CN113662509A

CN113662509A - Oral scanner and probe thereof

Info

Publication number: CN113662509A
Application number: CN202010413348.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈思帆; 何文中; 吴宗训
Original assignee: Qisda Optronics Suzhou Co Ltd; Qisda Corp
Current assignee: Qisda Optronics Suzhou Co Ltd; Qisda Corp
Priority date: 2020-05-15
Filing date: 2020-05-15
Publication date: 2021-11-19

Abstract

The invention provides an oral cavity scanner, which comprises a device body and a probe connected with the device body. The probe comprises a probe body, a light reflector and a restraining structure. The probe body is provided with a cavity and an opening communicated with the cavity. The light reflector is fixedly arranged in the cavity towards the opening and is provided with a first side and a second side opposite to the first side, and the first side is close to the opening compared with the second side. The restraining structure is disposed adjacent to the opening at the first side to prevent the first side from directly separating from the opening. The device body is connected with the probe body of the probe, and external light can enter the probe from the opening and is reflected by the light reflector to be received by the device body. Therefore, the restraining structure can reduce or eliminate the chance that the optical reflector is separated from the probe from the opening.

Description

Oral scanner and probe thereof

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an oral cavity scanner, and more particularly, to an oral cavity scanner having a probe with a light reflector.

Background

Current oral scanners typically use a probe that extends into the oral cavity to scan the oral cavity. The probe is internally provided with a light reflector, the probe is provided with an opening corresponding to the light reflector, and light rays can enter the probe from the opening and are reflected by the light reflector to be received by the oral cavity scanner to form a scanning image. To reduce the discomfort of the probe to the patient's mouth or to increase the patient range to which the probe is applicable, the probe is usually elongated, with the light reflector and the opening both at its tip, and the light reflector and the opening are also similar in size. The light reflector is generally fixed by gluing. After the oral scanner is used for a period of time, the adhesive ability of the adhesive may be weakened or lost, causing the light reflector to fall off, or even causing the light reflector to fall out of the opening of the probe. If the liquid falls into the mouth of the patient, the patient is possibly hurt.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the problems in the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a probe for an oral cavity scanner, wherein the optical mirror is constrained by the constraint structure in the probe, so as to reduce or eliminate the chance of falling off the probe.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a probe for an oral cavity scanner, comprising: the probe body is provided with a cavity and an opening communicated with the cavity; a light reflector fixedly arranged in the cavity towards the opening and provided with a first side and a second side opposite to the first side, wherein the first side is close to the opening compared with the second side; and a first restraining structure disposed adjacent to the opening at the first side for preventing the first side from directly separating from the opening.

Preferably, the first restraining structure is located at the edge of the opening.

Preferably, the probe body includes a housing, and the housing forms the cavity, the opening, and the first restraining structure.

Preferably, the probe further comprises a second restraining structure disposed on the second side.

Preferably, the probe body comprises a shell and a fixing frame, the shell forms the cavity and the opening, the fixing frame is arranged in the cavity, the light reflector is fixed on the fixing frame, and the second constraint structure is fixed on the fixing frame.

Preferably, the first restraining structure is fixedly disposed on the fixing frame.

Preferably, the probe body comprises a heater fixed on the fixing frame, and the fixing frame can conduct heat and is detachably arranged in the cavity.

Preferably, the fixing frame and the second restraining structure are formed by stamping a plate from the same metal.

Preferably, the reflector is adhered to the fixing frame by a heat conducting adhesive.

Preferably, the first restraining structure includes two first restraining portions, the second restraining structure includes two second restraining portions, and the two first restraining portions and the two second restraining portions restrain four corners of the light reflector.

To achieve the above object, the present invention further provides an oral cavity scanner, comprising: a probe as claimed in any one of the above; and the device body is connected with the probe body of the probe, and external light can enter the probe from the opening and is reflected by the light reflecting mirror to be received by the device body.

Preferably, the probe is removably connected to the device body.

Compared with the prior art, in the cavity scanner, the light reflector arranged in the probe is limited by the restraining structure, so that the chance that the light reflector is separated from the probe from the opening of the probe can be reduced or eliminated, and the problem that the light reflector falls off and even falls out from the opening of the probe to possibly hurt a patient due to the fact that the bonding capability of the adhesive for fixing the light reflector is weakened or lost in the prior art can be improved or avoided.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an oral scanner according to an embodiment.

Fig. 2 is an exploded view of a portion of the oral scanner of fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the probe of the oral scanner of figure 1 taken along line X-X.

Fig. 4 is a top view of the probe of the oral scanner of fig. 1.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the holder and the optical reflector of the probe according to an embodiment.

Detailed Description

In order to further understand the objects, structures, features and functions of the present invention, the following embodiments are described in detail.

