US 5,314,332 AGranted

Dental articulator

AssigneeKaltenbach & Voigt GmbH & Co.

InventorsHans W. Lang, Alfred Straka

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Abstract

In a dental articulator having articulator arms which extend forwards in their working position, of which one is mounted in two swivel/sliding joints to pivot about a swivel axis extending at right angles to the vertical longitudinal centre plane, said joints being arranged on both sides of the vertical longitudinal centre plane as mirror-images and being each formed by an articular recess in an articular housing and a spherical head that engages through an opening in the articular recess, and the articular recess has a sagittal guide surface, a Bennett guide surface and a lateral guide surface, and associated with each swivel/sliding joint is a locking device with a locking element for locking the associated swivel/sliding joint in its 0-position (final biting position), and the locking element can be adjusted between a locking position and a releasing position allowing sliding movements in the associated swivel/sliding joint, a form-locking connection is provided between the locking element and the spherical head for an attachment between the lower part and the upper part that is effective in the longitudinal direction of the swivel axis.

Claims18

Dependent claims

and a spherical head engaging through an opening in the articular recess;
said articular recess having a sagittal guide surface, a Bennett guide surface and a lateral guide surface;
each said swivel and sliding joint having a locking device with a locking element operatively associated therewith for locking an associated swivel and sliding joint in an O-position defining a final biting position, said locking element being adjustable between a locking position and a releasing position facilitating sliding movement in the associated swivel and sliding joint;
a resilient part being associated with the locking element, said resilient part consisting of a resiliently elastic material extending beyond the locking element and resiliently contacting the joint part in the releasing position of the locking element and being subjected to a pretensile force urging the joint into the O-position.

1 more element

A dental articulator including two articulator arms which extend forwardly in the working positions thereof, one said arm being mounted in two swivel and sliding joints for pivotal motion about a swivel axis extending at right angles to a vertical longitudinal center plane of said articulator, said joints being arranged on opposite sides of the vertical longitudinal center plane as mirror-images, each said joint being each formed by an articular recess in an articular housing and a joint part extending through an opening in the articular recess, said articular recess having sagittal guide surface and a rear limiting surface, each said swivel and sliding joint being operatively associated with a locking device having a locking element for locking the therewith associated joint part in an O-position comprising a final biting position in the articular housing, said locking element being a crescent-shaped swivel part having a first limb including a rear portion which is mounted on the articulator arm comprising the articular housing for pivotable motion between a locking position and a releasing position extending in parallel with the longitudinal center plane;

means for arresting said limb in a locking position;
a second limb consisting of a resiliently elastic material extending in a swiveling plane at right angles to the first limb and in the locking position thereof resiliently engaging from below an associated joint part;
means subjecting the second limb in the locking position to an elastic pretensile force extending in direction of the joint part, and the second limb in the released position thereof being at a distance from the swivel axis of the swivel part which is shorter than the distance between the swivel axis and the surface of the joint part which is gripped from below by the second limb.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.