US3653125A - Dental treatment assemblies - Google Patents

Abstract

A dental treatment assembly comprises a patient''s chair and a dental treatment unit supported by the chair which is mounted on a base for adjustment in a generally vertical direction relatively to the base. The dental treatment unit includes a housing connected to the chair for movement lengthwise of the chair, a rigid dental hand appliance support arm pivotably connected to the housing and releasable locking means for locking the treatment unit to the chair.

Description

United States Patent [151 3,653,125 Heubeck [451 Apr. 4, 1972 [54] DENTAL TREATMENT ASSEMBLIES [56] References Cited [72] Inventor: Erich Heubeck, Erlangen, Germany UNITED STATES PATENTS [73] Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Erlangen, Ger- 3,311,411 3/1967 Page et al ..32/22 X many - Primary Examiner-Robert Peshock 2 F l d. 20, 96 [2 1 l e Oct 1 9 Attorney-Richards & Genet 211 App]. No; 867,513

[57] I ABSTRACT Foreign Application Priority Data A dental treatment assembly comprises a patient's chair and a Oct 26 1968 Germany P 18 05 514 6 dental treatment unit supported by the chair which is mounted on a base for adjustment in a generally vertical direction rela- 52 us. Cl 32 22 base- The dental includes a [51] Int. :..:.:A6 1c l9/02 ing connected to the chair for movement lengthwise of the 58 Field of Search ..32/22; 297/68 chain a rigid dental hand appliance s"PPM Pivmably connected to the housing and releasable locking means for locking the treatment unit to the chair.

2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAPR 4 I972 SHEET 1 [1F 2 I NV E NTO R: E./1eubec/ ATTO KNBAS PATENTEDAPR 4:972 3,653,125

SHEET 2 0F 2 INVENTOR:

5 Heubeck "Mm gm AT'IQILNESS DENTAL TREATMENT ASSEMBLIES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a dental treatment assembly comprising a patients chair and a dental treatment unit supported by the chair which is mounted on a base for adjustment in a generally vertical direction relatively to the base.

2. Description of the Prior Art In dental treatment assemblies of this kind it is known to mount a horizontal support, which extends parallel to the longitudinal axis of the chair, at one of its ends on the vertically adjustable base part of the chair. On the free end of the horizontal support situated approximately in the region of the forward seat edge of the chair, a tubular upright is mounted near its end which bears resiliently on the floor through the agency of an extensible part, the dental unit being mounted on the upright to be rotatable about the upright by means of clips. The head of the dental unit is adapted to be inclined about a horizontal axis, and from one side surface of the inclinable head there can be pulled out a jib-like telescopic arm of relatively small cross-section which at its free end carries a housing unit for dental hand appliances for syringing and drilling. The extensible conduits to the hand appliances and the like are disposed between the dental unit head and the hand appliance housing in the open and, as long as the hand appliances are in their housings, are slightly tensioned by a winding device for the flexible conduits which is arranged in the dental unit. Owing to this construction, the dental unit with the telescopic arm can be pivoted about the tubular upright tube, the housing unit for the hand appliances describing, in a plane situated above the patient, an arc the radius of which is adapted to be varied by the variously selectable lengths to which the telescopic arm can be pulled out. Also, the height of the pivoting plane above the patient can be varied by different inclinations of the dental unit head.

The invention proceeds from the fact that a dental unit of the type described hereinbefore is disadvantageous. On the one hand the relatively weak telescopic arm must be extensible over a considerable length in order to enable the hand appliance housing unit to be brought into the dentist's reach when the patient is lying down during treatment and the dentist is standing behind the patients head. Telescopic arms of this kind which can be pulled out to a considerable length, if they are to support a relatively considerable load at their free end such as the said housing unit represents, must be of very precise construction in order to be adequately stable even in the fully extended state. Therefore, they are relatively expensive. On the other hand, the flexible conduits must be extensible over a considerable length, so that at full extension, i.e., when they are relieved of tension by locking, they can sag over their entire length between the dental unit head and the hand appliance housing unit, and also between the housing and the hand appliance, and permit tension-free manipulation of the hand appliance. This considerable extension length of the flexible conduits is per se disadvantageous and also requires a relatively complicated winding device for the flexible conduits in the dental unit. Also the flexible conduits hanging down over their entire length between the dental unit head and the hand appliance are a nuisance to the patient and also get in the way of the work performed by a dental nurse.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a dental treatment assembly in which the aforesaid disadvantages are minimized or eliminated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided a dental treatment assembly comprising a patients chair and a dental treatment unit supported by the chair which is mounted on a base for adjustment in a generally vertical direction relatively to the base, the treatment unit including;

a. a housing connected to the chair for movement lengthwise of the chair,

b. a rigid support ann connected at one end to the housing for pivotal arcuate movement in a substantially horizontal plane relatively to the housing,

c. dental hand appliances carried by the other end of the 5 support arm and connected to respective extendible supply conduits which are enclosed by the support arm, and

d. releasable locking means mounted on the housing for locking the treatment unit to the chair.

