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:
Apr. 28, 1998
Filed:
Aug. 30, 1996
Applicant:
Inventors:
Assignee:
Lares Research, Chico, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A61C / ; A61B / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
433 29 ; 600160 ;
Abstract
A dental/medical instrument holder with an internal imaging or video system wherein the body of the instrument is readily detachable from a connector portion. The instrument holder preferably contains a swivel feature which allows the body to swivel or rotate 360 degrees relative to the connector, and any hoses or cables attached to the connector, while the instrument is in use. The body of the instrument contains a collet or other feature which allows reversible attachment of various instrument tips. Illumination is provided to the instrument tip and adjacent work area, and images therefrom are transferred to an imaging system which includes a CCD camera within the instrument holder.