WO2004069083A1

WO2004069083A1 - Articulator

Info

Publication number: WO2004069083A1
Application number: PCT/KR2004/000174
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jae Soo Um
Original assignee: Jae Soo Um
Priority date: 2003-02-08
Filing date: 2004-01-30
Publication date: 2004-08-19
Also published as: KR200313638Y1

Abstract

The present invention relates to an articulator for dental lab technician, which can correct an articulated state. The articulator for dental lab technician, includes a base, a column upwardly extending from an end of the base, an arm rotatably mounted at both ends on the column, and upper and lower clamping means mounted on the arm and the base, respectively and having upper and lower grippers manipulated by corresponding fixing screws for fixing upper and lower mouth models, wherein the upper clamping means includes a flat plate for supporting the grippers, a metal receiving chamber formed on the top surface of the flat plate in such a manner as to be upwardly opened and, and a low melting point alloy part contained and coagulated in the metal receiving chamber at a predetermined height, and wherein the flat plate is connected to the arm by means of a connection bar which is fixed at one end to the metal receiving chamber by melting the low melting point alloy part and is fixed at the other end to a front end portion of the arm via fastening means.

Description

ARTICULATOR

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an articulator for dental lab technician, and more particularly, to an articulator for dental lab technician, which can correct an articulated state.

Background Art

In general, an articulator for dental lab technician is a tool used by a dental lab technician to manufacture an artificial tooth in a desired form using a mouth model of a set of teeth manufactured in a dental clinic.

The conventional articulator has an arm, an end of which is rotatably mounted on a column side upwardly extending from an end of a base. The mouth model is fixed and articulated to the base and the arm by means of coagulated plaster. Alternatively, an articulator, which has upper and lower fixing means having upper and lower grippers manipulated by the corresponding fixing bolts to fix the upper and lower portions of the mouth model to the arm and the base, is used.

The conventional articulator using plaster has several problems in that the model of a set of teeth may be damaged or broken due to shock when the mouth model is removed after coagulation of plaster, in that the articulator may cause environmental pollution due to waste of plaster, and in that work efficiency is deteriorated due to an extended coagulation time of plaster.

In addition, the conventional articulator for fixing the mouth model using the upper and lower grippers also has a problem in that an articulated state is changed or a bad articulation may be caused due to weakened fastening force during the repeated performance of the articulation several times as the mouth model is fixed by fastening means.

Disclosure of Invention Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention is to provide an articulator for dental lab technician, which allows for an exact articulation at any position and reliable articulation without a change in a gripper status once a mouth model of a set of teeth is articulated. To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the articulator for dental lab technician, which includes a base, a column upwardly extending from an end of the base, an arm rotatably mounted at an end on the column, and upper and lower clamping means mounted on the arm and the base, respectively, and having upper and lower grippers manipulated by corresponding fixing screws for fixing upper and lower mouth models, wherein the upper clamping means includes a flat plate for supporting the grippers, a metal receiving chamber formed on the top surface of the flat plate in such a manner as to be upwardly opened, and a low melting point alloy part contained and coagulated in the metal receiving chamber at a predetermined height, and wherein the flat plate is connected to the arm by means of a connection bar which is fixed at one end to the metal receiving chamber by melting the low melting point alloy part and is fixed at the other end to a front end portion of the arm via fastening means. Brief Description of Drawings

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.1 is a perspective view of an articulator for dental lab technician according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG 2 is a front view, in a partial section, of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view taken along the line of A- A of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view taken along the line of B-B of FIG. 2; and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an articulator for dental lab technician according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. FIG.1 is a perspective view of an articulator for dental lab technician according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view, in a partial section, of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a pian view taken along the line of A-A of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a bottom view taken along the line of B-B of FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an articulator for dental lab technician according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In the present invention, a first embodiment of an articulator 10A for articulating a side mouth model as shown in FIG. 1, and a second embodiment of an articulator 10B for articulating a full mouth model as shown in FIG. 5 will be described. In the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, the articulator 10A for dental lab technician shown in FIG. 1 (hereinafter, called an articulator 10A) is used for articulating the side mouth model.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the articulator 10A includes: a base 12 for clamping a lower mouth model T2; a column 14 upwardly extending from an end of the base 12; an arm pushing device 16 mounted on the upper end of the column 14; an arm 18 rotatably mounted at one end on the column 14 and receiving rotational force by the arm pushing device 16; a connection bar 20 mounted at one end on the other end of the arm 18 to rotate horizontally and move back and forth, and having at the other end a vertically bended portion 21b, which has a locking jaw 21a; and upper and lower clamping means 40 and 30 mounted on the base 12 and the end of the arm 18 for clamping the mouth model.

