MOTORIZED FLOSSER AND METHOD OF USE
A motorized flosser comprising an elongated body and a flossing head secured to an end portion of the elongated body. The flossing head oscillates in an arcuate manner. A battery powered motor drives a drive mechanism which reciprocates an output drive shaft, which drive shaft is in turn connected through a flexible drive rod to a drive disc. The drive disc oscillates in a rotary arcuate motion to impart either pure rotary arcuate oscillatory motion or a combined rotary arcuate motion and translatory motion to flossing material carried by a yoke of the flossing head. The flossing head may incorporate a toothpaste holder mounted upon the flossing head or toothbrush bristles mounted upon tines of the yoke of the flossing head.
Latest THE WILLIAM GETGEY COMPANY, INC. Patents:
This is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/224,896, filed Sep. 13, 2005, which was a Continuation-in-Part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/682,443, filed Oct. 9, 2003, and each of these patent properties is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to dental hygiene and more particularly to a power driven instrument for flossing teeth.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe importance of practicing proper dental hygiene has been well documented. In this regard, it is extremely advantageous to frequently and systematically remove plaque and debris from around and between an individual's teeth. Failure to religiously remove debris and plaque from between and around teeth is likely to lead to dental disease including tooth decay, gingivitis and the like.
Conventional flossing often requires one to put his or her hands in his or her mouth. This may lead to illness due to the increased potential of the spread of bacteria. Another drawback with conventional flossing is that the used dental floss must be properly discarded in a trash receptacle or other appropriate location. Due to the flexible nature of used dental floss it is often difficult to discard the used piece of dental floss in the location the user wishes to discard it. The conventional manual method of flossing one's teeth is cumbersome due to the difficulty in maneuvering a piece of dental floss to the desired position in one's mouth. Individuals with small mouths have a particularly difficult time of flossing using the manual method. Another difficulty with conventional flossing is that it is difficult to fit the floss between teeth which are tightly squeezed together. It often requires a great deal of time, force and effort to properly locate the piece of dental floss for it to fit between two adjacent teeth. Another drawback with conventional flossing is that the gingival sulcus, the area on the gum line between teeth, commonly does not get cleaned or rubbed free of debris.
Therefore, there is a need for a flossing apparatus which is easy to use while keeping one's hands out of one's mouth, which is able to more easily fit a piece of floss between adjacent tight teeth, and which is able to clean the gingival sulcus.
Motorized toothbrushes are known. The commercial market has seen the introduction of many different types of motorized toothbrushes over the last several years. The tendency in the technology is towards more complex, expensive and non-commercially feasible methods of achieving motorized motions in the bristles and heads of toothbrushes. Related U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,000,083; 6,178,579; 6,189,693 and 6,360,395 disclose motorized toothbrushes in which batteries in the handle of the toothbrush power a motor in the handle to oscillate or rotate an elongated shaft which is so connected as to effect a circular motion of bristles in the toothbrush head. Each of these U.S. patents is fully incorporated by reference herein. The oscillation of the elongated shaft causes oscillation of a circular portion of the head to which a plurality of bristles are attached.
Motorized flossing devices are also known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,041 discloses a motorized flosser for removing debris from between teeth and around teeth. The motorized flosser has a flossing implement detachably connected to the main body of the instrument. The flossing implement has a pair of tines between which extends a piece of floss. When activated, a motor reciprocates an output shaft which causes the flossing instrument to reciprocate. One drawback to such apparatus is that this straight reciprocal movement of the piece of dental floss does not adequately clean debris such as food particles from teeth. The piece or length of floss does not sweep across the teeth but instead only rubs against a very small area of the teeth.
It is further well known to convert a power driven toothbrush into a power driven flossing device by changing the heads on the end of a battery powered hand held instrument. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,078 discloses a detachable flosser head for a motorized toothbrush. A drive shaft in the handle assembly reciprocates causing the flosser head to reciprocate. Again, this straight reciprocal movement of the piece of dental floss does not adequately clean debris such as food particles from teeth.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,711 discloses another power driven toothbrush which may be converted to a power driven flossing device.
