Dental Appliance.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd May, 1898-Accepted, 1st Oct., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Dental Appliance.
I, ISRAEL STEWART KIRKWOOD, of 416, New Era Buildings, Chicago, in the
County of Cook and State of Illinois, one of the 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 by the follow-
ing statement:-
or
The invention relates to a stand or bracket, and apparatus carried thereby
accessory thereto, for the convenience of a dental table, comprising a box for the
holding of absorbent or sterilized cotton and the stripping and reception of
saturated wads, trays for the reception and separate support of cylinders or pellets
of gold or other filling material, means for warming said trays; means for heat-
ing alloy or amalgam; means for moistening or damping drills or burrs, and
various other facilities.
In dentistry it is of importance to keep the cylinders or pellets, and so forth,
of fresh, unused annealing gold or silver or of gutta percha apart, since they
anneal or combine if brought into contact; therefore I form the trays for their
reception with dividing ridges, corrugations or pockets in which each cylinder or
pellet or other form is kept isolated from the next. One of the trays holding
cylinders or pellets is so formed that it will receive the ends of the nippers or
pluggers, or other instruments, which are supported upon a rack projecting from
the stand and movable therearound to accommodate itself to the position of the
tray. A sponge cup, and a cotton case for both fresh and refuse cotton, are also
mounted on the stand and swingable thereabout. A hot water tank and a gas
jet to heat it are also provided.
In the drawings:
Figure 1 is an elevation of a stand embodying my invention;
Figure 2 is a top plan view;
Figures 3 and 4 are details;
Figure 5 represents a tray for sterilizing burrs and like small instruments,
and
Figure 6 is a front view of the cotton box.
A represents a base in which
supported a vertical standard or post B. Upon
this post, suitably spaced by sleeves b, are swinging sockets C, each adapted to hold
a removable crane-like arm for the support of a tray or other device.
Commencing with the lowest agency of the apparatus, I) is a burner supported
at the end of the crane-arm d, and having nipple d' whereby it is secured to the
flexible tube D leading to a gas jet; air ports are provided in the burner to
give an intense flame instead of an incandescent one, and by means of the socket
and crane-arm it can be swung in any direction around the standard.
E is a shield mounted in such manner that it can be swung to follow the burner,
or to go on opposite sides thereof, to guard it from air currents, and F is a cotton-
box which is shown as made in two sections F and F2, and preferably cylindrical
in shape, since this or some other rounded outline is best adapted to thorough
cleansing and disinfecting. The section Fx is intended to hold saturated wads
and refuse and is closed at one end only and at its other end is dammed by a low
barrier f, which serves to confine the refuse wads, the saliva etc., until inten-

page_text: tionally emptied. This section is united to the second section F2 by a bayonet
joint f, or any other suitable and easily opened coupling. The second section is
closed at both ends, and serves as a receptacle for fresh and clean sterilized cotton,
which, in case one end is not made removable for the purpose, may be introduced
through the circular opening in the side of the said receptacle. The base of
this opening merges into a contracted slot which terminates in a convergence f³,
the purpose of this slot being to limit and measure the quantity of cotton drawn
out by the nippers, which after grasping a pinch of cotton are, in order to strip
off any superfluity, drawn through the upper and wider part of the slot so long as
the cotton is closely packed, and through the converging part when it is loose
and but little remains.
The first or waste section of the box has a lateral opening F, made, for
uniformity of appearance, of about the size and shape of the circular opening in
the fresh cotton receptacle, and in line therewith. This is intended for the intro-
duction of waste wads into the receptacle, and for the purpose of stripping these
wads from the nippers it terminates at its base in a slot or slots f' having con-
verging sides between which the nippers are pressed until a purchase is contained
on the wad; when the simple act of withdrawal strips the wad. One slot will
work well, but as a moist and oftentimes foul wad will frequently stick in the
slot, it is better to have a plurality.
At the rear of the box is attached a crane-arm fō by which it may be swung
from the stand and moved out of the way of other parts as occasion may require, or
may be supported on the table, either by resting the arm directly on the table,
or stepping it in a boss which may be secured either to the arm or to the table,
or to neither fixedly.
Above the burner is a hot water tank G having two crane-arms g, g', by which
it is supported from two of the sockets C, and at the same time readily removable,
or displacable from over the burner. A crucible H, can be hung by hooks h,
or otherwise, into this tank, to soften amalgam, gutta percha or alloy. Water
can be quickly warmed in this tank for syringing purposes, or carried up to a
boiling heat for sterilizing.
