Mechanized surgical equipment comprising an instrument and an instrument holder, corresponding packaging and instrument holder
09597092 ยท 2017-03-21
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
A61C1/14
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61C3/04
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61B50/30
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61C5/42
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61B17/162
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61C3/02
HUMAN NECESSITIES
International classification
A61B17/16
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61C1/14
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61C8/00
HUMAN NECESSITIES
Abstract
A piece of mechanized surgical equipment is provided, which includes an instrument holder having an element for receiving and retaining a surgical instrument for mechanized use. Also provided is a surgical instrument for mechanized use and configured to be mounted on the instrument holder. The element for receiving and retaining is mobile between an unlocking position, in which the element enables insertion of the instrument into the instrument holder or withdrawal thereof, and a locking position, in which the element prevents the withdrawal of the instrument from the instrument holder. Furthermore, the equipment includes a case in which an active blade of the instrument can be removably housed, the case having an engaging element for engaging with the receiving and retaining element so as to cause the element to move from the unlocking position to the locking position, or vice versa.
Claims
1. A mechanized surgical apparatus comprising: at least one instrument-holder, which receives and retains a surgical instrument for mechanized use, and at least one surgical instrument for mechanized use, mountable on said instrument-holder, said instrument comprising a shank, which cooperates with the instrument-holder, and an active blade, wherein said instrument holder comprises: an unlocking position, which enables introduction of said shank of the instrument into the instrument-holder or withdrawal of said shank from the instrument-holder; and a locking position, which prevents the withdrawal of said shank from the instrument-holder; a receptacle configured to receive and maintain said shank of the instrument, said receptacle being mobile between an open position, permitting introduction of said shank into said receptacle or withdrawal of said shank from said receptacle, and a retaining position in which the receptacle retains said shank in said receptacle; and a locking/unlocking unit, mobile between said locking position in which the unit holds said receptacle in said retaining position, and said unlocking position in which the unit does not hold said receptacle in said retaining position; a case configured to detachably house said active blade of said instrument, said case having a cooperating element shaped to cooperate with said locking/unlocking unit to cause the locking/unlocking unit to pass from said unlocking position to said locking position, or vice versa, and wherein the case is detachable from and attachable to the active blade of said instrument when the instrument is retained by the instrument holder.
2. The mechanized surgical apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said unlocking and locking positions are stable positions.
3. The mechanized surgical apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said instrument-holder comprises a body in which the locking/unlocking unit is mounted slidingly, said locking/unlocking unit having at least one mobile catch that cooperates with at least one housing made in said body.
4. The mechanized surgical apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said catch is radially and laterally mobile.
5. The mechanized surgical apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said catch is elastically deformable.
6. The mechanized surgical apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said locking/unlocking unit is mounted slidingly relative to said receptacle.
7. The mechanized surgical apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said receptacle has a base provided with at least one radially mobile toe, said shank of the instrument having at least one recess configured to receive said toe in said retaining position.
8. The mechanized surgical apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said instrument-holder comprises a return spring between said body and said locking/unlocking unit, said spring tending to push said locking/unlocking unit towards said locking position.
9. The mechanized surgical apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said locking/unlocking unit has a part extending out of the body of the instrument-holder.
10. The mechanized surgical apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said part is cylindrical.
11. The mechanized surgical apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cooperating element of the case is a ring.
12. An instrument-holder comprising: an unlocking position, which enables introduction of a shank of a surgical instrument for mechanized use into the instrument-holder or withdrawal of said shank from the instrument-holder; a locking position, which prevents the withdrawal of said shank from the instrument-holder; a receptacle configured to receive and maintain said shank of the instrument, said receptacle being mobile between an open position, permitting introduction of said shank into said receptacle or withdrawal of said shank from said receptacle, and a retaining position in which the receptacle retains said shank in said receptacle; and a locking/unlocking unit, mobile between said locking position in which the unit holds said receptacle in said retaining position, and said unlocking position in which the unit does not hold said receptacle in said retaining position wherein the locking/unlocking unit is shaped to cooperate with a cooperating element of a case that detachably houses an active element of linked to said surgical instrument to cause said locking/unlocking unit to pass from the unlocking position to the locking position, or vice versa.
