US2803060A

US2803060A - Attachment for a removable bridge or partial denture

Info

Publication number: US2803060A
Application number: US373777A
Authority: US
Inventors: Weiss Harry
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1953-08-12
Filing date: 1953-08-12
Publication date: 1957-08-20
Anticipated expiration: 1974-08-20

Description

H. WEISS 1 Aug. 20, 1957 ATTACHMENT FOR A REMOVABLE BRIDGE OR PARTIAL. DENTURE Filed Aug. 12,' 1953 29" IFINVEIIVIOR. L Harry We/ ss fla A fiomeys United States ATTACHMENT FOR A REMOVABLE BRIDGE OR PARTIAL DENTURE This invention relates to removable partial dentures and more particularly to improvements in attaching devices therefor.

A partial denture may comprise one or more artificial teeth attached to natural supporting or so-called pier teeth. Such a denture, hereinafter referred to as a bridge, is made removable for cleaning and adjustment and is supported in the mouth by fastening elements fixed to its opposite ends which are adapted for engagement with the adjacent pier teeth or with complementary fastening elements anchored thereto.

The desiderata of attaching devices are well known. The bridge should be readily removable and easily inserted but when in place should be held securely so that it does not rock during the impacts of mastication. Heretofore dependence has been placed on attaching devices of an interlocking nature connectable by a vertical sliding motion and having parallel surfaces which must be so nicely made and aligned that there is no play between the parts when they are coupled. This being a nearly impossible requirement as a practical matter, and in any event a requirement which may quickly be defeated through wear, resort has been had to a variety of resilient structures involving the use of separate spring elements or integral springable parts. Dental metals not being very good spring materials, these have not been entirely satisfactory for that reason and for the further reason that the presence of spring elements may permit relative motion between the bridge and the pier teeth.

In accordance with the invention a combination of parallel and tapered surfaces is employed which entirely eliminates the need for springs in making a tight rock-proof joint, which allows for relatively great ease of movement when the bridge is slightly moved from its seated position and hence greatly facilitates insertion and removal, which eliminates drift between the bridge and pier teeth and in which there will be negligible wear. Indeed, wear, which must necessarily occurin any such structure, will result in automatic accommodation of the surfaces to each other so that the assembly, on each occasion that it is set up, will be snug and tight, With substantially no relative movement of the parts after they have been properly associated. The association of the surfaces with each other results in relatively tight engagement as the tapered surfaces and the parallel surfaces act together as bearing surfaces. In conjunction with these surfaces, means may be associated in the form tent a pier tooth and in one end of a bridge, the two parts being shown as separated for clarity;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the male part of the attaching device;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation thereof;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the same;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the female part of the attaching device;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation thereof;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the male coupling part associated with fragmentary top and bottom profiles thereof;

Fig. 8 is a central vertical sectional elevation of the female part, taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 9 shows a modification of the female part.

Referring to Figs. 1, 5, 6 and 8, the female part of the attaching member, generally indicated at 10, provides a socket which is attached to pier tooth 11 in the usual way as part of an inlay 12 cemented in the prepared tooth. Instead of an inlay a three-quarter or full crown may provide the base for member which, according to well known technique, will become an integral part of the inlay or crown.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7, the male part of the attaching member, generally indicated at 15, is similarly attached to an end tooth 16 of a partial denture or bridge by soldering to the metal portion thereof. Proper alignment of parts 10 and will be made by the dental technician. Member 15 has a base plate 18 forming the back of the part, a forwardly extending shank 19 and an enlarged head portion having, from front to back, an outer face 20, a pair of outer side faces 21, a pair of first inner faces 22, a pair of inner side faces 23, and a pair of second inner faces 24, faces 21-24 being in stepped arrangement. Shank 19 is flush with the head portion at the top and is shorter at the bottom so that the head portion has an overhang 25 (Fig. 7).

As may best be seen in Fig. 7, the front face of base 18 and first inner face 22 extend in parallel directions. The next two faces 23 and 24 taper downwardly and forwardly, away from base 18, forming wedging surfaces. Outer face preferably has a slight downward and rearward taper toward base 18 for clearance purposes which gives it too a slight wedge shape.

Faces

21 and 23 and shank 19 preferably have a slight taper from top to bottom, though the sides of the shank may be practically parallel with a less pronounced taper than the taper of said faces.

