Dental Instrument Spray Ring Sealing and Height Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dental handpieces face challenges in maintaining a low overall height while ensuring media sealing and reducing the number of individual parts, particularly in delivering a cooling medium like water and air effectively.
Innovation Solution
A dental preparation instrument design featuring a spray ring with an annular groove that separates water and air storage spaces using a partition wall with a prestressed sealing surface, allowing for integral sealing and reduced part count, and incorporating radial fastening and sealing surfaces for secure attachment and sealing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple separate sealing components are used to seal water and air media, then reliable sealing is achieved, but the number of individual parts increases and overall height increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple sealing functions into a single integrated spray ring component. The spray ring incorporates both the water storage space sealing and air storage space sealing functions, eliminating the need for separate sealing components for each media type. This merging approach maintains reliable sealing while reducing the total number of parts and overall device height.
Solution Approach 2:
The spray ring serves multiple functions simultaneously: it seals the water storage space, seals the air storage space, and structures the media separation. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for dedicated sealing components for each function, thereby reducing part count while maintaining sealing reliability.
2Length of stationary object
If a radial seal design is used for the partition wall, then axial installation space is reduced, but the stress on the partition wall increases and tolerances must be tighter
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs an elastic or elastically-plastically deformed partition wall that can accommodate stress through controlled deformation. By selecting appropriate material parameters and deformation characteristics, the design balances the reduced axial space of radial sealing with acceptable stress levels, allowing more generous tolerances compared to rigid radial seal designs.
3Device complexity
If the spray ring is designed with integral sealing function, then the number of individual parts is reduced and overall height is lowered, but assembly complexity may increase
Solution Approach 1:
While the spray ring itself is an integrated component, the patent maintains segmentation in the assembly process by allowing the spray ring to be assembled into the head as a unit. The modular spray ring design with its internal partition wall structure can be manufactured separately and then installed as a complete sealing assembly, simplifying the overall manufacturing process while maintaining the benefits of integration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design reduces the overall height, minimizes the risk of jamming during assembly, and ensures effective sealing without overstressing the partition wall, facilitating easier assembly and precise pretensioning for reliable operation.
Implementation Method 1
the partition wall extending radially outwards and having a circumferential free end. At the free end of the dividing wall there is a circumferential sealing surface which, when the spray ring is in the installed state, rests under prestress in a sealing manner
Implementation Method 2
the dividing wall being elastic or elastic in the installed state - is plastically deformed
Implementation Method 3
the dividing wall being elastic or elastic in the installed state - is plastically deformed
Data Source
Figure 1~7
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
The instrument (1) has a spray ring (11) having a groove (12) that comprises primary opening (15) through which water is supplied, and secondary opening (16) through which air is supplied. The spray ring is made to separate water reservoir space (13) from air storage chamber (14) by circumferentially extending partition wall (21). The partition wall has a circulating free end (22) extending radially outwards. The free end of partition wall has a circumferential sealing surface (23) which rests in the mounted state of spray ring sealingly biased against contact surface (24) of groove.