Improvements in Instruments for Plugging or Filling Teeth.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 9th July, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 9th Apr., 1897-Accepted, 9th July, 1897
Improvements in Instruments for Plugging or Filling Teeth.
I, ALFRED CANE, of No. 6 Turk Street, in the city and county of San Francisco,
State of California, United States of America, Dentist, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements made in that class or description of dental
operating instruments known as pluggers, by means of which gold-foil and similar
fillings are fixed in teeth; and my invention has for its object to produce an
instrument that will operate by pressure and impart a rotative movement at the time
of contact of the operating point of the tool with the filling material.
To such an end and object the nature of my said invention consists in a body or
handle-portion formed of metal tubing and having on one end a tubular socket-piece
enclosing and carrying a short metal spindle; such spindle being fitted in said
socket-piece to slide longitudinally and smoothly a limited distance, is also fitted to
rotate therein through the agency of a spiral groove cut around the part of the spindle
within the socket-piece and a fixed pin in such socket-piece setting into the groove,
the construction and arrangement being such that a partial rotation of the spindle
is produced as it is moved back longitudinally in the socket-piece by pressing on the
outer end of the spindle, it being understood that the length of the aforesaid spindle
is somewhat greater than the socket-piece so that it projects at one end beyond the
socket-piece.
In this exposed or projecting end of the spindle is a screw-threaded socket to
receive and hold firmly the filling-point or tool, of which a variety of styles, shapes
and sizes is generally employed by the dentist to suit particular or special forms, sizes
or location of cavities in the tooth to be operated upon.
These filling-points being detachable from the spindle are fixed therein by a screw-
threaded shank on the end fitted to screw into the before-mentioned socket of the
spindle.
Within the body-portion of this instrument a short cylindrical block or piston is
fitted to slide and is set to rest and bear upon the head of the spindle in the socket-
piece before mentioned, and between the closed upper end or head of the said tubular
body-portion and the aforesaid block or piston a helical spring is interposed, the
function of which is to give resistance to the backward movement of the spindle in
the thrust or pressure of the filling-point in the end of the spindle against the foil in
the cavity. The amount or degree of such pressure is regulated by an adjusting
screw working through the head of the body-portion against a disc or plate resting on
the top of the helical spring, so that by turning the adjusting-screw against such
plate the spring may be compressed to a greater or less degree and its tension
increased.
This instrument is thus constructed to hold and operate a filling-point by pressure
alone without percussion and with a rotative movement of the filling-point while it is
in contact with the filling material in the cavity being operated on. Such rotative
movement is a limited one, however, and is so regulated and determined by the pitch
and length of the spiral groove in the spindle that the rotation given to the extreme

page_text: end of the filling-point is of proper character to condense the foil without boring into
or disintegrating the layers; the length of such rotative movement should be less
than a complete turn or revolution of the filling-point in every working thrust or
pressure of the tool against the filling, and usually is limited to about three quarters
of a complete revolution of the spindle in the socket-piece.
Dated this Oth day of July 1806
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Instruments for Plugging or Filling Teeth.
I ALFRED CANE of No. 6 Turk Street in the city and county of San Francisco State
of California United States of America Dentist do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to an improvement made in that class or description of
dental operating instruments known as Pluggers, by means of which gold-foil and
other like fillings are fixed in teeth; and the said invention has for its object to
produce an instrument that will operate by pressure and impart a rotative movement.
of the plugging-point or tool at each time of contact with the filling.
To such end and object the nature of the said invention consists in a body or
handle-portion formed of tubing and having on one end a tubular, socket-piece
enclosing and carrying a short spindle, such spindle being fitted to slide longitudinally
a limited distance in said socket-piece and also to rotate therein through the operation
of a spiral groove in the spindle and a fixed pin in the socket-piece setting into the
groove, the construction of these parts being such that a partial rotation of the spindle
is produced by the pressure brought to bear against the point of the tool fixed in the
end of the said spindle as said point is pressed against the filling in the Tooth-cavity.
The end of the spindle projecting beyond the end of the socket-piece is provided
with a screw-threaded socket as a means of hold firmly the filling-point or tool,
and of allowing the same to be changed as the character of the work to be done may
require from time to time, the butt ends of the filling-points being screw threaded
to fit the said socket in the end of the spindle.
A short cylindrical block or piston is fitted to slide smoothly within the tubular
body-portion of the instrument and bear against the head of the spindle in the socket-
piece, and a helical spring placed between the back end of the aforesaid block and
the head or closed end of the tubular body-portion is employed to give pressure
against the block.
The function of the piece last mentioned is to give resistance to the backward
movement of the spindle in the thrust or pressure of the filling-point against the
filling in the tooth-cavity.
The amount or degree of such pressure is regulated by an adjustable screw working
through the head or end of the tubular body-portion aforesaid against a plate or disk
resting on the end of the helical spring, so that by turning the said screw downwards
against said plate the spring may be compressed to a greater or less degree and its
tension thereby increased or modified.
The instrument as thus constructed to hold and operate a filling-point or tool is
intended to operate by pressure alone without percussion and with a partially rotary
movement of the filling-point while it is in contact with the filling material in the
cavity being operated on.
Such rotative movement, however, is a limited movement and is so regulated and
determined by the pitch and length of the spiral groove in the spindle that the