With such a construction the support arm can then have a larger cross-section and can be relatively short, i.e., very stable, and surround all the supply conduits to the hand appliances. In particular, to support the dental unit on the patients chair there can be provided an elongate support member in the form of a guide rail which extends parallel to the longitudinal axis of the patients chair and along which the dental unit is guided to be displaceable and lockable in desired positions.

Because of the invention, the flexible conduits leading to the hand appliances do not require as great an extension length as in the known dental units, and the said flexible conduits when fully extended are no longer exposed in the open over their entire length between dental unit and hand appliance, but during treatment need only be pulled out as far as is necessary for free manipulation with the hand appliances. Adaptation of the position of the hand appliance housing unit to the particular position of the dentist can be effected by displacement of the dental unit in the longitudinal direction of the patients chair, for which purpose advantageously there can be used a handle arranged on the free end of the jib, which, when manipulated, automatically releases a brake which secures the position of the dental unit. This adjusting handle is conveniently so constructed that when pulled and pressed against in opposition to spring force it can be brought from a position of rest into one of two end positions in which it operates an electrical switch which then releases an electromagnetic brake which until then has secured the position of the dental unit. Thus, by simply gripping the handle in the sense of drawing the dental unit forwards or pushing it back, the locking effect on the dental unit is discontinued and, after the handle is released, the locking effect is automatically reestablished.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1, l designates the patients chair which consists of a head part 2, a back rest 3, a seat part 4, a foot part 5, a base 6 supported on the floor, a vertically adjustable base part 7 which is connected to the seat part 4, and a parallelogram arm 8 connecting the two parts 6 and 7 to one another. The dotdash line 9 represents the longitudinal axis of the patients chair.

The dental treatment unit includes an upright and elongate housing 10 which is disposed to one side, i.e., the left-hand side of the patients chair 1 with its longitudinal extent parallel to the longitudinal axis 9 of the patients chair 1. On the upper surface 11 of the housing 10, a rigid support arm 12 is connected at one end for pivotal arcuate movement in a substantially horizontal plane about a substantially vertical axis 15 near the narrow end 13 adjoining the foot part 5 of the patient's chair 1, through the agency of a support casing 14 The arm 12 is also connected to the casing 14 for upward and downward pivotal movement about a horizontal axis in the form of a substantially horizontal pin 16. Dental hand appliances are carried by the other free end of the arm 12, housing 17 and 18 for a turbine-type handpiece l9 and a micrometor handpiece 20 being inset into the end face 21 of the arm 12, and a dental syringe appliance 22 rests in a housing 23 fixed on the upper surface of the arm 12. Below the hand appliances 19, 20, 22 a dental instrument tray 24 is supported in a manner to be described. A stirrup-shaped handle member 25 is also mounted on the free end of the arm 12 between the syringe 22 and the handpieces 19, 20.

That part of the upper surface 1 1 of the housing 10 which is adjacent the head part 2 of the patient's chair 1, i.e., nearer the base 6 is constructed as a spittoon unit and comprises at the upper surface 11 a removable spittoon bowl 26, a mouth rinsing tumbler 27 and a filling device 28 for the said tumbler. At the narrow end 29 of the dental unit 10 there are also arranged operating pushbuttons 30 (for filling the tumbler, operating the syringe and the like) and below these operating pushbuttons 30 a strong-action suction hand appliance 31 and a saliva extractor appliance 32 are arranged removably in respective supports in a housing 33.

As shown in FIG. 2 an elongate support member in the form of a substantially horizontal guide rail 34 which extends parallel to the longitudinal axis 9 of the patients chair 1 is mounted on the vertically adjustable base part 7. A carriage 35 supporting the dental unit is supported to be displaceable lengthwise of the chair (arrow 37) by means of bearings in the form of rollers 36 (for the sake of simplicity only one roller is illustrated) and to be lockable by means of a releasable locking device constituted by an electromagnetic brake 38. FIG. 2 also shows the way in which the tray 24, situated below the hand appliances I9, 20 and 22 is supported. The: tray 24 is supported by a counterbalanced arm assembly 39 including a parallelogram linkage which is situated below the arm 12 and which at one of its ends is mounted for pivotal movement about two substantially horizontal pivots 40 and 41 which are disposed one above the other. The axes corresponding to these pivots 40 and 41 at the tray-side end of the parallelogram arm 39 are designated as 42 and 43. For substantially horizontal pivoting of the tray 24 towards and away from the housing 10 there is also arranged between the tray-side end of the arm 39 and the tray itself a substantially horizontal pivot ing arm 44. Arranged at the underside of the arm 12 is a recess 45 in which the parallelogram arm 39 can be housed over its entire length. In this niche 45 the arm 39 can be connected up to the arm 12 by means of press stud means comprising the stud part 46 which is fixed to the arm 39 and with which there is associated a corresponding counter-part 47 within the recess 45.

