US2379011A - Orthodontia appliance - Google Patents

Description

June 26, 1945. J. E LA$K|N ,2,3795011 AORTH'QDQN'HA APPLIANCE Filed' April 24,1945

JACOB ,s A5/my Patented June 26, 1945 UNI TED STATES PATENT OFFICE ORTHOD ONTIA' APPLIANCE Jacob E. Laskin, Shaker Heights, Ohiov Application April 24, 1943, Serial fNo. 484g373 19' Claims.

This invention relates broadly to orthodontic appliances and more specifically to improvements in brackets for the attachment of fthe teeth of the dental arch to a conformed arch bar.

In the treatment of malposed teeth through the medium of an arch bar it is essential that the expedient used for the support thereof be formed to facilitate either the rigid securement of the bar or, distal movement of the teeth relative thereto. To `this end the early workers. in the art such as Angle (Patent No. 1,142,790, June 15, 1915) and certain of his contemporaries employed a grooved block or brackety soldered to the tooth band and connected .to the bar by ligatures tied to afford the desired type of support. Although this combination has been extensively used in `the profession, the uncertainty vof the tie, `the disparity in the tensive strains obtained thereby and the arduous work entailed in the use of the ligatures, prompted. from time totime a host of modifications in the bracket per se the chief object of the changes being directed to instrumentalities for locking the bar against labial or buccal movement within the bracket. While manvof these refinements afforded a more eiectual lock, none of the improvements reduced the use of ligatures or shortened the time of attachment, in fact many of :the devices introduced new and more highly complicated problems of assembly and increased the vperiod of treatment.

In the present invention the arch bar carrier or bracket is formed for rotative adjustment and locked engagement with the band with which it is associated, the objects and advantages thereof residing in the provision of a structure which will accommodate the support of the bar Afor either xed or yielding engagement in the bracket; an adjustment which will facilitate tractive effort through the bar'for the correction of axial malocclusion and a structure which will facilitate the transmission' of torsional strains upon the bracket for the correction of labial or lingual malocclusion;

A further object of theinvention is to provide an arch bar supporting structure which will facilitate angular adjustments of the barat the points` of anchorage, such for example, as required to elect gingival corrections of malposed molars and incisors or cuspids.

Another object of the invention is .to provide a bracket whichmay bereadily adjusted without the use of special tools or instruments and which is formed with indicia thereon to indicate the tractive elort imposed upon the tooth through the bar and bracket.

Other objects 4and advantages ymore or less ancillary to theffore'going and the manner in which all the. various objects are realized will appearlin the following` description, which considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, sets forth the preferred embodiment of the invention.

Referring tothe drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a dental arch having an `orthod'ontia appliance embodying the present invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a :front elevational View of the improved bracket showing somewhat-diagrammatically Ithe assembled` relation `of the bar withv certain teeth ofy the dental arch;

Fig. 3 is lan enlarged front elevational view of one of the brackets shown in Fig. 2.;

Fig. 4 is. a transverse section through the bracket shown in Fig. 3 including a fragmentary portion of. :the tooth band and illustrating. the

relation of pants when the bracket is clamped or locked with-in the retainer therefor; the section being taken on a plane indicated by the lined-4 'in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view, similar to that shown in Fig. 4, the bracket being illustratedin dlsengaged relation. with the retainer therefor;

Fig. 6 vis afront elevational view of the bracket illustrating the y.position thereof when adjusted for the reception of the arch bar;

, Fig. 7 is a similar view-of the bracket showing the position thereof when revolved for locking engagement with the bar;

Fig. 8 is a similar viewv of 'the bracket showing the position thereof when revolved to impose a tensive strain upon Ithe .arch bar;

Fig. 9 is a'perspective View ofthe bracket with the base or supporting sheath therefor removed and illustrating in dotted lines the position of the arch bar when supported-therein; and

Fig. 1'0 is a' perspective view of a' modified form of bracket illustrating ythe vconstruct-ion thereof when used as a support for the end portions of the bar.

Referring first toFigs. 3 and 4, the bracket comprises a 'block lili-formed witha frustro conical 'basefll seatedin" a cup -I 2 soldered orotherwise alix-ed to a ltooth band Al-3` of customary form; The :upper face of the block is constructed with ya rectangular -boss M having a 'lj-slot l5 therein and a kerf4 I-lt extended axially therethrough., and throughout the major axis of the base. The block? is *for-medi from a material possess'ing sufficient inherent resilency to effect the locked engagement .of the base l-I with the vcup when vcompres'sivelyassembled therein. The cupblock when the bar is I2 may be fabricated from relatively thin sheet metal stock or made in semi-finished form in a screw machine then spun, swaged or pressed over the conical base II in frictional engagement therewith. In the latter operation a filler strip slightly less in thickness than the kerf I6 may be inserted in the slot to prevent the free ends of the block from being sprung together and also to assure sufficient deformation of the block to effect the requisite frictional resistance between the cup and base.