Description
5) LIST OF FIGURES
(1) Other features and advantages of the invention shall appear more clearly from the following description of embodiments of the invention given by way of illustratory and non-exhaustive examples, and from the appended drawings, of which:
(2)
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6) DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
6.1. Mechanized Surgical Equipment
(17) As indicated here above, the principle of the invention lies in the fact of making a mechanized surgical apparatus comprising an instrument-holder and an instrument that is to be assembled and disassembled without the practitioner having to touch either the instrument or the head element of the instrument-holder.
(18) The embodiments which are described here below, with reference to the figures, pertain to a mechanized surgical equipment of this kind intended for dental surgery. The invention, however, is not limited to these possible applications to the field of dental surgery. Those skilled in the art can thus without any difficulty implement it in other fields of surgery implementing surgical equipment with mechanized use, as for example in the field of orthopedic surgery in which instruments for mechanized use, such as drills for example, are commonly used.
(19) Referring to
6.2. Surgical Instrument
(20) In
(21) The instrument 2 is preferably made by plastic overmolding (as illustrated in
(22) The instrument 2 can also be made with a metal or plastic shank 21, mounted so as to be tightly fitted to the blade 22.
(23) The overmolding is done in one piece 210 (
(24) The active blade 22 is always made of a metallic material.
(25) In the case illustrated in
(26) In its part closest to the active blade 22, the shank 21 also has two grooves 212, 214 separated by a stop ring 213 including a shoulder. A beveled ring 215 (which could also have a substantially rounded shape, as on an embossment) marks the junction between the groove 214 and the active blade 22.
(27) It can be noted in the example illustrated in
6.3. Assembly Formed by the Instrument and the Case
(28)
(29)
(30)
(31) In the example illustrated, the inner lip is unique, with a ring shape and it cooperates with the groove 214 at the level of a diameter of this groove.
(32)
(33) It can be noted that, in any case, the ring 51 of the case has sufficient rigidity to withstand a manual force with a longitudinal thrust.
(34) In order to further improve the conditions of asepsis in which the apparatus can be used by the dentist, the case containing the instrument is packaged, delivered and prepared in packaging means 6. These packaging means, which are disposable and made out of flexible plastic, comprise two parts 61, 62 provided with thin walls which the practitioner separates when he wishes to use the instrument protected by the case contained inside (
6.4. Means for Receiving and Retaining the Instrument
(35) The instrument 2 is received and retained in the instrument-holder 1 by means for receiving and retaining constituted by a receptacle 3 and a locking/unlocking unit 4 as shown in
(36) The receptacle 3, illustrated in isolation in
(37) At one of its ends, it has a diametral bore 30 (not visible in
(38) The receptacle furthermore comprises longitudinal recesses 33 such that they can get deformed elastically in a radial direction, chiefly at its base 31. This mobility enables the internal lip (or toe) 32 to enter the groove 212 of an instrument during assembly or to be removed from this groove.
(39) Thus, the receptacle 3 has a base 31 provided with at least one radially mobile toe 32 and the instrument 2 has at least one recess 212 designed to receive the toe in its retaining position.
(40) The deformation of the receptacle 3 enables it to oscillate between a configuration in which it is sufficiently open to enable the introduction or withdrawal of an instrument (the open position) and a configuration in which it can retain an instrument, especially by its internal lip (or toe) 32 (the retaining position). Preferably, this receptacle has an elasticity tending to bring it into its retaining position or to a position close to its retaining position.
(41) Besides, the hollow internal part of the receptacle 3 has shapes 35 (flat surfaces, etc) complementary to the flat surfaces 31 of the shank 21 of the instrument. Thus, the instrument 2 introduced into the receptacle occupies a position that is locked in rotation.
(42) The locking/unlocking unit 4 has a general tubular shape and dimensions that enable it to contain the receptacle 3.
(43) The base 41 of the locking/unlocking unit 4 has a conical internal shape which cooperates with the conical base 31 of the receptacle 3 (
(44) When the base 41 envelops the base 31 this base 31 is radially contracted, thus maintaining the receptacle 3 in its retaining position in which it retains an instrument 2 preliminarily introduced into the receptacle 3. Conversely, the moving away of the conical surface from the base 31 relative to the conical surface of the base 31 radially releases the receptacle, and this enables it to pass into an open position where an instrument can be inserted or withdrawn.
