US2396203A - Gum clamp - Google Patents

Description

Mmdw 5, i946. D, s, 'ROBINSON GUM CLAMP Filed March 31, 1944 E; @a Ta- Ei al. E FIEL-"l IN VEN TOR.

Patented Mar. 5, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GUM CLAMP David S. Robinson, Newburg N. Y.

Application March 31, 1944, Serial No. 528,904

(Cl. 12S-325) Claims.

This invention relates to a gum clamp and while it primarily is intended for use as means for stopping flow of blood after a tooth has been extracted, it will be understood that it may be used for checking the flow of blood wherever it may be practical to apply the clamp.

After a tooth has been extracted, it is, at the present time, customary to employ a drug to check the iiow of blood and, in addition, apply a wad of cotton which is gripped between a patients upper and lower jaw and thus subjected to pressure. This has not been found satisfactory as the `pressure spreads the gum and the blood continues to flow, it being necessary to apply several Wads or rolls of cotton before the flow of blood ceases.

Therefore, one 'object of the invention is to provide a device which may be applied to a gum in relation thereto and firmly grip the gum from opposite sides so that portions of the gum will be pressed toward each other to seal the cavity after a tooth has been extracted. It will thus be seen that a hemorrhage following the extraction of a tooth will be very effectively checked and blood confined in the gum to form a clot.

Another object of the invention is to form the gum clamp that the clamp and a roll or wad of cotton carried thereby may nt between the teeth and remain firmly in place without it being necessary for the patient to hold his lower jaw rmly closed in order to hold a device in place.

Another object of the invention is to provide a clamp with a spring member formed from a strip of resilient metal or other suitable material, the clamp being substantially U-shaped and having ends of its arms bent back upon themselves to form enlargements which not only serve very effectively to apply pressure to the gum at inner and outer sides of a cavity, resulting from an extraction, but also serve to hold the spring member in engagement with a cotton pad.

Another object of the invention is to provide a gum clamp which is simple in construction, very easy to apply, and not liable to slip out of place while it is in use. v

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the improved clamp applied.

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is a sectional View taken along the line 3--3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged side elevation of the clamp.

Figure 5 is an end view of the clamp.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken vertically through the clamp along the line 6-6 of Figure 4.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken along the line T-`l of Figure 3 and illustrating the relation of the clamp to the cavity resulting from the extraction of a tooth.

Figure 8 is a side elevation of a somewhat larger clamp.

kFigure 9 is a top plan view of the clamp shown in Figure 8.

Figure l0 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line IU-I 0 of Figure 9.

Figure 11 isa side elevation of a modified form of the clamp.

Figure 12 is a top plan view of the clamp shown in Figure 11.

Figure `13 is a vertical sectional View taken along the-line |3-l3 of Figure 12.

Figure 14 -is a side elevation lof a clamp somewhat larger than that Lshown in Figure 1l.

.Figure 15 is an illustration of a modified form of clamp wherein the resilient strip is embedded in the cotton pad or wad.

Figure 16 is a sectional view taken along the line lli-i6 of Figure 15.

Figure 17 .is a sectional view taken along the line I1|1 of Figure 16.

Figure 18 is a View partially in elevation and partially in section of another modified form of clamp.

Figure 19 is a sectional view taken along the line IB-l 9 of Figure 18.

The improved clamp Lconstituting the subject matter'of this invention is employed as means for, checking a hemorrhage and permitting rapid formation of a blood clot in a cavity ,resulting from the extraction of -a tooth and briey consists ,of a spring member I and a pad 2 which may be straddled by the spring member or have the spring member embedded in it. The pad v2 which is formed of absorbent cotton is of greater width than the spring member l and projects from opposite .sides thereof, its width being such that the pad may t snugly teeth 3 in covering relationl to a cavity 1l resulting from extraction of a tooth. This is clearly shown in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 7 and referring to these figures, it will be seen that when the clamp is applied, the pad rests upon the gum 5 in covering relation .to the cavity Y4 and end portion of the pad bear against the gum at opposite sides thereof. The spring member is formed of steel or any other suitable resilient material which will exertgripping pressure when the clamp is in use. The resilient strip is bent Figures 6 and '7, it will be seen that arms of the spring member converge toward their ends which are bent inwardly back upon themselves to form hook-shaped terminal 6. The hook-shaped ters minals, which may be referred to as ears, are embedded in end portions of the cotton pad 2 and rmly hold the spring member in anchored engagement with the pad. Since the hook-shaped terminals are disposed inwardly of the arms of m the spring member, they provide the arms with inwardly extending enlargements and when the clamp is applied, as shown in Figure 7, ends of the clamp will be very rmly pressed against inner j Y and outer surfaces and pressure will be exerted by a pinching action. This pinching action tends to close the cavity and not only reducesthe size of the cavity, but also checks the flow of blood and causes a blood clot to be quickly formed in the cavity. The fact that the cotton pad straddlesthe gum in covering relation to the open mouth of the cavity causes the cavity to be very effectively closed at its mouth and a drug used to check flow of blood will be held in the cavity.

