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Title:
DENTAL IMPRESSION BITE TRAY
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/2007/081125
Kind Code:
A1
Abstract:
The present invention is referred to the disposable bite trays among the dental impression trays. The metallic reinforcements of the invented tray are fixed by exposing to the exterior of the connecting loops on the both sides of the impression obtaining walls. The reinforcements should include an impression obtaining membrane in the central portion, the moving freely prevention stair, and various moving freely prevention grooves. The moving freely prevention stair is to fix the plastic supporter and reinforcement together and prevent the individual movement of the supporter and reinforcement. The disposable bite trays are usually made up of plastics because they are easy-to-make materials, cheap, and convenient to use. However, no matter how strong plastics those are used, the connecting loops of the impression obtaining walls on the both sides of the tray will still be thin and narrow. It is because the connecting loops go into the inner space where maxillary and mandibular molars occlude, and so they have to be thin and narrow. In this case, the connecting loops of the impression obtaining walls can become weak and may result in twist or warp of the impression materials when obtaining the dental impression. These deformed impression materials may make difficult to obtain an elaborate teeth impression. Therefore, in the present invention, the metallic reinforcement was added to the connecting loop of the plastic tray. This will make the plastic tray rigid as a metal tray and make adjustable. For instance, dentists may be able to adjust the width of the tray or cross the impression obtaining walls. This customized tray will provide a safe disposable bite tray to obtain an elaborate teeth impression.

Inventors:
CHOI SUK (KR)
Application Number:
PCT/KR2007/000116
Publication Date:
July 19, 2007
Filing Date:
January 05, 2007
Export Citation:
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Assignee:
CHOI SUK (KR)
International Classes:
A61C9/00
Foreign References:
KR200381316Y12005-04-14
US4689010A1987-08-25
US5513985A1996-05-07
US5316474A1994-05-31
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Claims:

Claims

1 . A dental impression bite tray comprising, in combination:

a handle for an impression obtainer to hold, a right impression

obtaining wall beside the handle to support the impression materials, a

connecting loop, and a left impression obtaining wall. In addition, the

present invention include a moving freely prevention projection in a jagged

shape on the left and right sides inside the impression obtaining walls to

prevent a moving freely of impression materials and an impression

obtaining membrane to provide a space for impression materials on the

central portion of the impression obtaining walls.

The present invention, as a plastic-made dental impression bite tray,

is characterized by possessing a metallic reinforcement to strengthen the

connecting loop, an impression obtaining membrane inside the reinforcement,

and a moving freely prevention stair to stick the plastics and the

reinforcement together so that they cannot move separately. The connecting

loop connects the left and the right side of the impression walls, and the

metallic reinforcement is inserted by exposing to the outside of the left side

of the connecting loop.

2. The dental impression bite tray of claim 1 wherein the present invention

is characterized by providing an impression obtaining membrane inside a

reinforcement and various moving freely prevention grooves in a certain

distance. The moving freely prevention grooves fix the plastics and the

reinforcement and prevent their separate movement.

3. The dental impression bite tray of claim 1 wherein the present invention

is characterized by providing an impression obtaining membrane that is

made up of nonwoven fabric.

4. The dental impression bite tray of claim 1 wherein the present invention

is characterized by providing an impression obtaining membrane that is

made up of meshes.

5. The dental impression bite tray of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the

present invention is characterized by providing the materials for the

reinforcement chosen from one of these: brass, brass alloys, aluminum,

aluminum alloys, stainless steels, zinc alloys, general metals, and die casting

moldings.

6. The dental impression bite tray of claim 1 wherein the present invention

is characterized by providing supporters, to strengthen the handle, on the

both sides of the handle.

7. The dental impression bite tray of claim 1 wherein the present invention

is characterized by providing a whole on the handle to hang the tray (on a

peg or a pin). It prevents damaging the impression materials after the

impression obtaining.

8. The dental impression bite tray of claim 1 wherein the present invention

is characterized by forming a perpendicular rib shaped moving freely

prevention projection in a jagged shape. The moving freely prevention

projection is to prevent a moving freely of the impression materials when

obtaining a dental impression and locates the inner surface on the left and

right sides of the impression obtaining walls.

