Abstract:
A prophy device incorporating a shaft and one or more corrugated members which eliminate the need for plastic gears of the prior art is disclosed. The corrugated members effectively transfer rotational energy from a shaft to an applicator. In another version, a flexible paste chamber contains polish within a housing of the device. A difference between a rotational speed at a front of the paste chamber and rear of the paste chamber causes the flexible chamber to contract on itself thereby automatically forcing polish from the chamber and into a polish applicator. A user dictates the amount of polish dispensed by controlling the rotational speed at the front of the paste chamber by pressing the polish applicator against the teeth of a patient. As the speed differential increases, the amount of polish dispensed increases as well. The design is simple and cost efficient such that the design overcomes many shortcomings of the prior art.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/013,673 filed Dec. 15, 2004. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The embodiments of the present invention relate to dentistry. More particularly, the embodiments relate to a simple and inexpensive disposable tool for polishing teeth and automatically dispensing polishing paste. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Maintaining clean teeth is integral to having healthy oral environment. Accordingly, a myriad of products and dental services are available to clean teeth. More specifically, dental professionals offer cleaning and polishing services. Moreover, most experts recommend such services once or twice a year. 
         [0004]    While the process of cleaning teeth utilizes one or more rigid tools for prying tarter and related build-up from the teeth, polishing paste is applied using an air or electric driven prophy device. Prophy devices conventionally communicate with an air or electric source which is driven by a motor. The prophy device may be disposable or may be sterilized after each polishing. In either case, the prophy device includes a polish applicator fabricated of a pliable material, such as rubber. In practice, a portion of polishing paste is manually placed in a small cup of the applicator. The applicator is then rotatably driven and placed in contact with the teeth to be polished. During a standard polishing, the polishing cup must be intermittently filled with polishing paste. Unfortunately, each filling of the polishing cup requires the dentist or hygienist to stop the polishing process. Thus, because of the numerous breaks, the time for polishing is unnecessarily extended. 
         [0005]    In addition to wasting time, the refilling of the prophy cup requires the dentist to remove the instrument from the patient&#39;s mouth and refill the cup. This repeated removal of the instrument increases the risk of transferring a patient&#39;s saliva, food debris, or plaque and potential associated blood-borne pathogens. 
         [0006]    Another disadvantage is that gears inside the current prophy devices tend to fail when used at high speed and/or for long durations. The failure increases both time and cost. 
         [0007]    The patent literature is replete with apparatuses and devices integrating a source of polishing paste with the actual applicator. Accordingly, the dentist is not required to stop the polishing process to re-fill the cup. Nonetheless, each of the prior apparatuses and devices are impractical, complex and overly costly in relation to the conventional models discussed above. Thus, even though patented designs exist, they are not available in the market because of the noted shortcomings. 
         [0008]    Conventional polishing devices also incorporate a system of plastic gears designed to rotate the polishing applicator. More specifically, a first plastic shaft attached at one end to a drive device extends an internal length of the prophy device where a gear resides at a second end of the shaft. A second shaft has a gear at a first end such that it meshes with the gear at the second end of the first shaft. The second shaft extends at an approximately 90° angle from the first shaft and is fixed at a second end to the polish applicator. Consequently, driving or rotating the first shaft causes the first shaft gear to transfer power (i.e., rotational energy) to the second gear which then drives or rotates the polish applicator for application of polish to the teeth. Unfortunately, the plastic gears tend to fail during use thereby requiring the operator to replace the prophy device. Not only is time wasted, but the cost to the care provider and patient increases. 
         [0009]    Thus, there continues to be the need for a simple, inexpensive polishing device capable of automatically dispensing polish. In addition, the polishing device should eliminate the plastic gears which can fail when in operation. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0010]    Accordingly, a first embodiment of the present invention comprises a disposable prophy device which contains and dispenses polishing paste. The paste is contained in a flexible paste chamber within a prophy housing. The unique design of the prophy angle allows the user to operate the prophy device at any speed without paste being dispensed as long as a prophy cup does not experience any resistance such as that created during contact with a tooth. As the prophy cup contacts a tooth, the resistance experienced by the cup is transferred to the paste chamber such that the paste chamber tends to contract around itself causing paste to be forced from the paste chamber and into the prophy cup. As more pressure is applied on the tooth, more paste is dispensed and when pressure is reduced, less of the paste is dispensed into the prophy cup. Therefore, the new prophy angle design delivers paste on demand in response to the level of pressure placed on the tooth by the prophy cup. It is common practice for the operator of a prophy angle to exert greater pressure on teeth that have significant plaque buildup than on teeth with little plaque buildup. 
