Integrated Track Lighting System for Dental Operatories
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current track lighting systems in healthcare environments, such as dental operatories, typically consist of single-purpose solutions that lack integration of intraoral illumination, ambient lighting, task lighting, and electronic displays, leading to inefficiencies and space constraints.
Innovation Solution
A pendant-mounted track lighting system that integrates intraoral illumination, ambient lighting, directional task lighting, and an electronic display within a single system, featuring a housing assembly with elongated members, a carriage mechanism for the intraoral light, and adjustable positioning to optimize lighting and minimize space usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple single-purpose lighting systems are used separately, then each lighting function can be optimized independently, but the system complexity and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple lighting functions (intraoral illumination, ambient lighting, task lighting) and electronic display into a single integrated track lighting system. The housing assembly consolidates these previously separate systems, reducing the number of individual devices needed in the dental operatory environment.
Solution Approach 2:
The track lighting system is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously - providing intraoral illumination, ambient lighting, task lighting, and electronic display capabilities. This multi-functional approach allows a single system to replace multiple specialized devices, improving versatility while managing complexity through unified design.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate lighting systems are deployed, then each system can be optimized for its specific function, but the space required in the operatory increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent consolidates multiple lighting systems and electronic display into a single integrated unit mounted on the ceiling track. This merging eliminates the need for separate devices that would occupy additional space in the dental operatory, freeing up valuable workspace while maintaining all necessary lighting functions.
3Ease of operation
If the intraoral lamp is fixed in position, then the system structure is simpler, but the practitioner cannot adjust lighting to the needed location
Solution Approach 1:
The intraoral lamp is mounted on a carriage mechanism that enables it to move along the track to different positions. This dynamic positioning capability allows the practitioner to adjust the lamp location as needed during procedures, transforming a static system into a flexible, adaptable lighting solution.
4Ease of operation
If the electronic display is movable, then it can be repositioned for different viewing needs, but practitioners may bump into it during procedures
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of making the electronic display movable like the intraoral lamp, the patent fixes the display in a predetermined position on the housing assembly. This inversion of the mobility approach - making the display stationary while keeping the lighting elements movable - eliminates the safety hazard of practitioners bumping into the display while still allowing lighting flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes a housing assembly having a top, side, middle, and bottom portions, a pair of hollow, tubular, elongated members having a top and a bottom end, the top portion of the housing assembly attached to the bottom end of the elongated members, the top end of the one or more elongated members having a brackets configured and arranged to mount to an overhead surface area, one or more ambient lighting assemblies attached to side portions and top portion of the housing assembly to provide general lighting, each ambient lighting assembly including an ambient housing and fluorescent bulbs, a horizontal tracking rail suspended attached to a bottom portion of the housing assembly, the tracking rail extending along a portion of the housing assembly, a carriage mechanism slidably engaging the tracking rail, and an intra-oral light assembly connected to the carriage mechanism.