Adhesive structure reinforcement scan head and intraoral scanner

Abstract

A scanning head for structural reinforcement and an intraoral scanner with an increased number of repeated uses, belonging to the technical field of intraoral scanners, comprising a plastic base layer (10) with a window formed at the tip, an adhesive layer (20) applied to all or part of the surface of the plastic base layer region facing the window, and a mirror layer (30) placed within the window and adhered to the plastic base layer (10) via the adhesive layer (20). The adhesive layer (20) is configured to improve the fitting force with the plastic base layer (10) by a reinforcing structure in order to strongly adhere to the mirror layer (30). By improving the surface energy of the plastic at the adhesion location, or by embedding from the outside, a material with high surface energy is grafted onto the contact surface. When the external grafted material is porous and mesh-like or porous, the penetration of the adhesive in the grid can provide additional mechanical gripping force, thus improving the adhesion stability of the adhesive. Alternatively, a multi-adhesive countermeasure is adopted, where the inner adhesive ensures adhesion to the plastic, and the outer adhesive provides waterproof isolation for the inner adhesive.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of intraoral scanners, and particularly relates to a scan head for reinforcing an adhesive structure and an intraoral scanner with an increased number of repeat uses provided with the same.

Background Art

[0002] In the industry, oral scan Tip heads (probes) are usually plastic products. Since the surface energy of plastic parts is low, the performance of the plastic itself changes during the high-temperature sterilization process, and an interactive reaction occurs with the adhesive, after multiple high-temperature sterilization treatments, the surface adhesive force between the silica gel and the plastic substrate drops sharply, thus causing the Tip to fall off.

[0003] In order to reduce the usage cost of the Tip and increase the number of times the Tip can be sterilized at high temperatures, it is necessary to solve the problem of the adhesive strength between the mirror and the plastic after multiple high-temperature sterilizations. This problem has not yet been effectively solved in the industry.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Regarding the above technical problems, the present invention aims to provide a scan head for reinforcing an adhesive structure that improves the fitting force between the adhesive layer and the adherend by means of a reinforcing structure, improves the adhesive strength between the mirror layer and the plastic base layer after multiple high-temperature sterilizations, and further improves the number of repeat uses of the intraoral scanner.

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, the technical solution adopted in the present invention is as follows.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] A scan head for reinforcing an adhesive structure used for oral scanning, comprising a plastic base layer with a window formed at the tip portion, and An adhesive layer applied to all or part of the surface of the plastic base layer region facing the window, The system comprises a mirror layer placed inside the window and bonded to a plastic base layer via an adhesive layer, The adhesive layer is configured to improve the mating force with the plastic base layer by a reinforcing structure in order to strongly bond with the mirror layer.

[0007] In some technical proposals, the reinforcing structure comprises at least one metal mesh, The metal mesh is embedded in the adhesive region between the mirror layer and the plastic base layer, and the adhesive region is the plastic base layer region that faces the window.

[0008] In some technical proposals, the metal mesh is integrally molded with the plastic base layer, or The metal mesh is connected to the plastic base layer by vacuum metal spraying, cathode plating, or hot press embedding.

[0009] In some technical proposals, the adhesive layer comprises an inner adhesive layer and an outer adhesive layer. The inner adhesive layer is applied to the bonding surface of the mirror layer, and the outer adhesive layer is applied to the enclosure region of the plastic base layer relative to the inner adhesive layer, with the enclosure region being in the plastic base layer region directly facing the window.

[0010] In some technical proposals, the inner adhesive layer is a liquid adhesive layer, and the outer adhesive layer is a solid adhesive layer.

[0011] In some technical proposals, the inner adhesive layer is applied to the central region of the adhesive surface of the mirror layer, and the outer adhesive layer is applied to the outer edge of the plastic base layer region facing the window, so that when the mirror layer and the plastic base layer are bonded together, the inner and outer adhesive layers cover the entire surface of the mirror layer.

[0012] In some technical proposals, the reinforcing structure comprises a modified layer formed by changing the surface properties of the plastic base layer.

[0013] In some proposed technologies, the method for changing the surface properties of the plastic base layer may be heating, ion beam, or laser etching.

[0014] In some technical proposals, laser etching specifically refers to laser engraving.

[0015] According to another aspect of the present invention, the present invention further provides an intraoral scanner with increased reusability, comprising a scan body and a scan head, wherein the scan body and the scan head are detachably connected.

[0016] The present invention adopts the above-mentioned technical method and has at least the following beneficial effects.