FIG. 3 shows the free end of the arm 12 on a larger scale. The handle member 25 which is angled and stirrup-shaped is mounted on the arm 12 to be rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis 48. The front portion of the handle 25 is disposed between the group of handpieces 19, 20 resting in their housings, on the one hand and the syringe 22 on the other hand. The syringe has been pulled out of its housing and only the extensible supply conduit 49 leading to the syringe 22 is illustrated. The extensible conduit 49 slides over the handle member 25 and therefore cannot collide with the handpieces situated below. The handle member 25 also serves as a means for protecting the dentist's hand from injury on the handpieces 19, 20 situated below the handle when he grasps the syringe 22 which is mounted above the handle 25. Fixed on a prolongation 50 of the handle 25 which goes beyond the horizontal axis 48 is a pin 51 which projects through an aperture 52 into the interior of the hollow arm 12. Near the pin 51, two doublearm levers 53 and 54 are mounted to be rotatable about pins 55 and 56 which are situated parallel to the axis of rotation 48. The free end of the lever 53 which is nearest to the pin 51 lies directly on the pin 51 and the corresponding free end of the lever 54 lies directly below the pin. The end of the lever 53 remote from the pin 51 abuts on a key 55 of a switch 56, the

said key being adapted to be operated in a downward direction and being subjected to spring pressure, and the corresponding free end of the lever 54 abuts on a key 57, of a further switch 58, which is to be operated upwardly and is also subjected to spring pressure. Actuation of the two switches 56 and 58 in each case causes the closing, through the agency of connecting leads 59 and 60, of the circuit with which the electromagnetic brake 38 is released which secures the dental unit 10 on the rail 34 (FIG. 2).

When a person presses against the handle member 25 (to shift the dental unit rearwards) the handle member 25 rotates about the axis 48 and the prolongation 50 moves downwards. As a result, the lever 54 is so rotated about its axis 56 that the end of the lever 54 abutting on the key 57 of the switch 58 is moved upwards and the switch 58 is operated. As a result, the electromagnetic brake engaging the rail 34 is released and the dental unit moves to the rear. When the handle 25 is pulled (to shift the dental unit forwards) the prolongation 50 of the handle 25 moves upwards and the corresponding actuation of the switch 56 takes place, thus also releasing the electromagnetic brake.

Instead of the two switches 56 and 58, which are closed in the two end positions of the handle 25, it is also possible to provide only a single switch which is closed in the central position of the handle 25 and is opened in the two end positions. The electromagnetic brake 38 must then be so constructed that it is released by the opening of this single switch.

I claim:

1. A dental treatment assembly, comprising a patients chair, and a dental treatment unit comprising a housing, an elongated support member connected to one side of the chair and extending lengthwise of the chair, bearing means connected with said support member and carrying said housing while permitting relative movement of said housing lengthwise of the chair a rigid support arm having one end connected to said housing for pivotal arcuate movement about a substantially vertical axis relatively to the housing, supply conduits enclosed by said support arm, dental hand appliances carried by the other end of said support arm and connected to said supply conduits, a handle member connected to said other end of the support am for pivotal upward and downward movement relatively thereto, electric switch means mounted in said support arm and actuated by said handle, and releasable locking means for locking the treatment unit to the chair and comprising an electro-magnetic brake engaging said support member and connected with said electric switch means.

2. An assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein the support arm is connected to the housing for pivotal upward and downward movement relatively to the housing.

Claims (2)

1. A dental treatment assembly, comprising a patient''s chair, and a dental treatment unit comprising a housing, an elongated support member connected to one side of the chair and extending lengthwise of the chair, bearing means connected with said support member and carrying said housing while permitting relative movement of said housing lengthwise of the chair a rigid support arm having one end connected to said housing for pivotal arcuate movement about a substantially vertical axis relatively to the housing, supply conduits enclosed by said support arm, dental hand appliances carried by the other end of said support arm and connected to said supply conduits, a handle member connected to said other end of the support arm for pivotal upward and downward movement relatively thereto, electric switch means mounted in said support arm and actuated by said handle, and releasable locking means for locking the treatment unit to the chair and comprising an electro-magnetic brake engaging said support member and connected with said electric switch means.

2. An assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein the support arm is connected to the housing for pivotal upward and downward movement relatively to the housing.

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