The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Aug. 14, 2018

Filed:

Feb. 28, 2013
Applicant:

3m Innovative Properties Company, St. Paul, MN (US);

Inventors:

Ming-Lai Lai, Arcadia, CA (US);

Sung Kim, Montebello, CA (US);

Assignee:
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A61C 7/16 (2006.01); A61C 5/00 (2017.01); A61C 7/00 (2006.01); A61C 7/12 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
A61C 7/16 (2013.01); A61C 5/007 (2013.01); A61C 7/00 (2013.01); A61C 7/12 (2013.01);
Abstract

Provided is an orthodontic splint and related methods, which use two or more bonding pads and a flexible connector beam that deflects in response to stress, effectively reducing the amount of stress felt by the adhesive. The connector beam has a non-uniform cross-section along its length, thereby shifting the maximum stress away from the ends of the beam and toward the midpoint of the beam. Further, the connector beam attached to each base along locations remote from the outer edge of the base. These splint configurations can decrease the likelihood of bond failure and improve fatigue performance by causing stress, and associated strain, encountered during treatment to be spread more evenly along the length of the beam.


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