The socket or female part 10 has an aperture shaped to correspond to the shape of the head portion and shank 19 of part 15, which aperture extends inwardly from and opens through the flat front face 26, which, when the parts are joined, lies flat against the front face of base 18 of male part 15. The walls of the aperture bear numbers corresponding to the numbers on the male part, distinguished by being primed. This aperture, as seen in Fig. 8, pro-vides a socket 27 at the bottom which receives the overhang 25. As male part 15 moves into female part 10, there will be a loose fit as overhang 25 enters socket 27. Any food particles, either in the liquid or semi-liquid state, which may have become trapped in this socket, will be expressed out of the socket around the walls of the overhang until the overhang finally comes to rest firmly seated in the socket. However, this socket, if desired, may be open at the bottom to permit discharge of food particles, as shown at 27a in Fig. 9. It will also be seen that the bottom end of female part 10, in either embodiment, is of a very rigid construction, a continuous bridge 28 of metal integral with the side walls extending across the front of socket 27 or 27a. Just below this bridge face 26 is provided with a transversely elongated depression or .recess29. I

As may be seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the lower portion of base 18 of part 15 is slotted beyond the outer boundaries of shank 19 at 30, 31, 32 to form two

spring arms

34, 35 which have on their front faces elevations 34a, 35a which engage in recess 29. The positions of the elevations and the recess could, of course, be reversed.

Arms

34, 35 can be bent to provide the desired degree of spring pressure toward said recess to provide a snap lock when the parts and are fully interengaged or so bent as to eliminate such lock as to either or both of the arms. The spring action is illustrated in the dotted line position of arm 35 in Fig. 7.

It will be understood that in mounting part 15 on denture 16 the

arms

34, 35 will be left free to move by having appropriate clearance with respect to the denture, the area of attachment being restricted to that portion of the base 18 above slots 32. These slots provide against possible accidental union of arms 34, when the denture is being attached, and thus the arms posi- I tively are left free.

It will be noted that the cross slot joining slots 30 and 31 is approximately opposite the lower end of shank 19 and together with slots 30 and 31 provides an opening through which any expressable matter, which may have accumulated in the socket of the female part, may be expelled as the overhang 25 moves into socket 27 and as the elevations 34a and 35a snap into the groove 29. Also, said elevations are so placed on the

spring arms

34 and 35 and are of such extent that as the parts are moved relatively into locking position the elevations ride on the face 26 of the female part until they reach the groove 29.

Considering the details above described it will be evident that the basic structure comprises a male member with'a generally wedge-shaped solid member carried on its shank, its inner and outer walls being non-parallel, and a female member with a corresponding wedge-shaped recess behind the groove which receives the shank. The locking means is wholly external to the recess and functions only to hold the wedge in seated position. By eliminating all spring devices from the wedge and recess, the connection is unyielding; yet upon slight movement, sufficient only to move the elevations 34a and 35a out of groove 29, the parts move very freely making removal very easy.

The embodiment above described as an illustration of the invention includes details which are subject to omission or variation and the invention is not to be considered as limited thereto but is to be construed only in accordance with the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An attachment for partial dentures of the type having separable male and female parts interengageable by relative sliding motion, wherein said male part has a base, a shank and an enlarged head portion, characterized by said base and said head portion having opposed plane surfaces extending in parallel directions, and intermediate wedging surfaces extending outwardly of said shank; said female part having an aperture shaped to conform to said shank and head portion and adapted to receive the same, and having a flat front face adapted to bear against the plane surface of said base.

2. The attachment of claim 1 wherein said base is provided with an integral resilient arm, and said arm and said fiat front face are provided with interengaging locking means adapted to yieldably resist sliding separation of the interengaged attachment parts.

3. The attachment of claim 2 wherein said locking means comprises an elevation on said arm and a recess in said flat front face.

4. Attaching means for securing a partial denture to a pier tooth, of the type having separable male and female parts interengageable by relative sliding motion, wherein said male part has a base, a shank and an enlarged head portion, characterized by said base and said head portion havingopposed plane surfaces extending in par allel directions, said head portion having intermediate wedging surfaces extending outwardly of said shank and having generally a slight taper from top to bottom; said female part having an aperture shaped to conform to said shank and head portion and adapted to receive and closely surround the same when the parts are coupled, and having a flat front face adapted to bear against the plane surface of said base; whereby the parts are loosened on slight separating movement.

5. An attachment for a bridge of the type having separable male and female parts interengageable by relative sliding motion, wherein said male part has a base, a shank and an enlarged head portion characterized by said base and said head portion having opposed plane surfaces extending in parallel directions, said head portion having a stepped configuration inwardly of its edges toward said shank, one of the steps providing an intermediate wedging surface; said female part having an aperture shaped to closely fit around said shank and head portion and adapted slidably to receive the same, and having a fiat front face adapted to bear against the plane surface of said base and a sloping internal surface providing a wedging action with said wedging surface as the parts are coupled together.

6. Attaching meansfor securing a partial denture to a pier tooth comprising interengageable male and female parts, said male part having a shank and a solid head portion carried thereby, said head portion having a plurality of at least four longitudinal surfaces, at least two of such surfaces sloping progressively inwardly toward the longitudinal axis of said head to provide a wedge shape, and at least two other surfaces of said head member being disposed at substantially uniform distances from said longitudinal axis throughout the length of said head; said female part having a recess provided with substan tially rigid complemental surfaces adapted to closely engage said head portion when the parts are fully engaged and a slot to receive said shank.

