WO2010146364A1

WO2010146364A1 - Dental unit

Info

Publication number: WO2010146364A1
Application number: PCT/GB2010/001190
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mikko Matti Tapani Karstikko
Original assignee: Mikko Matti Tapani Karstikko
Priority date: 2009-06-17
Filing date: 2010-06-17
Publication date: 2010-12-23
Also published as: GB0910393D0

Abstract

The present invention provides a dental unit which comprises: a first articulated arm carrying an instrument bridge at its free end holding pneumatically driven turbines, sealers and/ or polishers and/or other handheld instruments to be used by a dental practitioner; a base structure that is installed in use to a ceiling of a dental operation room; and a support stem that extends downwardly from the base structure, the base structure providing a stable platform for the support stem and arm.

Description

Dental Unit

Field of the Invention

The present invention concerns improvements in and relating to dental units as used for carrying out dental treatment operations in dental surgeries.

Background to the Invention

Conventional dental units generally comprise a tall and weighty floor standing base unit with at least one position-adjustable articulated arm to reach over the patient seated in the patient operation chair to the dentist operating on the patient.

Commonly a first articulated arm extends from the upper part of the dental unit's stand and has an instrument bridge at its free end holding handheld instruments including pneumatically driven turbine hand-pieces with interchangeable drill heads or polishing heads etc, ultrasonic/piezo sealer, polymer curing light probe and other handheld instruments regularly used by the dental practitioner (dentist/ dental surgeon/ dental hygienist). Several of the instruments have a pneumatic (pressurised air) supply pipeline extending up the stand in to them for driving them and one or more of the instruments delivers a jet of air or suction and often one or more of the instruments delivers a water jet for lubrication/ cleaning away of debris from the teeth being drilled or scaled. A second articulated arm is provided on the upper part of the stand to reach towards the patient holding a lamp unit to provide strong directed illumination to the patient's oral cavity.

The conventional dental units are generally integrated with the base of the patient chair for stability and ease of inter-operability with the chair. The chair itself is generally a height and backrest incline-adjustable chair that is anchored in one spot to the floor and powered to move between its adjustment states by a pneumatic or electric motor drive.

In general the dental unit and chair assembly represent a substantial investment by any dental practice. There is not only a substantial cost to purchase them but also a substantial cost to install them and, for city centre practices in leased premises, a substantial ground rent cost of the floor space that the units occupy.

The dental units generally require a laborious process of several days of groundwork to install them, including removal of flooring, excavating to install the base and the air and water supply pipe-work in the floor and making good which may entail concreting/ cementing. Subsequent maintenance may also pose time-consuming challenges. A further problem with the units is that they are generally unable to properly allow for right or left handed differences between dentists since the stand normally occupies a substantial area of floor space to one side of the patient chair. This may mean that a dental practice may have to go to the high expense of investing in both right-handed and left-handed dental unit models for their operating rooms to accommodate the needs of their differently-handed dentists.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new form of dental unit that variously addresses these limitations of the existing dental units.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a dental unit which comprises: a first articulated arm carrying an instrument bridge at its free end holding pneumatically driven turbines, sealers and/ or polishers and/or other handheld instruments to be used by a dental practitioner; a base structure that is installed in use to a ceiling of a dental operation room; and a support stem that extends downwardly from the base structure, the base structure providing a stable platform for the support stem and arm. Preferably the base structure is a modular assembly that comprises at least: a base plate that is bolted or otherwise securely fixed in use by load- bearing fixings to a load-supportive part of a ceiling (such as to joists); and a mid housing that assembles to the base plate and which has a stem mounting region. The modular assembly nature of the base structure makes installation simple, with each component being relatively manageable and not back-breakingly heavy (the whole dental unit will weighs approximately 65 to 75 kg) to raise and fix into place on the ceiling.

For good stability yet moderate size, the base plate suitably is square or substantially square and has a footprint of the order of 400m by 400mm to 600mm by 600mm. It may be exemplified as 450mm by 600mm in one example.

