US3111758A - Orthodontic appliance - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 26, 1963 c. J. WINKLER, sR

ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE Filed April 20, 1962 United States Patent 3,111,758 ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE Carl J. Winkler, Sr., 7 490 N. Pennsylvania St., Indianapolis 20, Ind. Filed Apr. 20, 1962, Ser. No. 189,031 2 Claims. (Cl. 32-14) This invention relates to a device for straightening or aligning irregularly appearing teeth. It would be used in dental orthopedics to be removably applied to the mouth of the patient whereby a slight pressure is exerted to bring the teeth into alignment as may be desired.

The device consists fundamentally of a curved wire of such material as stainless steel which is normally and initially given a curve closely approaching a parabola, and which will have teeth engaging members carried on its free ends. This particular wire will be attached permanently to another wire having a peculiar formation which will enter between the lips of the patient centrally of the mouth to be fixed to the inner wire, and to extend from the fixing zone outwardly preferably through the corners of the patients mouth and thence around rearwardly so that some means may be interconnected with the wire for passing around the back of the head to retain the entire device within the mouth and the inner wire properly applied.

Such a device has heretofore been made in varying forms, and the present invention relates specifically to the means for interconnecting the two wires and doing so in a manner which will alleviate tendency for the inner wire particularly from breaking under repeated bending actions. In other words, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a more durable orthodonic brace which will particularly stand up under toying by children, and also will be easily fitted without having to make sharp bends particularly atv or near the junction of the two wires.

With these objects and advantages in mind, reference is made to the accompanying drawing in which,

FIG. 1 is a view in top plan of a structure embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view on a greatly enlarged scale on the line 2-2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in detail also on an enlarged scale on the line 3--3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view in section on the line 44 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view in top plan in partial section of a modified form of structure;

FIG. 6 is a section on an enlarged scale on the line 66 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a view on an enlarged scale on the line 77 in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 8 is a view in section of a form modified from that of FIG. 7.

A foundation member generally indicated by the numeral 10 is made preferably in one piece. It may be described as being an arcuate length of a piece of irregularly shaped tubing wherein the relative inner side of the tubing, that is the side which will be presented inwardly of the patients mouth, is substantially semicircular as at 11, and then extends from that semicircular section by diagonally extending sides 12 and 13 diverging one from the other. The outer end portions of these side walls 12 and 13 are interconnected by a reentering length 14 appearing from the outside as a groove around the member 10. Centrally of the length of this groove defining member 14, the tube is notched entirely thereacross by a notch indicated by the numeral 15.

A further important characteristic of this foundation member 10 is that the end portions are provided with outwardly flaring lips 16 and 17 respectively. That is 3,111,758 Patented Nov. 26, 1963 2 to say, the diameters of the entering ends of the tubular member 10 have larger diameters than the diameter of the member 10 at its central portion intermediate those ends. This is best indicated in FIG. 4.

A wire 19 hereinafter referred to as the mouth wire is given a central curvature such as is indicated in FIG. 1, this central curvature being designated by the numeral 20. From this central curvature, straight legs 21 and 22 extend. The radius of curvature of the wire portion 20 will depend somewhat upon the size of the patients mouth, and particularly on the curvature of his teeth. This wire 19 is entered through the tube 11 to be centrally positioned therein in respect to the curved portion 20.

An external wire 23 has a central portion 24 shaped to be at least as long as the grooved portion 14 of the tube 11 may be, and will be curved to lie within that groove and in contact with the floor thereof. From each end of the portion 24, the wire 23 is curved rather sharply outwardly through the radii 25 and 26 respectively into a curving portion 27 and 28 respectively of much greater radius, and in reverse manner so as to extend around in spaced relation from the legs 21 and 22 by legs 29 and 30 respectively, these legs 29 and 30 being in substantial parallelism with those legs 21 and 22 in the initially formed condition. The ends of the legs 29 and 30 will preferably have some engaging means such as the hooks 31 and 32 by means of which the wire 23 may be engaged by some flexible member to pull the legs 29 and 30 around in close proximity with the cheeks of the patient and to retain the entire device within his mouth with exception of this wire 23 which of course remains outside.

After the curved portion is laid in the groove 14, and the wire 19 is positioned as above indicated through the inside of the tube 11, then the two wires are fixed to the tubular member 11 by any suitable means, such as by brazing or preferably sliver soldering by flowing the solder 15a through the notch 15 which will secure the wire 23 by its portion 24 to the wall of the groove 14 and also permit the solder to flow inwardly of the tube to engage the central portion of the curved arc 20 of the Wire 19. The amount of solder or brazing material to be admitted through the notch 15 is limited in that it should not flow for any appreciable length along the wire 19 Within the tube. All that is necessary is to anchor and fix into position the centralmost portion of the curved length 20.