The column 14 has a hinge locking jaw 14a formed on the upper end thereof for rotatably supporting the column 14, and the arm 18 supported by the hinge locking jaw 14a receives rotational force by the arm pushing device 16. The arm pushing device 16 includes a pressure pin 20 horizontally inserted into a pin support portion 14b protruding from the upper end of the column 14, and a spring 21 fit around the pressure pin 20 and supported at one end by the pressure pin

20 and supported at the other end by the pin support portion 14b.

At this time, the center of the pressure pin 20 is located on the upper portion of the center of a rotary shaft 18a of the arm 18. Therefore, when the arm 18 rotates in the clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 2, the spring 21 is compressed, thereby increasing elastically repulsive force.

The arm 18 has an arm portion 18b extending from the center of the rotary shaft 18a, and a fixing bolt 19a is fit into an end of the arm portion 18b. The fixing bolt 19a is inserted into an elongated guide hole 20a formed at an end of the connection bar 20, and screwed with a fastening nut 19b, so that the connection bar 20 can be fixed in position.

Therefore, when the fixing force of the fastening nut 19b is released, the connection bar 20 can rotate horizontally and move back and forth on the fixing bolt 19a.

The lower clamping means 30 includes: a flat stand 32 for putting the lower mouth model T2 thereon; a pair of fixed grippers 33 laterally mounted at an side of the stand 32; auxiliary grippers 34 respectively fit onto the fixed grippers 33 to be slidably and vertically moved; fixing bolts 35 screwed to the auxiliary grippers 34 for fixing the auxiliary grippers 34 to the fixed grippers 33; movable gripper 36 laterally mounted at the other side of the stand 32 to move along a guide groove 32a of the stand 32; an auxiliary gripper 37 fit onto the movable gripper 36 to move vertically and slidably; a fixing screw 38 screwed at one end to the movable gripper 36 and rotatably supported at the other end by the stand 32 to regulate movement of the movable gripper 36; and a fixing bolt 39 screwed to the auxiliary gripper 37 to fix the auxiliary gripper 37 to the movable gripper 36.

At this time, it is preferable that the surfaces of the auxiliary grippers 34 and 37 are coated with a rubber material or have pads made of a silicon material to increase frictional force. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the upper clamping means 40 includes: a flat plate 41; a metal receiving chamber 41a formed on the top surface of the flat plate 41 in such a manner as to be upwardly opened; a low melting point alloy part 42 contained and coagulated in the metal receiving chamber 41a at a predetermined height and connected to the connection bar 20 via thermal fusion of the connection bar 20; a pair of fixed grippers 43 laterally mounted at an side of the flat plate 41; auxiliary grippers 44 respectively fit onto the fixed grippers 43 to be slidably and vertically moved; fixing bolts 45 screwed to the auxiliary grippers 44 for fixing the auxiliary grippers 44 to the fixed grippers 43; movable gripper 46 laterally mounted at the other side of the flat plate 41 to move along a guide groove 41b of the flat plate 41; an auxiliary gripper 47 fit onto the movable gripper 46 to move vertically and slidably; a fixing screw 48 screwed at one end to the movable gripper 46 and rotatably supported at the other end by the flat plate 41 to regulate movement of the movable gripper 46; and a fixing bolt 49 screwed to the auxiliary gripper 47 to fix the auxiliary gripper 47 to the movable gripper 46. At this time, it is preferable that the surfaces of the auxiliary grippers 44 and

47 are coated with a rubber material or have pads made of a silicon material to increase frictional force.

Here, the low melting point alloy part 42 has the melting point less than 200 ^°C , and may consist of a metal compound including one or more metals selected from tin (Sn), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), bismuth (Bi), and indium (hi).

In the articulator 10A according to the first embodiment of the present invention having the above structure, lower and upper mouth models T2 and Tl are fixed on the lower clamping means 30 and the upper clamping means 40, respectively, and then, the low melting point alloy part 42 provided on the flat plate 41 of the upper clamping means 40 is melted again, so that the upper clamping means 40 can be adhered to the end of the connection bar 20 for articulation.

