Float-Mounted Annulus Gear Dispensing Device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current dental material dispensing devices are costly to manufacture and lack reliability, particularly in harsh conditions, despite offering automatic mixing and dispensing capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A dispensing device with a planetary gear drive featuring radially float-mounted annulus gears supported only by planet gears, which minimizes complexity and parts, ensuring robust operation and precise plunger movement through a combination of motor-driven and manually controlled mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If additional bearings are used to support the annulus gear relative to planet gears, sun gear and planet gear carrier, then the annulus gear is better supported and more stable, but the device complexity and number of parts increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the additional bearing that would normally support the annulus gear, extracting this component from the system. The annulus gear is supported only by the planet gears through radial float mounting, reducing the number of parts while maintaining functionality through the inherent support provided by the planet gear engagement.
Solution Approach 2:
The planet gears serve a dual function: they both transmit motion and provide support for the annulus gear. The radial float mounting allows the annulus gear to be supported by the planet gears themselves without requiring additional bearing structures, making the system self-supporting.
2Device complexity
If the annulus gear is radially float-mounted and supported only by planet gears, then the device complexity is minimized and robustness is improved, but the support stability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The radial float mounting creates a dynamic support system where the annulus gear can adjust its position radially based on operational conditions. This dynamic arrangement allows the gear to maintain stable engagement with the planet gears while accommodating thermal expansion, manufacturing tolerances, and load variations, thereby achieving both simplicity and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the support parameter from fixed bearing support to float-mounted support, allowing the annulus gear to move radially within certain limits. This parameter change enables the system to adapt to varying operational conditions while maintaining stable gear engagement through the inherent elastic deformation and load distribution in the gear teeth.
3Manufacturing precision
If a planetary gear drive with multiple components is used to move plungers and container, then precise movement is achieved, but manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The planetary gear drive components serve multiple functions simultaneously: the planet gears transmit motion, support the annulus gear, and provide precise positioning through their engagement geometry. The sun gear and planet gear carrier work together to convert rotational motion into the precise linear motion required for plunger displacement, achieving high precision through the inherent kinematics of the planetary mechanism rather than through additional costly components.
Data Source
AI summary
A dispensing device for dental material, which includes a planetary gear drive with at least three planet gears in engagement with an annulus gear. The annulus gear is radial float-mounted relative to the planet gears. A radial force applied on the annulus gear urges the annulus gear into an off-center relationship with respect to an imaginary circle on which the planet gears are arranged.