The opening between I1 defining the T-slot I thel overhanging ledges is formed to facilitate the reentrant engagement of the arch bar I8, the dimension of the portions of the T-slot beneath the ledges I'I being proportioned to permit the arch bar I8 to slide freely therein.

In practice the improved bracket is first adjusted, as indicated in Fig. 6, to the position which will accommodate the free entry of the arch bar I8 into the T-slot I5. This operation may be effected by placing the jaws of a pair of pliers, forceps or similar instrument over the walls I9 and 20 of the boss I4 with the iulcrum of the instrument in contiguous relation with the kerf I6, then compressively deforming the block until the inclined walls of the base II are -disengaged with the cup I2 and free to rotate ,relative thereto. After the bar is inserted in the T-slot I5 securement thereof may be effected by rotating the block until the corners of the ledges II overlie the outer face of the bar. When the orthodontic technique requires both labial retention of the bar and translation thereof within the bracket such support may be attained by rotating the block into ledge-locked engagement with the bar and spaced relation of the vertical edges 2l and 22 of the block with the contiguous .walls of the bar, conversely when full anchorage of the bar is required the block may be rotated to a position in which the bar is impinged between the edges 2| and 22, as shown in Fig. 7. When tractive effort is required the block may be rotated until the tensive strains imposed upon the bar effect the requisite deformation or angular nexture thereof.

For guidance of the orthodontist the cup and block are preferably provided with indicia to in,- dicate the position of the block during the rotation thereof, for example, the graduations 23 (Fig. 8) to show the progressive rotation of the block or tensive strain upon the bar during treatment for tractive movement, the lines 24 (Fig. 7) to show the locked position of the block relative to the bar, the line 25 to indicate the position of the free to slide therein and the space 26 (Fig. 6) to show the proximate alignment of the T-slot with the bar.

As illustrated in Fig. 9, the bearing block 3B for molar anchorage is of similar configuration to that' heretofore described save, however, that the upper face thereof is apertured for the reception of a tube 3I formed for the retention oi the arch bar I8. The block 30 is constructed for spring pressed engagement and frictional securement within a cup (not shown) of the character shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the advantage of the improved block residing in the provision of a structure which will facilitate gingival adjustments to afford axial alignment of the barvrelative to the dental arch and/ or parallel alignment ofthe bars in upper and lower dentures.

Although the foregoing description is necessarily of a detailed character, in order that the invention may be completely set forth, itis to be .for the bar comprising a understood that the specific terminology is not intended to be restrictive or confining, and that various rearrangements of parts and .modifications of detail may be resorted to without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as herein claimed.

I claim:

1. In an orthodontia appliance embodying a tooth band and an arch bar, a separable coupling for connecting the bar to the band comprising a block having a T-slot therein for the reception of the bar, and a kerf extended partially through the body of the block, a conical base on said block and a cup secured to the tooth band and frictionally engaged with the conical base of said block.

2. In an orthodontia appliance' embodying a tooth band and an arch bar, a bracket for connecting the bar to the band comprising a conical cup affixed upon the band, a block having a slot therein mounted for rotational movement in said cup, ledges in the walls of the block defining the slot disposed to partially overlie the bar upon rotation of the block and spring means in said block for locking the block against rotation in said cup.

3. An orthodontia bracket comprising a cup, a block having a T-slot therein mounted for rotative movement within said cup, and springclamping means in said block to restrain rotational movement thereof in said cup.

4. An orthodontia bracket for connecting a tooth band to an arch bar comprising a cup, a resilient metal block mounted for rotative movement therein, said block having a T-slot therein for the reception of an arch bar, and a second slot defining a split base section, said section being compressed for frictional engagement within said cup, the walls of the block defining the second named slot being disposed in spaced relation when frictionally engaged with said cup.

5. An orthodontia bracket for connecting a tooth band to an arch bar comprising a cup, a resilient metal block mounted for rotative move ment therein, means in said block for the sup port of an arch bar, means in said block for the frictional engagement thereof in said cup, and means in said block to facilitate release of the frictional engagement of the block with the cup.

