Automated swage wind and packaging machine

• US 6,032,343 A
• Filed: 02/06/1998
• Issued: 03/07/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ethicon Incorporated (Johnson & Johnson)
• Original Assignee: Ethicon Incorporated (Johnson & Johnson)
• Inventors: Shaw, Teresa M., Cafone, Matthew, Smith, William F., Blanch, John F., Demarest, David D., Hodulik, Michael G., Esteves, Anthony, Daniele, Robert A., Branco, Richard Paul, Reinemuth, George Horst
• Primary Examiner(s): BRIGGS, WILLIAM R
• Application Number:
  US09/020,085
• Time in Patent Office: 760 Days
• Field of Search: 29/33 R, 29/712, 29/715, 29/783, 29/720, 29/788, 83/153, 83/950, 83/151, 53/118, 53/116, 250/202, 250/560, 250/561, 356/376
• US Class Current: 29/33.00R
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/06 Needles ; Sutures; Needle-suture combinations; Holders or packages for needles or suture materials puncturing needles A61B17/34; hypodermic needles A61M5/32 ; sewing needles D05B85/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/06004 Means for attaching suture to needle tipping A61B17/06195; connecting wire to other metallic objects B21F15/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/06133 of parallelepipedal shape, e.g. made of rectangular or slightly oval panels
• CPC Class Codes: B21G 1/08 of hollow needles or needles with hollow end, e.g. hypodermic needles, larding-needles B21G1/10 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4182 manipulators and conveyor only
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/51 Plural diverse manufacturing apparatus including means for metal shaping or assembling
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/53052 including position sensor
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/53387 by deforming

Abstract

The present invention is directed to improvements in an Automated Swage Wind and Packaging Machine that is particularly adapted to assist in the automated singulation of surgical needles to enable subsequent automated handling of the needle, automatic swaging of the suture into a receiving end of the needle, automatic pull testing of the combined needle and suture, and automated packaging of the pull tested combined needle and suture into a tray having a cover.

Claims

1. An automated swage wind and packaging machine for attaching a suture to a surgical needle having a suture receiving opening formed therein and automatically packaging said needle and suture, said machine comprising:

(a) an automatic needle sorting and infeed station for singulating and precisely positioning said surgical needles for subsequent swaging, said station individually singulating a single needle from a bulk supply and depositing a single needle upon a first conveyor means;

computer control imaging means for obtaining and processing a digital image of said needle to obtain positional and orientation data for each of said singulated and imaged needles on said first conveyor means; and

transfer means for removing said needle from said first conveyor means in accordance with its individual positional and orientation data and transferring said needle to a second precision conveyor for conveyance to a subsequent swaging station;

(b) a suture cutting station for automatically cutting an indefinite length of suture material to a definite length and automatically inserting said suture into said suture receiving opening formed in said surgical needle;

(c) a swage station for swaging said surgical needle to close said suture receiving opening about a free end of said suture to secure said suture thereto and form therefrom a needle and suture assembly; and

(d) a needle packaging station having a suture winding arrangement for the automated individual packaging of said needle and suture assembly to produce a suture package, wherein said packaging station includes means for automatically winding said suture within the confines of a tray and attaching a cover to said tray so as to constitute said suture package, said packaging station having at least one tool nest for supporting said tray, and means for imparting a forwarding motion to said tool nest and said tray supported thereon for indexed advance to a plurality of workstations stationarily arranged proximate the path of advancing movement of said at least one tool nest;

said suture winding arrangement comprising;

(i) a first workstation including means for imparting a preterminal rotational movement to the tray which has a surgical needle retained therein with an attached suture having a portion extending outwardly and downwardly from said tray; and

ii) a second workstation including means for imparting rapid rotational movement to said previously rotated tray so as to completely wind said depending suture portion into the confines of said tray;

whereby unsorted needles and an indefinite length of suture material are automatically formed into a plurality of oriented surgical needle and suture assemblies and sequentially packaged with a single assembly in a single package tray.

2. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said automatic needle sorting and infeed station further includes means for singulating each of said needles prior to deposition upon said first conveyor means, each of said singulated needles being deposited upon said first conveyor means in a spaced apart relation.

3. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said transfer means includes one or more robot means each robot means having a gripper means for picking up needles from said first conveyor means, and placing said needles upon said second conveyance means.

4. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second conveyance means includes one or more engagement devices for gripping a respective needle, said transfer means placing each said needle in a respective engagement device.

5. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said computer control imaging means further includes memory means for storing said positional and orientation data corresponding to said imaged needles, said transfer means including means for accessing said memory means to obtain said positional and orientation data corresponding to said imaged needles.

6. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said computer control imaging means for obtaining and processing a digital image of said individually deposited needles includes one or more camera means, each of said one or more camera means in communication with said computer control imaging means.

7. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 6 wherein each of said camera means obtains a video image of said needles upon said first conveyor means at each of respective said one or more predetermined locations within a field-of-view of each of said one or more camera means.

8. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 2 wherein said automatic needle sorting and infeed station further includes a vibrating bowl and track assembly for providing a single file output of needles to a linear discharge slide mechanism which deposits single needles at spaced positions on said first conveyor means.

9. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 3 wherein said robot means is in communication with said memory means, said robot means accessing said memory means to obtain said positional and orientation data corresponding to said imaged needles.

10. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 4 wherein each of said engagement devices includes a pair of engaging jaws for engaging a needle positioned therebetween by said transfer means.

11. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 10 wherein each said engagement device further includes a spring means for biasing a first movable jaw of said pair of engaging jaws into engagement with a second fixed jaw of said pair of engaging jaws to retain said needle positioned therebetween.

12. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 11 wherein each of said engagement devices further includes means for retracting said first movable engaging jaw from engagement with said second fixed jaw prior to positioning said needle therebetween.

13. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 12 wherein said means for retracting said first movable jaw from engagement with said second fixed jaw is a push rod for pushing said first movable jaw in opposition to said bias of said spring means.

14. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 4 further including a first orienting means for orienting each said needle in a uniform direction while positioned upon said second conveyance means.

15. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 14 further including a second orienting means for further orienting said needle axially within said pair of engagement jaws.

16. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 15 further including a third orienting means for further orienting said needle to within 0.001 inch of a desired predetermined orientation for said needle upon said second conveyance means.

17. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein rotation-imparting means at said first workstation rotates said tray so as to assume an orientation which is 180°

inverted relative to the initial orientation of said tray on said at least one tool nest.

18. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 17, wherein said rotation-imparting means comprises a winder head reciprocable towards and away from said tray on the support surface of said at least one tool nest, said winder head being engageable with said support surface in the forwardly extended position of the winder head;

and drive means for imparting rotation to said winder head for rotating said tray.

19. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 18, wherein the support surface on said at least one tool nest is fastened to a rotatable shaft extending through said at least one tool nest;

means normally securing said shaft against relative rotation, said means releasing said shaft for axial movement and rotation to facilitate said winder head imparting the rotational movement to said tray and support surface.

20. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 19, wherein cam structure is contacted by an opposite end of said shaft to limit the axial movement of said shaft.

21. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 20, wherein said at least one tool nest includes locking pin means for locking said shaft in a predetermined rotational position responsive to deactivation of said release means so as to maintain said tray in said rotationally inverted position on said support surface.

22. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 19, wherein said shaft releasing means comprises an air motor.

23. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rapid rotation imparting means at said second workstation comprises a winder head structure engageable with said tray and support surface for winding the extending portion of the suture into said tray.

24. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 23, wherein said winder head structure at said second workstations comprises protruding means which are engageable with surface structure on said tray so as to facilitate winding of said depending suture portion into a peripheral channel formed in said tray.

25. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 23, wherein said winder head structure at said second winding workstation is rotated at a high rotational speed.

26. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 23, wherein the support surface on said at least one tool nest is fastened to a rotatable shaft extending through said at least one tool nest;

means normally securing said shaft against relative rotation, said means releasing said shaft for axial movement and rotation to facilitate said winder head imparting the rotational movement to said tray and support surface.

27. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 26, wherein cam structure is contacted by an opposite end of said structure to limit the axial movement of said shaft.

28. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 27, wherein said at least one tool nest includes locking pin means for locking said shaft in a predetermined rotational position responsive to deactivation of said release means so as to maintain said tray in said rotationally inverted position on said surface upon completing the of winding of the suture into said tray.

29. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 26, wherein said shaft releasing means comprises an air motor.

30. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein suture tensioning means imparts tension to the depending suture portion prior to and during the winding of the suture into said tray.

31. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 30, wherein said suture tensioning means comprises a plurality of vacuum nozzles.

32. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 30, wherein further vacuum tensioning means impart tension to a trailing end of said depending suture portion until said suture is completely wound into said tray.

33. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein a plurality of said tool nests are mounted on a turntable, said workstations being spaced about the periphery of said turntable.

34. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an indexing means for sequentially indexing said needle suture assemblies to a pull test station located between said swaging station and said needle packaging station, said pull-test station comprising means for automatically testing swage bond strength of each said needle-suture assembly indexed thereto.

35. An automated swage wind and packaging machine for attaching a suture to a surgical needle having a suture receiving opening formed therein and automatically packaging said needle and suture, said machine comprising:

(a) an automatic needle sorting and infeed station for singulating and precisely positioning said surgical needles for subsequent swaging;

(b) a suture cutting station for automatically cutting an indefinite length of suture material to a definite length and automatically inserting said suture into said suture receiving opening formed in said surgical needle, the suture cutting station including;

(i) a tipping means for heating a predetermined small length of said suture to stiffen said small length of said suture during subsequent cooling thereof, in preparation for cutting said suture at said stiffened small length and inserting a stiffened lead cut end of said suture into an end of said needle for swaging thereto;

(ii) first and second gripping means for gripping said indefinite length suture and alternately drawing it along a drawing axis, said first and second gripping means being mounted for reciprocal movement on said at least one longitudinal member;

(iii) means for cutting said indefinite length suture at said stiffened small length to provide uniform lengths of suture, wherein said cutting means includes a retractable cutter and counter-rotating first and second locator arms which clamps the stiffened small length therebetween while said cutting element severs the clamped suture;

(c) a swage station for swaging said surgical needle to close said suture receiving opening about a free end of said suture to secure said suture thereto and form therefrom a needle and suture assembly; and

(d) a needle packaging station having a needle transfer arrangement for the automated packaging of a single needle having an attached suture to produce a suture package, wherein said needle packaging station includes means for automatically winding said suture within the confines of a tray and attaching a cover to said tray so as to constitute said suture package, said needle packaging station having at least one tool nest for supporting said tray, and means for imparting a forwarding motion to said tool nest and said tray supported thereon for indexed advance to a plurality of workstations stationarily arranged proximate the path of advancing movement of said at least one tool nest;

said needle packaging station having means for adjusting the elevation of said at least one tool nest relative to the needle swage station so as to accommodate the transferring of differently sized surgical needles into said tray without substantially modifying any components of the machine;

whereby unsorted needles and an indefinite length of suture material are automatically formed into a plurality of oriented surgical needle and suture assemblies and sequentially packaged with a single assembly in a single package tray.

36. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 35, wherein the tipping means is adjustably positioned at different positions in the apparatus.

37. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 36, wherein the position of the tipping means in the apparatus is adjustable by a handcrank and precision leadscrew, such that as the handcrank is rotated, the position of the tipping means in the machine is changed.

38. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 37, wherein the tipping means includes a pointer positioned adjacent to a linear measurement scale stationarily positioned in the apparatus, such that the position of the tipping means is precisely controlled by aligning the pointer with a specified reading on the linear measurement scale.

39. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 36, wherein the tipping means includes a pointer positioned adjacent to a linear measurement scale stationarily positioned in the apparatus, such that the position of the tipping means is precisely controlled by aligning the pointer with a specified reading on the linear measurement scale.

40. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 35, including means for directing a constant flow of heated air to flow either through a heating aperture in which the suture is intermittently stopped during a tipping operation, or through a diverter channel to dump the heated air into the surrounding atmosphere.

41. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 40, wherein the flow of hot air is controlled by a retractable slide element having a flow aperture therein which is selectively positioned in front of either an inlet to the heating aperture or to the diverter channel.

42. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 41, wherein a thermocouple is positioned in the air flow at the discharge end of the heater to monitor and control the air temperature through a controller in a programmable logic controller.

43. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 42, wherein said tipping means is operated at different temperatures between 200°

F. and 550°

F. depending upon the particular suture material being run, and the particular temperature is a downloaded parameter from an operating program at each suture batch changeover.

44. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 35, wherein a thermocouple is positioned in the air flow at the discharge end of the heater, to monitor and control the air temperature through a controller in a programmable logic controller.

45. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 35, wherein said tipping means is operated at different temperatures between 200°

F. and 550°

F. depending upon the particular suture material being run, and the particular temperature is a downloaded parameter from an operating program at each suture batch changeover.

46. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 35, wherein the suture extends to and is wrapped around a tension roller which is mounted on one end of a torque motor, which applies a given tension to the suture as it is pulled through the apparatus by the first and second gripping means.

47. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 46, wherein each different suture size and material has a different tension applied thereto by the torque motor as it is drawn through the apparatus.

48. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 47, wherein the suture is wrapped around the tension roller a multiple number of times.

49. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 48, wherein the suture is wrapped around the tension roller twice.

50. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 35, wherein said elevation adjusting means comprise servo motor actuated jack screw lifting means for adjusting the elevational positions of said at least one tool nest relative to said needle transfer means.

51. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 50, wherein a turntable mounts a plurality of said tool nests in peripherally spaced relationship for indexed advance to successive of said workstations, said jack screw lifting means being connected to said turntable for adjusting the elevation thereof.

52. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 51, wherein said workstations about said turntable are mounted on a stationary frame of said machine, said turntable being supported on a vertically movable frame located within said stationary frame of said machine.

53. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 35, further comprising an indexing means for sequentially indexing said needle suture assemblies to a pull test station located between said swaging station and said needle packaging station, said pull-test station comprising means for automatically testing swage bond strength of each said needle-suture assembly indexed thereto.

54. An automated swage wind and packaging machine for attaching a suture to a surgical needle having a suture receiving opening formed therein and automatically packaging said needle and suture, said machine comprising:

(a) an automatic needle sorting and infeed station for singulating and precisely positioning said surgical needles for subsequent swaging;

(b) a suture cutting station for automatically cutting an indefinite length of suture material to a definite length and automatically inserting said suture into said suture receiving opening formed in said surgical needle;

(c) a swage station at a third predetermined location for swaging said surgical needle to close said suture receiving opening about a free end of said suture to secure said suture thereto and form therefrom a needle and suture assembly; and

(d) a needle packaging station having a package feed arrangement for the automated packaging of a single needle having an attached suture to produce a suture package, wherein said needle packaging station includes means for automatically winding said suture within the confines of a tray and attaching a cover to said tray so as to constitute said suture package, said needle packaging station having at least one tool nest for supporting said tray, and means for imparting a forwarding motion to said tool nest and said tray supported thereon for indexed advance to a plurality of workstations stationarily arranged proximate the path of advancing movement of said at least one tool nest, said package feed arrangement comprising a first workstation including means for mounting an empty said tray on a support surface located on said at least one tool nest, said means comprising means for stacking a supply of said empty trays;

a rotary plate arranged beneath said tray stacking means, said rotary plate being adapted to receive an individual one of said trays from the bottom of said stacking means;

means for indexing said rotary plate forwardly at predetermined angular increments; and

robotic means for engaging said tray on said rotary plate and transferring said tray to the support surface on said one tool nest;

whereby unsorted needles and an indefinite length of suture material are automatically formed into a plurality of oriented surgical needle and suture assemblies and sequentially packaged with a single assembly in a single package tray.

55. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 54 wherein said swage station includes first and second swaging die means, said first swaging die means having an end thereof defining a portion of a swage die opening, and said second swaging die means having an end thereof defining another portion of said swage die opening, wherein said second swaging die means is positioned next to said first swaging die means to form a swage die opening for receiving said needle.

56. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 55, wherein said first swaging die means is fixed in position and said second swaging die means is laterally movable toward and away from said first fixed swage die means.

57. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 56 wherein said swaging means includes means for moving said second swage die means laterally away from said first swage die means prior to positioning said needle within said swage die opening.

58. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 57, wherein said moving means further moves said second swage die means toward said first swage die means to grip said needle placed therebetween.

59. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 58 wherein said moving means includes spring biasing means to provide a force sufficient to move said second swage die toward said first swage die to grip the needle without deforming said suture receiving opening of said needle positioned at said swage die opening.

60. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 59, wherein said moving means includes an air cylinder means for supplying adequate force to thrust said movable swage die means toward said first swage die means to accomplish swaging of said needle gripped therebetween.

61. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 60, wherein said second swage die means is thrust towards said first die means for a swaging stroke of a predetermined distance to accomplish said swaging.

62. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 61, wherein said moving means includes stop means for terminating the motion of said second swage die means during said swaging stroke.

63. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 62 wherein said jaws are opened to a non-engaging position for relaxing said surgical needle in said swage die opening after gripping but before swaging thereof.

64. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 63, wherein said swaging means further includes a fence for maintaining the position of said needle within said swage die opening during the swaging thereof.

65. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 64 wherein said swaging means further includes means for adjusting the position of said first swaging die means to change the amount of swage deformation occurring to said suture receiving opening during swaging thereof.

66. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 65 wherein said first fixed swaging die means includes a wedge follower located at one end thereof, said means for changing the position of said first fixed swaging die means including a wedge assembly positioned to move transverse to said wedge follower to laterally move said wedge follower and said first fixed swaging die means in accordance with transverse movement of said wedge assembly.

67. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 66 wherein said transverse movement of said wedge assembly is controllable by a servomotor means for rotating a swage adjust screw of a predetermined pitch, said rotation of said swage adjust screw being translated into linear motion of said wedge assembly.

68. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 67 wherein said computer control means determines and controls the optimum positioning of said first swaging die means to avoid over-swaging and underswaging said needle.

69. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 54, wherein said tray stacking means comprises an open-bottomed chute having a vertical stack of said trays arranged therein, said rotary plate being horizontal and extending closely below the bottom of said chute so as to receive the bottommost tray therefrom on an upper surface of said rotary plate.

70. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 69, wherein said rotary plate is in communication with a vacuum-generating source for imparting a vacuum to the upper surface of said rotary plate to retain said tray thereon during at least the indexing advance of said rotary plate.

71. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 54, wherein said robotic means comprises pivotable arm structure having tray-engaging means for lifting said tray from said rotary plate and transferring said tray to the support surface on said at least one tool nest.

72. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 71, wherein said rotary plate communicates with a vacuum-generating source for imparting a vacuum thereto for retaining said tray on said plate, said vacuum being released upon said tray-engaging means contacting said tray, and a vacuum in said tray-engaging means retaining said tray thereon to facilitate transporting said tray to the support surface on said at least one tool nest.

73. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 72, wherein upon said tray-engaging means mounting said tray on the support surface of said at least one tool nest, said vacuum in said tray-engaging means is released and a vacuum concurrently applied to the support surface of said at least one tool nest so as to retain said tray thereon.

74. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 54, wherein a carousel comprises a plurality of said chutes in a circular rotatable arrangement whereby upon a chute being emptied of said trays, an adjacent tray-filled chute is rotated into position above said rotary plate to facilitate the supplying of trays to said rotary plate.

75. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 54, wherein said robotic means comprises a cam-controlled robotic pivot arm adapted to swing between a vertical orientation to a horizontal and forward motion for transferring said tray from said rotary plate to said support surface on said at least one tool nest.

76. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 54, wherein a second workstation includes means for imparting a predetermined angular displacement to said tray and support surface on said at least one tool nest mounting said tray to facilitate subsequent insertion of a surgical needle into said tray.

77. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 76, wherein said means for imparting said angular displacement comprises structure for engageable contact with said support surface.

78. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 77, wherein said structure comprises a slidable element having contact means for engaging said support surface, and pivot arm means for imparting movement to said contact means towards said support surface to impart said angular displacement thereto.

79. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 76, wherein said support surface on said at least one tool nest is fastened to a rotatable shaft extending through said at least one tool nest;

means normally securing said shaft from relative rotation, said means releasing said shaft for axial movement and rotation in said at least one tool nest to facilitate said angular displacement means to impart said angular displacement to said tray and support surface.

80. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 79, wherein cam structure is contacted by an opposite end of said shaft to limit the axial movement of said shaft.

81. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 54, wherein said at least one tool nest includes locking pin means for locking said tray and support surface in said angularly displaced position.

82. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 76, wherein said angular displacement of said tray and support surface on said at least one tool nest subtends an angle of about 16.5°

with a horizontal axis of said tray.

83. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 54, wherein a plurality of said tool nests are mounted on a turntable, said workstations being spaced about said turntable.

84. The automated swage wind and packaging machine as claimed in claim 54, further comprising an indexing means for sequentially indexing said needle suture assemblies to a pull test station located between said swaging station and said needle packaging station, said pull-test station comprising means for automatically testing swage bond strength of each said needle-suture assembly indexed thereto.