Please refer to fig. 1 to 4. The oral scanner 1 according to an embodiment includes a device body 12 and a probe 14 connected to the device body 12. The probe 14 includes a probe body 142 and an optical reflector 144. The probe body 142 has a cavity 142a and an opening 142b communicating with the cavity 142 a. The light reflector 144 is fixedly disposed in the cavity 142a toward the opening 142 b. The probe 14 can be extended into the patient's mouth to scan the patient's mouth. Wherein, generally speaking, the marking light emitted by the projection module disposed in the device body 12 is reflected by the light reflector 144 to leave the cavity 142a from the opening 142b and be projected onto the surface of the patient's mouth; light from the oral surface (i.e., external light, including projected marker light) can enter the cavity 142a through the opening 142b, and is reflected by the light reflector 144 to be received by the image capturing module in the device body 12, so as to form a scanned image.

In this embodiment, the probe 14 is detachably connected to the device body 12, so as to separately clean and soak the probe 14 in the disinfectant. The probe body 142 includes a housing 1422 and a fixing frame 1424 disposed in the housing 1422. The housing 1422 forms a cavity 142a and an opening 142 b. In practice, the housing 1422 may be, but is not limited to, a plastic injection member. The fixing frame 1424 is disposed in the cavity 142 a; in practice, the fixing frame 1424 can be fixed to the housing 1422 by, but not limited to, a snap-fit structure (for example, the snap 1422a of the housing 1422 located in the cavity 142a is snapped into the snap groove 1424a of the fixing frame 1424) or an adhesive (for example, the hot melt adhesive 143 is filled between the lens fixing portion 1424b of the fixing frame 1424 and the housing 1422, which is only shown in fig. 3 in cross section). In addition, in practice, the two side wings 1424c of the fixing frame 1424 may be slightly outwardly expanded, so that after the fixing frame 1424 is placed in the cavity 142a, the side wings 1424c may elastically abut against the inner wall surface of the housing 1422, which also helps the fixing frame 1424 to be fixed to the housing 1422. The light reflector 144 is fixed on the fixing frame 1424, for example, but not limited to, it is adhered to the lens fixing portion 1424b of the fixing frame 1424 by glue 145 (only shown in fig. 3 by a rectangular cross section). The housing 1422 forms a tubular connecting structure 1422b opposite to the opening 142b and connected to the device body 12, which can be sleeved on the corresponding protruding connecting structure 122 of the device body 12, for example, but not limited to, by a structural interference fit therebetween.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the probe 14 further includes a first restraining structure 146 and a second restraining structure 148. The light reflector 144 has a first side 144a and a second side 144b opposite to the first side 144a, and the first side 144a is closer to the opening 142b than the second side 144 b. The first restraining structure 146 is disposed adjacent to the opening 142b at the first side 144a, and the second restraining structure 148 is disposed at the second side 144 b. The first restraining structure 146 and the second restraining structure 148 can both generate a structural restraining effect on the reflector 144 to restrain the reflector 144 from being out of the set position. After the oral cavity scanner 1 is used for a long time, if the light reflector 144 loosens from the fixing frame 1424, the first restraining structure 146 can stop the light reflector 144 from directly separating from the opening 142b by the first side 144a, and the second restraining structure 148 can stop the light reflector 144 from directly lifting from the fixing frame 1424 by the second side 144 b. Therefore, in practical operation, when the adhesive ability of the adhesive 145 is reduced or lost, the light reflector 144 can be kept at the set position in principle, so as to prevent the light reflector 144 from falling off the cavity 142a and even separating from the probe body 142 from the opening 142b to hurt the patient.

In practice, the reflector 144 can be effectively prevented from being separated from the fixing frame 1424 by designing the structural sizes of the first restraining structure 146 and the second restraining structure 148 and the relative positions of the first restraining structure 146 and the second restraining structure 148 with respect to the reflector 144. In principle, from the perspective of fig. 3, the design can be based on that when the second side 144b abuts against the second constraint structure 148, the light reflector 144 is rotated away from the second side 144b such that the first side 144a collides with the first constraint structure 146, and when the first side 144a abuts against the first constraint structure 146 (or the portion of the housing 1422 near the opening 142 b), the light reflector 144 is rotated away from the first side 144a such that the second side 144b is still constrained by the second constraint structure 148. In addition, in practical operation, the housing 1422 near the opening 142b and corresponding to the first side 144a may have a surface 142c (such as but not limited to an inclined surface) matching with the first side 144a, and the light reflector 144 may be designed to abut against the surface 142c as much as possible, which may increase the structural constraint effect of the first constraint structure 146 and the second constraint structure 148 on the light reflector 144.

