Patent Publication Number: US-2019192255-A1

Title: Dental Instrument Silencer Assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
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     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
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     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The disclosure and prior art relates to silencer devices and more particularly pertains to a new silencer device for reducing noise from a dental instrument. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a silencer that may have a dental instrument extended therethrough. The silencer is gripped for manipulating the dental instrument. Moreover, the silencer is comprised of an acoustically insulating material to reduce noise produced by the dental instrument when the dental instrument is turned on. A first cap is removably coupled to the silencer to frictionally engage the dental instrument. The first cap is comprised of a resiliently compressible material to absorb vibration from the dental instrument when the dental instrument is turned on. A second cap is removably coupled to the silencer to retain the dental instrument in the silencer. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a dental instrument silencer assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a right side view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a back view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross sectional view taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5  of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 8  is a cross sectional view taken along line  8 - 8  of  FIG. 3  of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 8  thereof, a new silencer device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 8 , the dental instrument silencer assembly  10  generally comprises a silencer  12  that insertably receives a dental instrument  14 . The dental instrument  14  may be an ultrasonic scaler or other electronic dental instrument that produces high frequency vibrations. The silencer  12  is gripped for manipulating the dental instrument  14 . Additionally, the silencer  12  is comprised of an acoustically insulating material to reduce noise produced by the dental instrument  14  when the dental instrument  14  is turned on. In this way the silencer  12  enhances comfort for a dental patient when the dental instrument  14  is being employed. 
     The silencer  12  comprises a tube  16  and the dental instrument  14  is extended through the tube  16 . The tube  16  is comprised of a rigid material such as plastic or the like and the tube  16  has a first end  18 , a second end  20  and an outer wall  22  extending therebetween. The outer wall  22  has an outside surface  24  and an inside surface  26  and the inside surface  26  frictionally engages the dental instrument  14 . In this way the outer wall  22  of the tube  16  is in mechanical communication with the dental instrument  14  thereby facilitating vibration from the dental instrument  14  to be transferred into the tube  16  when the dental instrument  14  is turned on. 
     The outer wall  22  has a chamber  28  therein and the chamber  28  is positioned between the outside surface  24  and the inside surface  26 . The chamber  28  extends substantially between the first end  18  and the second end  20 . Additionally, the outside surface  24  has a threaded portion  30  extending from the first end  20  toward the second end  18 . The tube  16  may have a length ranging between approximately 15.0 cm and 30.0 cm and an outside diameter ranging between approximately 2.0 cm and 4.0 cm. Moreover, the outside diameter of the tube  16  is large enough to reduce symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. 
     A muffle  32  is positioned within the chamber  28  and the muffle  32  completely fills the chamber  28 . The muffle  32  is comprised of an acoustically insulating material such as foam rubber, green glue and any other deformable material that can absorb vibrational energy. Thus, the muffle  32  absorbs vibration from the dental instrument  14  when the dental instrument  14  is turned on thereby reducing audible noise produced by the vibration. 
     A first cap  34  is removably coupled to the silencer  12  and the first cap  34  frictionally engages the dental instrument  14 . The first cap  34  is comprised of a resiliently compressible material such as rubber or the like. Thus, the first cap  34  absorbs vibration from the dental instrument  14  when the dental instrument  14  is turned on. The first cap  34  has a front end  36 , a back end  38  and an outer surface  40  extending therebetween and the outer surface  40  tapers inwardly between the back end  38  and the front end  36 . The first cap  34  has an aperture  42  extending through the front end  36  and the back end  38  and the aperture  42  has a bounding surface  44 . The back end  38  releasably engages the first end  18  of the tube  16  and the dental instrument  14  is extended through the aperture  42 . Additionally, the bounding surface  44  of the aperture  42  frictionally engages the dental instrument  14 . 
     A second cap  46  is removably coupled to the silencer  12  and the second cap  46  retains the dental instrument  14  in the silencer  12 . The second cap  46  has an inside surface  48 , an outside surface  50  and an outer edge  52  extending therebetween. Each of the inside surface  26  and the outside surface  24  is concavely arcuate such that the second cap  46  forms a bowl. The inside surface  26  has a threaded portion  54  extending downwardly from the outer edge  52 . Additionally, the threaded portion  54  of the second cap  46  threadably engages the threaded portion  30  of the tube  16 . In this way the second cap  46  is removably retained on the tube  16  to retain the dental instrument  14  in the tube  16 . 
     The second cap  46  has an opening  56  extending through the inside surface  26  and the outside surface  24  and a cord  58  on the dental instrument  14  is extended through the opening  56 . The second cap  46  has a cut  60  extending through the inside surface  26  and the outside surface  24  to define a first half  62  of the second cap  46  and the second half  64  of the second cap  46 . The cut  60  has a crenellated portion  66  to define a plurality of teeth  68  on each of the first half  62  and the second half  64 . Moreover, the plurality of teeth  68  on the second half  64  is enmeshed with the plurality of teeth  68  on the first half  62 . 
     In use, the dental instrument  14  is extended through the tube  16  prior to being used. The first cap  34  is slid over the dental instrument  14  and the first cap  34  is positioned on the first end  18  of the tube  16 . Additionally, an activation end of the dental instrument  14  is exposed for use in dental procedures. Each of the first half  62  and the second half  64  of the second cap  46  are positioned around the cord  58  and the second cap  46  is threadably coupled to the second end  20  of the tube  16 . The muffle  32  absorbs vibration from the dental instrument  14  thereby reducing audible noise for the dental patient. The outer wall  22  of the tube  16  is gripped to manipulate the dental instrument  14  during the dental procedure. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.