WAX MOLDING APPARATUS

Abstract: A wax molding apparatus according to the present invention is an instrument used when a dental technician makes a modes of an artilicial tooth and consisting of a cylindrical grip (10) having an axially extending slit (12) allowing the inner and outer portions of the grip to communicate with each other, a wax rod holder (13) provided in the upper portion of the grip including the end portions of the slit, in such a manner that a rod type wax (16) can be guided slidably along the wax rod holder, a roller (14) provided rotatably in the grip so that a part of the roller projects outward therefrom, a wax carrier (15) detachably retaining the rear end portion of the wax rod and provided in the wax rod holder so that the wax carrier can he axially moved therein, feed means (20, 21, 23, 24; 33, 34, 35, 36) provided in the grip and adapted to convert a rotational movement of the roller into a linear movement and transmit the linear movement to the wax rod carrier, a spatula (26) provided at the front end portion of the grip, a wax fusing (27) contacting the portion of the wax rod which projects from the front end of the wax rod holder, so as to fuse the same, and a heater (28) for heating the spatula and wax fusing portion. The fusion rate of the wax can be controlled freely by turning the roller by a finger tip, so that this apparatus can be used conveniently.

Description: The present invention relates to a wax shaping tool, used in forming an artificial denture model with dental wax on a dental cast obtained from a patient, comprising the features of the preamble of claim 1. In building and shaping wax in the field of denture work, the following steps are usually repeated more than ten times for one tooth: (a) first to heat up a spatula and to soften or melt solid wax and to scoop it by means of the heated spatula; (b) then to heat it up again to make it in a liquid form; and (c) to build it up at a region where wax shaping is to be performed. In this conventional procedure, the point of regard of a dental technician moves outside of the region whenever the above steps are repeated. Accordingly, it is difficult for the dental technician to concentrate his attention on the wax shaping work, and consequently the efficiency of the work is extremely low. In order to improve the efficiency of this troublesome work, there has been proposed a construction combining a heater and a spatula and providing direct heating of the spatula by the heater. Examples of such construction can be seen in US-A-1,905,987, US-A-2,097,098, US-A-2,119,908, US-A-2,468,818, US-A-3,800,122, US-A-3,902,043 and US-A-4,301,357. However, even if a spatula having the proposed construction is employed, the work includes essentially a step for dipping wax from another place and still requires the dental technician to make his point of regard move outside of the region where wax shaping is to be performed. Accordingly, the improvement in the efficiency of the work is not yet satisfactory. Moreover, in another example, a construction of a conventional tool is disclosed in US-A-2,243,400 wherein a heater and a wax reservoir are provided in a handle portion and wax melted by the heater is delivered to a spatula formed at a tip portion. However, since the molten wax is prestored in a wax reservoir, as to the above example, the construction has the drawback that there might occur degradation of wax or separation of wax components before the molten wax is delivered to the spatula, and as a result the wax might become inadequate for denture work in which high tolerance is required. There is disclosed a tool in US-A-4,770,633 in order to eliminate these drawbacks, This tool is generally constructed to slip down a wax cartridge by self-gravity. However, subsequent study has proved that the construction is not necessarily satisfactory with respect to the operation. For example, the wax cartridge may fall out of the tool when the rear end of the tool is tilted downward in the course of slipping by self-gravity of the wax cartridge for any reason. A wax shaping tool having the features of the preamble of claim 1 is disclosed in US-A-4 553 935. In this tool, wax cartridges can be continuously fed in axial direction of an internal bore of a handle in order to transport these cartridges against a wax melter which is provided by a confinement of the internal bore of the wax cartridge holder. Since the wax is melting within the confined end of the holder internal bore, the amount of wax melted for particular application cannot be controlled exactly because when revoming the wax cartridges from the melting position there is left molten wax in the end of the holder. Moreover, the wax cartridges of the prior art tool have to be provided with external teethed recesses for an acurate transport against