         [0011]    In addition, the use of corrugated sections in combination with rigid shafts and disk members eliminates the gears of the prior art and provides for an ergonomic design. Even through there exists one or more bends in a housing of the prophy angle, the corrugated sections transfer rotational energy from a rotating shaft to a prophy cup without any gears. 
         [0012]    During use a professional user (e.g., dental hygienist) removes an individually packaged prophy angle and inserts the drive end of the prophy device into the nose cone of a dental hand piece and when ready to use, a seal on the prophy cup is peeled off and the procedure may begin. Herein, throughout the description of the embodiments of present invention, numerous references are made to paste. It should be understood that paste is intended to be construed broadly to cover any prophylaxis medium or dentifrice, such as paste or gel. In fact, the device herein is not limited to the dental industry and may facilitate non-dental applications of any type of paste, gel or materials having similar properties. 
         [0013]    Other features, embodiments and variations will become evident from the following detailed description, drawings and claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0014]      FIG. 1  shows an internal view of a first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  shows a cross-sectional view along direction A of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  shows an internal view of a second embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  shows an internal view of a third embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  shows an internal view of a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0019]    A disposable conventional prophy device is joined to an air or electric source and motor (i.e., hand piece motor) which drive a first shaft. The air or electric source is controlled by an operator through hand or feet movements. The first shaft then drives a second shaft via a pair of meshed gears. Then, the second shaft drives a polish applicator. As disclosed below, the embodiments of the present invention eliminate the need for gears and the repetitive manual application of polish into the prophy cup. 
         [0020]    Reference is now made to the figures wherein like parts are referred to by like numerals throughout.  FIG. 1  shows a prophy device generally referred to by reference numeral  100 . In a conventional manner, the prophy device  100  is received by a hand piece motor handle (not shown). A main housing  105  comprises a circular cross section, which incorporates a first bend  114 , a second bend  139 , a first open end  103  and a second open end  146 . Within the main housing  105 , there are multiple protrusions  106 ,  118 ,  131 , and  146  which act to maintain certain inner components in fixed positions while allowing the inner components to rotate about their longitudinal axes. The first open end  103  is sized to accept a standard nose cone of a dental hand piece motor and the second open end  146  accommodates placement of a prophy cup  147 . In combination, the two bends  114 ,  139  provide an ergonomically designed device  100  for the user and also permit a wider range of access inside a patient&#39;s mouth. 
         [0021]    The main housing  105  can be manufactured with different materials having different colors, textures and/or dimensions. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present invention are not intended to be limited to prophy paste and should be hereby construed to cover the application of any liquids, gels, pastes or similar materials. 
         [0022]    A drive shaft  104  has a first rounded end  101  received by a nose cone of a hand piece motor and a second end  108  attached to a first corrugated drive  111 . The hand piece motor maintains connection with the slender shaft  102  by means of a friction grip and transfers rotational energy from the hand piece motor to the drive shaft  104 . The circular drive shaft  104  includes a slender shaft  102 , widened body  104  and circular notch  107 . The circular notch  107  receives protrusion  106  for maintaining the drive shaft  104  in place with respect to the main housing  105  and allowing free rotation of the drive shaft  104  about its longitudinal axis. The second end  108  of the drive shaft  104  is attached to the first corrugated drive  111  such that all the rotational energy generated by the hand piece motor is directly transferred to the first corrugated drive  111 . 
         [0023]    The first corrugated drive  111  is a hollow multi-fold member which transfers the rotational energy of the drive shaft  104  to a middle drive disk  116 . The first corrugated drive  111  also facilitates transfer of the rotational energy through the first bend  114  of the main housing  105  between the drive shaft  104  and the middle drive disk  116 . As the first corrugated dive  111  rotates about its longitudinal axis it forces the corrugated segments to contract on one side  110  and expand on the opposite side  109 . This change in shape during rotation is possible because of the flexibility of the material used, the hollow nature of the design and the alternating wide  112  and narrow  113  circumferences forming the drive  111 . By using this type of corrugated drive  111 , the need for the gears of the prior art are eliminated. Prior art gear systems can fail and generate significant noise levels during use. Because of the unique design and function of the first corrugated drive  111  as described herein, the bend  114  between the axis of the drive shaft  104  and the axis of the middle drive disk  116  can be altered per final design requirements. 