Another inherent drawback with known motorized flossers is that they do not adequately remove biofilm from the surface of teeth. Biofilm is a well organized community of cooperating microorganisms. One commonly known biofilm which forms on tooth surfaces is called plaque. Biofilms may be easily destroyed simply by wiping them with a brush or other mechanically abrasive material, disrupting attachment to their substrate.
Therefore, there is a need for a powered flossing apparatus which adequately removes biofilm from the surface of teeth, promotes regular flossing and is easy to use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention comprises a motorized flosser having an elongated body having opposed first and second or top and bottom ends. In one embodiment, a replaceable flosser head is removably secured to the first end of the body with a locking mechanism and, in another embodiment, a replaceable floss carrier is removably mounted and secured to the yoke of a flosser head. A power supply is located in a hollow portion of the elongated body. The power supply energizes the flosser head when a user moves a switch located on the exterior of the body. Activation of the power supply causes a drive mechanism to oscillate the flosser head in a pure arcuate motion or, alternatively, in a combined arcuate oscillating and translatory motion. The frequency of oscillation is preferably 2,800 cycles per minute, but may be any other desired frequency. This rotary oscillation of the flosser head causes a length of flossing material to rotate in an oscillatory manner through an arc and in a preferred embodiment, simultaneously translate in a back and forth motion, as well as move arcuately in an oscillatory motion. This arc of the oscillatory motion generally is between 30 and go degrees and preferably is between 45 and 60 degrees.
The elongated body has a lower motorized handle portion having a longitudinal axis extending there through and an upper stem portion including the flosser head, the upper stem portion being removable from the lower handle portion. The upper neck portion includes a neck section having a longitudinal axis and an end section to which the flosser head is secured. The power supply includes a motor and batteries within the handle portion of the elongated body. The motor is operably connected or coupled to the flosser head for oscillating or oscillating and translating a flexible length or piece of flossing material extending between two spaced tines on the yoke of the flosser head.
The lower handle portion of the body includes a simplified gear assembly. The gear assembly includes a pinion gear driven by the output shaft of the motor and a crown gear operatively coupled to the pinion gear. The output shaft of the motor rotates the pinion gear which rotates the crown gear. A link assembly is operatively coupled to the gear assembly in the interior of the handle portion of the body and is operative to convert rotation of the crown gear into linear reciprocation of an output link contained in the handle portion of the body. This output link is in turn connected through an appropriate linkage contained in the stem portion of the body to affect oscillatory motion of the flossing head.
In one embodiment of the invention, the reciprocable output link contained in the lower handle portion of the body is connected through a single elongated flexible drive rod contained in the stem portion of the body to an offset of a flossing head drive disc such that this flexible drive rod alone converts linear reciprocating motion of a link in the handle portion of the body into arcuate oscillating motion of the floss-containing yoke of the flossing head. This flexible driving connection to the flossing head is operable to absorb any shock if the flossing head encounters or comes into abrupt contact with a fixed surface as well as prevents potential injury to a tooth or gums resulting from such contact.
The lower handle portion of the body further includes a switch to allow operation of the unit. The switch includes an actuator button and a metal contact. The switch is manually depressed by pressing a molded actuator button down and/or sliding it forwardly, from an “off” position to an “on” position. A metal contact plate is secured to the molded actuator button and once moved forward to the “on” position contacts the motor housing, completing the circuit, as in a conventional momentary switch. The motorized flosser then continuously operates until the button is slid back into an off position toward the rear end of the body and the metal contact of the switch disengages the metal motor housing, thereby interrupting the circuit.
A flexible resilient bite pad in one modification of the flosser is secured to the rear side of head end of the upper stem portion of the body. The bite pad allows a user to comfortably bite down on the head end portion of the motorized flosser to more effectively force the length of flossing material between adjacent teeth.
In one embodiment, the flosser head is removable and replaceable on the head end of the stem portion of the flosser body. In this embodiment, the replaceable flosser head has a base removably and drivably connected to a drive disc contained in the head end of the elongated stem portion of the body. In another embodiment of the present invention, the base of the flosser head is fixedly mounted on the head end of the stem portion of the flosser body and a floss carrier is so mounted in the yoke of the flossing head so as to be removable and replaceable. The floss carrier in this latter embodiment has anchors or caps molded onto opposite ends of a short strip of flossing material, which anchors or caps may be snap-fit into or onto the tines of the yoke so as to facilitate replacement of the floss material.
