Anti-microbial apparatus and method for dental handpieces
First Claim
1. An anti-contamination sheath for a medical or dental handpiece comprising a flexible bag comprising a thin wall of synthetic resinous material closed at one end and opened at another end, the bag comprising perforations in the wall accommodating manual tearing of the bag along the perforations to accommodate removal of at least part of the bag from the handpiece;
- the sheath further comprising two tabs, respectively disposed at the two ends of the sheath.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A multiple stage anti-microbial apparatus and methods are disclosed, which provide capacity to process a handpiece between patients including soaking, de-overburdening via use of ultrasonic energy, treating with exposing to anti-microbial heat, accommodating coordinated though separate autoclaving, and accommodating contiguously packaging in a heat shrunk sheath after multiple anti-microbial treatment to prevent later contamination through the air. The distal portion of the heat shrunk sheath is initially removed along weakened paths to expose the operative head of the handpiece, accommodating grasping of the handpiece handle through the remainder of the sheath during use of the handpiece on the patient. After such use, the remainder of the sheath is removed along a weakened path and discarded.
The anti-microbial apparatus comprises a portable casing with one or more exterior lids or covers. An ultrasonic basin provides a bath for soaking, liquid anti-microbial activity and removal of debris. A heat chamber accommodates facile manual introduction and movement therein of the distal end and a substantial portion of the handle of the handpiece, following the bath treatment, to dry and expose the handpiece to anti-microbial heat and anti-contamination sheath upon the handpiece.
49 Citations
61 Claims
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1. An anti-contamination sheath for a medical or dental handpiece comprising a flexible bag comprising a thin wall of synthetic resinous material closed at one end and opened at another end, the bag comprising perforations in the wall accommodating manual tearing of the bag along the perforations to accommodate removal of at least part of the bag from the handpiece;
- the sheath further comprising two tabs, respectively disposed at the two ends of the sheath.
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2. An anti-contamination sheath for a medical or dental handpiece comprising a flexible bag comprising a thin wall of synthetic resinous material closed at one end and opened at another end, the bag comprising perforations in the wall accommodating manual tearing of the bag along the perforations to accommodate removal of at least part of the bag from the handpiece;
- some perforations being longitudinally aligned and others being transversely aligned creating bag segments which can be individually selectively manually removed to expose a distal end and a main body of the handpiece, respectively.
- View Dependent Claims (3, 4)
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5. An anti-contamination sheath for dental and medical handpieces comprising a thin wall elongated pliant sleeve of heat shrinkage synthetic resinous material into which one handpiece is manually placed comprising at least one weakened line accommodating manual tearing of the material after being heat shrunk upon the handpiece along the weakened line for removal of at least part of the bag from the handpiece, the material of the bag comprising at least two weakened lines to accommodate separate manual removal of two segments of the bag from the handpiece.
- 6. In combination handpiece and an anti-contamination sheath contiguously encapsulating a distal end and a main body of the handpiece, the sheath comprising a pliant bag comprising a thin wall of heat shrunk synthetic resinous material closed at one end, the material of the bag comprising at least one weakened wall portion accommodating manual tearing of the wall along the weakened wall portion for removal of at least part of the bag from the handpiece.
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8. A unitary anti-microbial apparatus comprising:
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(a) a basin for soaking a distal end and at least part of a handle portion of a used handpiece in liquid to (1) prevent drying of debris derived from use in an oral cavity of a patient, and (2) for exposure of the immersed parts of the handpiece to an anti-microbial agent in the liquid; (b) a source of ultrasonic waves associated with the basin for removing the debris and enhance the disinfection; (c) a heat chamber accommodating receipt of the distal end and the at least part of the handle of the handpiece after removal thereof from the basin to (1) dry, (2) expose the same to anti-microbial heat, and (3) to accommodate heat shrinking of a plastic sheath contiguously upon and around the distal end and at least some portion of the handle of the handpiece. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of subjecting a handpiece of the dental/medical type to multiple consecutive anti-microbial treatments comprising the steps of:
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soaking a distal end and at least some of a handle of the handpiece in liquid after use; immersing the distal end and at least a portion of the handle of the handpiece in art anti-microbial liquid agent; subjecting the distal end and at least part of the handle of the handpiece immersed in liquid to ultrasonic waves; exposing the distal end and a length of the handle of the handpiece to anti-microbial heat for a predetermined period of time; removing the handpiece from the anti-microbial heat and thereafter encapsulating the distal end and at least some of the handle of the handpiece in a pliant sheath of synthetic resinous film material; heat shrinking the sheath into snug contiguous relation with the handpiece; removing the heat shrunk sheath and handpiece from the heat; and
storing the sheathed handpiece for later use. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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57. An anti-contamination method for a handpiece used upon the human body comprising the steps of:
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subjecting the handpiece to at least one anti-microbial treatment; placing the treated handpiece through an opening in a heat shrinkable sheath closed at one end; heat shrinking the sheath into snug contiguous encapsulating relation with the distal end and at least part of a handle portion of the handpiece; storing the handpiece in an atmospherically exposed environment for a period of time whereby the encapsulated handpiece remains free from contamination. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59)
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60. A method of administering multiple anti-microbial treatments to a handpiece of a dental/medical type between successive uses thereof, comprising the steps of ultrasonically separating debris from the handpiece;
- exposing at least some of the handpiece to an anti-microbial liquid;
applying anti-microbial heat to at least a portion of the handpiece;
enveloping at least a part of the handpiece in a plastic sleeve which is substantially impervious to microbials.
- exposing at least some of the handpiece to an anti-microbial liquid;
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61. A portable anti-microbial apparatus by which a contaminated handpiece is treated comprising:
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a housing; an ultrasonic and anti-microbial liquid immersion compartment within the housings; a heat applying compartment within the housing for selective application of anti-microbial heat and heat for a plastic shrinkage purpose, respectively, controls.
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Specification