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US 5,507,644 AGranted
Medical tool
OwnerMichael F. Kivlighan, Jr.inventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A medical tool such as a prophy angle is provided having primarily plastic parts to make disposing more economical. A portion of the drive shaft is made of metal to eliminate detrimental deformation. The housing is made of two plastic halves which snap-fit together and have projecting portions which surround a pair of oversized plastic beveled gears. A prophy cup having a locking projection is provided so that the locking projection fits into locking cavity on a stud of the tool. Vanes are disposed on the inside of the cup and have a step-like configuration to aid in retaining polishing paste in the cup.
Claims3
A prophy cup comprising:
- a cavity for containing paste and polishing teeth;
- and
- multiple vanes projecting into said cavity, said vanes each comprising:
- at least one segment disposed radially projecting upward from a bottom of said cup in said cavity and at least one annular segment disposed transverse to said at least one radial segment in a same direction as a direction of rotation of said cup, to cause said paste to accumulate at a juncture of said at least one radial segment and said at least one annular segment,
- wherein said multiple vanes define open areas between adjacent ones of said multiple vanes, said open areas having no transverse segments disposed therein, to facilitate the even application of paste.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.