CPC A61F 5/566 (2013.01) [A61F 5/08 (2013.01)] | 20 Claims |
5. An oral appliance device for use within a human mouth having an upper jaw and a lower jaw, the oral appliance device comprising:
an upper appliance member that selectively engages upper teeth within the human mouth;
a lower appliance member that selectively engages lower teeth within the human mouth; and
a Herbst device assembly including (i) a first Herbst bar, (ii) a second Herbst bar that adjustably engages the first Herbst bar to selectively control positioning of the lower jaw relative to the upper jaw, (iii) a first Herbst connector assembly that removably couples the first Herbst bar to the upper appliance member, and (iv) a second Herbst connector assembly that removably couples the second Herbst bar to the lower appliance member, the Herbst connector assemblies being at least partially formed from a nylon-based material, the Herbst bars being formed from stainless steel;
wherein each of the Herbst connector assemblies includes (i) a coupling base that is integrally formed with one of the appliance members, the coupling base including a first base aperture; (ii) a coupling insert that is selectively positioned substantially within the first base aperture, the coupling insert including a first insert aperture having internal threads; and (iii) a coupling button including a button shaft having external threads that are configured to threadingly engage the internal threads of the first insert aperture so that the button shaft is removably received and retained within the first insert aperture;
wherein the coupling base has a pair of second base apertures; wherein the coupling insert has a pair of second insert apertures; and wherein each Herbst connector assembly further includes a coupling pin that is positioned to extend through both of the second base apertures and both of the second insert apertures so that the coupling insert is retained within the coupling base.
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