FR3089782A1 - Reusable adapter for the working block of at least one dental prosthetic element - Google Patents

Abstract

This reusable adapter for a block for machining at least one dental prosthetic element comprises an attachment (3) comprising means (5, 8) for positioning and fixing the adapter on a machining machine and a head (4) comprising reversible assembly means (9, 10, 11) manually operable for mounting and dismounting one or more machining blocks on the head. Figure for abstract: Fig 3

Description

Description

Title of the invention: Reusable adapter for machining block of at least one dental prosthetic element

The present invention relates, in general, accessories for the custom manufacture of dental prosthetic elements, and relates more particularly to a custom workpiece of one or more dental prosthetic elements.

The machining of dental prostheses, such as crowns, inlays, onlays, inlaycores, bridges or veneers, positioning wedges or occlusal wedges, or any other custom-made prosthetic element is generally done by CEAO (Design Manufacturing Assisted by Computer).

This machining can be done in an external laboratory or in a specialized production center. In this case, the practitioner transmits the dental impression of a patient to the laboratory, requesting the help of a technician. Given the delays and costs, this approach can be long and restrictive for patients.

For this reason, and in order to best adapt to the demands of patients, more and more practitioners are equipping themselves with machining machines and producing the various prostheses themselves within their offices.

These machining machines are for example numerically controlled milling machines, numerically controlled lathes, ...

These machines are used to machine machining parts consisting of machining blocks, for example ceramic, and a fastener which is used to mount the machining block on the machine.

The machines are in this regard provided with a mechanism for holding the fasteners, for example with a pressure screw, pressure balls, or any other mechanical or pneumatic clamping mechanism.

Each machining block is fixed and securely connected by bonding to a fastener which is specific to it.

[0009] After machining, the dental prosthetic element thus produced is separated from the attachment, which is no longer used and must be discarded.

Thus, this method of assembling the machining block and the fastener implies, for the fastener, a very short lifespan, equivalent to that of the block.

There are several geometric forms of attachment which are linked to the requirements and constraints of the manufacturers of machining blocks and machines.

The diversity of shape of the fasteners thus has the effect of making the use of the machining blocks on which they are fixed exclusive to certain models of machines.

The machining blocks also have various shapes depending on the intended application.

A fastener is therefore intended to be used only for a single machining operation.

In view of the above, the object of the invention and to provide an adapter for a machining block intended for mounting a machining block on a machining machine, which is reusable and therefore , whose duration of use and much longer compared to that of the machining unit.

The invention therefore relates to a reusable adapter for machining block of at least one dental prosthetic element, which comprises means for positioning and fixing the adapter on a machining machine and a head comprising reversible assembly means which can be actuated manually for mounting and dismounting one or more machining blocks on the head.

The reversible assembly means between the block and the adapter can be manually actuated outside the machine when the adapter is removed from the machine. In another embodiment, it is also possible to carry out this operation manually directly in the machine when the adapter is still fixed in the latter, thus advantageously making it easier to replace the machining blocks without the aid of no tools, on a machine with a complex attachment system.

One can also imagine that the adapter is fully secured to the machining machine, and that one can insert the machining block directly on the machine, manually and without the help of any accessory or tool technical.

Furthermore, in various embodiments, the assembly means can be removable by being mounted on the head in a detachable manner.

Thus, after machining of the machining block, the adapter can be reused for mounting another machining block and producing another dental prosthetic element.

In one embodiment, the reversible assembly means comprise bayonet assembly means.

For example, the head comprises two diametrically opposite radial fins, the block comprising a housing of shape complementary to that of the head and provided with two diametrically opposite notches of shape complementary to that of the fins and of two grooves practiced locally at the periphery housing from the notches.

Alternatively, the reversible assembly means are sliding assembly means.

For example, these means are dovetail assembly means.

In one embodiment, the dovetail assembly means corn3 take at least one transverse edge able to be retained in a groove and to be inserted therein by a lateral sliding movement, the edge and the groove being made one in the machining block and the other in the head.

In another embodiment, the head comprises a pair of lateral ribs engaging by a lateral sliding movement in two respective grooves made opposite in the machining block.

In various embodiments, the assembly means may include a spring ball or a protrusion formed integrally with the block or attached and urging the machining block in the holding position on the head.

According to yet another embodiment, the reversible assembly means comprise assembly means by clamping said machining block.

For example, these means of assembly by tightening comprise a deformable collar intended to surround a cylindrical part, of any section (square, rectangular, circular, etc.), of a machining block and a tightening lever of the collar on the machining block.

In various embodiments, the adapter can consist of one or more elements themselves assembled or not.

The invention also relates, according to a second aspect, a workpiece which comprises at least one machining block and an adapter as defined above, for mounting the block on a machine machining.

