Mouth-opening training device having water-filled bag

Abstract

A mouth-opening training device includes a water-filled bag having a zigzag edge or a sawtooth edge. By increasing or decreasing the amount of water located inside the water-filled bag to alter the total thickness of the water-filled bag, the device can accommodate different thickness of occlusion of teeth of a patient. The device can make a further improvement on layers of flavor in occlusion of the teeth. The device can further include a plurality of pivotable plate-shaped objects connected or coupled to the water-filled bag. The plate-shaped objects can provide different thickness combinations and further meet the user demands on thickness of occlusion of the teeth.

Claims

1. A mouth-opening training device, comprising: a water-filled bag having an accommodating space configured to accommodate water, the water-filled bag being perforated to form an opening on a surface of the water-filled bag, the water being injected into or withdrawn from the accommodating space of the water-filled bag via the opening; the water-filled bag comprising lateral sides having folds, and top and bottom sides relative to the lateral sides, the top and bottom sides being provided for occlusion of upper and lower teeth of a patient; spacing between the top and bottom sides of the water-filled bag and total thickness of the water-filled bag being adjusted by increasing or decreasing an amount of water located inside the water-filled bag so as to accommodate different thickness of occlusion of the upper and lower teeth of the patient; and a plurality of plate-shaped objects of different thickness, coupling to the water-filled bag at a same side of the plate-shaped objects and being pivotably connected to each other at the same side of the plate-shaped objects with a rivet such that the plate-shaped objects are able to be overlapped one above another as well as separated from each other.

2. The mouth-opening training device according to claim 1, wherein when the water is injected into the water-filled bag, the water in the water-filled bag pushes the lateral sides of the water-filled bag such that the spacing between the folds on the lateral sides is increased, and thus the total thickness of the water-filled bag is increased; when the water is withdrawn from the water-filled bag, the spacing between the folds on the lateral sides is decreased, and thus the total thickness of the water-filled bag is decreased.

3. The mouth-opening training device according to claim 1, wherein outermost layers on the top and bottom sides of the water-filled bag are made of a silicone material, a lower-side silicone material of the silicone material and the accommodating space of the water-filled bag have a first hard material disposed therebetween, an upper-side silicone material of the silicone material and the accommodating space of the water-filled bag have a second hard material disposed therebetween, and hardness of the second hard material is less than that of the first hard material.

4. The mouth-opening training device according to claim 1, wherein the lateral sides of the water-filled bag comprise a zigzag edge or a sawtooth edge.

5. The mouth-opening training device according to claim 4, wherein the folds on the lateral sides of the water-filled bag are located on the zigzag edge or the sawtooth edge, and the folds on the zigzag edge or the sawtooth edge are arranged along a straight line and are perpendicular to top and bottom surfaces of the water-filled bag.

6. The mouth-opening training device according to claim 4, wherein the folds on the lateral sides of the water-filled bag are located on the zigzag edge or the sawtooth edge, and the folds on the zigzag edge or the sawtooth edge are arranged along a curved line.

7. The mouth-opening training device according to claim 1, wherein the water-filled bag further comprises a pipe and a connector, the pipe is attached to the opening at one end of the pipe and is connected to the connector at another end of the pipe.

8. A mouth-opening training device, comprising: a water-filled bag having an accommodating space configured to accommodate water, the water-filled bag being perforated to form an opening on a surface of the water-filled bag, the water being injected into or withdrawn from the accommodating space of the water-filled bag via the opening; the water-filled bag comprising a pipe and a connector, the pipe being attached to the opening at one end of the pipe and being connected to the connector at another end of the pipe; the water-filled bag further comprising lateral sides having folds, and top and bottom sides relative to the lateral sides, the top and bottom sides being provided for occlusion of upper and lower teeth of a patient; when the water is injected into the water-filled bag, the water in the water-filled bag pushing the lateral sides of the water-filled bag such that spacing between the folds on the lateral sides is increased, and thus total thickness of the water-filled bag is increased; when the water is withdrawn from the water-filled bag, the spacing between the folds on the lateral sides is decreased, and thus the total thickness of the water-filled bag is decreased; and a plurality of plate-shaped objects of different thickness, coupling to the water-filled bag at a same side of the plate-shaped objects and being pivotably connected to each other at the same side of the plate-shaped objects such that the plate-shaped objects are able to be overlapped one above another as well as separated from each other.