[0017] 1. The surface energy of plastic materials is relatively low, and the adhesive structure with the reflective mirror is easily destroyed after multiple high-temperature sterilization treatments. This invention significantly improves the adhesive strength between the mirror layer and the plastic base layer by improving the interlocking force of the adhesive layer with the plastic base layer, further increasing the number of times the intraoral scanner can be reused and saving costs.

[0018] 2. Specifically, this invention can improve the surface energy of the plastic at the bonding site and increase the mating force by changing the surface properties of the plastic, or by grafting a material with high surface energy onto the contact surface by an external embedding method, and if the external graft material is perforated, mesh-like or porous, the penetration of adhesive into the grid can provide additional mechanical gripping force, thereby improving the stability of the adhesive bonding, or by adopting a multi-adhesive solution, in which the inner adhesive ensures adhesion to the plastic, and the outer adhesive waterproofs and isolates the inner adhesive.

[0019] To more clearly explain the technical solution in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings and their reference numerals that need to be used in the embodiments are briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings from these drawings without creative labor and obtain other embodiments.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0020] [Figure 1] It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the scan head according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. [Figure 2] It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the scan head according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. [Figure 3] It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the scan head according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. [Figure 4] It is a flowchart of the hot press type metal mesh embedding process according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. [Figure 5] It is a flowchart of the multi-adhesive sealing process according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. [Figure 6] It is a flowchart of the process for improving the plastic surface energy by laser engraving according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0021] To more clearly explain the technical solution in the embodiments or the prior art of the present invention, the specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings from these drawings without creative labor and obtain other embodiments.

[0022] To simplify the drawings, each figure schematically shows only the parts relevant to the invention and does not represent the actual structure of the product. Furthermore, to simplify and facilitate understanding, some drawings schematically illustrate only one of the parts having the same structure or function, or only one of them is depicted. In the text, "one" may refer not only to "only one" but also to "one or more."

[0023] The term "and / or" as used in the specification and attached claims of this application means any combination of one or more of the items listed in relation and all possible combinations thereof, and should be further understood to include such combinations.

[0024] In this text, unless otherwise explicitly defined and limited, the terms “attachment,” “connection,” and “connection” should be understood in a broad sense, for example, a fixed connection, a removable connection, an integral connection, a mechanical connection, an electrical connection, a direct connection, an indirect connection via an intermediate medium, or internal communication between two elements. The specific meanings of these terms in this invention will be concretely understood by those skilled in the art.

[0025] In the description of this application, the directions or positional relationships indicated by terms such as "center," "top," "bottom," "front," "back," "left," "right," "upright," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inside," "outside," "axial direction," "radial direction," "circumferential direction," "lateral direction," and "vertical direction" are based on the drawings and are merely for the purpose of facilitating and simplifying the description of this application. It should be understood that these terms do not indicate or imply that the device or element being referred to has a specific direction, is composed of a specific direction, or must be operated in a specific direction, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0026] This invention addresses the phenomenon where the surface energy of plastic materials is relatively low, and the adhesive structure with the reflective mirror is prone to failure after multiple high-temperature sterilization treatments. It improves the interlocking force of the adhesive layer 20 with the plastic base layer 10 by using a reinforcing structure, significantly improving the adhesive strength between the mirror layer 30 and the plastic base layer 10, and further increasing the number of times the intraoral scanner can be reused, thereby saving costs.

[0027] Example 1 (Embedded from the outside)

[0028] Referring to Figure 1, a scan head with adhesive structure reinforcement according to this embodiment is shown. This scan head comprises a plastic base layer 10, an adhesive layer 20, and a mirror layer 30. The plastic base layer 10 is a housing structure with a window formed at the tip of the head. The adhesive layer 20 is applied to all or part of the surface of the plastic base layer region facing the window. The mirror layer 30 is placed inside this window and bonded to the plastic base layer via the adhesive layer 20. The adhesive layer 20 is configured to improve the mating force with the plastic base layer by the reinforcing structure in order to strongly bond with the mirror layer. The reinforcing structure may be a metal mesh 41 embedded in the bonding region between the mirror layer 30 and the plastic base layer 10. This bonding region is the plastic base layer region directly facing the window. By grafting a high surface energy material onto the surface of the plastic base layer 10 via the metal mesh 41 embedded from the outside, the bonding force of the adhesive to the plastic is significantly improved, increasing the bonding strength between the mirror layer 30 and the plastic base layer 10, further increasing the number of times the intraoral scanner can be reused, and saving costs.

[0029] In this embodiment, an externally embedded metal mesh 41 is employed, where the metal has significantly higher surface energy than the plastic material, while the mesh structure provides additional mechanical gripping force for adhesive penetration in the grid, thereby improving the stability of adhesion.

