Disposable Protective Sleeve for Dental Apparatus Such as Light Curing Guns

This invention pertains generally to the field of protective covers for preventing the spread of infection, and more particularly to coverings for dental equipment such as light curing guns and the like.

To help prevent the spread of biological contamination from one patient to another, where possible, dental instruments are sterilized after use with each patient. However, some devices handled by a dentist or hygienist during a procedure are not conveniently sterilized or are not capable of withstanding sterilization procedures. One example of such devices is the light curing gun used by dentists to apply light to light curable tooth repair materials. This is an electrical and optical device which cannot withstand autoclaving or other sterilization procedures. Another type of device used during procedures which is not readily sterilized is an impression material mixing gun, similar to a caulking gun, which is used to produce a homogeneous mix without hand mixing for dental impressions.

To attempt to minimize cross contamination between patients, dentists have sometimes wrapped these larger devices which cannot be sterilized in various wrapping materials, such as sheets of flexible plastic, e.g., Saran.RTM. wrap, or in standard plastic bags. However, protecting the equipment in this manner is obviously inconvenient and less than satisfactory, since wrapping the equipment properly takes time, and during a procedure the wrapping may work loose to allow the equipment to be exposed, thereby defeating the purpose of the wrapping.

In accordance with the present invention, a protective sleeve for dental equipment is especially suited to be easily pulled onto hand held dental equipment such as light curing guns and putty guns to cover the portions of such equipment that would ordinarily be handled by the dentist, and to then be easily removed after the procedure with a patient is completed. The protective sleeve is formed of a low cost flexible plastic and can be produced from standard sheets of plastic material by simple heat sealing and die cutting operations. The protective sleeve thus formed is economically disposable after each use.

The protective sleeve of the invention in a preferred form has two flexible plastic film panels which are joined together at a top edge and also at two side edges, with the bottom edges of the panels being unjoined to provide an open bottom which allows access to the interior of the protective sleeve. Notches are formed in the panels to form two opposed apertures in the sleeve at positions adjacent the top edge. These apertures are preferably much closer to the top edge than to the bottom edges of the panels. In a preferred form, the notches are formed at each side edge to provide adjoining semi-circular or semi-elliptical openings in each of the panels, with the notches together providing a circular or elliptical aperture as the panels are pulled apart as the sleeve is drawn over the hand held equipment. The apertures may also be formed as opposed, preferably circular, openings cut into each panel at a position near the top edge, or by cutting off the top corners of the panels by a cut which extends from a side edge to the top edge.

The apertures are preferably sized to accommodate the front end and the back end of hand held equipment which extends forwardly and rearwardly from the handle portion of such equipment, as is typically the case with light curing guns and putty guns. This allows the forward end of the equipment, for example the light guide tube of the curing gun, to extend from the sleeve without interference, and also exposes the back end of the equipment without unduly distorting the sleeve, allowing the sleeve to fit relatively tightly over the equipment. For typical light curing guns, which conventionally have vent openings for cooling air, the second aperture of the protective sleeve allows the back end of the gun to be exposed to allow free admission of air into or exit of air from the vents of the gun. Nonetheless, the sleeve fits around the handle of the curing gun to completely cover it at all positions at which the dentist will grasp the handle, as well as covering adjacent portions of the body of the gun which might incidently be contacted by the hand of the dentist.

The protective sleeve of the present invention may be formed to specifically accommodate various shapes of hand held dental equipment, for example, by utilizing tapered panels so that the bottom edges of the panels are narrower than the top edge to more closely fit a handle, and can be made with wide top and bottom edges to accommodate other types of guns, such as putty guns, which have wider handles than light curing guns.

Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an illustrative perspective view of a light curing gun with a protective sleeve of the present invention shown being drawn on over the gun.

FIG. 2 is a further perspective view of a light curing gun with the protective sleeve of the invention drawn further onto the gun.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the protective sleeve of the invention drawn fully onto and covering a light curing gun.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a protective sleeve in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a modified embodiment of the protective sleeve of the present invention which has rounded top corners.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a further modified embodiment of the protective sleeve of the invention having rounded top corners and tapered panels.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a protective sleeve adapted in size and shape to fit on a typical dentist's putty gun.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a protective sleeve of the invention shown placed on a putty gun.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a protective sleeve of the invention having apertures formed in the middle of each panel at a position near the top edge.

FIG. 10 is an illustrative view of the protective sleeve of FIG. 9 drawn onto a light curing gun.

FIG. 11 is plan view of a protective sleeve of the invention having apertures formed by cuts in the panels extending from the side edges to the top edge.

FIG. 12 is an illustrative side view of the sleeve of FIG. 11 with the panels drawn apart to illustrate one of the apertures which can accommodate the front or back end of a device such as a light curing gun.