Description:

TITLE O-F INVENTION

Dental Impression/Bite Tray '

-Technical Field-

The present invention is referred to the disposable bite trays among the

_f dental impression trays, a metallic reinforcement is added to the

connecting loop on the both sides of the impression walls of the plastic

tray. The reinforcement, produced thinly and narrowly, was exposed to

the exterior, and, the both ends of the reinforcements were fixed by

inserting to the impression walls. The reinforcement was also inserted to

/ o the inside of the central portion on the impression membrane and

fixed with the plastic supporter. This structure would keep the merits

of the conventional-plastic disposable bite tray, which is that the

impression membrane inside of the connecting loop does not move up

and down, and, the moving freely prevention stair and the moving freely

/ f prevention grooves help obtaining the impression finely and

elaborately. The use of these reinforcements make the connecting loop,

which is the weakest part of the tray, strong and rigid, even if the

disposable bite tray is made up of plastics. In addition, the present

invention complements the weakness of the conventional-plastic disposable

o bite tray. The width of the invented tray is adjustable as a metallic tray,

the impression walls can be crossed, and the strength and rigidness of the

invention prevent the deformation of the impression materials.

-Background Art-

In order to prepare a dental prosthetic appliance, generally, a

£ patient's intra-oral dental-impression needs to be obtain. The instrument

using in this process is called a dental impression tray, also called a bite

tray in a technical term. The bite tray consists of a hollow structure to

retain impression materials, which is to obtain an intra-oral impression for

patient's dental prosthesis, and a handle fixed to the hollow structure. The

/ o structure of this bite tray is useful for the method of extrusion, blow

molding, injection molding, compression molding and vacuum molding. Most

dentists in Korea and other advanced countries use disposable bite trays

because of their hygiene and convenience. The disposable trays made up of

cheap and easy-to-make materials, such as fibers, films, PP (polypropylene),

/ f- and ABS resin, and etc..

However, the plastic-made disposable bite trays result in the

following problems.

no matter how strong plastics those are used, the connecting loops of the

impression obtaining walls on the both sides of the tray will still be thin

o and narrow. It is because the connecting loops go into the inner space

where maxillary and mandibular molars occlude, and so they have to be

thin and narrow. In this case, the connecting loops of the impression

obtaining walls can become weak and may result in twist or warp of the

impression materials when obtaining the dental impression. These deformed

f impression materials may make difficult to obtain an elaborate teeth

impression.

Therefore, in the present invention, the metallic reinforcement was added to

the connecting loop of the plastic tray. This will make the plastic tray rigid

as a metal tray and make adjustable. For instance, dentists may be able to

/ o adjust the width of the tray or cross the impression obtaining walls. This

customized tray will provide a safe disposable bite tray to obtain an

elaborate teeth impression.

-Disclosure of invention-

In the present invention, a metallic reinforcement is added to the connecting

/t loop on the both sides of the impression walls of the plastic tray. The

reinforcement, produced thinly and narrowly, was exposed to the exterior,

and, the both ends of the reinforcements were fixed by inserting to the

impression walls. The reinforcement was also inserted to the inside of the

central portion on the impression membrane and fixed with the plastic

x> supporter. This structure would keep the merits of the conventional-plastic

disposable bite tray, which is that the impression membrane inside of the

connecting loop does not move up and down, and, the moving freely

prevention stair and the moving freely prevention grooves help obtaining the

impression finely and elaborately.

C The disposable bite trays are usually made up of plastics because they are

easy-to-make materials, cheap, and convenient to use. However, no matter

how strong plastics those are used, the connecting loops of the impression

obtaining walls on the both sides of the tray will still be thin and narrow.

It is because the connecting loops go into the inner space where maxillary

/ o and mandibular molars occlude, and so they have to be thin and narrow. In

this case, the connecting loops of the impression obtaining walls can

become weak and may result in twist or warp of the impression materials

when obtaining the dental impression. These deformed impression materials

may make difficult to obtain an elaborate teeth impression.

/.T Therefore, in the present invention, the metallic reinforcement was added to

the connecting loop of the plastic tray. This will make the plastic tray rigid

as a metal tray and make adjustable. For instance, dentists may be able to

adjust the width of the tray or cross the impression obtaining walls. This

customized tray will provide a safe disposable bite tray to obtain an

o elaborate teeth impression.

-Brief Description of Drawings-

The following figure-descriptions are regarded to the present

invention.

Figl is a side view of the dental impression bite tray.

( Fig2 is a plan view or the dental impression bite tray.

Fig3 is a side view of the reinforcement, which is fixed in the

central portion both sides of the impression obtaining walls.

Fig4 is a cross-section view of A-A line shown in Fig3.