[0030] In the above embodiment, the metal mesh 41 may be directly integrally molded with the plastic as an insert during the injection molding process, or it may be added after the plastic injection molding process. Specifically, connection with the plastic base layer 10 may be achieved by vacuum metal spraying, cathode plating, or hot press embedding.

[0031] Here, the hot-press metal mesh embedding process is easy to operate, low-cost, causes the least thermal damage to the plastic base layer 10, and, after embedding the metal mesh 41, creates more stable additional mechanical connections both between the metal mesh 41 and the plastic, and between the metal mesh 41 and the adhesive, making it currently one of the most stable methods.

[0032] Refer to Figure 4, which is a flowchart of the hot press metal mesh embedding process. The process includes the steps of positioning the Tip (probe), placing the copper mesh in a designated area, turning on the hot press device and effectively embedding the metal mesh 41 into the surface of the area of ​​the plastic base layer 10 facing the scan window by heating and pressurizing, and performing a quality inspection on the manufactured scan head, returning to the thermocompression bonding step if the inspection fails, or obtaining a successful scan head if the inspection fails.

[0033] The main factors influencing this process include the material, dimensions, and density of the metal mesh 41, as well as the hot pressing temperature, pressure, and time of the hot pressing process.

[0034] Example 2 (Measures against multi-adhesive)

[0035] Referring to Figure 2, a scan head with adhesive structure reinforcement according to this embodiment is shown. This scan head comprises a plastic base layer 10, an adhesive layer 20, and a mirror layer 30. The plastic base layer 10 is a housing structure with a window formed at the tip of the head. The adhesive layer 20 is applied to a portion of the surface of the plastic base layer region facing the window. The mirror layer 30 is placed inside this window and bonded to the plastic base layer via the adhesive layer 20. The adhesive layer 20 is configured to improve the mating force with the plastic base layer by the reinforcing structure in order to strongly bond with the mirror layer.

[0036] Here, the adhesive layer 20 comprises an inner adhesive layer 21 applied to the adhesive surface of the mirror layer 30, and an outer adhesive layer applied to the surrounding area of ​​the plastic base layer relative to the inner adhesive layer 21, the outer adhesive layer located in the plastic base layer region where the surrounding area directly faces the window. This multi-adhesive solution significantly improves the bonding strength of the adhesive to the plastic, increases the adhesive strength between the mirror layer 30 and the plastic base layer 10, and further increases the number of times the intraoral scanner can be reused, thereby saving costs.

[0037] In one preferred embodiment, the inner adhesive layer 21 is applied to the central region of the adhesive surface of the mirror layer 30, and the outer adhesive layer 22 is applied to the outer edge of the plastic base layer region facing the window, so that the inner adhesive layer 21 and the outer adhesive layer 22 cover the entire surface of the mirror layer 30. This maximizes the adhesive area and further improves the adhesive strength between the mirror layer 30 and the plastic base layer 10.

[0038] In the above embodiment, the inner adhesive layer 21 is a liquid adhesive layer, and the outer adhesive layer 22 is a solid adhesive layer. The liquid adhesive layer ensures adhesion to the plastic, and the solid adhesive layer provides waterproof isolation to the inner liquid adhesive layer. The special structure of the outer adhesive effectively protects the stability of the inner adhesive, thereby ensuring the overall adhesive strength of the mirror layer 30.

[0039] Refer to Figure 5, which is a flowchart of the multi-adhesive sealing process. The process includes the steps of cleaning the tip (probe) with ultrasound, applying liquid adhesive to the central region of the bonding surface of the transparent mirror layer and simultaneously applying solid adhesive to the outer edge of the region of the plastic base layer 10 that faces the window, and bonding the transparent mirror layer and the plastic base layer 10.

[0040] The main factors influencing this process include cleaning the plastic surface, the application structure of the adhesive on the inside and outside, and the bonding temperature, humidity, and time.

[0041] Example 3 (Improvement of surface energy)

[0042] Referring to Figure 3, a scan head with adhesive structure reinforcement according to this embodiment is shown. This scan head comprises a plastic base layer 10, an adhesive layer 20, and a mirror layer 30. The plastic base layer 10 is a housing structure with a window formed at the tip of the head. The adhesive layer 20 is applied to all or part of the surface of the plastic base layer region facing the window. The mirror layer 30 is placed within this window and bonded to the plastic base layer via the adhesive layer 20. The adhesive layer 20 is configured to improve the mating force with the plastic base layer by the reinforcing structure in order to strongly bond with the mirror layer. The reinforcing structure includes a modified layer 42 formed by changing the surface properties of the plastic base layer. By changing the surface properties of the plastic, the mating force of the adhesive to the plastic is significantly improved, increasing the adhesive strength between the mirror layer 30 and the plastic base layer 10, and further increasing the number of times the intraoral scanner can be reused, thereby saving costs.

