Dental Micro-Applicator Nested Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for a dental micro-applicator that can be used with one hand and is designed to be inserted directly into a natural tooth cavity, requiring precise dimensioning and material selection to ensure tightness despite low material thickness and small dimensions, while also efficiently dispensing a liquid or paste.
Innovation Solution
A dental micro-applicator with a hollow, sleeve-shaped application head featuring a distal and proximal area, including a punching mandrel with a channel, and a micro-container that fits within the application head, ensuring a sealed transition and controlled dispensing of the liquid or paste through the application area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the applicator is designed with small dimensions to fit into tooth cavities, then it can be inserted directly into the cavity and used with one hand, but ensuring tightness becomes more difficult due to low material thickness and small dimensions
Solution Approach 1:
The micro-container is inserted into the hollow application head, creating a nested structure where the container fits within the applicator body. This nesting approach allows the system to maintain small overall dimensions while providing multiple sealing interfaces between the container and application head, thereby ensuring tightness despite the small scale.
Solution Approach 2:
The applicator utilizes composite construction with the application head made of one material and the micro-container made of another material (e.g., glass or different polymer). This composite approach enables optimized sealing surfaces and material properties that maintain tightness while keeping wall thicknesses minimal for small dimensions.
2Duration of action of stationary object
If the applicator is designed with low material thickness to reduce size, then it can fit into small tooth cavities, but maintaining tightness and sealing becomes more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The nested design of the micro-container within the application head creates multiple concentric sealing surfaces. This allows the system to achieve reliable sealing with thin wall thicknesses by distributing sealing requirements across multiple interfaces rather than requiring a single thick barrier.
Solution Approach 2:
The micro-container is designed as a thin-walled structure that can be made from flexible materials capable of forming tight seals. The thin film design allows the container to conform to the application head interior while maintaining sealing integrity, enabling small dimensions without sacrificing tightness.
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2
AI summary
The invention relates to a dental micro applicator (1) for applying a liquid or paste in a cavity of a natural tooth, comprising a hollow, sleeve-shaped application head (2) with a distal (2.2) and a proximal region (2.1) and with an application region (5.1) at the end face on the proximal region of the application head (2), wherein a punch mandrel (4), the tip (11) of which is oriented in a distal direction, is arranged in the proximal region (2.1) in the hollow sleeve-shaped application head (2), and the end face at the proximal region (2.1) is equipped with an opening (7) for the passage of a liquid or paste to be applied. A micro container (3) is introduced into the hollow sleeve-shaped application head (2) from a distal direction, in particular the micro container is pushed or screwed into the application head, the outer shape of the micro container being designed to fit with the inner shape of the application head (2), and the micro container (3) has an inner chamber (10) for receiving the liquid or paste to be applied. The micro container is additionally closed at the distal face (9) and the proximal end face (6) of the micro container.