Mold Liner and Sacrificial Mold for Dental Article Release
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hardenable dental materials face challenges in manufacturing, handling, and packaging, including significant adhesion issues, undesirable appearance due to forming techniques, and limited shaping possibilities, which can lead to suboptimal fit and appearance of dental articles.
Innovation Solution
The use of mold liners and sacrificial mold bodies with lines of weakness or water-soluble materials to facilitate the release and packaging of hardenable dental articles, providing a smooth finish, protecting against contamination, and allowing for customization and improved handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If hardenable dental materials are molded directly in mold cavities without liners, then manufacturing process is simpler, but adhesion occurs between material and mold causing handling difficulties
Solution Approach 1:
A mold liner made of release-compliant material is introduced as an intermediary between the hardenable dental material and the mold cavity. The liner prevents adhesion between the material and mold surfaces while allowing easy release after hardening, thus maintaining manufacturing simplicity while improving handling ease.
2Ease of operation
If mold liners are used to prevent adhesion, then handling becomes easier, but the release process and packaging complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mold liner is designed as a disposable component that is discarded after a single use. This eliminates the need for complex cleaning and maintenance procedures, and the liner itself becomes part of the packaging structure, thereby managing complexity through controlled disposal rather than reuse.
3Loss of time
If dental materials are provided in pre-formed shapes close to final form, then dentist procedure time is reduced, but shaping flexibility and customization capability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides dental materials in a pre-formed shape that is dynamically adaptable. The material maintains its pre-formed shape for quick insertion but allows the dentist to perform minor adjustments and customizations during the procedure, thus reducing procedure time while preserving necessary adaptability.
4Ease of operation
If sacrificial mold bodies are used for release, then dental article release is facilitated, but material consumption increases due to disposal of mold bodies
Solution Approach 1:
The release function is extracted from the permanent mold structure and transferred to a separate sacrificial mold body or liner. This allows the main mold to be reused while the sacrificial component is disposed of after single use, facilitating easy release while managing material consumption through targeted disposal of only the necessary release component.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods of manufacturing hardenable dental articles, packaged hardenable dental articles, and methods of packaging hardenable dental articles are disclosed. In various embodiments, the manufacturing may involve molding a hardenable dental material in a mold cavity that may be lined with a mold liner. The mold body may also form the package of the hardenable dental article formed within the mold cavity. In other embodiments, the hardenable dental articles may be provided in mold cavities located in sacrificial mold bodies that may be torn, stretched, softened, dissolved, etc. to release the hardenable dental articles in the mold cavities.