Labial Bow Bending Device with Turret Pins
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for fabricating removable orthodontic appliances, particularly labial bows, require skilled manual handling and repeated bending, which can lead to strain hardening and increased likelihood of wire breakage, making the process time-consuming and prone to errors.
Innovation Solution
A bending device with a turret and pins of varying diameters and spacings allows for the quick formation of standardized pre-measured vertical loops with a smooth curve, minimizing repeated bending and wire handling, enabling precise fitting to plaster molds of teeth.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual handling and repeated bending are used to form labial bows, then flexibility in shaping is achieved, but strain hardening and wire breakage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The device pre-positions pins and bands in predetermined locations that correspond to the desired final shape of the labial bow. The wire is bent once into contact with these pre-positioned elements, eliminating the need for repeated bending and corrections that cause strain hardening and breakage.
Solution Approach 2:
The pins and bands act as intermediary elements between the operator and the wire. Instead of direct manual manipulation, the wire is shaped by contact with these intermediaries that guide the bending process and ensure consistent, correct geometry without requiring skilled repeated adjustments.
2Manufacturing precision
If skilled manual handling is used to form vertical loops, then customization is achieved, but fabrication time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pins and bands are pre-positioned at standardized locations and dimensions before the wire is introduced. This preliminary setup ensures that when the wire is bent into contact with these elements, the vertical loops are automatically formed with correct symmetry and dimensions, eliminating time-consuming manual adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The device uses standardized pin diameters and band dimensions that define specific geometric parameters for the vertical loops. By changing these physical parameters of the tooling elements, standardized loop dimensions are achieved quickly without requiring skilled manual measurement and adjustment for each wire.
3Manufacturing precision
If repeated bending is performed to correct mistakes, then shape accuracy is improved, but strain hardening increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pins and bands are pre-positioned to define the correct final geometry. The wire is bent once into contact with these pre-positioned elements, ensuring shape accuracy is achieved in a single operation without the need for repeated bending and corrections that would cause strain hardening and weaken the wire.
4Measurement precision
If wire forceps are used extensively for handling, then positioning precision is achieved, but damage to the wire increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pins and bands serve as intermediary positioning elements that replace the need for extensive wire forceps handling. The wire is positioned by contact with these intermediaries rather than by gripping and manipulating with forceps, thereby achieving precise positioning without causing damage or increasing the likelihood of breakage.
Data Source
AI summary
A labial bow bending device for use in quickly and accurately forming a Hawley retainer or other removable orthodontic appliance. The bending device includes a turret with pins on opposite ends for forming a pair of standardized pre-measured vertical loops in an orthodontic wire for use in a maxillary or mandibular labial bow. A measuring scale is provided on the turret for establishing the distance between the vertical loops during formation of the labial bow such that the distal legs of the vertical loops pass between the canines and first bicuspids of a plaster model of a patient's teeth. The turret also includes a plurality of circular grooves of different diameters for use in forming an incisor section of the labial bow between the vertical loops into a smooth arc that conforms to the curve of the labial surfaces of the incisors on the plaster model.