or from the melting section. The object of the present invention is to provide a wax shaping tool with which the forward and background movements of simple wax cartridges can exactly be controlled so that the amount and speed of wax melting can be freely adjusted thus that the tool can operate more properly than the conventional ones, The present invention provides a wax shaping tool which allows a dental technician to continuously perform wax shaping work many times without making his point of regard move outside of the region to be shaped, and therefore, which enables wax building and shaping work to be carried out rapidly and efficiently. Furthermore, the present invention provides a wax shaping tool wherein solid wax is melted just before a wax building work so that the work can be carried out with avoiding the degradation of wax or the separation of wax components. Further, the present invention provides wax shaping tool wherein a solid wax cartridge, which is apt to be softened and deformed by an external force, can be fed without deformation, bending or the like. In accordance with the present invention, a wax shaping tool having the features of claim 1 is proposed. Preferred embodiments of this tool are subject of claims 2 and 3, respectively. In the drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a wax shaping tool of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the wax feed mechanism in the tool of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line I-I in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in Fig. 1, Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the tool of the present invention, Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the wax feeding mechanism in the tool of Fig. 6, Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in Fig. 6, and Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken along line V-V in Fig. 6. First, there is explained the first embodiment or the wax shaping tool of the present invention referring to Figs. 1 to 5. In Fig. 1, a handle portion 10 which has a shape like an elongated cylinder, is formed with plastic or metallic material and has a bore 11 extending in the axial direction therein. A slit 12 is formed on the top surface of the handle portion 10, which interconnects the bore 11 with the external portion. A wax cartridge holder 13 for housing a solid wax like a rod-like wax cartridge 16, is provided on the top surface of the handle portion 10. The wax cartridge holder 13 comprises peripheral edge portions of the slit 12 and ribs formed on the sides thereof. As shown in Fig. 4, the wax cartridge holder 13, in which a solid and cylinder-shaped wax cartridge 16 is mounted and accommodated slidably in axial direction, is formed into a "V"-shaped groove in section, such that wax cartridges 16 having various diameters can be accommodated and guided. In Figs. 1 and 2, a roller 14 for operation is shown which is rotatably supported on the proximity of the front end of the handle portion 10 so that a part of the roller protrudes from the surface thereof. Furthermore, in Fig. 3 a first drive 15, which is equipped on the rear end of the wax cartridge 16, is accommodated in the wax cartridge holder 13. The first drive 15 comprises a base 17 and a clip 18 formed in the forward side thereof, and the clip 18 has a divided cylindrical body made of a elastic vinyl resin or the like. One of the divided clip 18 is opened upwardly, the rear end of the wax cartridge 16 is mounted on the other, and thereby the wax cartridge 16 is clamped taking advantage of the resilience of the clip 18. The base 17 has a through hole 19 extending in the direction of the diameter. The wax cartridge 16 is moved backward and forward according to the back-forth movement of the above-mentioned first drive 15. In Fig. 2, a first pulley 20, which is fixed on the center axis X of the above-mentioned roller 14, is positioned near the front end of the bore 11. The first pulley 20 rotates together with the roller 14. A second pulley 21 which is fixed through a spring member 22 is accommodated in the rear end of the bore 11. A string or wire 23 is strained between the first pulley 20 and the second pulley 21. A root portion of a connector 24, which moves backward and forward corresponding to the rotating movement of the above-mentioned roller 14, is attached to the string 23. The connector 24 has a stem 25 extending in a direction transverse to the string 23, and the stem 25 penetrates the hole 19 in the base 17 in the first drive 15 through the above-mentioned slit 21. Therefore, the first drive 15 moves backward and forward according to the back-forth movement of the connector 24, and then, the wax cartridge 16 also moves in the same direction. The connector 24 can be formed of metallic material. The first pulley 20, the