In addition, in the embodiment, the first restraining structure 146 and the housing 1422 are integrally formed and located at the edge of the opening 142b, and the second restraining structure 148 and the fixing frame 1424 are integrally formed (for example, by stamping a metal plate, that is, the fixing frame 1424 and the second restraining structure 148 are the same metal stamping plate; for example, by a plastic injection); however, in practice, the method is not limited thereto. For example, the first restraining structure 146 and the second restraining structure 148 are assembled to the housing 1422 and the fixing frame 1424, respectively, for example, by structural engagement, gluing, or insert molding. In the present embodiment, the first restraining structure 146 includes two first restraining portions 146a protruding from two side edges (or two corners) of the opening 142 b; the second restraining structure 148 includes two second restraining portions 148a, which are respectively a hook structure bent from two sides of the fixing frame 1424. The two first restraining portions 146a and the two second restraining portions 148a are corresponding to and restrain four corners of the light reflector 144 (as shown in fig. 4, wherein the hidden contour of the second restraining portion 148a is shown by a dotted line), so that the light reflector 144 can be effectively prevented from being separated from the position where it is disposed on the fixing frame 1424. The two first restraining portions 146a and the two second restraining portions 148a are far away from the middle portion of the reflector 144, so as to reduce the influence on the light reflected by the reflector 144. In addition, in practical applications, the position and the number of the first restraining structure 146 and the second restraining structure 148 for the light reflector 144 are not limited to those shown in the present embodiment, for example, the first restraining structure 146 or the second restraining structure 148 can correspond to the middle portion of the first side 144a or the second side 144b of the light reflector 144. The probe 14 may further include other restraining structures for restraining the other side of the optical reflector 144.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the fixing frame 1424 is made of a heat conductive material, such as but not limited to a metal material. The probe 14 includes a heater 150 (shown in a sheet-like structure, such as an alloy wire) fixed on the fixing frame 1424 to heat the fixing frame 1424, so that when the probe 14 is inserted into the oral cavity of a patient, mist formed on the light reflector 144 can be heated and evaporated, thereby preventing the light reflector 144 from weakening or losing its function of reflecting light. The device body 12 is electrically connected to the heater 150 (e.g., by conductive clips on the device body 12 contacting exposed contacts of the heater 1426) to provide power to the heater 150. In addition, in practice, the glue 145 may be implemented by a thermal conductive glue to enhance the thermal conductivity of the fixing frame 1424 to the light reflector 144.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the oral cavity scanner 1 has the restraining

structures

146 and 148 on both

sides

144a and 144b of the light reflector 144, but the specific implementation is not limited thereto. For example, only the first restraining structure 146 remains, which still provides a certain degree of structural restraint to the optical reflector 144, at least reducing the chance of the optical reflector 144 disengaging from the probe 14 through the opening 142 b. In addition, in the embodiment, the first restraining structure 146 and the second restraining structure 148 are respectively disposed on different members, but the actual implementation is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in fig. 5, in another embodiment, the first restraining structure 147 (for example, but not limited to, implemented by a slot structure) is fixedly disposed on the fixing frame 1424, and is integrally formed with the fixing frame 1424; in assembly, the reflector 144 can be laterally inserted into the space between the first restraining structure 147 and the second restraining structure 148. This structural arrangement also can restrain the reflector 144 from falling off the fixing frame 1424.

The present invention has been described in relation to the above embodiments, which are only exemplary of the implementation of the present invention. It should be noted that the disclosed embodiments do not limit the scope of the invention. Rather, it is intended that all such modifications and variations be included within the spirit and scope of this invention.

Claims

1. A probe for an oral scanner, comprising:

the probe body is provided with a cavity and an opening communicated with the cavity;

a light reflector fixedly arranged in the cavity towards the opening and provided with a first side and a second side opposite to the first side, wherein the first side is close to the opening compared with the second side; and

the first restraining structure is arranged on the first side adjacent to the opening to prevent the first side from being directly separated from the opening.

2. The probe of claim 1, wherein the first restraining structure is located at an edge of the opening.

3. The probe of claim 2, wherein the probe body comprises a housing, the housing defining the cavity, the opening, and the first restraining structure.

4. The probe of claim 1, further comprising a second restraining structure disposed on the second side.

5. The probe of claim 4, wherein the probe body comprises a housing and a fixing frame, the housing forms the cavity and the opening, the fixing frame is disposed in the cavity, the optical reflector is fixed on the fixing frame, and the second restraining structure is fixed on the fixing frame.

6. The probe of claim 5, wherein the first restraining structure is fixedly disposed on the mounting bracket.

7. The probe of claim 5, wherein the probe body comprises a heater secured to the fixture, the fixture being thermally conductive and removably disposed within the cavity.

8. The probe of claim 7, wherein the mounting bracket and the second restraining structure are formed from the same stamped metal piece.

9. The probe of claim 7, wherein the optical reflector is adhered to the holder by a thermally conductive adhesive.

10. The probe of claim 4, wherein the first restraining structure comprises two first restraining portions, the second restraining structure comprises two second restraining portions, and the two first restraining portions and the two second restraining portions restrain four corners of the optical reflector.

11. An oral scanner, comprising:

the probe of any one of claims 1 to 10; and

the device body is connected with the probe body of the probe, and external light can enter the probe from the opening and is reflected by the light reflector to be received by the device body.

12. The oral scanner of claim 11, wherein the probe is removably connected to the device body.