Supports – Brackets – Adjustable
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-25
2001-11-13
Ramirez, Ramon O. (Department: 3632)
Supports
Brackets
Adjustable
C248S287100, C248S296100, C403S014000, C600S201000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06315260
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a 3D (three-dimensional) swinger clamp for a rib grip used in abdominal surgery and is further directed to such a swinger clamp that has a groove for locking a jaw of the swinger clamp in place.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
The swinger clamp according to the present invention is an improvement on the swinger clamp of U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,846, issued to Meier et al on Jan. 10, 1989, and hereinafter known as the '846 patent, whose disclosure is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into the present disclosure.
Swinger clamps are used in the surgical arts to support various devices used during surgery. A swinger clamp is clamped onto a horizontal guide rail, and a vertical bar is inserted into the swinger clamp. The vertical bar can support, either directly or via a horizontal bar attached to the top of the vertical bar, any of numerous devices. For example, during a liver transplant, it is often necessary to hold the rib cage up and the stomach out of the way; retaining devices can be attached to the above-mentioned horizontal bar to perform those functions. A well known example of that technology is the Iron Intern® sold by the assignee of both the above-cited '846 patent and the present application
However, the swinger clamp of the '846 patent presents a problem that will be explained with reference to
FIGS. 1 and 1
a
of that patent, which are reproduced herein with the same figure numbers. When the clamp is clamped onto the guide rail, the rim
43
may drift in its rotational position relative to the clamping jaw
18
. Thus, anything attached to the swinger clamp will drift out of its correct position
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In light of the foregoing, it will be readily apparent that a need exists in the art for a swinger clamp that provides increased stability for the vertical bar and resists slipping. Therefore, a primary object of the invention is to provide a swinger clamp that locks the vertical bar into position.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a swinger clamp that locks the vertical bar into position via a simple, rugged mechanical articulation.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a swinger clamp that provides extra stability when the vertical bar is used in extreme circumstances, such as obesity procedures and liver retraction for transplant.
It is a yet further object of the invention to provide a swinger clamp that can, at the option of the user, meet the above objects or be used like the swinger clamp of the above-referenced U.S. patent.
To achieve these and other objects, the present invention is directed to a swinger clamp like that of the above-referenced U.S. patent, except that a groove is provided in the rim. The clamping jaw engages and is locked in the groove to provide stability to the vertical bar by mechanical articulation.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2622831 (1952-12-01), Fullwood
patent: 3046072 (1962-07-01), Douglass, Jr. et al.
patent: 3339913 (1967-09-01), Anderson
patent: 4143652 (1979-03-01), Meier et al.
patent: 4461284 (1984-07-01), Fackler
patent: 4491435 (1985-01-01), Meier
patent: 4547092 (1985-10-01), Vetter et al.
patent: 4718151 (1988-01-01), LeVahn et al.
patent: 4796846 (1989-01-01), Meier et al.
patent: 4875651 (1989-10-01), Wergin et al.
patent: 4945897 (1990-08-01), Greenstein et al.
patent: 5025780 (1991-06-01), Farley
patent: 5135210 (1992-08-01), Michelson
patent: 5162039 (1992-11-01), Dahners
patent: 5224680 (1993-07-01), Greenstein et al.
patent: 5365921 (1994-11-01), Bookwalter et al.
patent: 5441042 (1995-08-01), Putman
patent: 5529571 (1996-06-01), Daniel
patent: 5538215 (1996-07-01), Hosey
patent: 5662300 (1997-09-01), Michelson
patent: 5755412 (1998-05-01), Guibert et al.
patent: 5876332 (1999-03-01), Looney
patent: 5931777 (1999-08-01), Sava
patent: WO 97/40752 (1997-11-01), None
A.C. Stieber, Hepatic Transplantation With the Aid of the Iron Intern Retractor, The American Journal of Surgery, vol. 160, pp. 300-301, Sep. 1990.
R.J. Greenstein, Mechanical Retraction in Obesity and Esophagogastric Surgery, vol. 1, pp. 431-433, 1991.
Automated Medical Products Corp.
Blank Rome Comisky & McCauley LLP
Chan Korie
Ramirez Ramon O.
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