page_text: rotation given to the extreme end of the filling-point is of a proper character to
condense the filling-material without boring into or disintegrating the layers thereof.
The length of such rotative movement should be less than a complete turn or
revolution of the filling-point in every working thrust or pressure of the tool against
the filling and is usually limited to about three-quarters of a complete revolution of
the spindle in the socket-piece.
In the accompanying drawing to which reference is made in the following
description by figures and letters:-
Figure represents a dental plugger constructed in accordance, with the said
invention for filling cavities in the upper jaw, a portion of the case or tubular body-
portion being broken away and some of the internal parts being represented in
section.
Figure 2 is a view of the same instruments in longitudinal section illustrating the
position assumed by the operating parts before the filling-point is pressed against the
foil in the tooth cavity and before the spring is compressed.
Figure, 3 is a side view of the pressure block or piston.
Figures 3 and 3* are end views of the said piece.
Figure 4 is a detail view of the rotating spindle or tool-holder, the socket bearing
end being shown in section.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of the socket piece on the, end of the tubular
body portion.
Figure 6 is an end,view of the same piece.
Figure 7 represents a construction of handle specially provided for reaching and
working in cavities that cannot be reached and operated on to advantage with the
other form of instrument.
Figures 8 and 9 are,views in detail of the adjustable socket-piece used in the form
of instrument shown in Figure 7 and of the spindle used with said socket-piece.
The body of this instrument is composed of the barrel (1) formed of a piece of
straight tubing, a tubular socket-piece (2) fixed into one end of the barrel by a screw
joint (3) and a nut or threaded block (10) fixed in the opposite end. The socket-
piece (2) carries a spindle (4) in the outer end of which is fixed the filling-point or
tool to be operated.
Against the head or inner end of such spindle the sliding-block or piston (7) is held
by a helical spring (8) one end of which rests against the back of such block while
the opposite end bears against an adjustable disk or plate (9) in the upper end of the
tubular case:
This spring is arranged to give resistance to the backward movement of the spindle (4)
in the socket-piece under the thrust or pressure of the tool upon the filling and
the amount or degree of this resistance is varied by regulating the tension of the
spring. For this purpose the plate (9) is fixed on the end of a screw-rod (11) working
through a screw threaded socket in the fixed head (10) and the outer end of the rod
is furnished with a milled head for turning the rod.
The spindle (4) is fitted in the socket-piece both to slide easily and to rotate
smoothly within that part, for in its longitudinal movement the spindle is given a
limited or partial rotary movement by means of a spiral groove (5) cut in the
circumference of the spindle and a fixed pin (6) in the socket engaging the groove,
so that the spindle turns in the socket-piece as it is pressed; back.
The points or tools (A) one form or style of which is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2
are fixed in the outer end of the spindle (4) usually by means of a screw-threaded
socket (4) provided in the end of the spindle, but any of the well-known means of
securing such points in the instrument may be einployed where the same are of a
form or kind that will not be loosened by the rotary movement of the tool.
Usually the head of the spindle is rounded to fit a cavity (7") in the face of the
block (7) so that the resistance of the spring is maintained as nearly as possible at
all times on the axial line or centre of the spindle.
The backward movement of the spindle in the socket-piece is limited by the fixed
pin (6) striking the end of the groove (5) or by the collar (4) on the outer end of the

page_text: spindle while the opposite or outward throw is limited by a cross-pin (12) in the
spindle set to engage a shoulder (13) in the socket-piece (2).
For special work in filling cavities that would be difficult to reach and operate on
with the filling-point situated in a straight line with the handle of the instrument as
hereinabove described I provide a construction of handle in which the socket-piece
can be adjusted to stand at different angles with respect to the handle. In this
modification as shown in Figures 7 8 and 9 of the drawing the socket piece (14) has
a toothed segment (15) projecting from one side and fitted to turn between two ears
or knuckles (16) on the end of the tubular handle portion (17) like the knuckle of a
hinge and secured therein by a screw (18). A screw-threaded rod (19) extends
through the handle-portion from the head (10) at which point it works in a threaded
bearing. By rotating the milled head (20) on this rod its opposite end is moved
forward into the teeth of the segment (15), thus forming a simple and readily operated
means of adjusting and locking the socket-piece in any required angular position on
the handle.
The pin 21 in the socket-piece engages the spiral groove (5) of the spindle and
the helical spring (22) is placed directly around the spindle behind a flanged head (23)
on the end of the spindle between that part and a seat (24) in the socket-piece.
In this modification the helical spring produces the same yielding resistance to the
backward movement of the spindle while the spiral groove and the fixed pin together
produce the required rotative movement of the spindle.
The effect of the limited rotative movement of the filling-point upon the filling-
material is to impart a rubbing or burnishing action to the filling-point without
tearing or disintegrating the layers in the work of building up a filling and thus to
produce solidity and uniform density in the finished work quite equal to that obtained
with plugging instruments that operate by blows or the impact of the tool upon the
filling.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
The dental plugger herein described consisting of the tubular handle-portion having
the tubular socket-piece on one end the spindle adapted to slide longitudinally and
to rotate in said socket-piece and having a tool-holding socket in the outer end a
spiral groove in said spindle and a fixed pin in said socket-piece engaging said spiral
groove whereby the longitudinal movement of said spindle causes it to rotate in the
socket-piece a spring arranged to give pressure against the inner end of the spindle
and to be compressed by the thrust of the filling-point against the filling said parts
being arranged as described to produce a limited rotary movement of the filling-
point simultaneously with its pressure against the filling-material.
Dated this 9th day of April 1897
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.