WO2024189267A1

WO2024189267A1 - Dental patient chair

Info

Publication number: WO2024189267A1
Application number: PCT/FI2024/050105
Authority: WO
Inventors: Olli KATTELUS
Original assignee: Planmeca Oy
Priority date: 2023-03-13
Filing date: 2024-03-12
Publication date: 2024-09-19
Also published as: FI20235294A1

Abstract

Invention relates to dental patient chairs comprising a seat part (31) and an elongated back rest (32) having a bottom end at a seat part end thereof, and a top end at the opposite end. A control system of the patient chair comprises a user interface con- figured to enable sending a control command to a first motorized construction (M1) designed to alter a height position of the seat part (31) relative to its support structure (35) and to a second motorized construction (M2) designed to alter a tilt angle between the seat part (31) and the back rest (32). As a response to an initial input from the user interface, the control system initiates driving of the motorized constructions (M1; M2) to generate a combined movement which changes the height position of the seat part (31) and the tilt angle of the back rest (32) such that, considering a reference point (R) at a given short distance from the top end of the back rest (32), that reference point (R) will be at the same height position at the end of the combined movement than where it was when the initial input was received.

Description

DENTAL PATIENT CHAIR

FIELD

The invention relates to dental patient chairs , particularly to controlling movements of certain components of dental patient chairs .

BACKGROUND

Historically, dental patient chairs were designed to support a sitting patient and dentists were accustomed to work in a standing position . This caused the dentists having to work at uneconomic positions and was prone to cause health problems .

Modern dental patient chairs are designed not only in view of patient comfort but specifically in view of working ergonomics regarding various dentist ' s working positions . A modern dental patient chair comprises several components whose position can be adj usted and in the more advanced solutions , the dental patient chair may comprise motori zed drives to adj ust vertical and horizontal position of a seat part , tilt of a back rest in relation to the seat part , position and tilt of a head support in relation to the back rest , and tilt of a leg support in relation to the seat part . A dental patient chair may be a stand-alone apparatus and comprise a user interface of its own, reali zed by buttons arranged to the chair itself , for example . On the other hand, the chair may be a physical and functional part of a complete dental care unit comprising a base frame structure , a control system and various supports for various components , like for dental care in- struments and a dental operating light .

When having a complex system with several operational functions , like several motori zed movements of individual parts of a patient chair, also controlling of the various movements gets complex . This particularly in case of having to separately control various components to achieve a desired complete mutual movement thereof .

SUMMARY

A general obj ective of this disclosure is to provide one specific way to control certain movements of certain components of a dental patient chair, so as to ease operating the chair during treatment or in-between individual treatment operations . This obj ective is achieved by the construction and control as to be discussed in more detail below .

BRIEF DESCRI PTION OF FIGURES

In the attached figures

Fig . 1 shows one typical modern dental care unit with an integrated patient chair,

Fig . 2 shows a differently designed dental patient chair and in a different position than the one shown in Fig . 1 ,

Figs . 3a and 3b show principles of driving certain chair components according to this disclosure ,

Fig . 4 shows an example of a user interface appl icable for use in the context of this disclosure , and

Fig . 5 shows as simplified a control system applicable for use in the context of this disclosure .

DETAILED DESCRI PTION

As for more general background, in the field of odontology, the term dental care unit ( often also j ust ' dental unit ' ) refers to an apparatus or arrangement which supplies power and also possibly control signals to instruments used in connection with dental care operations , and also possibly to various other devices used in connection with dental care operations .

One typical solution used in dental care units is to arrange dental care instruments on an instrument console which is supported by a support arm extending from the frame structure of the dental care unit . The dental care unit may comprise more than one and also different support arms , for example for dental assistant ' s instruments or for other devices used in connection with dental care operations .

One typical solution used in dental care units is to arrange one or more hori zontal support arms to a support arrangement which extends vertically from the frame part of the dental care unit . Such an arrangement is typically implemented either to comprise a certain number of support arms or to enable a certain number of different arm as sembly variations , which can be implemented either when originally assembling the dental care unit or later as a retrofit . Such vertical support arrangement is typically connected to the cover structures of the frame part of the dental care unit . Individual dentists and on the other hand different dental clinics , educational establishments and also dentists in different cultures have needs and wishes differing from each other relating to equipping a dental care unit with instruments , accessories and support arm solutions according to one' s convenience .