(45) During the mounting and dismounting of the instrument 2, the case 5 is brought against the instrument-holder 1 (
(46) It must be noted that the instrument 2 has a certain degree of freedom in rotation in the case 5, especially in the case illustrated by
(47) Thus, the apparatus for dentists as illustrated comprises: at least one instrument-holder 1 comprising means for receiving and retaining a dental surgical instrument 2, and at least one dental surgical instrument 2 intended for being mounted on the instrument-holder 1.
(48) More specifically, the means for receiving and retaining comprise: a receptacle 3 for receiving the instrument, mobile between an open position permitting the introduction of the instrument into the instrument-holder and the withdrawal of the instrument from the instrument-holder, and a retaining position; a unit 4 for locking/unlocking the receptacle in the retaining position.
(49) Moreover, the apparatus for dentists comprises a case 5 in which the instrument 2 is housed, this case having an element for cooperating, in this case a ring 51, designed to cooperate with the locking/unlocking unit 4 to cause it to pass from the locking position in which it locks the receptacle 3 in its retaining position to the unlocking position in which it does not lock this receptacle and enables it to pass into its open position, or vice versa.
(50) To this end, the instrument-holder 1 has a body 7 in which the locking/unlocking unit 4 is mounted slidingly as well as a return spring 8 between the body 7 and the locking/unlocking unit 4, the spring tending to push the locking/unlocking unit towards the locking position where it locks the receptacle in the retaining position.
(51) As illustrated in
(52) Moreover, the pin 34 enables the receptacle 3 to be fixedly attached to the body 7 in passing through the locking/unlocking unit at an oblong aperture 42 (
(53) In addition, the body 7, the receptacle 3 and the locking/unlocking unit 4 extend along the same longitudinal direction. In this way, the locking/unlocking unit 4 is also mounted slidingly relative to the receptacle 3.
(54) The spring 8 naturally pushes the locking/unlocking unit 4 towards its locking position.
(55) In the contrary sense, a pressure of the case 5 on the locking/unlocking unit comprises the spring and tends to bring the locking/unlocking unit 4 to its unlocking position.
6.5. Mounting and Dismounting of the Instrument
(56) During the mounting and dismounting of the instrument 2 relative to the instrument-holder 1, an apparatus for dentists according to the invention then has several configurations with positions which follow one another in a predefined order, according to the following description.
(57) This description is illustrated by
(58) First of all, the locking position for locking the means for receiving and retaining the instrument 2 in the instrument-holder 1, as it exists when the apparatus for dentists is in operation, is illustrated in
(59) The base 31 of the receptacle 3, in its retaining position, firmly retains the instrument 2, especially by gripping the inner lip 32 in the groove 212. The locking/unlocking unit 4, which is in its locking position, maintains the receptacle 3 in the retaining position.
(60) This locking position is stable, i.e. the instrument 2 remains held in the instrument-holder without any action by the practitioner so long as no external force (such as a force exerted on the locking/unlocking unit 4 by the case 5) is applied.
(61) The case 5 can then be withdrawn from or inserted relative to the instrument 2 in position, by a manual force in which the internal lip 52 is made to cross the beveled ring 215 (since the diameter of the beveled ring is greater than that of the internal lip, this lip by its flexibility can get deformed when crossing the beveled ring).
(62)
(63)
(64) Referring to
(65) The instrument mounted in the instrument-holder is removed through the particular cooperation between the groove 214 and the inner lip 52 of the case, enabling the receptacle 3 to be made to pass into its open position: in one sense, first of all, the practitioner forces the internal lip to cross the beveled ring 215 (or to sheath the smooth cylindrical end 2140 in the case of a flexible case), to fit the case onto the instrument; then, in the contrary sense, a pulling force on the case forces the internal lip 32 of the receptacle to move away and release the instrument, the internal lip 52 then abutting the beveled ring 215 (or in the case of a flexible case, an appropriate pressure by the practitioner's fingers on this case is sufficient to grasp the instrument and hold it throughout the withdrawing motion).
(66) To introduce a new instrument into the instrument-holder, the receptacle must also be in this open position.
(67) It can be noted that should the locking/unlocking unit 4 be put in the locking position while the receptacle contains no instrument, simple pressure by means of an empty case on the locking/unlocking unit 4 is enough to place it in this unlocking position.
(68) An instrument 2 can then again be introduced into the receptacle. Now, the external diameter of the shank 21 of the instrument is greater than that of the internal lip 32 at rest. The internal lip then therefore moves away gradually, up to the open position of the receptacle to allow the instrument, through the rounded or chamfered shape of its shank 21, to penetrate the instrument when the practitioner exerts pressure by means of the case containing the instrument. It can be noted that the internal lip 32 then puts up a resistance against the instrument which can lead the internal lip 52 of the case to slide up to the stop ring 213.
