JP4130372B2 - LED photopolymerizer for engineering - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a technical photopolymerizer used in the jewelry industry, dental industry, etc. using a plurality of light emitting diodes as a light source for curing a photocurable material, and a heat dissipation method for the light emitting diodes, and It is a control method.
In particular, the present invention relates to a method for radiating light emitting diodes of a polymerization apparatus for irradiating and curing a dental photocurable material in the dental technical field, and a method for controlling a plurality of light emitting diodes.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in the field of dental technicians, the wavelength required to cure these photocurable materials when technicians produce photopolymerizable crown restorations and dental prostheses for use in the oral cavity with dental photocurable materials. A technical photopolymerizer equipped with some kind of light source that generates a light beam including a region is indispensable.
[0003]
Halogen lamps, metal halide lamps, or xenon lamps are used as light sources for conventional photopolymerizers for technical use. However, it is not easy to replace the lamp, and it is easy to break. In addition, since replacement of a plurality of lamps is time consuming and very complicated, it is desired to reduce lamp replacement as much as possible.
A conventional photopolymerizer for technical use starts light irradiation by pressing a timer switch. However, we wanted to reduce the work of pressing the timer switch by turning it on and off in conjunction with the opening and closing mechanism.
[0004]
When a conventional halogen lamp is turned on and off, the deterioration occurs severely, so that it cannot be turned on and off in conjunction with the opening and closing mechanism. In addition, when using a method in which the metal halide lamp is kept on and shielded with a shutter, the shutter could be shielded in conjunction with the opening / closing mechanism, but there was a tendency that the power consumption increased and the shutter failed. .
As a method of illuminating the curing space of the technical photopolymerizer, a method of dimming a halogen lamp or a xenon lamp has been used. However, the lamp life is shortened and the power consumption is also increased. An efficient way to solve these problems has not been found.
Since the present invention is characterized by the use of a light-emitting diode in a technical photopolymerizer, it has not been known in related patent documents and known documents.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2002-186632 A
[Patent Document 2]
JP 06-277233 A
[Patent Document 3]
JP 06-030954 A
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the present invention]
There has been a demand for a photopolymerizer for efficient light irradiation with respect to a dental photopolymerization material, particularly a technical photopolymerizer having excellent characteristics for technical use.
An ordinary light source polymerization device is a technical polymerization device that basically does not require replacement of the irradiation light source.
Conventionally, it has been difficult to keep the life of a light emitting diode long, and a large amount of light emitting diodes had to be used. Furthermore, troubles such as ball breakage did not cease in continuous polymerization and curing as a photopolymerizer for technical use.
Since the conventional polymerization apparatus has poor irradiation efficiency, it has been desired that the power consumption is as small as possible and there is no loss of power.
In a technical photopolymerizer using a light-emitting diode, there has been a demand for an operation that is troublesome in performing a technical operation and that can easily perform an operation that could not be performed conventionally.
In technical photopolymerizers using light-emitting diodes, the light-emitting diodes can be used for a very long time. It was not examined.
[0007]
[Means for carrying out the invention]
The present invention is a technical photopolymerizer using a light emitting diode as an irradiation light source. The technical photopolymerizer is characterized in that a mounting plate having a heat radiation function is used as a mounting plate on which the light emitting diode is disposed.
The present invention is a technical photopolymerizer using a light-emitting diode as an irradiation light source, wherein an aluminum material having a thickness of 2 to 5 mm is used for a mounting plate on which the light-emitting diode is disposed.
The present invention is a technical photopolymerizer having a series circuit composed of a constant-current circuit and a light-emitting diode wired in series, and a plurality of the series circuits wired in parallel.
[0008]
The present invention is a technical photopolymerizer having a light amount reaching mechanism that irradiates a light beam until reaching a set constant light amount.
The present invention is a technical photopolymerizer having an opening / closing device, having an interruption mechanism that interrupts irradiation by an opening operation of the opening / closing device during irradiation and irradiates a remaining amount by closing operation.
The present invention is a technical photopolymerizer having an internal illumination mechanism in which some of a plurality of light emitting diodes are turned on, dimmed and / or blinked, or all are dimmed or blinked.
The present invention is a technical photopolymerizer having an internal illumination extinguishing mechanism that extinguishes internal illumination when there is no operation beyond a certain level.
In the present invention, the light-emitting diode is a high-power light-emitting diode, and an aluminum plate having a thickness of 2 to 5 mm is used for a mounting plate on which the high-power light-emitting diode is disposed, and further, a constant current circuit and a light-emitting diode wired in series It is preferable that the photopolymerizer for engineering has a series circuit that is connected, and a plurality of the series circuits are wired in parallel.
