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. 01, 2002
Filed:
Apr. 20, 2000
Muhammad Ziaullah Khan Chishti, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Andrew C. Beers, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Align Technology, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A system, apparatus and computer-implemented method for arranging a computer model of teeth. According to one implementation, the method includes generating an archform representing an arrangement of teeth; placing a plurality of teeth according to the archform; determining a differential distance between each tooth and its neighbors; and moving each tooth according to the differential distance. According to one implementation, the system includes a processor; a display device coupled to the processor; and a data storage device coupled to the processor, the data storage device storing instructions operable to cause the processor to: generate an archform representing an arrangement of teeth; place a plurality of teeth according to the archform; determine a differential distance between each tooth and its neighbors; move each tooth according to the differential distance; and repeat the determining and moving steps according to a function of at least one of the differential distances when the sum of differential distances for the plurality of teeth exceeds a predetermined threshold.