Corrugated saliva ejector
AssigneeFiltertek Inc.
InventorRalph L. Davis
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A saliva ejector having a hollow tube including a cylindrical wall, a first end for placement within an oral cavity, and a second end for attachment to a suction hose. A flowpath is defined within the tube. The ejector includes a first corrugated portion defined in the cylindrical wall, a second corrugated portion defined in the cylindrical wall, and a filter element secured across the flowpath. The bending qualities of the first corrugated portion differ from the bending qualities of the second corrugated portion, thus allowing for a wide variety of bendable configurations.
Claims12
A saliva ejector comprising:
- a hollow tube having a cylindrical wall, a first end for placement within an oral cavity, and a second end for attachment to a suction hose, said tube defining a flowpath therethrough;
- a first corrugated portion defined in said cylindrical wall;
- a second corrugated portion defined in said cylindrical wall;
- a filter element secured across said flowpath;
- wherein the bending qualities of said first corrugated portion differ from the bending qualities of said second corrugated portion.
A saliva ejector comprising:
- a hollow tube having a cylindrical wall, a first end for placement within an oral cavity, and a second end for attachment to a suction hose, said tube defining a flowpath therethrough;
- a first corrugated portion defined in said cylindrical wall, said first corrugated portion including a plurality of ridges each having a long side and a short side;
- a second corrugated portion defined in said cylindrical wall, said second corrugated portion including a plurality of ridges each having a long side and a short side;
- a filter element secured across said flowpath;
- and
- wherein said long side of said first corrugated portion and said long side of said second corrugated portion are of different lengths, and said short side of said first corrugated portion and said short side of said second corrugated portion are of different lengths.
A method of removing amalgam from an oral cavity, said method comprising:
- providing a suction hose connected to a suction system;
- attaching a saliva ejector to said suction hose, said saliva ejector including:
- a tube defining a flowpath therethrough,
- a first corrugated portion defined in said cylindrical wall,
- a second corrugated portion defined in said cylindrical wall,
- a filter element secured across said flowpath,
- wherein the bending qualities of said first corrugated portion differ from the bending qualities of said second corrugated portion;
- and
- applying suction to said saliva ejector.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.