The present invention has a light amount reaching mechanism that irradiates until reaching a set constant light amount, further includes an opening / closing device, and during irradiation, the irradiation is interrupted by opening the opening / closing device, and the remaining amount is irradiated by closing operation It is preferable that it is a technical photopolymerizer having an interruption mechanism.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown below. However, the following content is a preferable range, and is not limited to the following. First, the technical photopolymerizer constructed will be described.
The irradiation light source is a light source that emits light including a wavelength range necessary for curing a dental photocurable material, and preferably has a strong wavelength range of 400 to 500 nm, and is preferably blue. Moreover, it is preferable that there is one wavelength peak in the wavelength region of the visible light region.
A light emitting diode having a light emission wavelength suitable for curing a photopolymerizable resin material is used.
Preferably, the light emitting diode is of high output type. Furthermore, it is more preferable if a large-sized or a plurality of light-emitting diode chips are resin-molded and integrally processed with a metal stem such as an aluminum material.
The light emitting diode is preferably a high power light emitting diode.
The light output of the light emitting diode is 1 to 10 W, preferably 3 to 8 W. The number of light-emitting diodes used in the technical photopolymerizer is 4 to 30, preferably 6 to 15.
[0010]
A high-power light emitting diode is one in which a large number of light emitting diodes are assembled or a large light emitting diode chip increases the light output per unit several tens of times.
The arrangement of the high-power light-emitting diode is preferably an arrangement in which light is irradiated toward the work table, and the irradiation method is more preferably configured to directly irradiate the prosthesis.
[0011]
The irradiation position of the light emitting diode may be irradiated from above or from the side of the work table. A preferable irradiation direction is 0 to 80 degrees, preferably 0 to 40 degrees, and more preferably 10 to 30 degrees when the horizontal plane is 0 degree.
The arrangement of the light emitting diodes is preferably such that a plurality of light emitting diodes are attached to one mounting plate.
The light-emitting diode may be attached to the mounting plate by a screw or a fitting type, and most preferably by screwing.
A material having good thermal conductivity may be sandwiched between the light emitting diode and the metal plate. It is even better if there is insulation. Silicon grease and silicon sheet are preferred.
[0012]
It is preferable that the mounting plate having a heat dissipation action is made of a material having high thermal conductivity such as metal. Further, it is further preferable to provide fins or the like as the heat dissipation structure.
The mounting plate to be arranged is preferably made of an aluminum material, an iron material, a stainless steel material, a copper material, or a copper alloy material, preferably an aluminum material, a copper material, or a copper alloy material. The thickness of the mounting plate is 0.5 to 6.0 mm, preferably 2.0 to 5.0 mm, and more preferably 2.5 to 3.5 mm. More preferably, a fin for heat dissipation is installed on the back surface of the mounting plate. It is most preferable to use a cooling fan.
The shape of the mounting plate may be either a curved one or a mounting plate, and it is more preferable that a single flat plate is directed to the work table and is bent at several places.
The constant current circuit wired in series is a circuit that supplies an arbitrary constant current to the light emitting diode. The arbitrary current value is preferably changeable from the outside.
Wiring a series circuit in parallel means that a plurality of series circuits are wired in parallel up to the allowable output current range of the power supply.
[0013]
The constant light amount is a light amount necessary for curing the polymer, and is preferably (light amount) = (illuminance) × (time), and particularly preferably, the illuminance is large and the time is short.
The light quantity reaching mechanism is a mechanism that delays the irradiation time in order to maintain a prescribed light quantity per unit time, or a mechanism that continues irradiation until the prescribed light quantity is reached. Examples of the delay method include a method of delaying by the time derived from the function of irradiation illuminance and a method of delaying irradiation time by a delay list according to the irradiation illuminance.
The delay list is a list for delaying for a certain period of time in response to the reduced light amount due to long-term use in order to maintain a prescribed light amount.
Further, as a mechanism for detecting that a certain amount of light has been reached by the sensor, an illuminance sensor is preferably used for integration every unit time.
The method for setting the time for turning on the light emitting diode is a timer. The timer can be arbitrarily selected from several stages, but it is particularly preferable to set 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 seconds.
Further, when the light amount of the light emitting diode is attenuated and / or when a part of the light emitting diode is not lit, it is preferable to add a shortage of light amount to the set time to delay the curing end time.
