Dental appliances with shaped material components

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019105829-A1
Application number	US-201816215429-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 10, 2018
Priority date	Oct 20, 2016
Publication date	Apr 11, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure provides method, computing device readable medium, and devices for dental appliances formed with folded material components. An example of a method of forming a dental appliance, includes forming a shell having a number of tooth apertures configured to receive and reposition a number of teeth of a patient along one jaw of a patient, the shell having a number of specialized components and wherein the number of specialized components are formed from folding multiple sections of the first sheet of material over each other.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of forming a dental appliance with a shaped specialized component, comprising:
forming a shell having a number of tooth apertures configured to receive and reposition a number of teeth of a patient along one jaw of a patient, the shell having a number of specialized components and wherein the number of specialized components are formed from folding multiple sections of the first sheet of material over each other.

2 . The method of forming a dental appliance of claim 1 , wherein the method includes:
forming the shell having a first sheet of material for use in forming a particular specialized component; and bending a portion of the first sheet of material over itself to form first and second folded layers of material.

3 . The method of forming a dental appliance of claim 2 , wherein forming the shell having a first sheet of material for use in forming a particular specialized component includes forming the first sheet with a score line thereon for facilitating the folding of the sheet at the score line.

4 . The method of forming a dental appliance of claim 3 , wherein the method further includes folding the sheet at the score line while the sheet of material is still in a formable state.

5 . The method of forming a dental appliance of claim 3 , wherein the method further includes folding the sheet at the score line by applying heat to the score line to transition the material at the score line to a formable state.

6 . The method of forming a dental appliance of claim 3 , wherein bending a portion of the first sheet of material over itself to form first and second folded layers of material includes forming a number of wave form shapes in the sheet of material wherein the sinusoidal shapes have number of peaks and valleys in the sheet of material and then applying a force to lay at least one peak over onto at least one other peak to create a variable thickness of material.

7 . The method of forming a dental appliance of claim 6 , wherein applying a force to lay at least one peak over onto at least one other peak includes applying a force with a roller mechanism.

8 . The method of forming a dental appliance of claim 2 , wherein bending a portion of the first sheet of material over itself to form first and second folded layers of material includes forming a number of sinusoidal shapes in the sheet of material wherein the sinusoidal shapes have number of peaks and valleys in the sheet of material and then applying a force to lay at least one peak over onto at least one valley.

9 . The method of forming a dental appliance of claim 8 , wherein applying a force to lay at least one peak over onto at least one valley includes applying a force with a roller mechanism.

10 . The method of forming a dental appliance of claim 2 , wherein bending a portion of the first sheet of material over itself to form first and second folded layers of material includes imparting a force while bending the portion of the first sheet of material to create a spring from the first and second folded layers of material.

11 . A method of forming a dental appliance, comprising:
forming a shell having a number of tooth apertures configured to receive and reposition a number of teeth of a patient along one jaw of a patient and having a first sheet of material extending outward from the shell; and folding multiple sections of the first sheet of material over each other to form one or more specialized features having a thickness that is thicker than the thickness of the material forming the tooth apertures.

12 . The method of forming a dental appliance of claim 11 , wherein the method includes:
forming the shell having a first sheet of material for use in forming a particular specialized component; and bending a portion of the first sheet of material over itself to form first and second folded layers of material.

13 . The method of forming a dental appliance of claim 12 , wherein bending a portion of the first sheet of material over itself to form first and second folded layers of material includes forming a number of peaks and valleys in the sheet of material and then applying a force to lay at least one peak over onto at least one valley.

14 . The method of forming a dental appliance of claim 12 , wherein bending a portion of the first sheet of material over itself to form first and second folded layers of material includes forming a number of peaks and valleys in the sheet of material and then applying a force to lay at least one peak over onto at least one other peak.

15 . The method of forming a dental appliance of claim 12 , wherein bending a portion of the first sheet of material over itself to form first and second folded layers of material includes forming a number of peaks and valleys in the sheet of material by positioning multiple elongate elements against at least one surface of the first sheet of material.

16 . The method of forming a dental appliance of claim 12 , wherein bending a portion of the first sheet of material over itself to form first and second folded layers of material includes forming a number of peaks and valleys in the sheet of material by positioning at least one surface of the first sheet of material against a surface of a template in which the surface has a peak and valley shape.

17 . An intra oral appliance, comprising:
a shell having a number of tooth apertures configured to receive and reposition a number of teeth of a patient along one jaw of a patient; and a number of specialized components of the shell and wherein the number of specialized components are formed from multiple layers of thermoformed material that have been folded over each other.

18 . The intra oral appliance of claim 17 , wherein the number of specialized components of the shell include at least one of: a reinforced surface of the shell, a tab, a hook, a spring, a hinge, and a palatal section.

19 . The intra oral appliance of claim 17 , wherein the multiple layers of material are bonded to each other via an adhesive material.

20 . The intra oral appliance of claim 17 , wherein the multiple layers of material are mechanically bonded to each other.

Assignees

• Align Technology Inc

Inventors

• Sato Jun
• Kimura Ryan
• Shanjani Yaser

Classifications

• B29C53/06

  Forming folding lines by pressing or scoring · CPC title

• B29C53/36

  Bending and joining, e.g. for making hollow articles (B29C53/56 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61C7/002

  Orthodontic computer assisted systems · CPC title

• B29C53/063

  combined with folding · CPC title

• B65H45/00

  Folding thin material (specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment of particular products, see appropriate subclasses, e.g. D06F89/00) · CPC title