Suitably the base plate has downwardly depending walls or flanges to which corresponding upstanding walls or flanges on the mid-housing may be fixed by bolts, screws or other load-bearing fixings. The walls or flanges of the base plate may extend around the perimeter of the base plate whereby the base plate resembles a tray. The base plate may have an array of bolt holes therethrough, suitably arranged in a circle surrounding the central axis of the support stem in use. A large centre aperture may be formed through the base plate and which may be circular in shape.

The stem mounting region of the mid-housing is suitably a rigid structure shaped as a chute or tube that depends downwardly to receive the support stem and give it support, suitably both lateral and vertical support. The stem mounting region suitably has at least one and preferably two or more adjustable hoops or rings to embrace the stem and hold it securely/ rigidly in place in the stem-mounting region. The hoops or rings are suitably screw-threaded Iy tightenable in place.

Preferably the dental unit is adapted for use by both right handed and left handed dentists to enable them to operate upon a patient in a dental chair from the right side of the chair or the left side. The arm of the dental unit has restricted articulation with a reach that allows the arm to be positioned to suit either of these positions of use.

Suitably the dental unit does not have an integrated spittoon/ cuspidor for the patient rinsing their mouth but instead a spittoon/ cuspidor or basin or a water/ saliva aspiration/suction unit with drainage may be provided separately, suitably spaced away from the dental unit and preferably at a

12 o'clock position relative to the dental chair, ie positioned behind the chair back. With this arrangement the dentist can readily operate from the right side of the chair or the left side and the spittoon/ cuspidor or basin or aspiration unit remains in a position that is reasonably accessible.

The aspiration unit is operated by a pump. This may be an atmospheric pump. It may be the same as, or adjacent to, a pump that provides the positive or negative pumping pressure to the pneumatically operated tools of the dental unit. The pump that provides the positive or negative pumping pressure to the pneumatically operated tools of the dental unit is suitably conveniently positioned in or near the 12 o'clock position relative to the dental chair and is suitably provided with at least one narrow gauge flexible pipe (e.g. approximately 2mm bore) that extends from the pump to the base structure in the ceiling.

The base structure in the ceiling suitably has a manifold to which the pipe runs and/ or a positive/ negative fluid pressure control device (e.g. a valve or pressure regulator) which controllably directs pressurised fluid down the stem to the tools. Suitably the stem is a rigid metal pipe, preferably of steel, and suitably of the order of 10cm in diameter and through the bore of which a plurality of narrow gauge flexible pipes extend to supply positive or negative pressured fluid to the tools.

Particularly preferably an arm, e.g. the first arm, extending from the stem has at or near its free end a pair of control pads each with controls for operation of the tools and/or chair and spaced from each other so that one suits access from the left of the patient and the other from the right of the patient in use. Preferably the pair of control pads is mounted on the instrument bridge, one pad on the left side of the instrument bridge and one pad on the right side of the instrument bridge.

Suitably a further articulated arm is provided on the stem of the dental unit, carrying a video display monitor at its free end. The monitor is suitably a flat panel, e.g. LCD or LED screen, and suitably is associated with a USB port or other input for computer-sourced video signals. An integrated communication line having the USB port or similar may be installed extending from the base down through the stem and arm to for example deliver optimal real time digital information transmission such as providing

3D X-ray images and other pictures for review by the dentist or seated patient during an operation.

Brief Description of the Drawings

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation view of a first preferred embodiment of the dental unit installed to the joists of a ceiling and with the base structure concealed by a secondary suspended/ floating ceiling of panels;

Figure 1A and 1B are corresponding side elevation views of: firstly a neat enclosed base structure for use on ceilings that do not have a secondary suspended/ floating ceiling of panels; and secondly of an extended height base structure for use where the secondary suspended/ floating ceiling of panels is more distant from the joists;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the Figure 1 installation from above;

Figure 3 is a perspective view from below of a base plate of the base structure, Figure 4 is a perspective view from above of a mid-housing of the base structure and Figure 5 is a perspective view from below of the mid-housing;

Figure 6 is a perspective view from above of the base plate with the mid- housing assembled to its underside;

Figure 7 is a perspective view from above of a controls box that is to be secured to the underside of the mid-housing and which contains the valves and gauges that control the flow of pressurised fluid to the tools;