This invention also envisions that whenever replaceable floss carriers rather than replaceable flossing heads are used in the practice of this invention, that the floss carriers may be used in combination with a floss carrier cartridge to facilitate sanitary removal and replacement of the floss carriers from and onto the tines of the yoke of a flossing head. This floss carrier is so constructed that it holds multiple floss carriers which are so held that a new carrier may be snap-fit in the ends of the tines or onto the tops of the tines by simply pressing the tines down over the anchors or caps on the ends of a floss carrier in the cartridge. And an extractor device is provided on the end of the cartridge and as a part of the cartridge so as to facilitate removal of a used strip of flossing material from the motorized flosser. In the use of this extractor, the floss carrier carrying tines of the yoke of the flosser head are inserted into the extractor and then maneuvered so as to extract the used floss carrier from the tines and leave it in the extractor, all without a user's hand touching or contacting the used floss or floss carrier.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the flosser head further comprises a flexible toothpaste holder, generally in a truncated conical shape and located between the tines of the yoke. This toothpaste holder may or may not contain baffles to enhance this cleaning action of the toothpaste contained in the cup-shaped holder. Other configurations of toothpaste holders may also be used and incorporated into the flosser head if desired. The present invention also may be used without a toothpaste holder if desired.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the flosser head includes toothbrush bristles which extend inwardly from the tines of the yoke of the flossing head. Additionally, upwardly extending bristles may be mounted on the base of the flossing head between the tines. These bristles, in use of the flossing head and when coated with toothpaste, enable the flosser to simultaneously floss the teeth and brush them.
In one embodiment of the flossing head, the tines of the yoke of the flossing head extend upwardly from the base of the flosser head and are located in a second plane which intersects a first plane defined by the base of the flosser head at an angle of other than go degrees and preferably at about 77 degrees. In another embodiment of the flossing head, the tines are spacially offset from the axis of oscillation of the flossing head. This offset placement and location of the ends of the tines of the flosser head causes the length of flossing material extending between the tines to be offset from the axis of oscillation of the flosser head so as to result in the length of flossing material being caused to translate back and forth in a burnishing or polishing action across a tooth in addition to arcuately oscillating, thereby resulting in a better cleaning action on the surface of the teeth. This back and forth burnishing or polishing action is very similar to the back and forth polishing action encountered when polishing shoes with a shoe shine rag.
In use, once the motorized flosser of the present invention is activated via the switch, the motor, gear assembly and linkage assembly cause a drive disc to oscillate in an arcuate or rotary manner and thereby oscillate the flossing head. A user then presses the oscillatory length of flossing material between two teeth while the flossing head continues to arcuately oscillate, and in some embodiments, translate back and forth. The rotary oscillation of the flossing head makes it easier to fit the length of flossing material between teeth even if the teeth are close together or tightly fit. Once the length of flossing material is located between the teeth, the oscillation of the flossing head causes the length of flossing material to wrap around a front part of a first tooth and a rear part of a second tooth and then about the rear part of the first tooth and front part of the second tooth during each oscillation cycle. Preferably, while the length of oscillatory flossing material is being moved vertically between adjacent teeth, the flossing material is repeatedly and gently pressed toward and away from one of the adjacent teeth so as to cause better cleaning and coverage of the teeth surfaces than has heretofore been possible. And this better cleaning is still further enhanced when the rotary oscillatory motion is further complimented by simultaneous back and forth translatory motion of the flossing material.
If desired, one may insert toothpaste into the toothpaste holder secured to the flosser head or onto bristles attached to the flosser head prior to activating the motorized flosser, such that the teeth are cleaned by the toothpaste and the flossing material while simultaneously being flossed of plaque and biofilm by the oscillating flossing material.
One advantage of the present invention is that the rotary oscillating motion of the flossing head causes a length of flossing material to more easily fit between tight teeth.
Another advantage of the present invention is that toothpaste may be used to help ease the insertion of the flossing material between tight teeth.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the flosser head or alternatively, the floss material carrier, may be quickly and easily replaced and the used flossing material discarded.
Still another advantage of the present invention is that both the front and back of adjacent teeth may be thoroughly cleaned and flossed of plaque and biofilm due to the arcuate oscillating motion or the combined oscillating and translation motion of the flossing head.
