Surgical forceps

• US 6,752,823 B2
• Filed: 03/01/2002
• Issued: 06/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Richard Wolf GmbH (Richard & Annemarie Wolf- Stiftung)
• Original Assignee: Richard Wolf GmbH (Richard & Annemarie Wolf- Stiftung)
• Inventors: Prestel, Stephan
• Primary Examiner(s): Woo, Julian W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sam, Charles H.
• Application Number:
  US10/086,264
• Publication Number:
  US 20020123767A1
• Time in Patent Office: 844 Days
• Field of Search: 606/83, 606/170, 606/182, 606/205, 606/206, 606/207, 606/208, 606/209, 606/210
• US Class Current: 606/208
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 10/06 Biopsy forceps , e.g. with cup-shaped jaws
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/1608 the two jaw elements being linked to two elongated shaft elements moving longitudinally relative to each other
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/03 Automatic limiting or abutting means, e.g. for safety

Abstract

A surgical forceps includes a forceps jaw, with a handle consisting of two grip parts with which the one first grip part is connected to a forceps housing and the other second grip part is pivotable for opening and closing the jaw mouth, with an adjustment rod which is distally and proximally adjustable for opening and closing the jaw mouth and whose proximal end has a connection to a limb of the two limbed second grip part, and with at least one would spring element as an overload protection against the breakage of jaw parts. A particularly effective overload protection, a simple forceps construction and a small constructional size of the forceps are achieved according to the invention in that the spring element consists of a flat material wound in a serpentine manner with windings lying in one plane.

Claims

1. A surgical forceps, comprising:

a forceps housing;

a forceps jaw having a jaw mouth;

a handle having a first grip part connected to said forceps housing and a second grip part pivotably connected to said forceps housing and being pivotable for opening and closing said jaw mouth, said second grip part having a limb;

an adjustment rod having a distal end and a proximal end and being distally and proximally adjustable for opening and closing said jaw mouth, wherein said proximal end of said adjustment rod is connected to said limb of said second grip part; and

at least one spring element arranged in a force path between said second grip part and said forceps jaw for providing overload protection against breakage of said jaw parts, wherein said at least one spring comprises a flat serpentine-shaped material with windings lying along one plane.

2. The surgical forceps of claim 1, wherein said at least one spring element is connected between said limb of said second grip part and said proximal end of said adjustment rod.

3. The surgical forceps of claim 2, wherein said at least one spring is tensioned during an overload of said forceps jaw.

4. The surgical forceps of claim 1, wherein said at least one spring is tensioned during an overload of said forceps jaw.

5. The surgical forceps of claim 1, wherein said at least one spring is compressed during an overload of said forceps jaw.

6. The surgical forceps of claim 2, wherein said at least one spring is compressed during an overload of said forceps jaw.

7. The surgical forceps of claim 1, further comprising a compression spring arranged in said forceps housing such that said jaw forceps jaw is opened against a force of said compression spring.

8. The surgical forceps of claim 7, wherein said compression spring comprises a helical spring arranged in a sleeve defined in said forceps housing, wherein one end of said sleeve comprises a base adjustable in response to a pivoting of said second grip part, said helical spring including one end supported on said forceps housing and another end supported on said base.

9. The surgical forceps of claim 1, further comprising joint pins connected to said adjustment rod and said limb of said second grip part, wherein said at least one spring element comprises two ends and a knuckle eye formed at each of said two ends of said at least one spring and said joint pins are respectively received in said knuckle eyes for connecting said adjustment rod to said limb of said second grip part.

10. The surgical forceps of claim 7, further comprising joint pins connected to said adjustment rod and said limb of said second grip part, wherein said at least one spring element comprises two ends and a knuckle eye formed at each of said two ends of said at least one spring and said joint pins are respectively received in said knuckle eyes for connecting said adjustment rod to said limb of said second grip part.

11. The surgical forceps of claim 1, wherein said windings of said at least one spring element include limbs connected by webs, thereby defining a free space in the windings, and wherein adjacent ones of said limbs of said at least one spring element diverge or converge toward said free space.

12. The surgical forceps of claim 1, wherein said at least one spring element comprises at least two spring elements connected in parallel.

13. The surgical forceps of claim 12, further comprising joint pins connected to said adjustment rod and said limb of said second grip part, wherein said at least two spring element each comprise two ends and a knuckle eye formed at each of said two ends of said at least two spring elements and said joint pins are respectively received in said knuckle eyes for connecting said adjustment rod to said limb of said second grip part.

14. The surgical forceps of claim 7, further comprising joint pins connected to said adjustment rod and said limb of said second grip part, wherein said at least one spring element comprises at least two spring elements connected in parallel and each of said at least two spring elements comprises two ends and a knuckle eye formed at each of said two ends, said joint pins being respectively received in said knuckle eyes for connecting said adjustment rod to said limb of said second grip part.

15. The surgical forceps of claim 12, wherein said windings of said at least two spring elements include limbs connected by webs, thereby defining a free space in the windings between each pair of adjacent limbs, and wherein adjacent ones of said limbs of said at least one spring element diverge or converge toward said free space.

16. The surgical forceps of claim 12, wherein said windings of a first spring element of said at least two spring elements are offset relative to said windings of a second spring element of said at least two spring element arranged directly adjacent to said first spring element by one half of a width of said windings.

17. The surgical forceps of claim 1, wherein recesses are defined in said forceps housing and said limb of said second grip part for receiving said at least one spring element.

18. The surgical forceps of claim 1, wherein said at least one spring element is made of a material comprising spring steel.

19. The surgical forceps of claim 1, wherein said at least one spring element is made of a material comprising a TiNi alloy.

20. The surgical forceps of claim 1, wherein said at least one spring element is cut from a metal plate using a laser cutting method.

21. The surgical forceps of claim 1, wherein said at least one spring element is punched from a metal plate.

22. The surgical forceps of claim 1, wherein said at least one spring element is made from a metal plate using an erosion method.