Fig . 1 shows a basic structure of one typical kind dental care unit 1 intended for use in connection with dental care work . The dental care unit 1 of Fig . 1 comprises a frame part 2 and a patient chair 3 connected to it . From the frame part 2 extends vertically a support arrangement 4 which comprises a vertically extending support part 41 , a first support structure 42 to support diagnostic instruments related to dental care or instruments 6 used in connection with dental care operations , or both, a second support structure 43 for e . g . an operating light 8 or for an X- ray imaging means used in connection with dental care operations , and a third support structure 44 for e . g . a display 10 .

Fig . 1 further shows an instrument holder 11 , which can be configured to support instruments typically used by the dental assistant , and a foot control 12 by which functions of the dental care unit 1 and/or devices or structures connecting or coupled to it can be controlled . Additionally, the dental care unit 1 is arranged into operational connection with a data network or an individual computer 13 .

It should be noted that the dental care unit of Fig . 1 is only one example . The dental care unit can comprise e . g . more support structures or fewer support structures for different devices than included in the structure of Fig . 1 . Also , for example the patient chair does not necessarily need to be integrated with the dental care unit but it can be reali zed as structure completely separate from a dental care unit . On the other hand, the frame structure like discussed above can be arranged as an integral part of structures of a floor-mounted chair . Furthermore , instead of a structure having considerable hori zontal and vertical dimensions as shown in Fig . 1 , the frame structure of a dental care unit can be as for its dimensions principally only a minor structure from which extend one or more than one support arm . Along with or in addition to a foot control , the arrangement can also include a graphical or other user interface . The structure of the dental care unit is , however, typically reali zed such that via it are delivered, or can be arranged to be delivered power, fluid and/or control signals needed for using the instruments and devices used in the dental care operations . Thus , physically this means delivering for example at least one of the following : water, compressed air, electricity, control signal . Thus , in the context of this disclosure , when mentioning a dental care unit it basically refers to a structure which includes an arrangement which enables supplying at least one of the above- mentioned or a corresponding variable to dental care instruments and/or a device used in connection with dental care work operations which are arranged in connection with the dental care unit .

The dental care unit of Fig . 1 is thus , as said, one example of a typical dental care unit . The frame structure of the dental care unit may comprise a support structure for a patient chair ( a mechanism not visible in Fig . l as the patient chair itself blocks a view to such structure - which may be sturdy support arm) , yet a patient chair may also be an independent apparatus . The disclosure below is made mostly in reference to an independent patient chair .

Fig . 2 shows a dental patient chair designed differently and in a different position than the one shown in Fig . 1 . The dental patient chair of Fig . 2 comprises a seat part 31 , an elongated back rest 32 having a bottom end at the seat part end thereof and a top end at the opposite end thereof , a head support 33 and a leg support 34 . Differently from the Fig . 1 construction, the seat part 31 is not supported by a structure extending from the frame of the dental care unit but by a base structure 35 designed to be mounted on a floor .

Figs . 3a and 3b show schematically basic components and a particular operation of a dental patient chair as per the current disclosure . As compared to Fig . 3a, the seat part 31 has been driven in Fig . 3b onto a higher hori zontal level while a tilt angle between the back rest 32 and the seat part 31 has been decreased, such that a reference point R locating on a virtual extension of the elongated back rest 32 , a distance away thereof , remains at the same height position . This i s achieved by a particularly designed combined motori zed Ml ; M2 movement which changes the height position of the seat part 31 and the tilt angle between the seat part 31 and the back rest 32 . That is , when knowing the length of the elongated back rest 32 as measured from its physical or virtual pivot axis , as defined by the articulation construction A, to the top end thereof , and the distance from the top end of the back rest to the reference point R, one is able to calculate how any change in the tilt angle changes the height position of the reference point R . ( It is to be noted that the location of reference point R in relation to the top end of the back rest needs not to be same in any given circumstance when initiating the above-discussed combined movement , and one may even give a position for R which is not further from but closer to the pivot axis than where the top end of the back rest is located . )

In case of the patient chair being supported as shown and discussed in reference to Fig . 1 , a motori zed drive to adj ust height position of the seat part 31 can be arranged to take place in the context of such construction as well . There , frame 2 could correspond the base structure as per Fig . 2 , and the same mutual positions of the components of the patient chair as shown and discussed in reference to Figs . 3a and 3b could be reali zed in such context as well .