This drug may be applied to the absorbent cot 25 ton pad or directly into the cavity. When the clamp is in place, it is firmly held by pressure of the -spring member and it will not be liable to slip loose. The resilient strip from which the spring member is formed, may be quite narrow, as

shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, or it may be wider, as shown in Figures 8-9 and 10. Therefore, a small cavity or a large cavity may be sealed by use of a small clamp or a, large clamp.

In Figures 11,` 12 and 13, there has been llus- 35 trated a clamp for a spring member of modified formation. In this embodiment of the invention, the resilient strip from'which the spring member l is formed, has wide end portions Il. Therefore,

when the resilient strip is bent to form the U- 40 shape spring member, its arms will be of appreciablygreater width than its bridge portion and when the clamp is in use, the arms of the spring member will cover a greater area of the gum and a hemorrhage very effectively checked when a large jaw tooth is extracted. Ends of the re- -silient strip are tapered and these tapered portions are bent inwardly back upon the arms to form hook-shape terminals 9,' corresponding to the terminals 6. The spring member of Figure 14 50 is similar in construction to that shown in Figures 1l, 12 and 13 except that the portions 9 of the resilient strip 7' from which the spring member is formed, are of greater width than the corresponding portions 8 of the spring member 'I 55 and the bent back ends 9 are of greater width than the corresponding terminals 9.

' The clamp illustrated in Figures 15, 16 and 17 also consist of an absorbent pad I and a spring member Il which is U-shaped and has its ex- 00 tremities bent inwardly back upon themselves to form hook-shape terminals I2. The clamp illustratecl in these figures differs from those previously described in that the spring member II is embedded in the pad instead of being disposed ("5 externally of the pad in straddling relation to it. While the spring member II has been shown formed from a strip of resilient material of an even width throughout its length, it will be understood that it may have wide end portions corresponding to those shown in Figures 11 to 14. This clamp is applied in the'same manner shown in Figures l, 2 and3 and ts between the teeth and covering and straddling relation ,to the cavity resulting when a tooth is extracted. 'The arms 2,396,203 f to a substantial U-shape and upon referring to of the spring member apply gripping pressure to the gum at opposite sides of the cavity to hold the clamp in place and check flow of blood and the pad bears against the mouth of the cavity.

In Figures 18 and 19, there has been shown a form of clamp which is particularly adapted for use to check a hemorrhage and stop flow of blood from a finger, hand, wrist and other portions of the body to which it may be applied. This clamp is larger than the ones previously described and consists of elongated pad I3 and a'spring membei' I4. The pad is formed from a roll of absorbent cotton enclosed in gauze I5. 'I'he spring -v -member is formed from a strip of resilient material which is curved longitudinally and has its endportions bent inwardly to form arms I 6. The ends of the strip are bent inwardly back upon themselves to form hook-shaped members I'I which are'embedded in ends of the pad and serve very effectively to hold the pad and the spring member in engagementwith each other as well as serving as projections 4 applying pressure against arteries and large blood vessels. The device may be applied about a nger, wrist, ankle or other portions of the body which have been cut, and remain in place as long as necessary, or it may be only temporarily applied for first aid purposes.

From the foregoing description of the construction of my improved clamp, the operation thereof and the method of applying same to use will be readily understood, and it will be seen that I have provided a comparatively simple, inexpensive and elcient means for carrying out the various objects of the invention.

While I have described the elements best adapted to perform the functions set forth, it is apparent that various changes in form, proportion and in the minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from or sacrificing any of the principles of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A gum clamp comprising a pad channeled along its under side for straddling engagement with a gum across the cavity for an extracted tooth, and a U-shaped spring-member straddling said pad transversely thereof and having ends of its arm bent inwardly back upon themselves to form hook-shaped terminals embedded inthe pad at opposite sides of the channel for anchoring the spring-member to the pad, said terminals constituting inwardly extending projections for applying pressure to the gum transversely thereof at opposite sides of the tooth cavity and checking now of blood while constricting the cavity to form a blood clot therein.

2. A gum clamp comprising an absorbent pad U-shaped for straddling a gum transversely thereof across they cavity for an extracted tooth with side portions bearing against inner and outer surfaces of a gum, and a U-shaped spring-member straddling said pad transversely thereof for applying pressure against the side portions of the pad and forcing the same against a gum at opposite sides of the cavity to check now of blood and constrict the cavity. i l

3. A gum clamp comprising an absorbent pad for straddling a gum transversely thereof across the cavity for an extracted tooth, and a U-shaped spring-member straddling said pad transversely thereof and having its ends formed with inturned hooks embedded in the pad for anchoringthe spring-member to the pad. j l

4. A gum clamp comprising a pad having side extensions adapted to straddle a gum across the for an extracted tooth, and a U-shaped springmember straddling said pad transversely thereof and consisting of a resilient strip bent to U\ shape and having widened end portions forming arms of the spring-member, extremities of said strip being bent inwardly and forming hooks embedded in opposite side portions of the pad for anchoring the spring-member to the pad.

pAVID S. ROBINSON.

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