Spring-Loaded Lingual Bracket with Crossed Grooves for Easier Assembly
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lingual brackets face challenges in assembly complexity and material limitations, leading to cumbersome clinical operations and frequent breakage during bending.
Innovation Solution
A lingual bracket design utilizing longitudinal and transverse grooves in the bracket base to constrain the bracket wing, facilitated by a spring, allowing for simplified assembly and continuous orthodontic force generation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the fixed portion of the movable wing is bent outward to enable assembly, then the bracket can be assembled, but the material is limited and breaking often occurs during bending
Solution Approach 1:
The bracket is divided into separate components: a bracket body and a movable wing that can be assembled together. The movable wing includes a fixed portion and a movable portion that are separable, allowing assembly without bending the fixed portion, thus avoiding material limitations and breaking risks.
Solution Approach 2:
A spring is introduced as an intermediary component between the movable portion and the bracket body. The spring provides elastic force to drive the movable portion into the bracket body and maintain the assembled state, eliminating the need to bend the fixed portion for assembly.
2Reliability
If the spring is loaded only after the fixed portion passes through the through hole, then the spring can form an abutting relationship, but the assembly process becomes cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The spring is pre-loaded onto the movable portion before assembly with the bracket body. This preliminary action allows the spring to be properly positioned and loaded without requiring complex post-assembly operations, simplifying the overall assembly process while ensuring reliable spring loading.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring loading process is merged with the assembly process. The spring is loaded onto the movable portion, which is then assembled with the bracket body in a coordinated sequence, eliminating separate cumbersome operations for spring loading and assembly.
3Ease of manufacture
If a through hole is provided in the fixed wing for spring placement, then the spring can be loaded, but the structure becomes more complex and assembly more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The through hole is extracted from the fixed wing and relocated to the movable portion. This extraction simplifies the fixed wing structure and makes spring loading easier, as the spring is loaded onto the movable portion which already has the opening, rather than requiring a through hole in the fixed wing.
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
The design enables easy assembly, reduces material stress, and ensures consistent orthodontic force application, minimizing clinical errors and improving operational efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
capable of being positioned on the fixed wing by the spring sleeved on the insertion leg
Implementation Method 2
sustaining orthodontic force is generated by the spring
Data Source
AI summary
A lingual bracket includes a bracket base (1), a bracket wing (2), and a spring (3), the bracket base (1) has an upper surface with an end provided with a fixed wing (11) and the other end provided with an auxiliary tube (12), and a bottom face provided with a non-skid bonding face (13); the bracket wing (2) has an insertion leg (21) and a wing portion (22), and can be positioned on the fixed wing (11) by the spring (3) sleeved on the insertion leg (21); a longitudinal groove (111) is provided along a central axis of the fixed wing (11) of the bracket base (1), and a transverse groove (112) is provided at a rear end face of the fixed wing (11); and the insertion leg of the bracket wing (2) has the width equivalent to that of the longitudinal groove (111), and can be placed in the longitudinal groove (111), a joint of the insertion leg (21) and the wing portion (22) is provided with a wide extension part (23), and when the insertion leg (21) is placed in the longitudinal groove (111) and pushed forward by the spring (3), the wide extension portion (23) can be interposed into the transverse groove (112) to form a positioning structure. The two crisscrossed grooves in the bracket base (1) are utilized to form the constraint for the bracket wing (2), enabling the features of an ingenious design, a simple structure, easy machining, and a convenient clinical operation.