With reference to the drawings, a protective sleeve in accordance with the present invention is shown generally at 10 in FIG. 1 in the process of being pulled onto a light curing gun 12 of conventional design. The gun 12 is typical of curing guns utilized by dentists to cure certain light curable materials used to repair teeth. The typical gun 12 has a handle 13 adapted to be grasped by the dentist, and a generally cylindrical body 14 with a front end 16 and a back end 17 which extend away from the handle. The front end 16 of the gun includes a fitting 18 by which a light guide tube (not shown) is conventionally engaged on to the gun to guide the light from the gun to the desired position at the teeth of the patient. The guide tube is a replaceable part which is removed from the gun after use with a patient and separately sterilized. The gun 12 typically has vents 19 at the front end of the gun and vents (not shown) on the back end of the gun to allow cooling air into the interior of the gun.

The gun 12 itself does not come directly into contact with the patient, but the dentist or hygienist generally must hold the gun 12 by the handle 13 during the procedure. Thus, any contamination on the hand of the dentist from earlier work with the patient may be left on the handle 13 if it is unprotected. In addition to grasping the handle 13, the dentist must also operate the switch 20 which is typically mounted in the handle, and may incidently come into contact with the lower portions of the body 14 adjacent to the handle 13. The protective sleeve 10 of the present invention covers those portions of the gun 12 which will typically be contacted by the hand of the dentist during a procedure. The process of mounting the protective sleeve onto the gun is illustrated in the views of FIG. 1-3.

The sleeve 10 includes two panels 22 and 23, typically rectangular as shown, which are joined together at a top edge 25 and side edges 26 and 27. The bottom edges 28 and 29 (only the edge 28 is shown in FIG. 1) are not joined to one another, leaving an open bottom to the sleeve 10. The dentist inserts the gun 12 into the open bottom of the sleeve as illustrated in FIG. 1, and then draws the sleeve 10 down over the gun in the manner illustrated in FIG. 2. The inherent resiliency of the flexible plastic material (e.g., polyethylene film) of the sleeve allows it to stretch and distort as necessary to allow it to fit over the gun while it is being drawn into place.

An aperture 30 is formed in the panels at the side edge 26 at a position spaced away from but adjacent to the top edge 25. The aperture 30 is defined by adjoining notches 31 and 32 in the panels 22 and 23, respectively. Similarly, an opposed aperture 34 is formed at the side edge 26 at a position spaced away from but adjacent to the top edge 25, and is defined by adjoining notches 35 and 36 cut into the panels 22 and 23, respectively. As described further below, the notches 31, 32, 35 and 36 are preferably semi-circular or semi-elliptical in shape so that the entire apertures 30 and 34 are substantially circular or elliptical. The radius of the notches which define the apertures 30 and 34 is preferably chosen so that the apertures closely fit the front end and back end of a typical light curing gun, in the manner as illustrated in FIG. 3, allowing both the front end and the back end to be substantially fully exposed, with the sleeve 10 otherwise covering the body 14 of the curing gun at positions at which it would be contacted by the hand of the dentist.

A plan view of the exemplary protective sleeve 10 is shown in FIG. 4, illustrating the semi-circular notches 31 and 35 in the front panel 22, respectively, which are matched by the adjoining notches 32 and 36 in the back panel 23. The notches 31 and 35 are formed in the side edges 26 and 27 at positions adjacent to, but, in a preferred embodiment, spaced away from the top edge 25 a short distance to leave short edge portions 38 and 39, typically 1/4 to 1/2 inch in length. If desired, the notches 31 and 35 can be cut up to the edge 25, and, as described below, may be formed as cuts which extend from the edges 26 and 27 diagonally to cut across the top edge 25. Such cuts herein will be considered notches and define apertures in the panels of the sleeve which are adjacent to the top edge. For an application with a typical light curing gun, the notches 31, 32, 35 and 36 may have a radius in the range of 3/4 inch to 1 inch, although it is understood that a larger or smaller radius may also be used as appropriate. The size of the apertures 30 and 34 is selected to best fit the body 14 of the gun: for example, for a light curing gun having a cylindrical body about 1 3/4 inches in diameter at its widest point, the apertures will preferably have a diameter slightly less than 1 3/4 inches.

In a preferred method of making the protective sleeve 10, an initial continuous sheet of polyethylene film, or any other suitable flexible plastic film, having a width preferably equal to twice the length of the side edges 26 and 27, may be folded over along a central crease line which will define the top edge 25, which thus integrally joins the film which will become the two panels 22 and 23. The folded over film is then cut to the desired width of the top edge 25 and the bottom edges 28 and 29, typically along cut lines substantially perpendicular to the crease line and the free edges, and then the panels are joined together at the side edges 26 and 27, for example, by heat sealing the panels together at these edges. The apertures 30 and 34 may then be formed in a die cutting operation wherein a die having circular knife edges, corresponding to the semi-circular notches 31, 32, 35 and 36, simultaneously cuts the notches 31 and 32 at the side edge 26, and simultaneously cuts the notches 35 and 36 at the side edge 27. Exemplary suitable dimensions for a sleeve for use with a typical hand held dentist light curing gun include rectangular panels with a width at the top edge 25 and bottom edges 28 and 29 of 51/4 inches, and a length along the side edges 26 and 27 of 10 inches.

