Pull test apparatus for permanently attached sutures
First Claim
1. A needle threading and swaging apparatus for attaching a suture to a surgical needle having a suture receiving opening formed therein, said apparatus comprising:
- (a) a semi-automatic needle singulating station for receiving a plurality of randomly arranged surgical needles, said station having a sliding surface for assisting an operator in singulating surgical needles for transfer to a precise positioning apparatus;
(b) a precise positioning apparatus for receiving singulated needles from said needle singulating station and precisely positioning the singulated needle at a first predetermined location;
(c) a universal gripper for receiving each precisely positioned and singulated needle at said first predetermined location and indexing said needle in a predetermined orientation from said first predetermined location through successive locations for sequential swaging and testing at subsequent predetermined locations,(d) a suture swaging station for swaging said suture receiving opening about a free end of a suture to secure said suture thereto and form therefrom a needle and suture assembly,(e) a suture pull test station, said station having a non-destructive test assembly having a pair of non-destructive gripping jaws for positively gripping said suture at a first position below a v-blade needle support arm, said non-destructive gripping assembly including a slide block means for applying said positive downward force of predetermined value to said gripped suture strand to thereby test the strength of said swage bond;
whereby unsorted needles and an indefinite length of suture material are formed into a plurality of surgical needle and suture assemblies.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A semi-automated machine for singulating individual surgical needles from an bulk supply and attaching a suture to the surgical needle is described. Each of the surgical needles has a suture receiving opening formed therein for receiving a suture. The machine includes a needle singulation station, a precise positioning station, a suture feeding station, a swage station, a pull-test station and an off-load station. A universal gripper mounted on a rotary indexing device automatically receives each individual needle in a predetermined orientation and conveys the needle for sequential processing from station to station to form the needle-suture assembly. A swage station is provided for swaging the needle to close the suture receiving opening about the suture to secure said suture thereto and form therefrom a needle and suture assembly. The suture pull-test station tests each needle suture bond with a pre-determined pull for quality control. This pull is adjustable via a precision spring tension device. The pull test station includes two sets of jaws for gripping the suture, the first for the quality control pull test, and the second for a destructive test in which the strength of the bond is measured for adjusting the swage dies and for statistical quality control purposes. A final off-load station provides an apparatus for assembling a predetermined number of need-suture assemblies in a bundle for subsequent packaging.
-
Citations
13 Claims
-
1. A needle threading and swaging apparatus for attaching a suture to a surgical needle having a suture receiving opening formed therein, said apparatus comprising:
-
(a) a semi-automatic needle singulating station for receiving a plurality of randomly arranged surgical needles, said station having a sliding surface for assisting an operator in singulating surgical needles for transfer to a precise positioning apparatus; (b) a precise positioning apparatus for receiving singulated needles from said needle singulating station and precisely positioning the singulated needle at a first predetermined location; (c) a universal gripper for receiving each precisely positioned and singulated needle at said first predetermined location and indexing said needle in a predetermined orientation from said first predetermined location through successive locations for sequential swaging and testing at subsequent predetermined locations, (d) a suture swaging station for swaging said suture receiving opening about a free end of a suture to secure said suture thereto and form therefrom a needle and suture assembly, (e) a suture pull test station, said station having a non-destructive test assembly having a pair of non-destructive gripping jaws for positively gripping said suture at a first position below a v-blade needle support arm, said non-destructive gripping assembly including a slide block means for applying said positive downward force of predetermined value to said gripped suture strand to thereby test the strength of said swage bond; whereby unsorted needles and an indefinite length of suture material are formed into a plurality of surgical needle and suture assemblies. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
Specification