6. In an orthodontia appliance embodying a tooth band and an arch bar, a supporting bracket cup secured to the band, a block mounted for rotative movement in said cup and supported therein in spring pressed relation therewith, means on said block to facilitate the rotation thereof, means in said block for the retention of the arch bar against lingual and labial movements, said last named means being adapted to facilitate gingival deformation Aof the arch bar upon rotation of said block.

7. In an orthodontic appliance embodying an arch bar, a bracket comprising a cup, a block swiveled therein and supported in spring pressed relation therewith, a rectangular boss on said block to accommodate an adjusting tool, said boss having a slot extended reception of the arch bar, opposed ledges extended throughout the length of the walls of the boss defining said slot, said ledges being disposed to partially overlie the arch bar when the block is swiveled within said cup, said block having a kerf therein parallel with said slot and extended partially therethrough to facilitate relief of the spring pressed engagement of the block within the cup.

therethrough for the 8. In an orthodontic appliance embodying a tooth band and an arch bar, a bracket for connecting the bar to the band comprising a cup afxed upon the band, a block mounted for rotative movement in said cup and restrained in spring pressed non-rotative relation therewith, a boss on said block having a T-slot therein for the reception of the arch bar, the diagonally opposed corners of the ledges dening the T-slot being disposed to overlie the arch bar when the subjacent corners of the walls defining the slot are impinged with the bar.

9. An orthodontic bracket comprising a conical cup, a block, a conical base thereon mounted in spring pressed relation with said cup, a boss on said block having an opening therein for the support of an arch bar and indicia on the cup and block to indicate the position of the block relative to the cup during rotative adjustments of the block.

l0. An orthodontic bracket comprising a block, a conical base thereon, a cup telescopically engaged therewith, spring means in said block for the frictional retention thereof against rotation, a boss on said block having a T-slot therein, the walls of said boss dening said T-slot being formed for the reception of an arch bar and for the retention thereof upon rotative adjustment of the block relative thereto.

11. An orthodontic bracket comprising a block, a conical base thereon, a cup telscopically engaged therewith, the outer face of said block having a slot therein for the reception of an arch bar, yieldable means in said block for the retention thereof against rotation and means in the Walls of the block defining said slot for the retention of the arch Wire upon rotation of the block.

12. In an orthodontic appliance embodying an arch bar, a supporting bracket therefor comprising a block, a conical base thereon, a pair of yieldable segments therein, a cup telescopically engaged therewith, bosses thereon, ledges on said bosses arranged for telescopic engagement with the arch bar, said segments being sprung together and frictionally engaged with said cup and flat parallel walls on said bosses for the reception of a tool, whereby said segments may be compressed for disengagement with said cup and said block may be rotated therein.

13. An orthodontic bracket comprising a cup,

.a block mounted for rotational movement therein, said block having a slot in the upper face thereof for the reception of an arch bar, means inthe upper face thereof, the iioor of said s1ot` being disposed above the side walls of said cup, the base of said block being supported in spring pressed relation with said cup.

15. An orthodontic bracket comprising a block v having an arch bar slot therein, a circular ange on the base of said block, a circular cup enveloping said ange and normally held in spring pressed engagement therewith and means in the upper face of said block to facilitate relief of the spring pressure against the cup and accommodate rotational adjustments of the block.

16. An orthodontic bracket comprising a circular cup, a block having a slot in the face thereof, a circular ange on the base of said block frictionally engaged with said cup, a boss on the upper face of said block, parallel side walls thereon for the reception of a tool for rotational adjustments of the block and means in said block to relieve the frictional engagement of the anged portion thereof with the cup when the block is rotated under application of torque upon said boss.

17. In an orthodontic appliance including an arch bar, a supporting bracket therefor comprising a cup, a block mounted for rotation therein, means in said block for the anchorage of the. bar, and means in the block independent of the arch bar to restrain rotational movement of the block.

18. In an orthodontic appliance embodying an arch bar, a supporting bracket therefor comprising a circular cup, a block mounted for rotational movement therein, means in the block engageable with the cup to restrain rotational movement thereof, means in the block for the support of the arch bar, the function of the first named means being independent of the function of the last named means.

19. In an orthodontic appliance including an arch bar, a bracket therefor embodying a block having an arch bar opening therein, means for rotating said block relative to the axis of a tooth with the arch bar in place, and means in said block to restrain the rotational movement thereof after tensioning said arch bar through said rotative movement.

JACOB E. LASKIN.

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