second pulley 21, the string 23 and the connector 24 described above are assembled to provide a wax feeding mechanism. Moreover, the first pulley 20, the second pulley 21 and the string 23 are assembled up to a conversion mechanism for converting the rotating movement into the linear movement. A spatula 26 which has a shape almost like a dish is provided at the forward end of the handle portion 10. One end of a wax melter 27 is fixed at the rear end of the spatula 26, and the other end of the wax melter 27 projects along the line where the cartridge 16 moves on the spatula 26. The wax melter 27 and the spatula 26 are integratedly formed of metallic material having high thermal conductivity, e.g. aluminum, copper, brass, Ni-Cr alloy, Co-Cr alloy or the like. In Fig. 5, a heater 28 is attached in the rear end of the spatula 26 (the lower end of the wax melter 27), and a ceramic heater or the like can be used as the heater. By the heater 28, the wax melter 27 and the spatula 26 are heated to about 100°C. Moreover, the heating temperature generated by the heater 28 is selected from a range from about 80 to 120°C according to the wax material. The heater 28 is buried within a heater shaft 29 fixed in the handle portion 10. The heater shaft 29 is inserted into a hole 30 formed in the rear end of the spatula 26. By employing the above-mentioned construction, various kinds of spatulas 26 having different shapes can be utilized by exchanging them according to the use thereof. However, it is also possible to integratedly form the heater 28, the spatula 26 and the wax melter 27, and, furthermore, the construction thus integrated can be exchangeably attached to the handle portion 10. The wax melter 27 has a wax delivery hole 31. The wax, which is abutted against the heated wax melter 27 and thereby melted, flows down through the delivery hole 31 and stays in the spatula 26 having a shape almost like a dish. In Fig. 1, an electric cord 32 is connected to the rear end of the handle portion 10 and passes through the handle portion 10 and brings electricity from the power source to the heater 28. Next, there is explained the manner to use the tool having the above-mentioned construction. To begin with, the first drive 15 is attached to the rear end of the wax cartridge 16. Namely, the clip 18 is opened, and the rear end of the wax cartridge 16 is clamped so as to be resiliently held. Thereafter, the first drive 15 and the wax cartridge 16 is accommodated in the wax cartridge holder 13 in such manner that the stem 25 of the connector 24 is inserted into the hole 19 in the first drive 15. In the early state, the wax cartridge 16 is set with the front end thereof being slightly apart from the wax melter 27 (about 2 to 5 mm). Next, if it is required for the wax to be melted, the roller 14 should be rotated in the direction of the arrow al with a fingertip. Thereby, the first pulley 20 also rotates in the direction of the arrow al , and the string 23 circulates in the direction of the arrow a2 . Thereby, the connector 24 moves forward, namely in the direction of the arrow a2, and thereby the wax cartridge 16 is moved forward through the base 17 and the clip 18. The wax, which is abutted against the wax melter 27 and thereby melted, flows through the delivery hole 31 into the spatula 26 and temporarily stays therein. The melted wax, which stays in the spatula 26, is flowed into the region where a shaped wax is formed, and thereby the work of building and shaping an artificial denture model is carried out. If it is required to melt a lot of wax rapidly, the roller 14 should be strongly rotated in the direction of the arrow al . On the other hand, if it is required to melt a little wax, the roller 14 should be slightly rotated in the same direction. If it is required to stop melting the wax, the roller 14 should be rotated in the reverse direction, namely in the direction of the arrow b1. Therewith, the first pulley 20 also rotates in the direction of the arrow b1 and the string 23 circulates in the direction of the arrow b2. Thereby, the connector 24 is moved backward in the direction of the arrow b2, and accompanied with the backward movement of the base 17 and the clip 18, the wax cartridge 16 is moved backward. Consequently, the tip of the wax cartridge 16 is separated from the wax melter 27 and thereby the wax melting is stopped. The above-mentioned roller 14 is repeated to rotate forward (the arrow a1) and backward (the arrow b1), and thereby the work of building and shaping the model is carried out while melting a desired amount of wax. If it is consumed, the wax cartridge 16 should be exchanged. In this case, the base 17 and the clip 18 are pulled out from the stem 25 of the connector 24 together with the wax cartridge 16. Moreover, the roller 14 is rotated in the direction of the arrow b1 