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.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 22, 1991
Filed:
Mar. 21, 1991
Applicant:
Inventor:
Wilford A Snead, San Dimas, CA (US);
Assignee:
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, St. Paul, MN (US);
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A61C / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
433 17 ; 433-8 ;
Abstract
A buccal tube used in orthodontic therapy is convertible to a bracket during later stages of treatment. The buccal tube includes two tabs initially extending toward each other from opposite sides of an arch wire slot. A prying tool placed in a slot of the buccal tube moves both of the tabs apart and bends the tabs toward recessed positions in order to open the slot and convert the buccal tube to a bracket.