These and other objects and advantages of this invention will more readily be apparent from the following description of the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring to the drawings and particularly to
As best illustrated in
As best illustrated in
As seen in
The hollow interior 40 of the handle portion 22 of the body 12 also houses a motor 48 mounted in a fixed location as shown. The motor 48 has a housing 49 and an output shaft 50 which rotates about an axis 52 when the motor 48 is activated.
As best illustrated in
As best seen in
A link assembly 65 is operatively coupled or connected to the gear assembly 59. The link assembly 65 includes a first link 66 and a second link 70. The first link 66 is secured to the crown gear 62 with a fastener 68 and is offset from the axis 64 such that rotation of the crown gear 62 causes a linear oscillatory motion of the first link 66. The second link 70 is secured to link 66 with fastener 72. Link 70 passes through the connector 28 as best shown in
The stem portion or stem 24 of the body 12 comprises a housing 79 having a front housing piece 81 and a rear housing piece 82 which are coupled together to define a hollow interior 84 in which is located the drive member 80 and a link 86. The drive member 80 has a first end 88 towards which the receptacle 78 is located and a second end go. The link 86 is secured to the drive member 80 and extends upwardly from the drive member 80. The link 86 is non-linear and curved to one side. The link 86 has an upper end 94 which has a hole 96 therein through which passes a pin 98. The pin 98 secures the link 86 to a drive disc 100 which oscillates in an arcuate or rotary manner about a vertical axis 102 due to the offset position of the pin 98 relative to the axis 102 upon reciprocation of the drive member 80.
The oscillating drive disc 100 has a receptacle 104 in the center thereof which is adapted to receive a portion of the flossing head 18 in a manner described below. Although the receptacle 104 is square in shape, it may be other configurations, if desired. A guide pin 106 is secured to the lower housing piece 82 and extends upwardly therefrom. The guide pin 106 functions to properly locate the flossing head. As best illustrated in
As best illustrated in
The locking mechanism 20 is used to lock the flossing head 18 in a locked position in which the motorized flosser 10 may be used and to unlock the flossing head 18 so that it may be separated from the body 12 of the motorized flosser 10 and replaced. The locking mechanism 20 includes a slidable locking member 120 which slides in a slot 122 in the end portion 24 of the body 12 of the flosser 10 and more particularly in the upper housing piece 81 of the neck housing 79. The locking member 120 has a locking lip 124 along the forward edge of the locking member 120, as best shown in
As best illustrated in
With reference now to
As shown in
With reference to
It has been found that an offset D of approximately 1/10 of an inch results in a very satisfactory translatory rubbing action of the floss material during the oscillation of the flossing head through an arcuate motion of approximately 45 angular degrees. This offset distance D, though, may vary, but it has been found that too much variance results in too little translatory or rubbing motion if the offset is much less than approximately 0.08 inches or too much translatory or rubbing motion if the offset distance D is greater than approximately 0.125 inches.
In a preferred embodiment, the flossing head 18 and its integral yoke 126 are made from a flexible polyester plastic such that the tines of the yoke may flex slightly to absorb shock and enable the flossing material retained between the tines to better wrap about teeth during the flossing process as explained hereinabove.
The speed with which the flosser head 18 rotates in an oscillatory manner may vary as desired. The flosser head 18 preferably oscillates back and forth in an arc at a frequency of between 2,000 and 3,000 cycles per minute. In one preferred embodiment, the tines oscillate at a frequency of 2,800 cycles per minute. A cycle is defined as the movement of the tines between a first end position shown in
In one preferred embodiment, the flosser head 18 includes a cup-shaped toothpaste holder 136 having a generally truncated conical shape. As shown in
In use, an operator grabs the handle portion 22 of the motorized flosser 10 and then pushes the button 54 upwardly towards the flosser head 18. Movement of the button 54 activates the motor 48, thereby rotating the flossing head 18 in an oscillatory manner at a predetermined frequency. The user then presses the length of flossing material 134 between adjacent teeth while the flossing head 18 is oscillating arcuately and preferably simultaneously, translating back and forth across the face of the teeth as a result of the offset D of the flossing material from the axis of rotation about which it is oscillated. A bite pad 135 is secured to the rear of the stem 24 and, more particularly, to the rear housing piece 92 of the neck section of the stem 24. The user may bite down on the bite pad 135 to leverage the length of flossing material 134 between the teeth. The oscillating motion moving the tines of the flosser head in an arc causes the length of flossing material to easily enter between adjacent teeth and to wrap around and contact a front part of a first tooth and a rear part of a second tooth adjacent the first tooth. Then, as part of the same cycle, the length of flossing material is wrapped around and contacts a rear part of the first tooth and a front part of the second tooth. And, to floss a greater surface of the teeth, the floss may be slightly pressed or pulled against a tooth surface while the flossing head continues to oscillate or translates and oscillates.