Under a liquid state of the melted low melting point alloy part 42, the posture of the flat plate 41 can be changed as a dental lab technician's desire even under a state where the connection bar 20 is fixed at one end to the arm 18 by the fixing bolt 19a, and thereby, the present invention can achieve an exact articulation. That is, the flat plate 41 can take a desired posture in a three-dimensional space while the low melting point alloy part 42 is kept in a melted state, and the posture of the flat plate 41 can be easily fixed when the low melting point alloy part 42 is coagulated. Furthermore, as the posture correction of the flat plate 41 can be easily achieved by simply melting the low melting point alloy part 42, for example, using an electric soldering iron, repeated posture corrections can be easily performed.

At this time, the fixing bolt 19a located at the end of the arm 18 is coupled with the fastening nut 19b to fix the connection bar 20. In the lower clamping means 30, when the fixing screw 38 is rotated, a movement direction of the movable gripper 36 is changed according to the rotation direction of the fixing screw 38, so that a distance between the movable gripper 36 and the fixed gripper 33 can be controlled.

Therefore, when the distance between the movable gripper 36 and the fixed gripper 33 is narrowed, the lower mouth model is clamped by fixing force of the fixing screw 38.

Moreover, also in the upper clamping means 40, when the fixing screw 48 is rotated, a movement direction of the movable gripper 46 is changed according to the rotation direction of the fixing screw 48, so that a distance between the movable gripper 36 and the fixed gripper 43 can be controlled. As a result, when the distance between the movable gripper 46 and the fixed gripper 43 is narrowed, the upper mouth model Tl is clamped by fixing force of the fixing screw 48.

At this time, the fixing height of the upper and lower mouth models Tl and T2 can be controlled by controlling the height of the auxiliary grippers 34, 37, 44 and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an articulator for dental lab technician according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment of the present invention, an articulator 10B for articulating a full mouth model. As shown in the drawing, the articulator 10B has different gripper positions from the articulator 10A for the side mouth model. That is, in the articulator 10B according to the second embodiment, the fixed grippers 34 and 44 are arranged near the arm 18, the movable grippers 36 and 46 are arranged far away from the arm 18, and the fixing screws 38 and 48 are at right angles to the articulator 10B.

As a result, the articulator 10B shown in FIG. 5 is different in the position for clamping the mouth model from the articulator 10A of the first embodiment, and has the stand 32 and the flat plate 41 wider than those of the articulator 10A. A further description of the articulator 10B of the second embodiment will be omitted as the articulator 10B is equal to the articulator 10A in structure and function excepting the above structure. As described above, the articulator for dental lab technician according to the present invention can simply and exactly correct and articulate the posture of the upper gripper as the connection bar and the flat plate for supporting the gripper are connected with each other via the low melting point alloy part. Furthermore, the present invention can always keep the corrected posture due to the posture correction through the metal melting even though the articulation is repeated several times, and can articulate without regard to sizes of the mouth model as the height of the gripper can be controlled. Moreover, the low melting point alloy part does not cause environmental pollution as not being a wasted object.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Claims

What is claimed is;

1. An articulator for dental lab technician, which includes a base, a column upwardly extending from an end of the base, an arm rotatably mounted at both ends on the column, and upper and lower clamping means mounted on the arm and the base, respectively and having upper and lower grippers manipulated by corresponding fixing screws for fixing upper and lower mouth models, wherein the upper clamping means includes a flat plate for supporting the grippers, a metal receiving chamber formed on the top surface of the flat plate in such a manner as to be upwardly opened, and a low melting point alloy part contained and coagulated in the metal receiving chamber at a predetermined height, and the flat plate is connected to the arm by means of a connection bar which is fixed at one end to the metal receiving chamber by melting the low melting point alloy part and is fixed at the other end to a front end portion of the arm via fastening means.

2. The articulator for dental lab technician according to claim 1, wherein the low melting point alloy part 42 has a melting point less than 200 ^°C , and consists of a metal compound including one or more metals selected from tin (Sn), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), bismuth (Bi), and indium (In).

3. The articulator for dental lab technician according to claim 1, wherein the connection bar includes a vertically bended portion formed at an end thereof and having a locking jaw, and an elongated guide hole formed at the other end thereof for inserting a fastening bolt of the fastening means thereto, so that the connection bar can be controlled in connecting length and rotated horizontally.

4. The articulator for dental lab technician according to claim 1, wherein the upper and lower grippers have auxiliary grippers, respectively, which are slidably connected to the upper and lower grippers to be controlled in height and fixed in position by fixing bolts.