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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.

Patent No.:

US 12544195 B1

PDFFull Text
Date of Patent:
Feb. 10, 2026

Filed:

Jan. 17, 2025

Mold with weakened region

Applicant:

Align Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);

Inventors:

Peter Webber, Lafayette, CA (US);

Rohit Tanugula, San Jose, CA (US);

Shiva P. Sambu, Milpitas, CA (US);

Crystal Tjhia, Sunnyvale, CA (US);

Assignee:

Align Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);

Attorney:

Lowenstein Sandler LLP

Primary Examiner:

Lawrence Averick

Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A61C 9/00 (2006.01); A61C 7/00 (2006.01); A61C 7/08 (2006.01); B29C 33/38 (2006.01); B29C 33/44 (2006.01); B29C 33/50 (2006.01); B29C 51/34 (2006.01); B29L 31/00 (2006.01); B33Y 10/00 (2015.01); B33Y 30/00 (2015.01); B33Y 50/00 (2015.01); B33Y 80/00 (2015.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
A61C 9/00 (2013.01); A61C 7/002 (2013.01); A61C 7/08 (2013.01); A61C 9/0046 (2013.01); B29C 33/3835 (2013.01); B29C 33/448 (2013.01); B29C 33/50 (2013.01); B29C 51/34 (2013.01); B33Y 80/00 (2014.12); B29L 2031/753 (2013.01); B29L 2031/757 (2013.01); B33Y 10/00 (2014.12); B33Y 30/00 (2014.12); B33Y 50/00 (2014.12);
Abstract

A mold is for thermoforming a dental appliance. The mold includes a first section of the mold and a second section of the mold. The second section includes a feature having a complex shape, an undercut, or a bite edge. The mold further includes a weakened region that joins the first section to the second section. The weakened region is breakable, deflectable, or deformable in response to a first threshold force to enable the first section and the second section to be removed from the dental appliance after the dental appliance is formed over the mold. The first threshold force is less than a second threshold force that would damage or permanently deform the dental appliance.

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