Fig5 is another side view of the reinforcement,

/ o ** Description for the main parts of the drawings **

100 : Dental Impression Bite Tray,

110 : Handle,

120 : Impression obtaining wall,

122 : Metallic reinforcement,

/f" 124 : Moving freely prevention projection for impression materials,

130 : Impression obtaining membrane,

140 : Central portion,

150 : Moving freely prevention stair,

150a : Moving freely prevention grooves

> e 160 : Reinforcement-membrane supporting plastic area.

170 : Supporter to strengthen the handle.

-Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention-

To solve the prenominate problems, the structure of the present

invention characterizes with the following components: a handle and its

supporter; an impression wall supporting impression materials; an impression

ζ membrane in the central portion of the impression wall, providing a hollow

space to retain impression materials for obtaining the impression; retentive

components, reinforcement, fixed by either inserting to the inner surface or

exposing to the outer surface; and a moving freely prevention stair with a

rough surface to link the impression membrane to the reinforcement.

/o For the impression membrane, it is better to use a nonwoven fabric

or mesh than a woven fabric because a nonwoven fabric or mesh has tight,

irregular and airy fibrous tissue. Due to this fiber structure, the nonwoven

fabric or mesh shows a strong penetration and sticking when it connects to

the impression materials, so that the impression materials can easily

/ t separate from the impression wall.

Silicons and alginates are two common resources using for the dental

impression materials. When using alginates, it can be very watery. The

impression membrane needs to be hard enough to support the impression

materials, otherwise, the membrane can be torn. When using silicons, the

>o occluding force and saliva can make the partition weak. For these reasons,

the nonwoven fabric needs a proper thickness, range of 0.003 ~0.006 inch.

In the case of using plastic impression walls for this invented tray,

the following harmless materials are recommended for the reinforcement in

the central portion. The recommending materials are brasses, aluminiums,

stainless steels, brass alloys, zinc alloys, general metals, and die casting

ς moldings. These materials will help maintaining the original wall of the

teeth impression acquisition disposable bite tray and preventing it from

distorting. When the reinforcement in the central portion of the outer

surface are exposed to the exterior, the rough surface for the moving freely

prevention stair and various moving freely prevention grooves are necessary

/o to unify the impression membrane and the reinforcement. In this way, the

invention will provide a safe and useful dental impression tray.

The moving freely prevention projection for impression materials

should be formed in a jagged shape on the inner surface of the prenominate

impression wall. The jagged shape will prevent the moving freely of the

/ f impression materials when obtaining the dental impression.

The moving freely prevention projection for impression materials in a

jagged shape may be produced in two ways. One is that both sides are

slant to the interior with a certain angle in a diamond shape. Another is

that which both sides are slant from the exterior to the interior in an

o inverse-diamond shape, wave shape, jagged shape, or a perpendicular shape.

The moving freely prevention projection for the prenominate

impression materials may also be formed to preserve the established angle

with keeping the jagged or the semicircular shape.

For the impression mold, various grooves may formed on the inner

ξ surface of the wall to prevent the moving freely of the impression materials.

The grooves are to carry the impression materials and may be formed

horizontally to the moving freely prevention projection with a certain depth

or with apertures.

The invention will be more specifically explained by reference to the

/o following drawings.

Fig 1 is a plan view of the invented dental impression bite tray.

Fig 2 is a side view of the invented dental impression bite tray.

Fig 3 is a side view of the fixed metallic reinforcement, which is inserted

to the central portion of the impression mold of the invented dental

ffr impression bite tray.

Fig4 is a cross-section view of A-A line shown in Fig3.

Fig5 is another side view of the metallic reinforcement.

The present invention, dental impression bite tray (100) is embodied

in the apparatus shown in Figl or Fig3. The embodiments are as follows: a

yfr handle (110) for a patient and the left and the right side of the impression

obtaining wall (120), which supports a side of the impression materials and

locates beside of the handle (110); an impression membrane (130) in the

central portion of the impression obtaining wall (120), to provide a hollow

space for retaining impression materials; a supporter (170) to strengthen the

handle (110); a central portion (140) that is linked to the left and the right

ζ side of the impression obtaining wall (120) in a hook shape; reinforcements

(122) equipped on the inner and outer surface; and a moving freely

prevention stair (150) that prevents interior moving freely of the

reinforcement (122), which connect and unify the central portion (140) and

the impression membrane (130).