         [0024]    The circular middle drive disk  116  is attached to the first corrugated drive  111  at a first end  115  and a paste chamber  126  at a second end  120 . The paste chamber  126  is fabricated a flexible material. The middle drive disk  116  also has a circular notch  117  which receives protrusion  118  for maintaining the middle drive disk  116  in place with respect to the main housing  105  and allowing free rotation of the middle drive disk  116  about its longitudinal axis. A concave portion  119  of the middle drive disk  116  extending into the paste chamber  126  accommodates a pointed end  121  of central rod  123 . This accommodation permits the central rod  123  to rotate independently about its longitudinal axis while being prevented from diverging too substantially from a suitable position with respect to the middle drive disk  116 . 
         [0025]    The paste chamber  126  functions like a flexible reservoir wherein paste is stored and dispensed on demand during use. The paste chamber  126  attaches at a first end  120  to the middle drive disk  116  and a second end  128  to drive disk  129  which is hollow in the center. Consequently, the rotational energy of the middle drive disk  116  is transferred to the drive disk  129  by the paste chamber  126  only. As long as there is no resistance placed on the drive disk  129 , the paste chamber  126  is able to transfer the same rotational energy of the middle drive disk  116  to the drive disk  129  such that both rotate at the same speed. Since the chamber  126  is filled with paste  125 , which has mass and occupies a certain volume, it functions like a solid segment. When resistance is placed on the drive disk  129 , it creates a speed differential between the drive disk  129  and the middle drive disk  116  causing the paste chamber  126  to compensate for the speed differential by collapsing its flexible walls. As the chamber  126  turns on itself, the volume of the chamber  126  is decreased forcing the paste  125  within the chamber  126  to be pushed out through multiple openings  122  of the central rod  123 . The greater the differential speed, the more paste  125  that is pushed out of the chamber  126  through openings  122 . When the resistance on the drive disk  129  is removed, no further paste  125  is pushed out. 
         [0026]    The circular drive disk  129  is held in place by protrusion  131  which is received by circular notch  130  on the drive disk  129 . A first end  128  is attached to the paste chamber  126  and a second end  133  is attached to a second corrugated drive  138 . The central rod  123  is an extension of the drive disk  129  with a pointed end  121  accommodated by the middle drive disk  116 . The central rod  123  has multiple openings  122  leading to a central channel  132  with one or more rigid support segments  124  for maintaining the shape of the rod  123  during use. As the paste chamber  126  begins collapsing the paste  125  within the chamber  126  is forced to pass through the openings  122  in the rod  123  into the central channel  132  which guides the paste  125  through the drive disk  129 . The central rod  123  maintains a fixed distance between the middle drive disk  116  and the drive disk  129  preventing the collapsing paste chamber  126  from pulling the middle drive disks  116  and drive disk  129  toward one another during use. As the paste  125  within the chamber  126  is depleted, the flexible chamber  126  wraps completely around the central rod  123  with no further speed differential compensation. 
         [0027]      FIG. 2  shows a cross-sectional view in the direction of A depicted in  FIG. 1 . The aspects, namely the channel  132 , multiple openings  122  and rigid support segments  124 , of the rod  123  are clearly visible in  FIG. 2 . During contraction of the chamber  126 , paste  125  is forced from paste chamber  126  through openings  122  and into channel  132  where the paste  125  is forced through drive disk  129 . 
         [0028]    The second corrugated drive  138  functions like the first corrugated drive  111 . The second corrugated drive  138  accepts paste  125  from the central channel  132  which leads through the central rod  123  and the drive disk  129 . The second corrugated drive  138  is attached at a first end  133  to the drive disk  129  and at a second end  140  to a prophy cup holder  141 . In this manner, the second corrugated drive  138  guides the paste  125  into a channel  145  of the prophy cup holder  141 . The second corrugated drive  138  is a hollow multi-fold member which transfers the rotational energy of the drive disk  129  to the prophy cup holder  141 . As the second corrugated drive  138  rotates about its curved longitudinal axis, it forces the corrugated segments to contract on one side  135  and expand on an opposite side  134 . This change in shape during rotation is possible because of the flexibility of the material used, the hollow nature of the design and the alternating wide  136  and narrow  137  circumferences forming the drive  138 . Using this type of corrugated drive  138  transfers rotational energy through bend  139  and eliminates the need for gears as used with prior art prophy designs. Because of the unique design of the second corrugated drive  138 , paste  125  is forced and guided through the bend  139 . 