Figure 8 is a perspective view from below of the assembled and installed base structure and support stem, as exposed to view on removal of a panel of the secondary/ floating ceiling;

Figure 9 is a plan view of the assembled base structure without the support stem mounted to it, Figure 10 is a detail plan view of the transformer box mounted to the assembled base structure and Figure 11 is a plan view of the electrical box/ unit that is housed adjacent the transformer box;

Figure 12 is a perspective view from the left side of the assembled lower part of the support stem and shows the instrument bridge, display monitor and lamp, while Figure 13 is a perspective view from the front of the instrument bridge and showing the pair of control pads symmetrically arranged, one on each end of the instrument bridge;

Figure 14 is a detail perspective view of the rotary joint of the support stem that carries the instrument bridge's arm and shows the components of that joint, including rotary movement limiter ring ('stop turning ring¹, laid out alongside the assembled joint;

Figure 15 is a perspective view of a saliva suction device that is separate from the ceiling-mounted dental unit but part of the overall system and which is housed in a cupboard behind the patient's chair along with the pump that powers the system; Figure 16 is a perspective view of a tubular screw tool for engaging and rotationally tightening the pinnings and/or threaded couplings of the stages of the support stem; and

Figure 17 is a perspective view of an oil collector module having a sleeve portion at the upper end to be coupled to the lower end of the support stem at least temporarily following installation of the stem and lubrication of the rotary joints in order to collect any excess lubricant oil.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment

Referring to Figure 1, this shows the general arrangement of the new dental unit as mounted suspended rigidly from load-supporting members J such as joists or other structural load-bearing beams or spars of the ceiling.

The dental unit comprises a base structure 1 that is fixed to the structural load-bearing beams J of the ceiling by bolts. The base structure 1 is shown here in Figure 1 as installed concealed tidily above the panels of a secondary/ floating ceiling. The base structure has mounted to it a tubular support stem 2 that is screw-threaded, pinned and/ or clamped in place to the base structure 1 and extends perpendicularly downwardly from the ceiling through the secondary/ floating ceiling to a distance of approximately 1.2m below the secondary/ floating ceiling in the illustrated example, bringing the lower end of the stem 2 to a level about 1.55m above floor level F. The support stem is a rigid steel pipe.

First, second and third articulated arms 4, 5, 6 branch off from the stem 2 and respectively support the main operation-illuminating lamp L, the display monitor D and the instrument bridge 7. The first articulated arm 4 branches from a static side joint 8 to the stem 2 and then turns upwardly to a point where it has a rotary joint 9 before then extending horizontally and at an incline downwardly. The second articulated arm 5 has a rotary joint 10 that is fitted as an in-line extension to the tubular support stem 2, while the third articulated arm 6 has a rotary joint 11 that is fitted as a further inline extension to the tubular support stem 2 below the preceding rotary joint 10.

The dental unit leaves the floor space adjacent the dental chair C (shown in the plan view, Figure 2) completely uncluttered allowing the dental practitioner to work whichever side of the patient he chooses. The allowed articulation movements of the three arms permit the practitioner to bring them reach them into a convenient working position whichever side he works from.

There is no floor-mounted spittoon adjacent the chair C. Instead, the patient still has access to one or two existing wall-mounted wash basins W and use of a suction tube S (see Figure 15) associated with the main system pump P that is housed in a cabinet at the 12 o'clock position in the surgery, ie directly behind the patient chair C. The suction tube S is stored on a rack at the free end of a support arm that is pivotally mounted to the front/ base of the cabinet.

Turning to Figure 2, the base structure 1 of the unit is a modular assembly and Figure 2 shows one of its components, the base plate 12, that is a substantially square thick steel plate with a perimeter/rim wall 12a that projects downwardly when the plate 12 is bolted in place to the joists J. The centre zone of the base plate 12 has a large circular aperture through it to reduce weight while maintaining good strength and which may facilitate feeding of pipes from above if required. A circle of eight bolt holes 13 to bolt to the load-bearing structure J of the ceiling are provided concentrically located relative to the centre of the plate 12 and thus concentric to the stem 2 when the unit is assembled. This uniform and multiple fixture point array gives optimal rigidity, strength and stability to the fixing of the unit to the ceiling.