to move the connector 24 backward. Subsequently, a new wax cartridge 16 is clamped in the clip 18, the wax cartridge 16 being mounted on the wax cartridge holder 13 as described above, and at the same time the stem 25 of the connector 24 is inserted into the hole 19 in the base 17. Next, there is explained the second embodiment of the wax shaping tool of the present invention referring to Figs. 6 to 9. The tool of the second embodiment has a construction similar to the one of the first embodiment except for the wax feed mechanism. Therefore, the same reference numerals represent the same parts and the explanation is omitted. Moreover, in the case of the present embodiment, the bore 11 and the slit 12 are held open on the rear end of the handle portion 10. In Fig. 7, a first gear 33 to be rotated with the roller 14 is fixed on the center axis X of the roller 14 which is rotatably mounted on the handle portion 10. Moreover, in the bore 11 of the handle portion 10, a worm or screw 35, which has rotational axis Y coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the handle portion 10, and of which tooth is cut in slightly inclined direction perpendicular to the rotational axis Y, is rotatably provided. Furthermore, a second gear 34, which engages with the first gear 33, is rotatably supported to rotate with the screw 35. By employing the above-mentioned construction, the screw 35 can be driven according to the rotation of the roller 14. The above-mentioned conversion of the rotary driving force can be performed by means of a combination of the above-mentioned first gear 33 and the second gear 34 as well as a straight bevel gear, a spiral bevel gear, a face gear, a screw gear, or the like. Furthermore, a cylindrical gear can be used in place of the screw 35 so as to be directly driven by means of the first gear 33 which engages therewith. Moreover, the axis of the roller 14 can be made parallel to the screw 35, and thereby the mutual combination of the parallel gears can be used. A connector, which converts the rotating movement into the back-forth movement of the screw 35 and transmits it to the base 17, is provided on the screw 35. The connector comprises a horseshoe clip 37 having a shape like a fork which engages with the screw 35 and a supporting shaft 38 which projects in the transverse direction to the cylindrical gear 35. The screw 35 and the horseshoe clip 37 constitute a conversion mechanism for converting the rotating movement into the rectilinear movement. The horseshoe clip 37 is formed almost like a "U"-shape, which engages with the flight of the screw 35. The above-mentioned horseshoe clip 37 is formed with the material such as metal or plastic and has spring property. Therefore, when the upper end of the supporting shaft 38 is pressed down, the horseshoe clip 37 engages with the screw 35 with click feeling. On the contrary, when the supporting shaft 38 is pulled up, the horseshoe clip 37 is removed (the above-mentioned state is shown by phantom lines in Fig. 9), and the horseshoe clip 37 becomes free. Therefore, the first drive 15 can be freely moved forward or backward irrespective of the operation of the screw 35. The supporting shaft 38 penetrates through the slit 12 into the hole 19 in the base 17 in the position where the supporting shaft 38 reaches. The wax feed mechanism is comprised of the first gear 33, the second gear 34, the screw 35 and the connector described above. Next, there is explained a manner to use the above-mentioned tool. First, the rear end of the wax cartridge 16 is clamped by opening the clip 18 so as to be resiliently held similar to the first embodiment. Thereafter, the supporting shaft 38 of the connector 36 is penetrated through the hole 19 in the base 17, and the horseshoe clip 37 is entered into the bore 11 with the upper end of the supporting shaft 38 pulled up. Then, the position of the wax cartridge 16 is adjusted and the shaft 38 is pressed down to engage the horseshoe clip 37 with the screw 35. At that time, the wax cartridge 16 is concurrently accommodated in the wax cartridge holder 13. In the early state, the wax cartridge 16 is set with the front end thereof being slightly apart from the wax melter 27 (about 2 to 5 mm). Secondly, if it is required to melt the wax, the roller 14 is rotated by a fingertip in the direction of the arrow al . Thereby, the first gear 33 rotates in the direction of the arrow al, and the second gear 34 and the screw 35 rotate in the direction of the arrow a2 , respectively. Therewith, the horseshoe clip 37 of the connector moves forward, namely in the direction of the arrow a3 and thereby the wax cartridge 16 is moved forward. Then, the work of building and shaping an artificial denture model is performed while melting the wax cartridge 16 similar to the first embodiment. When the wax