(69) In this position, the instrument slides in the receptacle until the case 5 comes into contact with the locking/unlocking unit 4. The internal lip 32 is then out of the groove 212 of the instrument.
(70) This unlocking position of the locking/unlocking unit is stable because of the presence, on the locking/unlocking unit, of a catch 43 which is elastically deformable, cooperating with a housing 71 made by a cut in the body 7. The catch 43 is held in position by the combined action of the spring 8 and a tangential stress which presses it against the plane 74 of the housing 71.
(71) The apparatus therefore remains in this position, if the practitioner relaxes the pressure put on the case in order to reach it.
(72) To reach this stable unlocking position of the locking/unlocking unit in the body, from the locking position, the catch changes its position but does not leave the housing 71 (from the position of
(73) To then return to the locking position which makes it possible to maintain the instrument 2 that the dentist has just inserted into the instrument-holder 1, he must first of all make the case 5 exert renewed pressure on the locking/unlocking unit 4 until this unit reaches the position illustrated in
(74) In this position, the shank 21 of the instrument 2 abuts the pin 34 at the bottom of the receptacle 3, the internal lip 52 of the case 5 is in contact with the stop ring 213 while the internal lip 32 of the receptacle penetrates the groove 212 of the instrument.
(75) The locking/unlocking unit 4 is then in an unlocking position but one that is no longer stable. Indeed, during the thrust leading to this position, the catch 43 remains first of all in the housing 71 and then the chamfered ridges and the radial mobility of the catch enable it to come out of the housing 71 according to
(76) Now, the catch 43 comes out of the housing 71 in an inclined path, relative to the sliding axis of the locking/unlocking unit. It therefore tends to shift laterally within the body, out of the housing, towards the plane 73. The gradual release of the case, combined with the thrust of the spring, then enables the locking/unlocking unit to slide up to its locking position without the catch being able to stop it in the unlocking position illustrated in
(77) During the movement towards its locking position, the locking/unlocking unit 4 compresses the conical base 31 of the receptacle 3 and the internal lip 32 remains positioned in the groove 212 of the instrument 2. At the end of this movement, the instrument has therefore kept its axial positioning relative to the receptacle and is firmly retained by this unit.
(78) The elasticity of the receptacle and the presence of the longitudinal recesses also improves the gripping of the instrument by increasing the surfaces in contact with the shank of the instrument so that no clearance remains between the instrument and the receptacle.
(79) A homogenous distribution of the gripping forces is furthermore obtained throughout the surface of the shank of the instrument. Thus, even when the shank of the instrument is made out of plastic, the risk that it might break is considerably reduced and it combines the advantages of plastic materials (easy color identification, low cost, etc) and of metallic materials (solidity, efficient transmission of the rotational torque, etc).
(80) In short, the receiving and retaining means of the equipment pass from: the locking position illustrated by
(81) It can be noted that the body 7, as illustrated by
(82) It can be noted that a similar operation can be obtained by mounting a spring such as the spring 8 between the locking/unlocking unit 4 and not the body 7 but the receptacle 3. This variant however can be less advantageous because the spring can be in an awkward position during the changes of receptacle that are likely to be made.
6.6 Temporary Storage Means
(83) According to one preferred embodiment illustrated in
(84) These means are particularly useful for supporting several instruments likely to be used one or more times by the dentist during a same operation in an ordered way and to present these instruments ergonomically. The instrument-changing times are then minimized. Since the contact with the case is reduced or even eliminated, the aseptic conditions of use of the apparatus are also improved.
(85) Other embodiments, based on the principle of an apparatus for dentists such as the one that has just been described can of course be envisaged without departing from the framework of the invention.
(86) More particularly, systems other than an elastic catch can be envisaged to obtain stable locking and unlocking positions for the receiving and retaining means (rotary barrel system especially).
(87) An exemplary embodiment of the invention proposes a mechanized surgical instrument comprising an instrument and an instrument-holder to improve the conditions of use as regards asepsis.
(88) An exemplary embodiment of the invention provides a mechanized surgical apparatus of this kind comprising an instrument and an instrument-holder improving its conditions of use at the ergonomical level.