If desired a user may insert toothpaste (not shown) into the toothpaste holder 136 prior to using the motorized flosser 10. The toothpaste (not shown) enables the length of flossing material 134 to more easily pass between adjacent teeth and further provides additional cleaning of the teeth.
With reference now to
The stem portion or stem 200 of the body has a hollow, generally inwardly tapered lower neck section 206 and an outwardly tapered upper end section 208 terminating in a generally cylindrical upper head section 210. As may be seen most clearly in
As may be seen most clearly in
The unitary molded flossing head, including its driving disc portion and cylindrical base section are maintained in an assembled relationship by a rivet 246 (see
In order to assemble the flossing head stem and drive mechanism contained within the stem, the flexible drive rod 224 is first pushed upwardly through the hollow interior of the stem 200 and through the guide sleeve 222. Because the cap 214 is, at this point of time, absent from the opening 212, the thin flexible upper section 225 of the drive rod 224 is positioned into the slot or recess 228 of the rib 226. Thereafter, the cap 214 is positioned in the opening 212 and permanently secured therein. The drive disc portion 242 of the flossing head is then inserted into the open front cavity of the head portion of the stem, thereby locating the upper bulbous end 238 of the drive rod 224 in driving engagement with the drive disc portion of the flossing head. The rivet 246 is then inserted and the head of the end of the rivet squeezed so as to permanently attach the flossing head 218 to the head end of the stem 200. As thus assembled, the stem assembly 220 may be attached to the motorized body 12 of the flosser to complete a driving relationship between the motor of the body and the flossing head.
It is important to note that the flexible drive rod 224 is a unitary molded plastic element preferably molded from a flexible plastic material, such as a polyester or acetal plastic. One suitable acetal plastic is marketed as “Delrin”. When made from such flexible, non-moisture or toothpaste chemical absorbent plastics, the upper end of the drive rod 224 is sufficiently flexible as to enable the upper end of the rod and particularly, the bulbous upper end to move through an arc as illustrated in the two end positions illustrated in
With particular attention now to
As may be seen most clearly in
The top of each tine 260a and 260b of the yoke 250 has a generally keyhole-shaped slot 262 formed therein into which the anchors 254 are adapted to be snap-fit. Each of these keyhole-shaped slots 262 has opposed flat sections 263 and rounded end sections 264 adapted to receive the similarly shaped cross section of the center portion 256 of an anchor 254 so as to secure and properly orient the flossing tape in the yoke with the tape vertically oriented. The flats 259 on the center section 254 of the anchor are engageable with the flats 241 of the slot such that once snapped into the slot, the anchors, and consequently, the tape, are properly oriented and cannot rotate relative to the yoke.
In practice and use of the motorized flosser, whether the flosser utilizes replaceable flosser heads 18 as in the modification of the flosser illustrated in
To facilitate removal of a used floss carrier 270 from the yoke 250 of a flossing head 202, there is a floss carrier removal device 320 attached to one end wall 310 of the cartridge 300. This carrier removal device 320 comprises a pair of spaced vertical arcuate end walls 322 which extend outwardly from the end wall 310 and which are spaced apart on their inner surfaces 323 by a distance slightly greater than the length L′ (
With reference now to
In order to insert a new or replacement floss carrier 270 from the cartridge 300 into the yoke 250 of a flossing head 202, all that is required as illustrated in
With reference now to
With reference now to
With reference now to
While we have described several different embodiments of our invention, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments described and discussed hereinabove without departing from the scope of the present invention, which is defined by the following claims and equivalents thereof.