Referring to Figure 4, this shows a mid-housing part 14 of the base structure 1 that assembles to the base plate 12 and which has a stem mounting region 14a.

The mid-housing 14 has a respective angle iron-like flange or leg 15 at each corner. Each angle iron-like flange or leg 15 has a transverse plate portion 15a bridging the angle and which is loosely/pivotally bolted to the underside of mid housing 14 to provide some wiggle factor/ adjustability to ease fitting to the base plate 12. Each flange/ leg 15 projects upwardly to embrace a corner of the downwardly depending perimeter wall 12a of the base plate 12. When the mid housing 14 is assembled to the base plate 12 as shown in Figure 6 each flange/ leg 15 is then fixed to the respective corner of the base plate 12 by bolts, screws or other load-bearing fixings.

The stem mounting region 14a of the mid-housing 14 is a rigid chute- shaped structure that depends downwardly from the centre of the mid- housing 14 to receive the support stem 2 extending down through it. The chute-like stem mounting region 14a gives the stem 2 support, both laterally and vertically. The stem mounting region 14a has two adjustable hoops 16, one at an upper end thereof and one at a lower end, that embrace the stem 2 and hold it securely/ rigidly in place in the stem- mounting region 14a. The hoops 16 are each supported in place by a respective cradle 17 and are screw-threadedly tightenable to clamp against the tubular support stem 2 by tightening nuts 16a. The neck of the stem 2 may be routed with an annular recess into which each hoop 16 seats to give extra support.

In addition to supporting the stem 2, the mid-housing 14 of the base structure 1 also serves as a platform onto the underside and downwardly extending walls 14b of which a control box 18 (see Figure 7 and 8) is mounted and bolted. Additionally a transformer box 19, with an associated electrical unit 20 inside the transformer box 19 (see Figures 10 and 11), is also bolted to the underside of the mid-housing 14. The control box 18 houses the valves that control flow of pressurised air or vacuum to, for example, pump sterile water up from a sterile water bottle 21 (see Figure 12) attached to the stem 2 and down to the patient via one or more narrow gauge tubes in the bore of the stem 2 that lead to a delivery outlet such as one of the instruments held on the instrument bridge 7. The illustrated sterile water bottle 21 is demountable and refillable when required and its mount/ outlet structure 21a is integral to the support stem 2. A narrow gauge tube 22 extends from within the bottle 21 through the mount/ outlet structure 21a straight into the bore of the stem 2.

A further notable feature of the support stem 2 is the provision of a demountable bottom cap 24 (Figure 12) that can be replaced by the similarly shaped mouth of an oil collection bottle 25 (Figure 17) for collecting excess oil following lubrication of the stem's joints.

An example restricted movement rotational joint, such as the joint 11 that mounts the instrument bridge-supporting articulated arm 6 to the bottom of the stem 2 is illustrated in Figure 14. This and the other joints/ stages of the stem 2 are tightened together using a screw tool 26. Figure 16 is a perspective view of the tubular screw tool 26. The tool 26 has handles 27 at its lower end and lateral cut-outs/ castellations 28 at its upper end that inserts into the stem for engaging and rotationally tightening the pinnings and/or threaded couplings of the stages of the support stem during assembly of the support stem and installation. The tool 26 tightens couplings from within the stem 2 but does not interfere with the piping 22 and wiring running down through the stem

Pressurised air or vacuum for the dental unit is generated at the pump P that is housed in the floor level cabinet behind the patient's chair C and is supplied to the valves in the control box 18 by more narrow gauge tubes 22 that pass up the wall and across the ceiling to drop down into the control box 18. By the same means tap water can optionally be supplied into the control box 18.