9. The mouth-opening training device according to claim 8, wherein outermost layers on the top and bottom sides of the water-filled bag are made of a silicone material, a lower-side silicone material of the silicone material and the accommodating space of the water-filled bag have a first hard material disposed therebetween, an upper-side silicone material of the silicone material and the accommodating space of the water-filled bag have a second hard material disposed therebetween, and hardness of the second hard material is less than that of the first hard material.

10. The mouth-opening training device according to claim 8, wherein the lateral sides of the water-filled bag comprise a zigzag edge or a sawtooth edge.

11. The mouth-opening training device according to claim 10, wherein the folds on the lateral sides of the water-filled bag are located on the zigzag edge or the sawtooth edge, and the folds on the zigzag edge or the sawtooth edge are arranged along a straight line and are perpendicular to top and bottom surfaces of the water-filled bag.

12. The mouth-opening training device according to claim 10, wherein the folds on the lateral sides of the water-filled bag are located on the zigzag edge or the sawtooth edge, and the folds on the zigzag edge or the sawtooth edge are arranged along a curved line.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a mouth-opening training device in accordance with the present invention.

(2) FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the mouth-opening training device of FIG. 1 having water injected into a water-filled bag thereof.

(3) FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the materials used in the water-filled bag in accordance with the present invention.

(4) FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a mouth-opening training device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

(5) To make the objectives, technical schemes, and effects of the present invention more clear and definite, the present invention is described in further detail below with reference to the embodiments in accompanying with the appending drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely for explaining the present invention, and as used herein, the term embodiment refers to an instance, an example, or an illustration but is not intended to limit the present invention. In addition, in the appending drawings, the components having similar or the same structures or functions are indicated by the same reference number.

(6) Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram showing a mouth-opening training device 10 in accordance with the present invention. The mouth-opening training device 10 of the present invention includes two major parts in structure. The first part directs to a water-filled bag 11 having folding lateral sides while the second part directs to a configuration of a plurality of plate-shaped objects 12, which are of different thickness. The plate-shaped objects 12 are coupled to the water-filled bag 11 at the same side and specifically, a rod (not shown) may be adopted to carry out the coupling. The rod is connected to the water-filled bag 11 at one end thereof and is connected to the plural plate-shaped objects 12 at the other end thereof. Each individual one of the aforesaid first and second parts can carry out mouth-opening training, that is, a patient can use the first part and the second part separately to do mouth opening and closing exercises.

(7) The water-filled bag 11 is a bag, pocket, or sack like object, of which the inner space can be used to accommodate water. The lateral sides of the water-filled bag 11 have folds and specifically, the folding lateral sides of the water-filled bag 11 have a zigzag edge or a sawtooth edge, for example. The water-filled bag 11 is perforated to form an opening 14 on a surface thereof. Thus, the water can be injected into or withdrawn from the water-filled bag 11 via the opening 14. The opening 14 can be connected to a pipe 15, which may have a connector 16 at the other end thereof. The connector 16 is adapted to a common-used medical syringe or needle. It is convenient to use a syringe or needle to inject the water or withdrawn the same. Basically, the water-filled bag 11 can be made in any appropriate form. FIG. 1 is illustrated with a cuboid bag, but various shapes or alterations would be applicable as well.

(8) The folds on the zigzag edge or the sawtooth edge 13 of the water-filled bag 11 are arranged along a straight line and are substantially perpendicular to the top and bottom surfaces of the water-filled bag 11. When the water is injected into the water-filled bag 11, the water in the water-filled bag 11 pushes the lateral sides of the water-filled bag 11 such that the spacing between the folds on the sawtooth edge is increased, thereby increasing the total thickness of the water-filled bag 11, that is, the distance between the top and bottom surfaces of the water-filled bag 11 is increased, as shown in FIG. 2. Similarly, when the water is withdrawn from the water-filled bag 11, the spacing between the folds on the sawtooth edge is decreased, thereby decreasing the total thickness of the water-filled bag 11, that is, the distance between the top and bottom surfaces of the water-filled bag 11 is decreased. The top and bottom sides of the water-filled bag 11 is provided for occlusion of upper and lower teeth of a patient. Therefore, the patient can increase or decrease the amount of water located inside the water-filled bag 11 to carry out adjusting the total thickness of the water-filled bag 11 in order to accommodate different thickness of occlusion of the teeth.

