Surgery – Instruments – Cutting – puncturing or piercing
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-17
2001-08-21
Recla, Henry J. (Department: 3731)
Surgery
Instruments
Cutting, puncturing or piercing
C606S180000, C600S566000, C030S316000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06277135
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1) Field of the Invention
The invention herein relates to a driven rotary incision scalpel that, unlike similar instruments wherein the surgical incision blade is conjoined to the bottom end of the drive shaft tube, utilizes a small form factor motor mounted and concealed inside the lower end of a pistol grip-shaped housing which directly rotates a drive shaft at its front end and thereby achieves the driving of a hollow rotary scalpel. The scalpel is radially ensleeved at the upper section of the pistol grip-shaped housing, with the exterior of the rotary scalpel protected inside an active outer barrel. A trigger assembly is disposed at the lower extent of a center section such that pulling back the trigger with a finger, directly switches on the driving rotation to achieve precision and rapid rotary incision performance. A sliding arrestor block is situated at the interior surface of the trigger assembly and is capable of being selectively pulled initially to either the upper section position or lower section position by the finger of the user, thereby forming a rotary scalpel safety protection switch that prevents the trigger assembly from being pulled. The present invention achieves the concealment of the rotary scalpel incision motive force inside the housing to achieve convenient and lightweight flexible practicality.
2) Description of the Prior Art
A surgical operation is the most direct and effective method of remedying serious pathology of patients and, furthermore, is a widely utilized advanced medical treatment skill. However, due to technological progress, conventional knife-type operating tools utilized for internal surgery are being gradually replaced by new instruments or improved scalpels. Equipped with a pistol grip-shaped handle, the rotary scalpel
1
shown in FIG.
1
and
FIG. 2
is a conventional instrument commonly utilized for endoscopic operations or for the removal of organs, polyps, and other tissue.
Referring to FIG.
1
and
FIG. 2
, the conventional rotary scalpel
1
is comprised of pistol grip-shaped shell halves
11
, in which is disposed a hollow rotary scalpel
121
, a frontal blade
1211
, the inner section of which is mounted and retracted slightly inward in an inner barrel
122
, the outer section of which is capable of retraction and extension. The frontal blade
1211
extends slightly outward from an active outer barrel
123
. All of which constitutes a three-layer cylindrical scalpel body
12
sleeved on the inner section of the hollow rotary scalpel
121
is a rotatable driven bevel gear
13
engaging the driven bevel gear
14
which, by means of it being conjoined to the lower section of an extended drive shaft tube
15
, is rotated by a center shaft
151
, allowing the hollow rotary scalpel
121
to undergo high-speed rotary incision. Before the start of rotary incision with the hollow rotary scalpel
121
(as shown in FIG.
1
), the operator must use a finger to pull back the trigger assembly
1231
on the outer barrel
123
to enable the barrel end to recede backward and allow the extension of the frontal blade
1211
from the hollow rotary scalpel
121
(as shown in
FIG. 2
) and thereby execute rotary incision operation.
The rotational driving force of such conventional rotary scalpels
1
typically consisted of an externally connected driving fixture
2
having an ON/OFF switch
21
that was not built into the said rotary scalpel
1
. The driving fixture
2
utilized an internally installed motor (not shown in the drawing) connected to the shaft tube
15
that drove the center shaft
151
and rotated the driven bevel gear
14
. A foot switch
21
was utilized at the same time to control the onset and termination of rotation.
As is obviously apparent, the driving shaft tube
15
was both a driven and a driving structural arrangement that provided for the union of an externally connected driving force and actually is an adaptation of an electric powered dentist drill. Both units are similar in terms of structure and operating procedure. However, the main difference was that the dental-application device could not accommodate the installation of active magnification medical treatment instrumentation which had a thin hollow opening smaller than the oral cavity. As such, the use of the said rotary scalpel
1
structure during actual medical treatment often resulted in the following operating constraints, which also adversely affected surgical quality and efficacy:
1. The rotation driving shaft tube
15
that enabled the rotary incision of the rotary scalpel
121
offered rotational capability, but due to the rotating center shaft line
151
contained inside it, the shaft tube
15
was of considerable thickness and hardness, which blocked and constrained the available working area of the chief operating surgeon and assisting personnel. Additionally, the operator could even be tripped by the said shaft tube
15
when changing position or moving the hands which could potentially disturb the operating position of the chief surgeon and result in dangerous procedural operating error or accidental injury. Of even greater importance, the extended length of the said shaft tube
15
directly affected the overall positional agility of the operating scalpel
1
and, furthermore, when the center shaft
151
was rotating within a lengthy tube, the large surface area of friction caused vibration and noise that negatively affected the operator and lessened practicality;
2. Under conditions wherein the center shaft
151
of the shaft tube
15
was rotated along a continuous length, if a bend or less than optimal rotational efficiency occurred at a certain point along the shaft tube
15
, the center shaft
151
inside became incapable of rotating smoothly. This directly affected the rotational speed of the rotary scalpel
121
and, consequently, the operating procedure, often halting the operating procedure or precluding efficient completion;
3. The operator had to divert attention to placing the sole of the foot over a foot-operated switch in order to control the switching on or off of the rotary scalpel
121
and an inadequate degree of attentiveness often dangerously resulted in poor mechanical actuation or bad switch contact; and,
4. The inflexible arrangement that included a rotary scalpel
1
and an externally connected driving fixture
2
with a rotation driving shaft tube
15
conjoined to the center section was not only excessively large in terms of physical dimension, but given in addition of the great magnitude of friction on the center shaft
151
, a motor with a higher torque capacity would have to be installed to provide sufficient rotational driving power, which resulted in larger overall physical specifications. In addition, since the rotary scalpel
1
was not removable, the entire assembly had to be sterilized after the completion of each operation. If the sterilization was not thorough, pathogenic transmission from the blade section to the next patient could occur during a future operation, a serious situation that could not be neglected.
In view of these situations, the inventor of the invention herein having actual familiarity and experience in the related fields conducted extensive innovative research to complete the present invention and submit it as a new patent application.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The primary objective of the invention herein is to provide a driven rotary incision scalpel in which a small form factor motor is mounted and thereby concealed at the lower section inside the pistol grip-shaped housing, with the motor directly rotating a drive shaft at its front end to achieve the driving of a hollow rotary scalpel radially ensleeved at the upper section of the pistol grip-shaped housing. As such, the invention precludes the utilization of a rotation driving shaft tube conjoined with the housing and, furthermore, does not require an externally connected driving force fixture. Thereby, the overall physical size is reduced and, since the conventionally equipped rotation driving shaft tube
Dougherty & Troxell
Lewis William
Recla Henry J.
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