The pneumatically driven instruments of the instrument bridge 7 similarly receive pressurised air to drive them via further narrow gauge tubes 22 and are under control of one or more respective valves in the control box 18. All fluid flow to the instruments on the instrument bridge 7 is via such narrow gauge tubes 22, which are bundled together and pass down through the bore of the tubular support stem 2 and along the bore of the tubular articulated arm 6 that carries the instrument bridge 7 at its free end. Additionally electrical/ video/ communications cables pass down through the bore of the stem 2 to provide power or data signals to, the display monitor D and electrical power to lights and electric micro-motor driven instruments.

Referring to Figure 13, the instrument bridge 7 is shown as comprising a rostrum-like shelf carrying five commonly used instruments, including LED polymerization light probe and electric micro-motor-driven or pneumatic/turbine- driven instruments for drilling, polishing and other operations and a piezo sealer. The bridge 7 has a pair of handle bars 7a, one at each of its right and left hand ends and also has a pair of control/ keypads 23 also arranged symmetrically one at each of its right and left hand ends.

The unit can be used by both left and right handed dental practitioners from either the left or right side of the seated patient and the symmetrical pair of keypads 23, one to each side facilitates this.

Unlike the known art the dental unit of the present invention is relatively low cost and easy to install and can even be cheaper to manufacture. Installation time, installation costs and maintenance costs are generally a fraction of that for the conventional dental units, most notably avoiding time consuming floor construction work.

The unit bundles power (electrical and pneumatic), vacuum, liquid and communication lines into a single support pipe which depends directly downwards from a ceiling mounted assembly and it makes it easier for the dental practitioner to handle different tools. The dental practitioner can even gain extra benefit in that wrist moment to different tools can be lowered by the ceiling mounted configuration. This gives a better, more ergonomically efficient working environment to the dental practitioner

Since operation rooms are typically small, e.g. 8-10 square metres, the dental unit of the present invention can easily free up as much as a quarter or even a third of the floor space compared to a conventional dental unit and it also offers a more efficient and flexible room configuration. Since the unit can be used by both left and right handed healthcare personnel from either the left or right side of the seated patient, the unit saves on need to invest in corresponding different left and right handed models of dental unit.

In the drawings of Figures 6, 10, 11 and 14 hereinafter the reference numbers refer to the features as listed below.

Figure 6 (Control box): water pressure control 1 , water bottle pressure valve 2, air pressure control 3, connector bridge 4 to departing air, connector 5 for air to water bottle, water entry point 7, driver 8 from PCB to water supply magnetic valve, incoming air inlet 9, water inlet 10 for water incoming from water bottle, pressure gauge 11 for water pressure, pressure gauge 12 for air pressure, switch 13 for switching between bottle or plumbing, J16 joint 14, driver 15 from PCB to air supply magnetic valve, water bottle pressure gauge 16. Figure 10 (Transformer Box): unit main electricity ground (yellow/green) 1 , unit main electricity neutral (blue) 2, unit mains electricity live (black) 3, empty terminal 4, chair main electricity ground (yellow/green) 5, chair electricity neutral (blue) 6, chair mains electricity live (black) 7, electricity cable to main power source 8, programming connection connects with computers RS cable. Figure 11 (Main Roof Electrical Unit): instrument bridge connector 1 , grounding 2, chair movement 3, instrument bridge panel right 4, instrument bridge panel left 5, foot remote 6, main valve controls 7, light 8.

Figure 14 (Main Rotary Joint of Support Stem): stop-turning ring 1 , brake ring 2, brake pad ring 3, spring ring 4, pair of spring rings with ragged edges facing each other 5, verifier ring 6, bolt 7 for verifying stiffness of movement.

Claims

1. A dental unit which comprises: an articulated arm carrying an instrument bridge at its free end holding at least one fluid-powered turbine handheld instrument to be used by a dental practitioner; a base structure that is installed in use to a ceiling of a dental operation room; and a support stem that extends downwardly from the base structure, the base structure providing a stable platform for the support stem and arm.

2. A dental unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein the base structure is a modular assembly that comprises at least: a base plate that is bolted or otherwise securely fixed in use by load-bearing fixings to a load-supportive part of a ceiling (such as to joists); and a mid housing that assembles to the base plate and which has a stem mounting region.