cartridge 16 is consumed and therefore to be exchanged, the supporting shaft 38 of the connector should be lifted and the horseshoe clip 37 should be removed from the cylindrical gear 35. In that state, the connector is moved backward to be pulled out from the rear end of the handle portion 10, a new wax cartridge 16 should be clamped in the clip 18 again and set along with the connector as described above. Being similar to Figs. 1 to 5, in the tool of the present embodiment, the user can freely control the forth-back motion of the wax cartridge by rotating the roller and can freely adjust the amount and speed of wax melting by controlling the rotary direction and the rotary speed of the roller with fingers. According to the tool of the present invention, the wax cartridge is moved forward by pressure from the rear end thereof, and is abutted against the wax melter and thereby melted, with the wax cartridge mounted and accommodated in the wax cartridge holder. Therefore, the present tool is different from the conventional tool mainly because in the present tool any external force which deforms the wax cartridge is not applied. Accordingly, even if the wax cartridge is apt to be softened in room temperature and deformed by a slight force, the rectilinear cylindrical shape is held and the wax melting can be rapidly performed. Moreover, according to the tool of the present invention, the wax cartridge can be moved forward as the roller rotates in the forward direction, and the wax cartridge can be moved backward as the roller rotates in the backward direction. Furthermore, the speed of movement of the wax cartridge can be controlled by the rotary speed of the roller. Therefore, it is possible for the wax cartridge to be rapidly melted in short time and to be slowly melted little by little. Thereby, it is very convenient for the wax cartridge to be adjusted to the various dental technical operations. Moreover, if the heating and melting condition continues for hours, this kind of wax is usually caused to be degenerated or deteriorated. However, since the heating and melting of the wax is performed just before shaping thereof by means of the tool of the present invention, degeneration or deterioration of the wax is not caused.

Claims: Wax shaping tool, comprising a tubular handle portion (10) with a wax cartridge holder (13) for slidably guiding a wax cartridge (16), a roller (14) rotatably provided on said handle portion so as to protrude from a peripheral part thereof to drive the wax cartridge in axial direction in the wax cartridge holder for converting the rotating movement of the roller into a rectilinear movement, a spatula (26) provided on the front end of said handle portion including a wax melter (27) for contacting and melting the wax cartridge projected out of the front end of the wax cartridge holder, and a heater for heating up the spatula and the wax melter, the tubular handle portion (10) has a slit (12) extending in axial direction for interconnecting an internal bore (11) of the handle portion with the external space, characterized in that the wax cartridge holder (13) being provided on the upper side of the handle portion including the slit for guiding the wax cartridge (16), a first drive (15) removably holds the rear end of the wax cartridge and is movable in axial direction in the wax cartridge holder and a second drive (20 to 25; 33 to 38) is provided in the handle portion (10) for converting rotating movements of the roller (14) into rectilinear movements and for transmitting the motion to the first drive. Tool according to Claim 1, characterized in that the second drive comprises in the bore (11) a first pulley (20) which rotates with the roller (14), a second pulley (21) rotatably provided in the rear end of the bore (11), a string (23) strained between the first and second pulleys, and a connector portion (24) having a lower portion fixed to the string and a stem (25) removably connected through the slit (12) to the first drive (15). Tool according to Claim 1, characterized in that the second drive comprises a screw member (35) provided in the bore (11) in longitudinal direction of the bore, the screw member being rotatable around its axis (Y), a gear means (33,34) for transmitting the rotating movement in both rotational directions of the roller (14) to a forthback movement of the screw member, a connector having an engaging portion (37) which removably engages with the screw member and moves backward and forward according to rotating movement of the screw member, and a stem (38) fixed on the engaging portion and removably connected through the slit (12) to the first drive (15).

Inventors: UENO MASATO, UENO, MASATO
Applicants: MOLTEN CORP, MOLTEN CORPORATION
Application year: 1989
Main classification: A61C13
IPC codes: A61C13, A61C3, A61C19, B67D7