Pen-like dispenser for a dental material

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10016257-B2
Application number	US-201414785029-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 28, 2014
Priority date	Apr 30, 2013
Publication date	Jul 10, 2018
Grant date	Jul 10, 2018

Abstract

A pen-like dispenser for dispensing a dental material has a handle and a cover which are attached for rotation relative to each other about a longitudinal axis of the dispenser, and a cartridge for holding the dental material and a screw plunger for extruding the dental material from the cartridge by screwing action. The cartridge and the cover in combination form a rotary slide valve which is operable by rotation about the longitudinal axis between a storage position, in which the cover closes a dispensing outlet of the cartridge, and a dispensing position, in which an opening in the cover opens the dispensing outlet of the cartridge. A relative rotation between the screw plunger and the handle about the longitudinal axis is restricted, and a relative rotation between the cartridge and the cover about the longitudinal axis is enabled within a predetermined rotation angle and restricted otherwise.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A pen-like dispenser for dispensing a dental material, comprising:
a handle and a cover which are rotatable relative to each other about a longitudinal axis of the dispenser, the cover having an opening, and wherein the cover and the handle are snap fit directly with each other, and wherein the snap fit is provided by engagement of engagement structures of the handle and the cover;
a seal for sealing any gap between the cover and the handle;
a cartridge for holding the dental material and having a dispensing outlet for the dental material; and
a screw plunger for extruding the dental material from the cartridge by screwing action,
the cartridge and the cover in combination forming a rotary slide valve which is operable by rotation about the longitudinal axis between a storage position, in which the cover closes the dispensing outlet of the cartridge, and a dispensing position, in which the opening in the cover opens the dispensing outlet of the cartridge,
wherein a relative rotation between the screw plunger and the handle about the longitudinal axis is restricted in both forward and backward directions, and wherein
a relative rotation between the cartridge and the cover about the longitudinal axis is enabled within a predetermined rotation angle and restricted otherwise.

2. The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein, for at least over a part of a length of the handle, the handle has a uniform non-circular inner cross-section, and wherein the screw plunger comprises an outer cross-section which is shaped to engage with the inner cross-section of the handle so that a relative rotation between the screw plunger and the handle is restricted but movement along the longitudinal axis is enabled.

3. The dispenser of claim 1 , further comprising a return spring for resiliently biasing the cover toward the storage position to return the cover automatically from the dispensing position to the storage position by spring force.

4. The dispenser of claim 3 , wherein the return spring is configured such that it provides a force sufficient to return the cover to the storage position and thereby to cut off dental material extending through the open rotary slide valve by spring force.

5. The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein a gap is provided between the cartridge and the cover over at least a portion of the cartridge circumference about the longitudinal axis.

6. The dispenser of claim 1 , the handle comprising a translucent or transparent wall portion.

7. The dispenser of claim 6 , wherein the translucent or transparent wall portion has a color indicative of a particular class of a material.

8. The dispenser of claim 1 , further comprising a tooth color encoding indicating the tooth color which the color of the dental material contained in the dispenser approximately corresponds to.

9. The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the cartridge has a ball-shaped end wall through which the dispensing outlet extends at an off-center relationship to the longitudinal axis.

10. The dispenser of claim 9 , further comprising a piston which is rotatably arranged on the screw plunger.

11. The dispenser of claim 10 , wherein the piston has a ball-shaped front face for conforming to the end wall of the cartridge.

12. The dispenser of claim 10 , wherein the piston in a dimension along the longitudinal axis is gas or air permeable and prevents the dental material to permeate through the piston in the same dimension.

13. The dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the cartridge has a sidewall extending along the longitudinal axis at a uniform cross-section, and wherein the sidewall has a uniform thickness.

14. A method of dispensing a dental composite filling material, comprising:
providing a dispenser of claim 1 ;
rotating the handle and the cover in a first direction about the longitudinal axis and thereby extruding a portion of the dental composite filling material;
rotating the handle and the cover in a second direction opposite of the first direction about the longitudinal axis and thereby cutting off the portion of the dental composite filling material; and
removing the cut off portion of the dental composite filling material.

Assignees

• 3M Innovative Properties Co

Inventors

• Pauser Helmut
• Peuker Marc
• Bertl Mathias
• Broyles Bruce R

Classifications

• A61C5/062 Primary

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A61C1/0061

  Air and water supply systems; Valves specially adapted therefor (A61C1/052 takes precedence; rinsing or air-blowing devices A61C17/02) · CPC title

• A61C5/62 Primary

  Applicators, e.g. syringes or guns · CPC title

• A61C5/50

  Implements for filling root canals; Methods or instruments for medication of tooth nerve channels · CPC title