[0043] In this embodiment, because the surface energy of the plastic material is relatively low, the adhesive structure with the reflective mirror is easily destroyed after multiple high-temperature sterilization treatments. By modifying the surface of the plastic, that is, by destroying the polymer structure of the plastic and breaking it to form more polar, low-molecular-weight molecules that adhere effectively, the surface energy of the plastic in the adhesive region is directly increased.

[0044] Here, the method for changing the surface properties of the plastic may be heating, ion beam, or laser etching.

[0045] Referring to Figure 6, Figure 6 is a flowchart of the process for improving the surface energy of plastics by laser engraving. The process includes the steps of positioning the Tip (probe), setting laser engraving parameters, laser engraving the bonding area, and performing a quality check on the first scan head, returning to reset the laser engraving parameters if the inspection fails, or obtaining a passing scan head if it fails.

[0046] The main factors influencing this process include the area, depth, and power density of the laser engraving.

[0047] The embodiments described above represent only a few embodiments of the present invention, and although the description is relatively specific and detailed, it should not be understood as limiting the scope of the patent for the present invention. Furthermore, for those skilled in the art, several modifications and improvements are possible without departing from the concept of the present invention, and all of these fall within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be in accordance with the appended claims.

[0048] Those skilled in the art should understand that although the present invention has been described in the form of multiple embodiments, each embodiment does not contain only a single, independent technical solution. This description in the specification is for clarification purposes only, and those skilled in the art should understand the specification as a whole and understand the scope of protection of the present invention by considering the technical solutions in each embodiment as being able to be combined with one another to form different embodiments.

[0049] The symbols in the diagram have the following meanings: [Explanation of Symbols]

[0050] 10 Plastic base layer, 20 Adhesive layer, 21 Inner adhesive layer, 22 Outer adhesive layer, 30 Mirror layer, 41 Metal mesh, 42 Modified layer.

Claims

1. A scan head used for oral scanning, with adhesive structure reinforcement, A plastic base layer with a window formed at the tip, An adhesive layer applied to all or part of the surface of the plastic base layer region facing the window, The system comprises a mirror layer placed inside the window and bonded to a plastic base layer via an adhesive layer, The adhesive layer is configured to improve the mating force with the plastic base layer by a reinforcing structure in order to strongly bond with the mirror layer. The reinforcing structure comprises at least one metal mesh, The metal mesh is embedded in the adhesive region between the mirror layer and the plastic base layer, and the adhesive region is the plastic base layer region directly facing the window. Scan head for reinforcing adhesive structures.

2. The aforementioned metal mesh is integrally molded with the plastic base layer, or, The metal mesh is connected to the plastic base layer by vacuum metal spraying, cathode plating, or hot press embedding. A scan head for reinforcing an adhesive structure according to claim 1.

3. The adhesive layer comprises an inner adhesive layer and an outer adhesive layer. The inner adhesive layer is applied to the bonding surface of the mirror layer, and the outer adhesive layer is applied to the enclosure region of the plastic base layer relative to the inner adhesive layer, wherein the enclosure region is located in the plastic base layer region directly facing the window. A scan head for reinforcing an adhesive structure according to claim 1.

4. The inner adhesive layer is a liquid adhesive layer, and the outer adhesive layer is a solid adhesive layer. A scan head for reinforcing an adhesive structure according to claim 3.

5. The inner adhesive layer is applied to the central region of the adhesive surface of the mirror layer, and the outer adhesive layer is applied to the outer edge of the plastic base layer region facing the window, so that when the mirror layer and the plastic base layer are bonded together, the inner and outer adhesive layers cover the entire surface of the mirror layer. A scan head for reinforcing an adhesive structure according to claim 3.

6. The reinforcing structure comprises a modified layer formed by a method that alters the surface properties of the plastic base layer. A scan head for reinforcing an adhesive structure according to claim 1.

7. The method for changing the surface properties of the plastic base layer is one of heating, ion beam, or laser etching. A scan head for adhesive structure reinforcement according to claim 6.

8. Laser etching is specifically laser engraving. A scan head for adhesive structure reinforcement according to claim 7.

9. Scan body and A scan head according to any one of claims 1 to 8, The scan body and scan head are detachably connected. Intraoral scanners have seen an increase in the number of times they are used repeatedly.

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