Other purposes, characteristics and advantages will appear on reading the following description, given only by way of illustration and with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

[Fig.l] illustrates an embodiment of a workpiece;

[Fig.2]

[Fig.3]

[Fig.4]

[Fig.5] illustrate a first embodiment of the reversible assembly means of a machining block on a fastener;

[Fig.6]

[Fig.7]

[Fig.8] illustrate another example of implementation of the reversible assembly means of a machining block on a fastener;

[Fig.9] illustrates an alternative embodiment of the reversible assembly means;

[Fig.10] illustrates another example of implementation of the reversible assembly means of a machining block on a fastener;

[Fig.l 1] illustrates yet another example of implementation of the reversible assembly means of a machining block on a fastener; and

[Fig. 12]

[Fig. 13] represent an exemplary embodiment of a spring ball or a protrusion formed integrally with the block or attached requesting a machining block in the holding position on the head.

There is shown in Figure 1 a workpiece designated by the general reference numeral 1.

This workpiece comprises a machining block 2 and an adapter A which constitutes a fastener 3 on which is mounted the machining block 2 and which is intended to hold the block 2 on a machining machine.

Block 2 here has a shape of a parallelepiped, although its shape is in no way limiting.

Its geometric characteristics are in fact determined according to those of the dental prosthetic element to be machined.

It is for example made of ceramic.

Of course, depending on the intended applications, the block 2 can be made of any other material, such as fiber materials, for example glass fibers or carbon fibers, metal, resin, temporary resin or waxen. It can also be made of reinforced glass ceramic, nano-ceramic or hybrid material.

The machining block 2 is intended for the manufacture of a dental prosthetic element, such as a crown, an inlay, an onlay, inlay-core, a bridge or a veneer, a positioning wedge or a wedge occlusal, or any other custom prosthetic element.

The fastener 3 comprises a head 4 which is here provided with a notch 5 constituting a keying device and a tail 6 provided with means for fixing the adapter A on a machining machine, and an intermediate annular groove 8 intended to cooperate with a system of clamping balls or a pressure screw.

The machining block 2 and the fastener 3 are provided with complementary reversible assembly means which can be actuated manually.

In a first embodiment, visible in Figures 2 to 5, these reversible assembly means are bayonet assembly means.

In this embodiment, the head 4 has two radial fins 9 with a convex outer edge while the front face of the block 2 is provided with a housing 10 of shape complementary to that of the head 4. The housing 10 is provided with diametrically opposite notches 11 of shape complementary to that of the fins 9 and two grooves 12 also diametrically opposed, formed locally on the periphery of the housing 10. These grooves extend from the notches 11 and are each intended to constitute a stop preventing the axial and radial movement of the machining block relative to the fastener.

Thus, as shown in Figure 5, after insertion of the fins 9 in the grooves

12, the machining block 2 is locked by rotation of the fastener 3 relative to the block 2 or vice versa of the block 2 relative to the fastener 3.

For example, the notches 11 and the grooves 12 are shaped so that the locking of the machining block takes place in a quarter-turn movement.

In another embodiment, visible in Figures 6 to 8, the reversible assembly means comprise assembly means by sliding.

In one embodiment, these assembly means are reversible dovetail assembly means.

In the example illustrated, the rear face of the head 4 on which the machining block 2 is fixed has a profiled edge 14, which extends along a diameter of the head 4.

The stop 14 has a diverging profile in cross section, here generally V-shaped. The stop 14 is, however, set back relative to the notch of the polarizing device 5.

The machining block has, meanwhile, a groove 15 formed in its front face intended to be fixed on the head 4. This groove 15 has a cross section of divergent shape in the direction of the rear face of the block 2 It has a form complementary to that of decree 14.

As can be seen, it extends transversely along the front face of the machining block 2, opening laterally on a lateral face 16 of the block 2, while being set back with respect to the opposite face so as to define a stop 17.

In this embodiment, the block 2 is mounted on the fastener 3 by a lateral sliding movement until the stop 14 is supported on the stop 17.

In the embodiment of Figures 6 to 8, the reversible assembly means comprise a single dovetail assembly means.

Of course, it is also possible, as a variant, as shown in FIG. 9, to use two assembly mechanisms with dovetail by making two edges 14 'and 14 ”in the head 3 and, in machining block 2, two grooves 15 'and 15 ”.

Furthermore, it is not departing from the scope of the invention when the edge or edges carried by the head 4 have a different profile.

As shown in Figure 9, it is also possible, alternatively, to conform the edges in the form of a bead with rounded section which engages in a complementary rounded groove. Such an edge shape can of course be adopted when using a single dovetail locking mechanism.

In the embodiment of Figure 10, the assembly means are constituted by assembly means by clamping the machining block.