[0014]
The opening / closing device only needs to be able to cut out a part of the housing and take in and out the photocurable material therein. Preferably, the cut-out portion is preferably joined by a hinge, more preferably a door shape. Moreover, it can also be made to open and close with a notch and a hinge etc. so that it may open and close up and down.
In addition, the opening / closing method is not limited to the hinge, and any method may be used, but a sliding type, a door type, a single-opening type, a double-opening type, a pull-out type, or the like can be employed. When the opening operation is performed by the switchgear, it is preferable that the notch of the switchgear exposes the work table by 20% or more, more preferably 40% or more, and still more preferably 60% or more. Furthermore, it is preferable that the opening / closing device has a viewing window for looking inside.
[0015]
The opening operation of the opening / closing device during irradiation is to open the opening / closing device during lighting for the light emitting diode in the polymerization chamber to harden the dental prosthesis.
The interruption of irradiation means that the opening / closing device is opened during lighting for curing the dental prosthesis, and the lighting of the light emitting diode in the polymerization chamber is temporarily interrupted.
The closing operation of the switchgear means that the switchgear is opened and closed after a certain period while the light emitting diode in the polymerization chamber is turned on for curing the dental prosthesis.
The remaining amount is the remaining light amount until reaching the constant light amount when irradiation is interrupted in a state where the constant light amount has not been reached, and is the amount of light that is newly irradiated after the closing operation of the switchgear.
The interruption mechanism is to temporarily suspend the irradiation during the irradiation until reaching a certain amount of light and restart the irradiation until it reaches again.
[0016]
Partially lit, dimmed and / or flashed means that only some of the light emitting diodes are lit, only some of the light emitting diodes are dimmed, or part of the plurality of light emitting diodes arranged in the polymerization chamber. These combinations are also preferable by blinking only the light emitting diodes.
All dimming or blinking means that all of the plurality of light emitting diodes arranged in the polymerization chamber are dimmed or all blinking, and these combinations are also preferable. Preferably, all of the plurality of light emitting diodes are dimmed.
The internal illumination mechanism can be used in a technical photopolymerizer that uses a light emitting diode as an irradiation light source, but also in a technical photopolymerizer that uses a halogen lamp, a metal halide lamp, or a xenon lamp as an irradiation light source. The present invention can be solved by using a diode.
[0017]
“No operation beyond a certain level” means that the technical photopolymerizer has not been operated for a certain period of time. Specifically, it refers to operations such as opening / closing of an opening / closing device, button operation, and control change. The certain time is not particularly limited, but can be converted by time, time, and the like. It is particularly preferable to integrate with a timer. The fixed time determined by the timer is not limited as long as the time up to 120 minutes can be arbitrarily set, preferably the time of 30 minutes can be arbitrarily set, and more preferably, the time of 15 minutes can be arbitrarily set.
Turning off the internal illumination means turning off all the light emitting diodes that illuminate the polymerization chamber.
The internal light extinguishing mechanism is to automatically turn off after counting for a certain period after the final operation. When the operation is performed again after the internal illumination is turned off, it is preferable to perform the internal illumination.
[0018]
[Effects of the Invention]
The technical photopolymerizer of the present invention prepares a mounting plate in which nine high-power light-emitting diodes are bonded to an aluminum material (width 10 cm, height 10 cm, thickness 3 mm), and installs a dental prosthesis. A U-shaped mounting plate was placed around the turntable and housed in the housing. An opening / closing device was provided so that the prosthesis could be taken in and out of the rotary table.
Although the technical light irradiator was irradiated for 10 hours, no failure was observed and the prosthesis on the turntable had no trouble such as poor curing.
[0019]
FIG. 2 shows a wiring diagram in which several series circuits composed of constant current circuits and light emitting diodes wired in series are wired in parallel.
By using a constant current circuit that allows a constant current to flow through a plurality of light emitting diodes connected in series, the light emitting diodes were able to maintain light emission at a constant illuminance.
These can also avoid the danger that the life of the light emitting diode will be shortened or the ball will be broken due to overcurrent. In addition, by changing the current value of the constant current circuit, the illuminance was changed, and it could be used for lighting in the polymerization chamber with a small current value separately from the curing.
By connecting a plurality of series circuits in parallel, it was possible to light more light emitting diodes at the same voltage until the allowable output current of the power source was reached. These are capable of selecting a balanced voltage and current power source, eliminating the need to use a special high voltage power source or high current power source.
[0020]
Since the illuminance of the light emitting diode decreases with age, even if it is cured in the initial polymerization time, a sufficient effect cannot be obtained. In this case, it is necessary to compensate for the shortage by converting the shortage of light.
