Other

Bernard A Fitzmorris

Douglas Arthur Schultheis

Richard A Daley

Paul J Kotowski

Michael Kossak

Ted Lubin

A dental flossing device is characterized by a flossing circuit comprising a floss supply spool and a take-up spool mounted to a housing containing a gear train assembly adapted to rotate the take-up spool in a winding direction. The floss feeds from the supply spool along a pair of prongs forming a forked extension of the handle and is stretched across the forked prongs and appropriately tensioned to be inserted into a user's mouth for flossing. To maintain hygiene, the take-up spool is mounted outside the housing. In a manually operated embodiment, a manually depressible trigger projecting from the housing is operable to rotate the take-up spool with reverse rotation thereof being prevented with a ratchet mechanism. Release of the manually depressible trigger reversely rotates the supply spool through a short arcuate interval to remove slack and then locks the supply spool against unwinding rotation through gear teeth. In a preferred manually operated embodiment, first and second ratchet mechanisms are utilized to prevent reverse rotation of the supply and take-up spools while sufficiently tensioning the floss circuit. In other embodiments, the housing may be formed for mounting the flossing device as an attachment to a hand-held motorized toothbrush handle equipped with a motor from which projects and output shaft. Depending upon the model, the gear train assembly may be modified to convert longitudinal stroking motion of the shaft or oscillatory motion into uni-directional rotating motion to rotate the take-up spool in one direction only.

Flossing equipment and method of operation

An athletic performance measuring device is provided which can be conveniently worn on the user's finger is disclosed. The device can provide a variety of functions such as lap counting and timing. An actuator is provided in the form of a thumb switch, to allow the counter/timer to be held and operated by one hand, without disrupting the athlete's performance.

Sport counting and timing device

A root canal filler assembly including a single use obturator and a multiple use elongate inserter tool is disclosed. The oburator includes a metallic core and a plasticizable coating, preferably formed of gutta percha. One end of the metallic core extends beyond the plasticizable coating to support a connector assembly. The multiple use inserter tool is removably connectable to the oburator to insert, remove, adjust, and reposition the obturator in a root canal. The inserter tool includes at one end a connector assembly which engages the obturator and at the other end a handle to facilitate manipulation of the assembly by the dentist. The elongate inserter tool may be reused as required, both to remove or reposition a previously inserted obturator and to insert additional obturators in other root canals. A method of filling and sealing a root canal employing the disclosed root canal filler assembly is also provided.

Growing community of inventors

Washington, DC, United States of America

Bernard A Fitzmorris