7. Attaching means for securing a partial denture to a pier tooth comprising interengageable male and female parts, said male part having a shank and a solid head portion carried thereby, said head portion having a plurality of at least four longitudinal surfaces, at least two of such surfaces sloping progressively inwardly toward the longitudinal axis of said head to provide a wedge shape, and at least two other surfaces of said head member being disposed at substantially uniform distances from said longitudinal axis throughout the length of said head; said female part having a recess provided with complemental surfaces adapted to closely engage said head portion when the parts are fully engaged and a slot to receive said shank; and resilient locking means carried by said male and female parts adapted to interengage upon the seating of said wedge-shaped head portion in said recess.

8. Attaching means according to claim 7 wherein said locking means comprises a projection on one of said parts and an indentation on the other of said parts.

9. Attaching means according to claim 7 wherein said locking means comprises a spring finger on one of said parts carrying a projection to be interlocked with an indentation on the other of said parts.

10. Attaching means according to claim 7 wherein said locking means comprises a pair of spring fingers on said male part integral with a wall thereof, each finger having a projection, said female part having a groove to receive said projections.

11. An attachment for a partial denture, the attachment consisting of a pair of interengageable sections, one of the sections of the attachment being intended to be associated with a pier tooth and the other section being intended to be associated with the partial denture, one of the sections having a recess therein, a Wall for that section as one boundary for the recess, the inner faces of the recess being defined by surfaces all vertical lines in which are straight and uninterrupted, the wall having a slot extending therethrough from the recess, the other section being formed to interfit with the recess and having means extending through the slot, and an interlockable indentation and projection carried by the sections to be interlocked as the sections are moved into the interengaged relationship to retain the sections against separation from the interengaged relationship, the indentation being located on one section and the projection on the other section so that communication between the recess and the slot remains open to permit ejection of foreign material from the recess by the other section substantially until the indentation and the projection move into interlocking relationship.

12. An attachment for a partial denture, the attachment consisting of a pair of interengageable sections, one of the sections of the attachment being intended to be associated with a pier tooth and the other section being intended to be associated with the partial denture, one of the sections having a recess therein, a wall for that section as one boundary for the recess, the wall having a slot extending therethrough from the recess, the wall having an indentation therein below the slot, the other section being formed to interfit with the recess and having means extending through the slot, and the other section having a separation to provide a projection to be interlocked with the indentation as the sections are moved into the interengaged relationship to retain the sections against separation from the interengaged relationship, the projection being associated with the other section so that the separation provides a passage for movement of foreign material from the recess by the other section, the separation being positioned to provide such access until the indentation and the projection move into interlocking relationship.

13. An attachment for a partial denture, the attachment consisting of a pair of interengageable sections, one of the sections of the attachment being intended to be associated with a pier tooth and the other section being intended to be associated with the partial denture, one of the sections having a recess therein, a wall for that section as one boundary for the recess, the wall having a slot extending therethrough from the recess, the wall having an indentation therein below the slot, the other section being formed to interfit with the recess and having means extending through the slot, and the other section having a finger at its lower extent, thefinger carrying a projection, the projection being positioned to ride on the wall and leave the slot open as the sections are moved into the interfitted relationship, the projection and indentation becoming interlocked as the sections are moved into interfitted relation to restrain the sections against separation.

14. Attaching means for securing partial dentures to pier teeth, the attaching means comprising interengageable male and female parts, said male part having a shank and a solid head portion carried by the shank; the female part having a recess formed to be complementary to the head portion, the female part being adapted to receive the male part seated in the recess and then closely to engage the head portion, the female part having a slot, the shank extending through the slot when the head portion is seated in the recess, one of the parts having a projection and the other part having an indentation, the projection and indentation being located to interengage with each other outside of the recess when the head portion is seated in the recess and then to function to retain the head portion seated in the recess.

15. Attaching means for securing partial dentures to pier teeth, comprising interengageable male and female parts, said male part having a shank and a solid head portion carried by the shank; the female part having a recess formed to be complementary to the head portion, the female part being adapted to receive the male part seated in the recess and then closely to engage the head portion, the female part having a slot, the shank extending through the slot when the head portion is seated in the recess, one of the parts having a pair of spring fingers, projections and indentations carried by the spring fingers and the other part to interengage with each other outside of the recess when the head portion is seated in the recess and then to function to retain the head portion seated in the recess.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,520,809 Cohen Dec. 30, 1924 1,522,233 Feinberg Jan. 6, 1925 1,645,340 Moore Oct. 11, 1927 1,705,504 Sorensen Mar. 19, 1929