upper and lower troughs of the mouthguard, said two main body parts being juxtaposed in assembly relationship such that the particular main body part forming the upper trough overlies the particular main body part forming the lower trough, and a unitary piece of material acting to hold said main body parts in assembly relationship wherein the particular main body part forming the upper trough juxtaposedly overlies the particular main body part forming the lower trough, said unitary piece of material having a first fractional portion thereof disposed in at least a portion of said upper trough, a second fractional portion thereof disposed in at least a portion of said lower trough, and a third fractional portion thereof extending integrally between said first fractional portion and said second fractional portion.
A mouthguard comprising a main body having internal pocketry at a labial region thereof and means defining an aperture extending from a labial exterior surface portion of the main body through the main body to said pocketry, including an attaching strap for the mouthguard, said attaching strap being a separate part having one end captured in said main body pocketry and extending from said one end through said aperture.
A mouthguard comprising at least one trough for an arch, said trough comprising an occlusal wall and a buccal wall, said mouthguard comprising a main body forming a portion of said at least one trough including a portion of said occlusal wall and a portion of said buccal wall, said mouthguard comprising liner material lining at least a portion of said portion of said at least one trough formed by said main body including lining said portion of said occlusal wall and lining said portion of said buccal wall, said liner material also extending away from said occlusal wall beyond said portion of said buccal wall formed by said main body to form about one-fourth to one-third of the height of said buccal wall as a smooth rounded edge that is disposed beyond said buccal wall portion formed by said main body.
A mouthguard comprising a main body having an occlusal wall covered by liner material on both sides, the sum of the thicknesses of the occlusal wall and the liner material covering both sides of the occlusal wall in total being generally uniform over at least a portion of the mouthguard, said occlusal wall and said liner material having relative thicknesses such that in at least a portion of said mouthguard portion, the thickness of the liner material covering one side of the occlusal wall is greater than that of the liner material covering the other side of the occlusal wall, such greater thickness being caused by non-uniformity of said occlusal wall of said main body in said at least a portion of said mouthguard portion.
A mouthguard adapted for insertion into a user's mouth to receive an impression of the user's upper and lower arches when so inserted and bitten on by the user, said mouthguard comprising an upper trough for the upper arch, a lower trough for the lower arch, occlusal wall means between said troughs, said lower trough being shallower than said upper trough, said lower trough comprising a buccal wall and a lingual wall both extending away from said occlusal wall means, but with said lingual wall being shorter than said buccal wall, said buccal wall in transverse view comprising a triangle integrally adjoining with said occlusal wall means and a lip integrally adjoining with and extending from a vertex of the triangle that is spaced from said occlusal wall means, said lingual wall in transverse view comprising another triangle integrally adjoining with said occlusal wall means and another lip integrally adjoining with and extending from a vertex of said another triangle that is spaced from said occlusal wall means, and tooth-impressionable liner material filling said lower trough to the level of said lips to present an exterior surface into which the teeth of the lower arch are adapted to be impressed, and said exterior surface of said liner material being rounded immediately adjacent said lip of said buccal wall and then extending generally straight across said lower trough to said lip of said lingual wall, that rounded portion of said exterior surface of said liner material that is immediately adjacent said buccal wall being disposed in underlying relation to a surface of said triangle of said buccal wall that extends obliquely from said lip of said buccal wall.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Body-protectors for players or sportsmen , i.e. body-protecting accessories affording protection of body parts against blows or collisions: mouth…
Mouth or teeth protectors: mouth inserted protectors with breathing holes
Mouth or teeth protectors: mouth inserted protectors with tether or strap
Apparatus for physical training, gymnastics, swimming, climbing, or fencing
Term ended 24 Jan 2010 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
This new patent application is related in certain aspects to my pending patent applications Ser. No. 07/176,046, filed Mar. 30, 1988 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,393 and Ser. No. 07/329,407, filed Mar. 27, 1989 now abandoned. The disclosures of those applications are incorporated herein by reference.
This invention relates to mouthguards and their manufacture, and represents further improvements that I have made in connection with my continuing development work on mouthguards.
My pending patent applications that are mentioned above, include disclosures involving multi-laminar (multi-layer) construction. I have found that these improvements provide a mouthguard that can be manufactured on a production basis (as distinguished from custom-made mouthguards) and that can exhibit improved functionality when properly used by an individual. Thus, in certain respects, my inventive activity relates to improvements in mouthguards that are intended to be sold commercially, such as by sporting goods companies, mass-merchandisers and the like.
FIG. 1 is lingual perspective view taken in cross section in the direction of arrows 1--1 in FIG. 2 and relating to the fabrication of a first embodiment of mouthguard acording to the invention.
FIG. 2 is a view taken in the direction of arrows 2--2 in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of a portion of FIG. 1, as taken in the direction of arrows 3--3 in FIG. 1.
FIGS. 1-9 relate to a first embodiment of mouthguard 30. In a general way this embodiment may be considered to comprise a three part construction consisting of a upper main body part 32, a lower main body part 34, and a liner part 36. As revealed best by FIG. 6, the completed mouthguard has an upper trough 38 for receiving teeth of the upper arch, and a lower trough 40 for receiving teeth of the lower arch. Liner part 36 lines both troughs 38, 40, with upper main body part 32 providing for the forming of the upper trough 38, and lower main body part 34 providing for the forming of the lower trough 40. Each main body part has an occlusal wall portion 42, a lingual wall portion 44, and a buccal wall portion 46. The occlusal wall portions of the two main body parts are in juxtaposed relation to conjointly form the main body occlusal wall. The two lingual wall portions 44 cooperatively form the lingual wall, and the two buccal wall portions 46, the buccal wall.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the two parts 32, 34 are identical, and therefore are capable of being fabricated in the same mold. The completed mouthguard is fabricated by juxtapositioning the occlusal wall portions of the two parts 32, 34 and then molding the liner part in place so as to form a unitary mass that constitutes the mouthguard.
In order to aid in the proper juxtapositioning of the two main body parts, their confronting portions are provided with integral locating means. Furthermore, these locating means are organized and arranged such that the locating means in the upper part is complementary to the locating means in the lower part, and in each individual part the locating means has a pattern that is symmetrically complementary about the medial plane 47 that bisects the mouthguard into right and left halves. Thus it can be seen in FIG. 2 that there are four connectors, or projections, 48, 50, 52, 53 in the right half of the part and four receivers, or receptacles, 54, 56, 58, 59 in its left half, and that the pattern of the connectors is the mirror image of that of the receivers about the medial bisector plane.