In this embodiment, the fastener 3 is provided with a deformable collar 18. In this case, the machining block is provided with a cylindrical portion which engages in the collar 18. The latter is provided with a lever 19 capable of ensuring the clamping of the collar on the cylindrical portion of the machining block.

In the illustrated embodiment, the collar 18 is a split collar, the lever 19 being carried by one of the ends of the collar and cooperating in tightening with the opposite end of the collar.

Referring to Figure 11, in another embodiment of the reversible assembly means, the head comprises a pair of opposite lateral ribs 21 and 22 and the machining block 2 comprises two complementary grooves 23 provided on two mutually opposite side faces of the block 2. The ribs engage in the two grooves by a lateral sliding movement until they come into abutment against the bottom of the grooves.

Referring to Figures 12 and 13, which show an embodiment of the blocking means of the machining block in the head 4, compatible with the embodiments of Figures 1 to 9, a spring ball 24 which s 'engaged in a blind hole made in the block 2, may be provided in the bottom of the housing delimited by the ribs 21 and 22, urging the machining block in the holding position on the head. Of course, this spring ball can be replaced by a protrusion made of material, or attached to the body, which engages in a blind hole provided in the head to urge the block in the head.

As will be appreciated, in the various embodiments which have been described, after machining, the fastener can be separated manually from the machined block and can thus be reused for the machining of another machining block.

The fastener can thus be reused a large number of times. An advantageous embodiment of the adapter thus consists, for example, of making it out of metal.

The assembly of the machining unit is particularly easy to implement, by hand, with a minimum of gestures, without using any accessories or technical tools. Fixing is however guaranteed. After fixing the block on the fastener, the latter ensures the block remains in position, throughout the machining phase.

The adapter can be used with any type of machining block, whatever its material, its shape (block with square, rectangular, circular section, etc.), or its size, thanks to an adaptive design of the adapter.

The means of fixing the adapter on the machine are provided and declined so as to ensure the mounting of the adapter on all existing machines, thus making it possible to machine machining blocks on any machine .

Furthermore, the fixing of a block on the adapter is carried out without the use of glue, which makes the adapter more environmentally friendly.

Note also that the reversible assembly means allow a very easy mounting of the machining block on the adapter, and this, with one hand and, as indicated above, without the help of any accessory or technical tool.

Finally, note that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described.

Indeed, in the examples described, the assembly means are made in a single piece secured to the head.

One could also provide, as a variant, compatible with the various embodiments described, that these assembly means consist of several parts, assembled together or not.

Thus, for example, in the embodiment of Figure 9, the assembly means may include a removable pin 25, shown in dotted lines, which fits into a hole in the machining block and in the adapter or in the assembly means to lock the machining block on the adapter.

Claims (1)

Claims [Claim 1] Reusable adapter for machining block of at least one dental prosthetic element, characterized in that it comprises means (5, 8) for positioning and fixing the adapter on a machining machine and a head (4) comprising reversible assembly means which can be actuated manually for mounting and dismounting one or more machining blocks on the head. [Claim 2] Reusable adapter according to claim 1, wherein the reversible assembly means are bayonet assembly means. [Claim 3] Reusable adapter according to claim 2, in which the head comprises two diametrically opposite radial fins (9), the block (2) comprising a housing (10) of a shape complementary to that of the head (4) and provided with two notches (11 ) diametrically opposite in shape complementary to that of the fins (9) and two grooves (12) formed locally at the periphery of the housing (10) from the notches. [Claim 4] Reusable adapter according to claim 1, wherein the reversible assembly means comprise sliding assembly means. [Claim 5] Reusable adapter according to claim 4, in which the assembly means comprise dovetail assembly means (14, 15). [Claim 6] Reusable adapter according to claim 5, in which the dovetail assembly means comprise at least one transverse edge (14) able to be retained in a groove (15) and to be inserted therein by a lateral sliding movement, the edge and the groove being formed one in the machining block and the other in the head. [Claim 7] Reusable adapter according to claim 4, in which the head comprises a pair of lateral ribs engaging by a lateral sliding movement in two respective grooves made facing each other in the machining block (2). [Claim 8] Reusable adapter according to any one of claims 1 to 7, in which the reversible assembly means comprise a spring ball or a protrusion made of material with the block or attached and urging the machining block in the holding position on the head. [Claim 9] Reusable adapter according to claim 1, in which the assembly means are assembly means by clamping said block. machining. [Claim 10] Reusable adapter according to claim 9, comprising a deformable collar (18) intended to surround a part of a machining block and a lever (19) for clamping the collar on the machining block. [Claim 11] Reusable adapter according to any one of claims 1 to 10, consisting of one or more elements themselves assembled or not. [Claim 12] Workpiece, characterized in that it comprises at least one machining block (2) and an adapter according to any one of claims 1 to 11, for mounting the block (2) on a machining machine . 1/7