By reason of the outwardly flaring ends of the tube 11, and the wire 19 being fixed at its central zone only within the tube 11, the legs 21 and 22 may be flexed not initially at the open ends of the tube 11, but may flex within the tube as well as outside of it back to the central fixed zone. In other words the bending stress does not come in this wire 19 at a restricted line, but is distributed over a considerable curved length within and without the tube 11. Thus there is no sharp fulcrum over which the Wire 19 would normally be bent, and it would require an unusual distortion of the wire 19 to have it come into contact with the actual margin of the lips 16 and 17 which would be beyond the action normally required or occasioned.

The internal vertical dimension of the tubular member 11 at its centralmost zone requires that the wire 19, by this central length 20 will be approximately in contact with both the concave side and the convex side so that the wire 19 is held in proper location for the soldering, and also the member 10 be of small size to prevent undue annoyance to the patient.

A modified form of the tube 10 may be employed. For example, in FIG. 5, there is shown a tube 35 with an arcuate axis and split along the line 26. The wire 19 is initially tacked to the wire 23 by soldering, brazing or welding at the centers of the curvatures 24 and 20 as indicated by the numeral 37, the wires being illustrated as slightly separated to indicate more clearly the solder 37, whereas the two Wires at this zone will be substantially in contact one with the other.

The interconnected wires 19 and 23 have the tubular member 35 brought around the wires about this connecting zone. The member 35 is one piece of stainless steel of quite thin section and is formed with a length extending approximately the length of the curved portion 24 of the wire 23. The member 35 curves freely around the wire 19 to extend around the larger diameter wire length 24, FIG. 7, to terminate in approximately abutting edge portions 36a and 36b bearing against the wire length 24. The horizontal opening through the member 35 exceeds in dimension the sum of the diameters of the two wires, whereby the smaller wire 19 is bendable beyond the solder 37 within the limits of the clearances 38 and 39, FIG. 7. The assembly of the wires 19 and 23 is secured in the tube 35 by centrally notching the edge portions 36a and 3611 as at 40 and the solder 4-1 is flowed through the notches to the wire 23.

A modified form of split tube is shown in the sectional view of FIG. 8, wherein edge portions 360 and 36d lap one over the other. The thickness of the member 35 is greatly exaggerated in the several views for the sake of clarity.

The use of this brace is Well understood by the ortho dontist, and therefore an explanation of its attachment and fitting to the teeth Within the mouth of the patient is omitted. While I have herein shown and described my invention in this one particular form, it is obvious that structural variations may be had, particularly in the anchoring of the two wires in the foundation element,

without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I therefore do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations which may be required by the following claims.

I claim:

1. An orthodontic brace comprising a length of tubing having an arcuate axis and being open at each end;

a mouth wire having a central curved zone from which, legs extend in diverging directions, said wire passing through said tubing and having its said central zone centrally of the tube; and a holding Wire having an arcuate central zone portion located centrally of said tubing;

said mouth wire being free to be flexed within and through said tubing by portions on each side of its central zone; and

means centrally fixing said wires to said tubing.

2. The structure of claim 1, in which each of said tubing ends has a diameter exceeding the combined diameters of said mouth and holding wires extend therethrough, which ends provide for said flexing both without the tubing and within the tubing up to said central zone out of contact of said margins.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 345,655 Wood July 13, 1886 2,162,815 Kruger June 20, 1939 2,447,154 Brickman Aug. 17, 1948 3,036,380 Martinek May 29, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 620,060 Germany Oct. 12, 1935 643,696 Germany Apr. 15, 1937

Claims (1)

1. AN ORTHODONTIC BRACE COMPRISING A LENGTH OF TUBING HAVING AN ARCUATE AXIS AND BEING OPEN AT EACH END; A MOUTH WIRE HAVING A CENTRAL CURVED ZONE FROM WHICH, LEGS EXTEND IN DIVERGING DIRECTIONS, SAID WIRE PASSING THROUGH SAID TUBING AND HAVING ITS SAID CENTRAL ZONE CENTRALLY OF THE TUBE; AND A HOLDING WIRE HAVING AN ARCUATE CENTRAL ZONE PORTION LOCATED CENTRALLY OF SAID TUBING; SAID MOUTH WIRE BEING FREE TO BE FLEXED WITHIN AND THROUGH SAID TUBING BY PORTIONS ON EACH SIDE OF ITS CENTRAL ZONE; AND MEANS CENTRALLY FIXING SAID WIRES TO SAID TUBING.

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