(9) The aforesaid plural plate-shaped objects 12 are pivotably connected to each other at the same side with a rivet such that the plate-shaped objects 12 are able to be overlapped one above another as well as separated from each other. The plate-shaped objects 12 can serve as a handle when all of them are overlapped. The handle is provided for a patient to grip it in using the water-filled bag 11. Depending on the demand on thickness of occlusion of the teeth, the patient can select appropriate ones of the plate-shaped objects 12 and overlap the selected ones. The thickness of the plate-shaped objects 12 is different from each other. For instance, the plate-shaped objects 12 respectively are 1 mm, 2 mm, 4 mm, 6 mm, 8 mm, and 10 mm in thickness. For example, a 3 mm-thickness result can be obtained by overlapping two plate-shaped objects 12 respectively of 1 mm and 2 mm thickness. The patient can carry out various thickness combinations as desired. Of course, the thickness of the plate-shaped objects 12 can be designed in another way. Therefore, the present invention can meet various user demands on different thickness of occlusion of the teeth by overlapping different plate-shaped objects 12 to alter the resulted thickness.

(10) FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the materials used in the water-filled bag 11 in accordance with the present invention. The outermost layers (at least on the top and bottom sides) of the water-filled bag 11 are made of a silicone material 18. Regarding health concern, it is preferred to adopt food-grade or medical-grade silicone as the silicone material 18. A hard material 19 is disposed therebetween a lower-side silicone material 18 and an inner accommodating space 21 of the water-filled bag 11 for providing support in a certain degree. A little less hard material 20 is disposed between an upper-side silicone material 18 and the inner accommodating space 21 of the water-filled bag 11. The hardness of the little less hard material 20 is less than that of the hard material 19. An elastic hard material may be selected as the material of the sawtooth edge 13, which can provide a certain degree of support for the patient in occlusion of the teeth at the water-filled bag 11. It can provide an excellent comfortable experience in occlusion of the teeth without drawbacks of being too soft.

(11) FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a mouth-opening training device 40 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The difference between the mouth-opening training device 40 shown in FIG. 4 and the mouth-opening training device 10 shown in FIG. 1 is that the folds on the zigzag edge or the sawtooth edge 22 of the mouth-opening training device 40 are arranged along a curved line. In comparison to the device 10 shown in FIG. 1, the structure of the device 40 shown in FIG. 4 provides different strength of response to the occlusion of the teeth of the patient, and various user demands may thus be satisfied.

(12) In the present invention, the mouth-opening training devices 10 and 40 include the water-filled bag 11 having the zigzag edge or the sawtooth edge 13. By increasing or decreasing the amount of water located inside the water-filled bag 11 to alter the total thickness of the water-filled bag 11, the mouth-opening training devices 10 and 40 can accommodate different thickness of occlusion of teeth of a patient. Not only that, the mouth-opening training devices 10 and 40 can not only provide a certain degree of comfort and flexibility in occlusion of the teeth, but also make a further improvement on layers of flavor in occlusion of the teeth to meet a user's further demands with use of the variety of change and the tenderness of water in the water-filled bag 11 when a patient does the mouth opening and closing exercises. The mouth-opening training devices 10 and 40 can further include a plurality of pivotable plate-shaped objects 12 connected or coupled to the water-filled bag 11. The plate-shaped objects 12 can provide different thickness combinations and further meet the user demands on thickness of occlusion of the teeth.

(13) While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described in detail, various modifications and alterations can be made. The embodiment of the present invention is therefore described in an illustrative but not restrictive sense. It is intended that the present invention should not be limited to the particular forms as illustrated, and that all modifications and alterations which maintain the spirit and realm of the present invention are within the scope as defined in the appended claims.