K is a sponge-cup swung by crane-arm k to one of the sockets C, and having
lateral openings k¹, and a cap K¹ secured by bayonet joint so as to be removable
for the introductions of sponge, the purpose of this cup being to dampen and cool
the drills, burrs, grinding disks and other instruments, and clean them of
deleterious matter. For this purpose it has a plurality of lateral openings
may have one or more, , in the cap, as shown.
and
Above the sponge cup is the tray L, for gutta percha, alloy or amalgams, hung
by crane-arm so as to be removable for cleaning or disinfecting. This tray has
ribs or elevations, dividing its surface into a series of pockets or troughs which
preferably longitudinally and
run
the purpose
is
of which
to keep
each block or pellet of fresh, plastic material separate from those
adjacent. The troughs terminate near the edges of the tray and against the
outer ends of the troughs the points of the instruments discarded or for the
moment out of use may be rested, the handles or shanks being supported upon a
more elevated rack L¹ sleeved or otherwise secured upon the post, to swing about
it to maintain its relative position to the tray.
Beneath the sponge cup is the tray M for the reception of annealing gold, hung
by crane-arm m from one of the above mentioned sockets sleeved upon the standard.
This tray is also provided with troughs or pockets m', similar to those appertaining
to the tray first described, for the purpose of holding the pellets or cylinders or
other forms of filling material separate one from the other, and to divide off the
remnants or fags from the fresh material and especially to prevent the material
from annealing by contact when warmed or heated over the burner. As it is
desirable to heat or warm the gold before using in order that it may more readily
anneal this tray is located but a short distance above the gas burner, so that by
swinging one or both the burner may be brought beneath it, and the flanie so

page_text: adjusted that the material will be kept at the proper degree of heat so long as
being used, doing away with the guess work and objectionable features of warm-
ing it by passing it through the flame of a spirit lamp, and the time involved in
warming each cylinder separately.
The tray for gutta percha can also be brought over the burner and warmed
thereby, or warmed by steam from the tank, and as the points of the pluggers and
other instruments used in filling, rest upon this tray, they will always be of the
same degree of heat as the blocks of gutta percha, and will not sear to them as they
might if of a higher degree of heat
An advantage in heating alloys, amalgams and annealing silver in the crucible
suspended in the hot water tank, as before explained, is that it prevents dis-
coloration, drives off the oxygen, avoids melting to which such filling materials
are liable if subjected to the same degree of dry heat, prevents expansion or
shrinkage in said materials and improves their working qualities. The instruments
to be used can also be warmed in the same bath just before using.
The hot water tank affords a cleanly and convenient means for sterilization of
instruments, trays and partially used filling materials, since by heating the water
to the boiling point and plunging such articles therein for the proper length of
time, they will be completely disinfected. Incidentally to this feature I have
shown in Fig. 5, a tray N for holding burrs and like small instruments. This
has longitudinal ribs n extending not quite the entire length of the depressed
portion N, thus forming a series of short troughs opening into a pan-like area
into which the shanks of the burrs will project, so as to easily be taken up. The
ribs may be divided by a transverse depression n', which will facilitate picking
up extremely short instruments, and over which a clasp or band a² will be applied
to press upon them and hold them in place when plunged in the bath. A
handle N, of considerable length projects from the tray so that it may be plunged
into the hot water tank and readily removed therefrom when the proper sterilizing
period has elapsed. By the use of this tray a dozen or more burrs, according to
the number of trays, may be sterilized at once.
It will be obvious from this description that every instrumentality supported
upon the post or standard can be swung therearound to make place for or avoid
interference with another; that the tank can be swung away from the burner and
the gold tray brought thereover; that the gold tray may be swung away from,
and the gutta-percha tray swung above said burner, or the tank, the burner and
the gutta-percha tray brought in vertical line with each other.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. The dental bracket and its accessories substantially as herein set forth with
reference to the first and second figures or the drawing hereto annexed.
2. The cotton box for dental use, substantially as herein described with refer-.
ence to the first and sixth figures of the drawing hereto annexed.
3. The sponge cup for dental use, substantially as herein described with refer-
ence to the first and second figures of the drawings hereto annexed.
4. The dental trays for filling material, substantially as herein described with
reference to the drawings hereto annexed.
5. The combination of the swinging burner and the swinging water-tank and
trays in a dental stand, substantially as described.
Dated this 30th day of April 1898.
BOTTOMLEY & LIDDLE,
154, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Applicant's Patent Agents.