         [0029]    A circular notch  142  of the prophy cup holder  141  receives protrusion  146  maintaining prophy cup holder  141  in a fixed position during rotation about its longitudinal axis. Since the prophy cup holder  141  is attached to the second corrugated drive  138  which is attached to the drive disk  129 , any rotational energy of the drive disk  129  is transferred to a button  144  of the prophy cup holder  141  with no loss in rotational speed. The prophy cup holder  141  defines a central channel  145  which allows paste  125  to be forced and guided from the second corrugated drive  138  into prophy cup  147 . Beyond the second open end  146  of the housing  105 , the prophy cup holder  141  incorporates a disk segment  143  which maintains the prophy cup holder  141  in place and prevents it from being pulled into the housing  105 . Button  144  inserts into the prophy cup  147  to secure the cup  147 . 
         [0030]    The prophy cup  147  is a separate item which snaps into place on the button  144 . The attachment is achieved via the flexible prophy cup  147  having an opening  148  for securely receiving the button  144 . To achieve this attachment and prevent paste  125  from exiting therethrough, opening  148  of prophy cup  147  is slightly smaller in size than the receiving button  144  of the prophy cup holder  141 . At an inside center of the prophy cup  147  a one way valve opening  149  allows extruding paste  125  to be forced through the prophy cup holder  141  and into the prophy cup  147  where it is used to clean the surface of teeth. The one way valve  149  prevents back flow of paste  125  and/or air from entering and traveling into the paste chamber  126 . Ideally, the one way valve  149  is a circular flap which is greater in circumference than the channel  145  of the prophy cup  141 . The one way valve  149  rotates about notch  150 . Finally, the end of the prophy cup  147  is sealed by a removable film  151  to prevent drying of the paste  125  inside the device. It should be understood that the prophy cup  147  may include other designs and should be hereby construed to include different types of prophy items including prophy brushes and different shaped polishers. 
         [0031]      FIG. 3  shows an alternative prophy design  200  without the first bend  114 , first corrugated drive  111 , middle drive disk  116 , paste chamber  126 , and drive disk  129 . Additionally, prophy cup holder  141  does not contain a central channel. In this alternative design, a shaft  202  extends through a majority of the length of housing  203 . A first end  201  of the shaft  202  is for attachment to a hand piece motor and a second end  227  attaches to a corrugated drive  221 . The shaft  202  comprises a first expanded portion  204  having notch  207  for receipt of protrusion  206 . As with the previous design, the protrusion  206  maintains the shaft  202  in place during rotation along its longitudinal axis. Similarly, and for the same purpose, a second expanded portion  210  has notch  212  for receipt of protrusion  211 . Section  208  extends between the first expanded portion  204  and second expanded portion  210 . 
         [0032]    The corrugated drive  221  is a hollow multi-fold member which transfers the rotational energy of the shaft  202  to the prophy cup holder  214 . As the corrugated drive  221  rotates about its curved longitudinal axis, it forces the corrugated segments to contract on one side  213  and expand on an opposite side  222 . This change in shape during rotation is possible because of the flexibility of the material used, the hollow nature of the design and the alternating wide  225  and narrow  223  circumferences forming the corrugated drive  221 . Using this type of corrugated drive  221  transfers rotational energy through bend  224  and eliminates the need for gears as used with prior art prophy designs. 
         [0033]    A second end  220  of the corrugated drive  221  attaches to prophy cup holder  214 . A disk  216  beyond the second end  215  of the housing  203  prevents the prophy cup holder  214  from being pulled into the housing  203 . Like the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , a button  219  receives a flexible prophy cup  217 . In this embodiment, only the prophy cup  217  contains paste loaded from a separate container by the operator for polishing teeth. For a new patient, a completely new prophy device is attached to the hand piece motor. 
         [0034]      FIG. 4  shows an alternative prophy design  300  without the ability to dispense prophy paste. This embodiment of a prophy device  300  comprising two rigid shafts  302  and  321  within housing  303 . Rigid shaft  321  replaces the paste chamber  126  of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 . Like the embodiment shown in  FIG. 3 , the prophy cup  329  is manually loaded with prophy paste from a separate container by the operator. 
         [0035]      FIG. 5  shows a fourth embodiment of a prophy device  400  similar to the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1  without first corrugated drive  111 , middle drive disk  116  and first bend  114 . The first corrugated drive  111  and drive disk  116  is replaced with rigid shaft  404 . 
         [0036]    The prophy device designs described herein solve the problems, namely complexity, cost of manufacture and failure, associated with the prior art devices. Consequently, the instant designs are able to functionally compete with current commercial models at less cost. Dentists and consumers will both benefit from the unique uncomplicated design. 
         [0037]    It should be understood that materials besides dental paste may be applied to items in fields of use unrelated to the dental industry. 
         [0038]    Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to several embodiments, additional variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of the invention as described and defined in the following claims.