A large number of constructions to alter height position of the seat part , be that then in the context as per Fig . 1 or Fig . 2 , are well known in the field and no details of such are thus presented here . The same concerns construction for altering the tilt angle between the seat part and the back rest .

It is particular to the current disclosure that reali zing of the kind of mutual movement of the seat part 31 and the back rest 32 , as shown in Figs . 3a and 3b, is arranged to take place in response to a specific command given from a user interface . That is , if considering the position shown in Fig . 3a being "position A" and that of Fig . 3b being "position B" , as compared to sepa- rately driving the seat part 31 and the back rest 32 from their mutual position A to the mutual position B, the user interface according to this disclosure is designed to provide a single input to drive the seat part 31 and the back rest 32 from the mutual position A to position B - and obviously also vice versa .

Particularly, such single input is to only drive the motori zation Ml adj usting the height position of the seat part 31 and the motori zation M2 driving the articulation construction A which enables adj usting the tilt angle between the seat part 31 and the back rest 32 . In other words , that single input is not to trigger any other drives the patient chair may have been configured to comprise . Such basically simple combined driving can be arranged to take place , for example , by arranging to a user interface configured to control the chair virtual or physical control buttons SMU and SMD as shown in Fig . 4 . The first one of those buttons can be configured to generate a control signal "synchroni zed move up" ( of the seat part ) as long as the control command is being given, like as long a respective control button is being pressed, and the second respectively "synchroni zed move down" , as long as the control command is being input . Obviously, similar control can be arranged to take place , alternatively or in addition, via other kind of user interfaces as well , like a lever of a foot control device , for example .

The above sort of control is different from one in which the control system may comprise stored positions of chair components and in which a control command may be given to drive the chair components to a certain position stored in advance in the control system .

Fig . 5 shows as simplified a control system applicable for use in the context of this disclosure . The control system may be a part of a stand-alone chair or part of a dental care unit comprising a patient chair . The control system controls motori zed drive of the seat part and the back rest as discussed above , as a response to a trigger input from the user interface .

While Figs . 3a and 3b show positions in which the tilt angle between the seat part 31 and the back rest 32 is closer to 45 degrees than to say 90 degrees , which would correspond to a patient sitting position, the same mutual driving principle as disclosed above can be applied also up to such tilt angles - as well to the other direction like up to , or perhaps rather "down to" even a so-called Trendelenburg position where a patient lies near horizontally yet such that the head gets positioned lower than the pelvis . ( In such case , the chair may be further arranged to allow for adj usting, separately from the operation discussed above , a tilt angle between the seat part 31 and the leg support 34 . )

According to one particular aspect , the control system is arranged to generate the mutual movements of the seat part 31 and the back rest 32 such that , cons idering the reference point R at a given short di stance away from the top end of the back rest 32 , it will be at the same height position at the end of the movements of the seat part 31 and the back rest 32 than when the control command for the mutual driving of the components was initially given .

It is to be noted that while drive of the movements of the chair components discussed above may be arranged synchroni zed so as to all the time keep the reference point R at the same height position, this needs not to be the case . For example , either of the seat part movement or the back rest movement may be arranged to take place faster and the desired mutual end position be reached only after either of the height position of the seat part or the back rest tilt angle has been considered to have reached a desired end position . As an example , altering the height position of the seat part may be arranged to be faster and when a desired height has been reached, the back rest will "follow" to complete its total movement so as to ultimately have the reference point R at the same height position as it was at the beginning of the combined movement .

According to one aspect , the control system of the chair may be configured to calculate height position of the reference point R in response to receiving an input to initiate the above-discussed mutual movement from a height position of the seat part 31 and a tilt angle of the back rest 32 at that given moment .

According to one aspect , the dental patient chair comprises a first position sensor indicating a height position of the seat part 31 and a second position sensor indicating a tilt position of the back rest 32 , wherein the first and second positioning sensors are optionally arranged to be part of the first and second motori zed driving constructions (Ml , M2 ) . The control system may then be configured to receive position signals from the first and second position sensors in response to receiving the input to initiate the above-discussed mutual driving of the seat part 31 and the back rest 32 .

According to one aspect , the motori zed drives of adj usting the height position of the seat part 31 and tilt angle of the back rest 32 comprise stepping motors which can be equipped to continuously provide information of hori zontal position of the seat part 31 and of the tilt position of the back rest 32 , whereby calculation of vertical location of the reference point R can also be continuous , or needs not to be calculated based on specific position sensor signals upon initiation of the above-discussed synchroni zed movement .

