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US 6,200,134 B1Granted
Apparatus and method for curing materials with radiation
AssigneeKerr Corporation
InventorsJozef Kovac, Raymond L. Knox
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hand held dental instrument for curing light-curable compounds comprises a housing and an array of solid state, light emitting junctions or dies for generating light having wavelengths within a narrow band of wavelengths (e.g. 400-500 nm). Preferably, a peak wavelength of 470 nm is generated. The device further comprises an optical fiber light pipe for capturing the light and transmitting a beam of the light to a work surface containing a light-curable compound. An optical lens or lenses may be used for focusing the light into the light pipe.
Claims24
An assembly for dental work in the mouth of a patient comprising:
- a light-curable dental compound adapted to be located in the mouth of a patient, the compound being curable with light of a specified wavelength;
- a hand-held dental instrument including a housing with an operator grippable section and a light emitting section, the light emitting section configured for being positionable within the mouth of a patient proximate the light-curable compound;
- a plurality of individual solid state, unpackaged, light-emitting dies, the dies being individually mounted on a substrate supported by the housing to form a collective array on said substrate in the housing, the individual dies each being a semiconductor junction free of an integral package and lens, the array of dies operable for collectively emitting light having wavelengths within a narrow band of wavelengths, said narrow band of wavelengths including said specified wavelength at which the light-curable dental compound is curable;
- said substrate having electrically conductive elements positioned thereon, said individual dies each being electrically coupled to at least one of said elements for coupling to a power supply to illuminate the dies;
- a heat sink coupled to the substrate for dissipating heat from the array;
- a forced air device for directing air to the heat sink for further heat dissipation;
- a light transmitting device for capturing said light from the array of dies and transmitting a beam of the light out of the housing to the dental compound;
- whereby the beam may be used to cure the light-curable dental compound in the mouth of a patient.
5 more elements
A method for curing light-curable dental compounds in the mouth of a patient comprising:
- positioning a light-curable dental compound in the mouth of a patient which is curable with light of a specified wavelength;
- generating light having wavelengths within a narrow band of wavelengths using a plurality of individual solid state, unpackaged light-emitting dies, the dies being individually mounted on a substrate to form a collective array on said substrate, the individual dies each being a semiconductor junction free of an integral package and lens and collectively generating light wherein the narrow band of wavelengths includes said specified wavelength;
- coupling a heat sink to the substrate and directing air onto the heat sink for dissipation of heat from the array of dies;
- capturing said light with a light transmitting device and transmitting a beam of the light;
- directing the light beam onto the light-curable compound in the mouth of a patient for curing the compound.
2 more elements
An assembly for dental work in the mouth of a patient comprising:
- a light-curable dental compound adapted to be located in the mouth of a patient which is curable with light of a specified wavelength;
- a hand-held dental instrument including a housing with an operator grippable section and a light emitting section, the light emitting section including a forwardmost tip section configured for being positionable within the mouth proximate the light-curable compound;
- a plurality of individual solid state, unpackaged, light-emitting dies, the dies being individually mounted on a substrate to form a collective array on said substrate, the individual dies each being a semiconductor junction free of an integral package and lens, the array of dies operable for collectively emitting light having wavelengths within a narrow band of wavelengths, said narrow band of wavelengths including said specified wavelength at which the light-curable dental compound is curable;
- the array of dies being positioned at the tip section of said housing for being positioned in a patient's mouth for directly emitting light from the array of individual dies onto said dental compound to cure the compound;
- whereby the light more directly cures the light-curable dental compound in the mouth of a patient.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.