/° The handle (110) and the impression obtaining wall (120) are made

up of plastics. The materials used for the handle (110) and the impression

obtaining wall (120) of the dental impression bite tray (100) are undoubtedly

harmless. The material was selected from plastics, brasses, aluminiums,

aluminium alloys, stainless steels, brass alloys, zinc alloys, general metals,

/ f and die casting molding elements. These materials are absolutely harmless

and maintain the firmness of the handle (110) and the impression obtaining

wall (120).

The thickness of the impression membrane is suggested to be 0.003

0.006 in, so that it can hold the impression materials and make an easy

κ> acquisition. This thickness range complements the official technique which

presents a thickness of less than 0.003 in. The 0.003 inch-impression

membrane is too thin and easily torn to obtain the impression materials,

therefore, the thickness of the membrane is improved to the range of 0.003

~ 0.006 in, which is the optimum condition.

The nonwoven fabrics or mesh are recommended to make the

ξ- impression membrane (130) because the impression membrane (130), made

up of nonwoven fabrics or mesh, not only helps to maintain the shape of

the impression obtaining wall (120), but also helps the impression materials

separate easily from the impression obtaining wall (120) after obtaining the

impression. The improved impression membrane (130) also diversifies the

fo impression materials that are easy to separate from the impression obtaining

wall (120).

The plastic impression obtaining wall (120) of the dental impression

bite tray (100) include reinforcements (122) prepared on the interior and

exterior of the central portion (140). The component for the reinforcements

ft (122) is selected from the following lists of the harmless materials. The

lists include brass, aluminiums, stainless steels, brass alloys, zinc alloys,

general metals, and die casting moldings. These materials will help

maintaining the original wall of tray and preventing it from distorting, to

obtain the dental impression safely and easily.

The jagged shape moving freely prevention projection (124) for

impression materials is formed perpendicularly on the inner surface of the

impression obtaining wall (120). This formation of the moving freely

prevention projection (124) may minimize the moving freely of the

impression materials forcing out to the direction of the tray's length.

The moving freely prevention projection for impression materials in a

f jagged shape may be produced in two ways. One is that both sides are

slant to the interior with a certain angle in a diamond shape. Another is

that which both sides are slant from the exterior to the interior in an

inverse-diamond shape, wave shape, or a jagged shape.

The moving freely prevention projection for the prenominate

to impression materials may also be formed to preserve the established angle

with keeping the jagged or the semicirclular shape.

For the impression mold, various grooves may formed on the inner

surface of the wall. The grooves are to carry the impression materials and

may be formed horizontally to the moving freely prevention projection with

/f a certain depth or with apertures.

The plastic and impression membrane moving freely prevention stair

(150) should be prepared on the inner surface of the reinforcement (122)

occluding the impression wall (12) and the circular-central portion (140).

The moving freely prevention stair (150) is to prevent the moving freely of

>o the plastic- supporting area (160), which supports the impression membrane

(130). The moving freely prevention stair (150) can substitute to the moving

freely prevention groove (150a), which is formed with grooves in a certain

distance, not a continuous groove.

The present invention has now been described with desirable

reference, however, the scope of the present invention should not only be

J " limited to the structures described in this application, but also by structures

described by the language of the claims and the equivalents of those

structures.

-Industrial Applicability-

In the present invention, a metallic reinforcement is added to the connecting

/CJ loop on the both sides of the impression walls of the plastic tray. The

reinforcement, produced thinly and narrowly, was exposed to the exterior,

and, the both ends of the reinforcements were fixed by inserting to the

impression walls. The reinforcement was also inserted to the inside of the

central portion on the impression membrane and fixed with the plastic

/ 1 supporter. This structure would keep the merits of the conventional-plastic

disposable bite tray, which is that the impression membrane inside of the

connecting loop does not move up and down, and, the moving freely

prevention stair and the moving freely prevention grooves help obtaining the

impression finely and elaborately. The use of these reinforcements make the

;2o connecting loop, which is the weakest part of the tray, strong and rigid,

even if the disposable bite tray is made up of plastics. In addition, the

present invention complements the weakness of the conventional-plastic

disposable bite tray. The width of the invented tray is adjustable as a

metallic tray, the impression walls can be crossed, and the strength and

ζ ~ rigidness of the invention prevent the deformation of the impression

materials. It is also possible to make various models, such as posterior,

half-side, sideless, quadrant, using the reinforcement for the disposable bite

ray, so that dentists can use the disposable bite tray that is suitable for

them, and prepare a safe and elaborate impression obtaining.

/ 1>