The protective sleeve of the invention may be modified if desired without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. Examples are illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. The protective sleeve of FIG. 5 is identical to the sleeve of FIG. 4 with the exception that the top edge 25 is joined to the side edges 26 and 27 by rounded radius corners 41 and 42, respectively. These radius corners may be formed by die cutting a radius into the corners of the protective sleeve and then heat sealing the edges of the panels at the corners. The sleeve of FIG. 6 is also shown illustratively having rounded corners 41 and 42, but has side edges 26 and 27 which are cut at a taper so that the bottom edges 28 and 29 are shorter than the top edge 25. A tapered sleeve of the form as shown FIG. 6 may be desirable in certain circumstances to provide a closer fit of the sleeve about the handle portion 13 of the light gun when the sleeve is in place on the light gun.

The protective sleeve of the invention may also have a variety of relative dimensions. For example, in the sleeve 50 shown in FIG. 7, the front panel 51 and back panel 52 have a substantially square shape, being joined together at side edges 53 and 54 and the top edge 57, and having bottom edges 55 and 56 which are not joined, with the edges 53, 54, 55, 56 and 57 all being substantially equal in length (e.g., a top edge of 7 1/2 inches and side edges of 8 inches). Apertures 58 and 59 are formed at the side edges 53 and 54 by notches in the manner described above. The protective sleeve 50 shown in FIG. 7 may be utilized with types of dental equipment handled by the dentist during a procedure with a patient other than light curing guns. An example is illustrated in FIG. 8 in which the protective sleeve 50 is shown in place on a putty gun 61. The putty gun has a front end 62 which extends through the aperture 58, and a rear portion 64 which can extend out through the aperture 59. The putty gun 61 has a stationary handle 65 and a movable handle or trigger 66 which extends out from the stationary handle 65 and is grasped by the dentist to pull the trigger 66 toward the handle 65 to squeeze putty from the discharge tube 68 of the putty gun. The trigger handle 66 is then released and springs back out to the wide open position illustrated in FIG. 8. To accommodate the wide dimensions between the stationary handle 65 and the trigger handle 66 of the putty gun, the protective sleeve 50 is relatively wide so that it substantially entirely covers both the stationary handle portion 65 and the moveable handle portion 66. Nonetheless, because of the apertures 58 and 59 formed in the protective sleeve, the front end 62 and the back end 64 of the putty gun can extend out beyond the protective sleeve, since these portions of the gun are not contacted by the hand of the dentist, thus allowing the protective sleeve to be relatively closely fitted to the putty gun.

Another protective sleeve in accordance with the invention is shown at 70 in FIGS. 9 and 10. The sleeve 70 has two preferably rectangular flexible plastic panels 71 and 72, joined at a top edge 74, and at side edges 75 and 76, but not joined at bottom edges 78 and 79. Apertures 81 and 82, preferably circular, are die cut into the panels 71 and 72, respectively, at positions midway between the side edges 75 and 76 and adjacent to but spaced away from the top edge 74. The apertures 81 and 82 may be cut by a single circular die in a single step, cutting through both panels 71 and 72 so that the apertures adjoin one another when the panels are adjacent. As shown in FIG. 10, in which a light curing gun 12 is illustratively shown, when the sleeve 70 is drawn onto the gun 12, the front end 16 and the back end 17 of the gun extend out through the apertures 81 and 82.

A further embodiment of the protective sleeve of the invention is shown at 90 in FIGS. 11 and 12. The sleeve 90 has two rectangular panels 91 and 92 joined together at a top edge 94 and at side edges 95 and 96. The bottom edges 98 and 99 are not joined to allow access to the interior of the sleeve. Apertures 101 and 102 are formed in the panels of the sleeve by cutting off the corners of the sleeve adjacent the top edge by a cut which extends from the side edge 95 to the top edge 94 and from the side edge 96 to the top edge 94. Although straight cuts are shown in FIG. 11, it is understood that the cuts could be curved, e.g., semicircular. As shown in the side view of FIG. 12, the aperture 102 (and, similarly, the aperture 101) assumes a generally circular form as the panels 91 and 92 are drawn away from each other, as would occur as the front end 16 or back end 17 of a light curing gun were inserted through the apertures. The apertures 101 and 102 are seen to be on opposite sides of the sleeve to allow the front and back ends of a light gun to extend through these apertures while the remainder of the sleeve covers the handle and the remainder of the gun between the front and back ends.

It is understood that the invention is not confined to the particular embodiments set forth herein as illustrative, but embraces such modified forms thereof as come within the scope of the following claims.