Claims
1. A motorized flosser comprising:
- an elongated body having a longitudinal axis and opposed first and second ends, and a hollow portion;
- a power supply located within the hollow portion of the elongated body;
- a replaceable flosser head having a base removably connected to the first end of the elongated body,
- a yoke extending from the base of the flosser head having a pair of spaced tines between which extends a piece of flexible flossing material, wherein the tines are configured to space the piece of flexible flossing material from the longitudinal axis of the elongated body; and
- said power supply being connected to the flosser head wherein upon activation, the power supply causes oscillation of the flosser head and flexible flossing material.
2. The motorized flosser of claim 1 wherein the flosser head further comprises a flexible toothpaste holder.
3. The motorized flosser of claim 2 further comprising a bite pad secured to said first end of said elongated body.
4. The motorized flosser of claim 1 wherein the power supply includes a motor and a battery.
5. The motorized flosser of claim 1 further comprising a locking mechanism for removably securing the flossing head to the body.
6. The motorized flosser of claim 3 wherein the toothpaste holder is generally of a truncated conical shape.
7. The motorized flosser of claim 1 wherein the tines extend generally perpendicularly relative to the longitudinal axis of the elongated body.
8. A motorized flosser comprising:
- an elongated body having a longitudinal axis and opposed first and second ends, and a hollow portion;
- a motor located within the hollow portion of the elongated body;
- a pin extending upwardly from the first end and operatively coupled to the motor so that activation of said motor causes said pin to oscillate; and
- a flosser head removably connected to the first end of the elongated body, the flosser head comprising a base having a receptacle adapted to receive said pin, a pair of spaced tines extending upwardly from the base and a piece of floss extending between the tines;
- wherein the tines are configured to space the piece of floss from the longitudinal axis of the elongated body;
- wherein activation of the motor causes the flosser head to oscillate.
9. The motorized flosser of claim 8 wherein the flosser head further comprises a toothpaste holder.
10. The motorized flosser of claim 9 wherein the toothpaste holder is plastic.
11. The motorized flosser of claim 8 wherein the pin defines an axis about which said flosser head oscillates.
12. The motorized flosser of claim 8 wherein the piece of floss does not pass through said axis.
13. The motorized flosser of claim 8 wherein the toothpaste holder is generally of a truncated conical shape.
13. The motorized flosser of claim 8 wherein the tines extend generally perpendicularly relative to the longitudinal axis of the elongated body.
14. A method of flossing teeth with a motorized flosser having a longitudinal axis and a flossing head including a pair of tines between which there extends a length of flossing material, the flossing material being spaced from the longitudinal axis of the motorized flosser, said method comprising:
- activating the motorized flosser so that the flossing head oscillates arcuately; and
- pressing the length of flossing material between two teeth while the flossing head continues to arcuately oscillate such that the length of flossing material wraps around a front part of a first tooth and a rear part of an adjacent second tooth and then about the rear part of the first tooth and a front part of the second tooth during each arcuate oscillation cycle.
15. The method of claim 14 further comprising inserting toothpaste into a toothpaste holder secured to the flosser head prior to activating the motorized flosser such that the teeth are cleaned by the toothpaste and the flossing material while simultaneously being flossed by the oscillating flossing material.
16. A method of removing plaque and biofilm from the surface of teeth comprising:
- activating an motorized flosser having a longitudinal axis and a removable flossing head so that the flosser head of the motorized flosser oscillates; and
- pressing a piece of floss extending between and secured to two tines of the flossing head and spaced from the longitudinal axis between adjacent teeth while the flossing head continues to oscillate.
17. The method of claim 16 further comprising inserting toothpaste into a toothpaste holder secured to the flosser head prior to activating the motorized flosser.
18. The method of claim 16 further comprising inserting toothpaste into a toothpaste holder secured to the flosser head prior to activating the motorized flosser.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 20, 2007
Publication Date: Apr 24, 2008
Applicant: THE WILLIAM GETGEY COMPANY, INC. (Cincinnati, OH)
Inventors: William Getgey (Cincinnati, OH), Lewis Dyson (Milford, OH), Carl Andry (Lawrenceburg, IN), Gregory Furnish (Louisville, KY)
Application Number: 11/961,128
International Classification: A61C 15/04 (20060101);