| 摘要 |
The present invention involves the field of numerous types of compounds including tooth whitening compounds and in particular, to specific apparatus which are used to retain tooth whitening compounds and then dispense them either into a dental tray where the tray is placed over the patient's teeth for a period of time or the tooth whitening compound is directly applied to the patient's teeth by the dentist or the dental assistant. More broadly described, the present invention includes compound and applicators used to dispense the compounds including tooth whitening compounds, dental bonding and filling compounds, adhesives, finely ground powder, jells, creams and paints. |
| 主权项 |
1. An apparatus for removably retaining a single use cartridge and dispensing at least one compound from the single use cartridge, the apparatus comprising:
a. a dispensing pen having a circumferential wall with an exterior surface and an interior surface, the dispensing pen having an open rear end covered by a sealing cap, the dispensing pen having a front end wall with a front end opening extending from the front end wall, the interior surface and sealing cap surround an interior chamber which retains a ratchet operating mechanism which includes the following components, an operating pushbutton which has a rear end and an arcuate lower surface about which the operating pushbutton pivots, the circumferential wall of the dispensing pen having an opening through which the front end and a top surface wall of the operating pushbutton extend, the lower arcuate surface of the operating pushbutton rests on a pushbutton connection base having a seat on which the lower arcuate surface pivots, the pushbutton connection base having a first foot extending from a width-wise first front and underside member, the first foot member having a longitudinal body terminating in a slanted front face and a parallel oppositely disposed second foot member extending from a width-wise second front and underside member, the second foot member having a longitudinal body terminating in a slanted front face, the pushbutton connection base having a rear end with a longitudinal pivot member extending away from the rear end and against an interior location of the interior wall which serves as a connection point for the pushbutton connection base, beneath the pushbutton connection base is a longitudinal slide member having a longitudinal exterior surface with a first circumferential stop member encircling the longitudinal exterior surface at a spaced apart location from the front of the longitudinal slide member, a rear circumferential stop member located at a rear end of the longitudinal slide member and including an upper shaft holder extending away from the rear end, the upper shaft holder having a downwardly extending clip, a lower shaft holder extending away from the rear end and having an upwardly extending clip, the longitudinal exterior surface having a first flattened sidewall with a first ramp extending from an interior surface section of first circumferential stop member to adjacent a bottom longitudinal portion of the first flattened sidewall and a second flattened sidewall with a second ramp extending from an interior surface section of first circumferential stop member to adjacent a bottom longitudinal portion of the second flattened sidewall, the longitudinal slide member 1 including an interior longitudinal generally cylindrical opening extending for the entire length of the longitudinal slide member and bounded by a longitudinal interior circumferential wall open at its front end and open at its rear end , a multi-section shaft having a first section having a smooth outer surface section extending through a length of the interior longitudinal generally cylindrical opening and for a given distance beyond the open front end adjacent a front interior wall having a cylindrical supporting arm extending interiorly toward the longitudinal slide member and having a central opening which receives and supports a front end of the multi-section shaft, a first compression spring supported by the cylindrical supporting arm at a front end and supported at a rear end by a front section of the slide member, the slide member having a front cylindrical exterior separation wall which separates the rear of the first compression spring from the pushbutton when it is depressed; b. a second section of the multi-section shaft having a multiplicity of adjoining ratchet teeth which extend from a given distance behind the opening at the rear end of slide member to adjacent a rear end of the multi-section shaft, the rear end of the multi-section shaft terminating in a solid plug member which in turn is received in and supported by a sealing cap, each individual ratchet tooth is in the shape of a triangle beginning with a sloped side extending at an upward slant and serving as the long straight edge of the triangle and terminating at a rear end, each triangle further formed with a vertical wall and a horizontal wall, an upper triangle and a lower triangle formed as identical mirror images of each other at a same location of the second section and respectively above and below the second section, each ratchet tooth above the second section defined to as an upper ratchet tooth with an upper vertical wall and an upper forwardly slanted surface, each ratchet tooth below the second section defined as a lower ratchet with a lower vertical wall and a lower forwardly slated surface, a second compression spring extending around the multiplicity of ratchet teeth and retained at a rear end on the solid plug member and retained at a front end on the upper shaft holder and on lower shaft holder; c. the exterior surface of the dispensing pen including a removable cover section adjacent the front opening leading to an interior chamber between the front opening of the dispensing pen and a front portion of the first section of the multi-section shaft, the interior chamber sized to receive a single use cartridge having a nozzle extending through the front opening and a rear end facing the front portion of the first section of the multi-section shaft; d. for operation of the ratchet operating mechanism, the first compression spring and the second compression spring are in their uncompressed state, the operating pushbutton is elevated in the uncompressed state, the downwardly extending clip rests on an uppermost portion of an upper forwardly slanted surface adjacent a vertical wall of an upper ratchet tooth, the upwardly extending clip rests on a lowermost portion of a lower forwardly slanted surface adjacent a vertical wall of a lower ratchet tooth, the multi-section shaft is incrementally moved toward the front end opening of the dispensing pen by a ratchet step, the operating pushbutton is pressed downwardly by pushing a top surface wall adjacent a front location of the top surface wall towards the slide member, the downwardly pressed pushbutton causes its arcuate lower surface to pivot causing the pushbutton connection base to move in the same downward direction which in turn causes the slanted front faces and of the respective first foot member and second foot member to respectively slide down first ramp and second ramp of the slide member, when the operating pushbutton is fully pressed all the way down, the first and second foot of the pushbutton connection base have respectively slide down their respective first ramp and second ramp which causes the slide member to move toward the front of the dispensing pen by a respective horizontal distance of the first ramp and the second ramp, this in turn compresses the first compression spring and advances the multi-section shaft by the a horizontal distance of a ratchet tooth which in turn compresses the second spring; when the operating pushbutton is released, the clips have slid down a respective slanted surface and respectively stop at the next vertical wall of a ratchet tooth and holds the multi-sectioned shaft from moving backward, the slide member moves backwards due to the uncompressed first compression spring by the first and second foot sliding back up respective ramps which then allows the upwardly extending clip and the downwardly extending clip to respectively jump to the next respective slanted surface of the next lower ratchet tooth and upper ratchet tooth, this process continues as the operating pushbutton is pressed until the multi-section shaft is completely extended and the second compression spring is completely compressed; e. to retract the multi-section shaft back to its original or starting point, it is necessary to disengage the upper ratchet teeth and the lower ratchet teeth from the downwardly extending ratchet tooth engagement clip and upwardly extending ratchet tooth engagement clip, surrounding the exterior surface of the exterior wall of the dispensing pen at a location between the slide member and the upper shaft holder and lower shaft holder is a rotational switch, the rotational switch is connected to a locking element attached to a cylindrical locking member physically attached to the multi-section shaft, when the rotational switch is rotated, the locking element and the 105 cylindrical locking member also rotates, thereby causing the multi-section shaft to rotate until the clips are disengaged from the ratchet teeth, upon such disengagement, the second compression spring retracts the multi-section shaft back to its starting position, the rotational switch is rotated in the opposite direction back to its original position, the locking element and cylindrical locking member are also rotated back to 110 their original position, thereby causing the multi-section shaft to rotate back its original position until the clips are re-engaged with the ratchet teeth to begin the starting position; and the dispensing pen removably retaining a single use cartridge containing at least one compound dispensed from the single use cartridge after engagement of a part of the 115 single use cartridge by the ratchet mechanism. |
