US 12,144,693 B2
Dental torque wrench
Damien Maury, Villeret (CH); and Stéphane Courvoisier, Villeret (CH)
Assigned to STRAUMANN HOLDING AG, Basel (CH)
Appl. No. 17/435,639
Filed by STRAUMANN HOLDING AG, Basel (CH)
PCT Filed Mar. 13, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/056753
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 1, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/182973, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 17, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 19162550 (EP), filed on Mar. 13, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0151732 A1, May 19, 2022
Int. Cl. A61C 1/18 (2006.01); A61B 17/88 (2006.01); A61C 8/00 (2006.01); B25B 13/00 (2006.01); B25B 23/142 (2006.01)
CPC A61C 1/186 (2013.01) [A61B 17/8875 (2013.01); A61C 8/0089 (2013.01); B25B 13/00 (2013.01); B25B 23/1427 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A torque wrench for a medical field, the torque wrench comprising:
a head region including a receiving opening, the receiving opening defining a rotation axis and being configured to receive a screwing instrument in a direction along an extension of the rotation axis,
an at least approximately flexurally resistant shaft region which adjoins the head region, extends at least approximately in a plane running at right angles to the rotation axis and defines a longitudinal axis of the torque wrench,
a support formed on the shaft region, the support being designed fixedly on the shaft region and formed in one piece integrally with the shaft region, and
an actuating lever which comprises an elastically bendable flexion portion and a grip portion adjoining the flexion portion, the actuating lever being secured on the shaft region, between the support and the head region, with an end region of the actuating lever facing away from the grip portion,
wherein:
in a rest position, the actuating lever is spaced from the support along a circumferential direction with respect to the rotation axis,
when a force is applied to the grip portion in a tightening direction, with the screwing instrument inserted in the receiving opening, the actuating lever is configured to transmit a torque by entrainment to the screwing instrument, and when a reference force is reached, the actuating lever is configured to come into contact with the support such that when the reference force is reached, the flexion portion comes into contact with the support, and the flexion portion is able to bend further in the tightening direction upon application of a force that is directed in the tightening direction and that exceeds the reference force, and
the shaft region includes:
a clearance which runs parallel to the plane and in which the actuating lever extends, and which forms a free space for deflection of the actuating lever, and
a wall which extends in a longitudinal direction, and is positioned ahead of the actuating lever along the tightening direction, the wall delimiting the clearance, and having a curvature that forms the support and that is concave with respect to the rotation axis in the plane.