According to one aspect , the dental patient chair comprises a seat part 31 and an elongated back rest 32 having a bottom end at a seat part end thereof , and a top end at the opposite end . A control system of the patient chair comprises a user interface configured to enable sending a control command to a first motori zed driving construction Ml des igned to alter a height position of the seat part 31 relative to its support structure 35 and to a second motori zed driving construction M2 designed to alter a tilt angle between the seat part 31 and the back rest 32 . As a response to an initial input from the user interface , the control system initiates driving of the motori zed constructions Ml ; M2 to generate a combined movement which changes the height position of the seat part 31 and the tilt angle such that considering a reference point R at a given short distance from the top end of the back rest 32 , that reference point R will be at the same height position at the end of the combined movement than where it was when the initial input was received .

According to one aspect , the dental patient chair comprises a seat part 31 , an elongated back rest 32 having a bottom end at a seat part end thereof and a top end at the opposite end, a support structure of the seat part 35 , a first motori zed construction Ml designed to enable altering a height position of the seat part 31 relative to the support structure of the seat part 35 , an articulated structure A connecting the seat part 31 and the back rest 32 , a second motori zed construction M2 designed to operate the articulated structure A to enable altering a tilt angle between the seat part 31 and the back rest 32 , and a control system comprising a user interface configured to enable sending control commands to said first and second motori zed constructions Ml ; M2 . The user interface is configured to enable transmitting a first and a second input to the control system, wherein said first input is designed to trigger a combination of operations comprising driving said first motori zed construction (Ml ) to raise the seat part ( 31 ) and driving said second motori zed construction (M2 ) to decrease the tilt angle , and said second input is designed to trigger a combination of operations comprising driving said first motori zed construction (Ml) to lower the seat part (31) and driving said second motorized construction (M2) to increase the tilt angle, and both of the first and second inputs are configured to cause no other component optionally included in the patient chair construction to move, and wherein both of said combinations of operations generate such combined movement of the seat part (31) and the back rest (32) that, considering a reference point (R) at a given short distance from the top end of the back rest (32) , the reference point (R) will be at the same height position at the end of the combined movement than when where it was when said first or second input was transmitted.

Claims

1. A dental patient chair, comprising:

- a seat part (31) ;

- an elongated back rest (32) having a bottom end at a seat part end thereof and a top end at the opposite end;

- a support structure of the seat part (35) ;

- a first motorized construction (Ml) designed to enable altering a height position of the seat part (31) relative to the support structure of the seat part (35) ;

- an articulated structure (A) connecting the seat part (31) and the back rest (32) ;

- a second motorized construction (M2) designed to operate the articulated structure (A) to enable altering a tilt angle between the seat part (31) and the back rest (32) ;

- a control system comprising a user interface configured to enable sending control commands to said first and second motorized constructions (Ml; M2) ; characte r i z ed i n that the user interface is configured to enable transmitting a first and a second input to the control system, wherein said first input is designed to trigger a combination of operations comprising driving said first motorized construction (Ml) to raise the seat part (31) and driving said second motorized construction (M2) to decrease the tilt angle, and said second input is designed to trigger a combination of operations comprising driving said first motorized construction (Ml) to lower the seat part (31) and driving said second motorized construction (M2) to increase the tilt angle, and wherein both of the first and second inputs are configured to cause no other component optionally included in the patient chair construction to move, and wherein both of said combinations of operations generate such combined movement of the seat part (31) and the back rest (32) that, considering a reference point (R) at a given short distance from the top end of the back rest (32) , the reference point (R) will be at the same height position at the end of the combined movement than when where it was when said first or second input was transmitted.

2. A dental patient chair according to claim 1, characte ri z ed in that the control system is configured to calculate, when receiving said first or second input, a height position of the reference point (R) from a height position of the seat part (31) and a tilt angle of the back rest (32) at that moment.

3. A dental patient chair according to claim 2, characte ri z ed i n that the dental patient chair comprises a first position sensor indicating a height position of the seat part (31) and a second position sensor indicating a tilt position of the back rest (32) , wherein the first and second positioning sensors are optionally arranged to be a part of the first and second motorized constructions (Ml, M2) , and wherein the control system is configured to receive position signals from said first and second position sensors in response to receiving said first or second input .