3. A dental unit as claimed in claim 2, wherein the base plate has a downwardly depending wall or flanges to which corresponding upstanding walls or flanges on the mid-housing may be fixed by bolts, screws or other load-bearing fixings.

4. A dental unit as claimed in claim 3, wherein the walls or flanges of the base plate extend around the perimeter of the base plate whereby the base plate resembles a tray.

5. A dental unit as claimed in claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein the base plate has an array of bolt holes therethrough substantially arranged in a circle surrounding the central axis of the support stem in use.

6. A dental unit as claimed in claim 2, 3, 4 or 5, wherein the stem mounting region of the mid-housing is a rigid structure shaped as a chute or tube that depends downwardly to receive and support the support stem.

7. A dental unit as claimed in claim 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, wherein the stem mounting region of the mid-housing has at least one and preferably two or more adjustable hoops or rings to embrace the stem and hold it securely/ rigidly in place in the stem-mounting region.

8. A dental unit as claimed in claim 7, wherein the hoops or rings are screw-threaded Iy tightenable in place.

9. A dental unit as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the dental unit is adapted for use by both right handed and left handed dentists to enable them to operate upon a patient in a dental chair from the right side of the chair or the left side, the arm of the dental unit having restricted articulation with a reach that allows the arm to be positioned to suit either of these positions of use.

10. A dental unit as claimed in claim 9 in combination with a separate spittoon/ cuspidor or basin or a water/ saliva aspiration/suction unit with drainage, the spittoon/ cuspidor, basin or aspiration/suction unit being spaced away from the dental unit, wherein the unit does not itself have an integrated spittoon/ cuspidor for the patient rinsing their mouth.

11. A dental unit as claimed in any preceding claim in combination with a separate pump ur\it that provides positive or negative pumping pressure to a water supply of the dental unit or to the at least one fluid-powered instrument of the dental unit, the pump unit being positioned spaced away from the dental unit and provided with at least one narrow gauge flexible pipe that extends from the pump to the base structure in the ceiling.

12. A dental unit as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the base structure in the ceiling has a fluid pressure control device (e.g. a valve or pressure regulator) which controllably directs pressurised fluid down the stem to the instrument.

13. A dental unit as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the base structure in the ceiling has a transformer and/ or electrical unit for delivering electrical power to a dental lamp, display monitor and/or electrically powered instrument carried by the support stem.

14. A dental unit as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the stem is a rigid metal pipe.

15. A dental unit as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a plurality of narrow gauge flexible pipes extend down through the bore of the stem and serve to supply positive or negative pressured fluid to the at least one instrument and other instruments.

16. A dental unit as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein an arm, e.g. the first arm, extending from the stem has at or near its free end a pair of control pads each with controls for operation of the tools and/or chair and spaced from each other so that one suits access from the left of the patient and the other from the right of the patient in use.

17. A dental unit as claimed in claim 16, wherein the pair of control pads is mounted on the instrument bridge, one pad on the left side of the instrument bridge and one pad on the right side of the instrument bridge.

18. A dental unit as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a further articulated arm is provided on the stem of the dental unit, carrying a video display monitor at its free end.

19. A dental unit as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a further articulated arm is provided on the stem of the dental unit, carrying a lamp at its free end.

20. A dental unit as claimed in claim 18, wherein the monitor is associated with a L)SB port or other input for computer-sourced video signals and a video/ data communication line is provided extending from the base down through the stem and arm to feed to the monitor.

21. A dental unit as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a sterile water bottle is provided on the stem to be demountable when required, the support stem having an integral mount/ outlet structure and a tube extends from within the bottle through the structure into the bore of the stem.

22. A dental unit as claimed in any preceding claim, having an oil collector container with an opening that is adapted to mount as a collar to the bottom of the stem to collect oil following joint lubrication.

23. A dental unit which comprises: an articulated arm carrying an instrument bridge at its free end holding at least one fluid-operated handheld instrument to be used by a dental practitioner; a base structure that is installed in use to a ceiling of a dental operation room; and a support stem that extends downwardly from the base structure, the base structure providing a stable platform for the support stem and arm and the unit having a fluid delivery pipe extending along the stem between the base structure and the fluid-operated handheld instrument.