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Patent EP0537574A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
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EP0537574A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Endoscopic surgical instrument

Assignee: United States Surgical Corp
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Filing: 1992-10-02
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2012-10-02
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Abstract

Abstract An endoscopic instrument, e.g. endoscopic scissors, is disclosed, of the type comprising a handle (12), an elongated body (18) with a tubular member (20) and a slidable rod member (22), and a pivotable tool mechanism (28). Improvements disclosed include: 1: resilient means, e.g. spring washer, urging scissor blades together, 2: rigid means, e.g. harder tube extension, to prevent lateral separation of tool jaws; 3: abutment means, e.g. stop surfaces on tool members, to limit reciprocating tool members; 4: inflected surfaces on scissor blades, to improve cutting action.

Inventors

  • 👤 Matthew Mudry
  • 👤 Ernie Aranyi
  • 👤 David A. Nicholas

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-24 20:35
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B17/00; A61B17/28; A61B17/29; A61B18/00; A61B18/04; A61B18/12; A61B18/14; A61B18/1442; A61B17/2812; A61B17/2833; A61B2017/2837; A61B2017/2926; A61B2017/2927; A61B2017/2929; A61B2017/2932; A61B2017/2933; A61B2017/2936; A61B2017/2945; A61B2018/1405; A61B2018/1425; A61B2018/1432

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim 178 words
An endoscopic surgical instrument comprising: a handle assembly including a stationary handle and a pivoting handle; a body assembly including a pair of coaxial members attached at one end to said handle assembly, comprising an inner rod member slidable in relation to an outer tube member, said rod member sliding in response to movement of said pivoting handle and terminating at a second end in a bearing surface; a tool mechanism comprising a pair of reciprocating scissor blade members secured to a second end of said tube member, one of said blade members being provided with a camming surface which slidably engages said bearing surface of said rod member; and a resilient member coupled to at least one of said reciprocating members to urge said reciprocating members laterally toward each other; and wherein movement of said pivoting handle slides said rod member in relation to said tube member, such that said bearing surface of said rod member slidingly engages said camming surface of said tool mechanism to pivot said tool mechanism to open and close said reciprocating members.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 32 words
An endoscopic surgical instrument according to Claim 1, wherein said resilient member urges a first one of said reciprocating members into substantial contact along its length with a second of said members.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 45 words
An endoscopic surgical instrument according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein at least one of said reciprocating members is pivotal about a pivot point and said resilient member includes a spring washer about said pivot point to urge said reciprocating members laterally toward each other.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 70 words
An endoscopic surgical instrument including a handle assembly, a body assembly including an outer tube member, and a rod member cooperating with said handle assembly, said endoscopic surgical instrument comprising: a tool mechanism including a pair of reciprocating members pivotally secured to a distal end of said body assembly and cooperating with said handle assembly; and means for urging said reciprocating members towards each other to substantially discourage lateral separation.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 30 words
An endoscopic surgical instrument according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said means for urging comprises a tube portion coupled to a distal end of said body assembly.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 24 words
An endoscopic surgical instrument according to claim 5, wherein said tube portion is a steel having a greater material hardness than said body assembly.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 21 words
An endoscopic surgical instrument according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said reciprocating members comprise surgical cutting blade members.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 80 words
An endoscopic surgical instrument according to any one of the preceding claims wherein a housing assembly is integral with said body assembly and said tool mechanism is coupled to said housing assembly, such that said tube cooperates with said housing assembly, said tube substantially surrounds a pivot point about which at least one of said reciprocating members pivots to substantially discourage lateral separation of said reciprocating member, said pivot point being substantially about a diametric line of said housing assembly.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 84 words
An endoscopic surgical instrument according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a housing assembly is integral with said body assembly and said tool mecahnism is coupled to said housing assembly, such that said tube portion cooperates with said housing assembly, said tube portion substantially surrounds a pivot point about which at least one of said reciprocating members pivots to substantially discourage lateral separation of said reciprocating members, said pivot point being substantially offset from a diametric line of said housing assembly.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 85 words
An endsocopic surgical instrument including a handle assembly, a body assembly including a tool mechanism having a pair of reciprocating members pivotally secured to a distal end of said body assembly and cooperating with said handle assembly comprising: an outer tube member coupled to said body assembly; and an abutment member cooperating with at least one of said reciprocating members and, said abutment member cooperating with said outer tube member of said body assembly to limit rotation of at least one of said reciprocating members.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 86 words
An endoscopic surgical instrument according to Claim 10, wherein said abutment member is integral with a proximal end of at least one of said reciprocating members, at least one of said reciprocating members being pivotable in relation to another reciprocating member such that said reciprocating members include an open position and a closed position and wherein said abutment member cooperates with an inner surface of said outer tube member to limit the rotation of at least one of said reciprocating members when in said closed position.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 57 words
An endoscopic surgical instrument according to claim 10 or 11, wherein said outer tube member of said body assembly further includes a tube portion at said distal end of said body assembly cooperating with said abutment member to limit rotation of said reciprocating members, said tube portion being of a harder material than said outer tube member.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 60 words
An endoscopic surgical instrument according to claim 12, wherein a first reciprocating member is stationary and a second reciprocating member is pivotable about said pivot point, said second reciprocating member substantially communicating with said inner surface of said outer tube member in a closed position in relation to said first reciprocating member to limit rotation of said second reciprocating member.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 100 words
An endoscopic surgical instrument including a handle assembly, and a body assembly including an outer tube member and a rod member cooperating with said handle assembly, said endoscopic surgical instrument comprising: a tool mechanism including a pair of reciprocating members pivotally secured to a distal end of said body assembly and cooperating with said handle assembly; said reciprocating members including a blade portion, said blade portion of said reciprocating members each having a blade edge, at least one of said blade edges including an inflected surface causing said blade portions to substantially contact along a length of said blade portions.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 37 words
An endoscopic surgical instrument according to Claim 14, wherein said blade edge inflected surface is continuous along said blade edge and said blade edges define a gap therebetween, said blade edge inflected surface substantially closes said gap.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 29 words
An endoscopic surgical instrument according to claim 14 or 15 wherein said inflected surface is at an acute angle to a vertical plane in which said blade edge lies.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 40 words
An endoscopic surgical instrument according to any one of the preceding claims wherein blade edges of said reciprocating members each inlcude an inflected surface, and said inflected surfaces by mutual cooperation substantially close a gap defined by said blade edges.

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