If there is a function capable of recognizing that the amount of light necessary to cure the dental curable material is reached, uncured can be avoided. Even if the illuminance of the light emitting diode is reduced for some reason or the ball is broken in some series circuits, it is impossible for the operator to determine that the illuminance has decreased, but irradiation can be delayed and uncured can be avoided. In order to obtain the light amount corresponding to the difference α−β = γ by previously storing the light amount when the light emitting diode is irradiated for 30 seconds as the initial illuminance and α as the light amount after aging. It was delayed in terms of the irradiation time required. Assuming that a hardware failure has occurred, curing when one of the series circuits is turned off delays the end of the timer until the light intensity reaches a predetermined value, and continues irradiation during that time to cure. We were able to.
[0021]
In order to manufacture one general single crown, provisional polymerization is performed 7 to 8 times, and each time an opening / closing device is opened, a dental prosthesis is put in and out. Moreover, the work which turns on a light source also arises.
The opening / closing device is wide open, so that the surgeon can easily take out the dental prosthesis and avoid the deformation of the dental prosthesis. The interruption mechanism has a switch that can recognize opening and closing operations such as a limit switch in the opening and closing device, and if the opening operation is performed during the countdown of the arbitrarily set irradiation time, the countdown is paused and the countdown is resumed after the closing operation Let
When temporary polymerization was performed by repeating irradiation / extinguishing only by opening / closing operation of the switchgear by instructing long-time or continuous irradiation, it was very convenient and convenient, and the working time could be shortened.
In addition, even if an opening operation is mistakenly performed during irradiation, it is also turned off so that the surgeon is able to avoid eye damage and make it impossible to distinguish colors in technical work, thus preventing troubles. .
[0022]
In general, the photopolymerizer for technical use has a structure close to a sealed state so that light does not leak from the polymerization chamber because the light amount of the light source is strong. Therefore, even if there was no light from outside the polymerization chamber and there was a window, it was necessary to confirm whether or not there was a polymer inside by turning off the switchgear while the light was turned off. Further, if the switchgear is left open, dust or the like containing metal powder unique to a technical laboratory may enter the polymerization chamber and be mixed into the dental prosthesis. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the polymerization chamber as clean as possible.
The internal lighting mechanism reduces the set current value of the constant current circuit of the series circuit, sets the set current value of some constant current circuits to zero, adjusts the ON / OFF speed of the constant current circuit, or a combination thereof As a result, it was possible to easily confirm whether or not a polymer remained in the polymerization chamber without illuminating the interior of the polymerization chamber and opening the switchgear.
The internal illumination may be a small amount of light. In particular, when there is no operation by the operator for a long time, the current consumption is reduced by turning off the internal illumination. Since it is possible to select the time until the internal light is extinguished depending on the work situation of the surgeon, it is very convenient.
[0023]
[Effect of the present invention]
It is a photopolymerizer for efficiently irradiating a dental photopolymerization material, and has particularly excellent characteristics for technical use.
In the present invention, by effectively dissipating the heat generated by the light emitting diode, it is possible to prevent the ball from being cut and to maintain a long life and to operate stably. This is particularly effective when a prosthetic material is continuously produced as a technical photopolymerizer.
It is a technical polymerization device that basically does not require replacement of the irradiation light source, and is characterized by being able to be used for a very long time.
In a technical photopolymerizer, a complicated operation can be simplified by performing a technical operation by using a light source of a light emitting diode.
The technical photopolymerizer of the present invention has as little power consumption as possible and almost no loss of power.
In the technical operation, a method for solving the method of eliminating the curing failure due to long-term use peculiar to the light emitting diode has not been studied.
In the present invention, it was possible to irradiate with a stable illuminance, and it was difficult to generate polymerization spots. It is also possible to avoid the danger of causing the life of the light emitting diode to be shortened or the ball being broken due to overcurrent.
[0024]
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a mounting plate in which light emitting diodes are disposed in a housing of a technical photopolymerizer. FIG. 2 is a layout diagram of light emitting diodes in a mounting plate in which light emitting diodes are disposed in a housing of a technical photopolymerizer. [Fig. 3] Wiring diagram in which several series circuits composed of light-emitting diodes and constant current circuits wired in series are wired in parallel.
1 Light-emitting diode 2 Mounting plate

Claims (1)

A technical photopolymerizer using a light emitting diode as an irradiation light source, wherein a plurality of the light emitting diodes are provided in parallel so as not to be on the same plane on a mounting plate on which the light emitting diodes are arranged stepwise.

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