Handpiece head for a dental handpiece

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10799320-B2
Application number	US-201715710860-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 21, 2017
Priority date	Sep 22, 2016
Publication date	Oct 13, 2020
Grant date	Oct 13, 2020

Abstract

The invention relates to a handpiece head ( 1 ) comprising a housing ( 2 ) and a closing cap ( 3 ), wherein the housing ( 2 ) is releasably connected to the closing cap ( 3 ) by means of a screw connection ( 4 ). The closing cap ( 3 ) comprises at least one recess ( 8 ) or at least one elevation ( 7 ), wherein the housing ( 2 ) correspondingly comprises at least one elevation ( 7 ) or at least one recess ( 8 ). When the closing cap ( 3 ) is screwed in, the elevation ( 7 ) on the housing ( 2 ) engages in the corresponding recess ( 8 ) on the closing cap ( 3 ) or the elevation ( 7 ) on the closing cap ( 3 ) engages in the corresponding recess ( 8 ) on the housing ( 2 ), so that an inadvertent release of the closing cap from the housing ( 2 ) as a result of vibrations of the handpiece head ( 1 ) is prevented by the engagement.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. Handpiece head comprising:
a housing and a closing cap
wherein the housing is releasably connected to the closing cap by means of a screw connection,
wherein the handpiece head comprises a snap-fit connection,
wherein the snap-fit connection engages when the closing cap is screwed in,
wherein the closing cap comprises at least one recess and the housing correspondingly comprises at least one elevation, wherein the at least one recess has a base edge and two side edges, each side edge disposed on either side of the base edge and each side edge configured to engage with the elevation, wherein the base edge, which faces an opposite edge of the elevation, is parallel to the rotational axis of the closing cap and the housing,
wherein, when screwing in the closing cap, the elevation on the housing snaps into the corresponding recess on the closing cap, wherein the snap-fit connection is formed by the elevation and the recess, and wherein the snap-fit connection is formed such that a distance of about 50 μm exists between the elevation and the corresponding recess upon snapping in,
wherein the closing cap and/or the housing are configured to be elastically deformed when being screwed together and to return to an original shape upon snapping in.

2. Handpiece head according to claim 1 , wherein, if the closing cap is screwed into the housing, an outer surface of the closing cap comprises at least one recess, wherein an inner surface of the housing comprises at least one elevation, wherein, when screwing in the closing cap, the elevation on the housing engages in the corresponding recess on the closing cap.

3. Handpiece head according to claim 1 , wherein, in a sectional view through the rotational axis of the closing cap and the housing, the elevation and the corresponding recess is formed in the shape of a rectangle.

4. Handpiece head according to claim 1 , wherein the elevation comprises a first chamfer on an upper corner and/or a second chamfer on a lower corner.

5. Handpiece head according to claim 1 , wherein the recess comprises a chamfer on a lower corner.

6. Handpiece head according to claim 1 , wherein the recess is configured as an annular uninterrupted groove on a cylindrical outer surface of the closing cap or on a cylindrical inner surface of the housing.

7. Handpiece head according to claim 1 , wherein the elevation is configured as an uninterrupted annular elevation on a cylindrical outer surface of the closing cap or on a cylindrical inner surface of the housing.

8. Handpiece head according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one elevation is designed as a ring of a plurality of interrupted elevations, which are disposed on the closing cap or on the housing.

9. Handpiece head according to claim 1 , wherein a difference between a first distance from an edge of the elevation to a corresponding edge of the recess in an elastically deformed state and a second distance from the edge of the elevation to the corresponding edge of the recess in a relaxed original state is a fixed value, and wherein the value of the difference is between 3 μm and 10 μm.

10. Handpiece head according to claim 1 , wherein the handpiece head has a plurality of openings disposed on the housing and/or the closing cap, such that said plurality of openings facilitate the elastic deformation that occurs when said housing and closing cap are screwed together, by reducing a torque required to screw on the closing cap.

11. Handpiece head according to claim 10 , wherein, in the engaged state, the plurality of openings are disposed parallel to the rotational axis of the housing and the closing cap.

12. Handpiece head according to claim 10 , wherein one elevation or one recess is respectively disposed between adjacent openings of the plurality of openings.

Assignees

• Dentsply Sirona Inc

Inventors

• Ertugrul Metin

Classifications

• A61C1/12 Primary

  Angle hand-pieces · CPC title

• B65D39/08

  Threaded or like closure members secured by rotation; Bushes therefor · CPC title

• A61C1/16 Primary

  Protecting caps for hand-pieces or angle-pieces · CPC title