Tamping mechanism

• US 6,929,655 B2
• Filed: 06/14/2002
• Issued: 08/16/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Terumo Medical Corporation (Terumo Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Radi Medical Systems AB (Abbott Laboratories Incorporated)
• Inventors: Preinitz, Fredrik, Åkerfeldt, Dan, Egnelöv, Per
• Primary Examiner(s): Jackson, Gary
• Application Number:
  US10/170,624
• Publication Number:
  US 20030060846A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,159 Days
• Field of Search: 606/139, 606/144, 606/213
• US Class Current: 606/213
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/0057 Implements for plugging an opening in the wall of a hollow or tubular organ, e.g. for sealing a vessel puncture or closing a cardiac septal defect sutures A61B17/04; closing rectum or urethra near body surface A61F2/0009
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/0643 with separate closing member, e.g. for interlocking with staple
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00659 located only on one side of the opening

Abstract

The invention relates to a loading device provided with a tamping mechanism with which two or three functional operations needed in the sealing of punctures in blood vessels can be sequentially executed in one single manual operation. In a preferred embodiment of the tamping mechanism, a cam curve (15) transforms the single manual operation of a tamping button (8) being the one end of a plunger (14) into the retraction of a pusher (5), which has been used to insert an inner seal (1) into the vessel, and, then, the advancement of a tamping tube (10), which pushes an outer seal (2) into engagement with the outer vessel wall. In the end position of the tamping button (8), a recess (23) in the plunger (14) releases a thread (3), which tamps the inner and outer seals (1, 2) together around the intermediate vessel wall, from a retainer (16), thereby completing the third operation step.

Claims

1. Tamping mechanism for the sealing of a percutaneous puncture in the wall of a vessel, which sealing procedure comprises the steps of inserting an inner seal (1) into the vessel by a pusher (5;

30), pushing an outer seal (2) into engagement with the outer vessel wall, and tamping the inner seal (1) and the outer seal (2) together around the intermediate vessel wall by a clamping member (3), characterized in that the tamping mechanism, which is accommodated in a housing (9), comprises the pusher (5;

30), the clamping member (3), a tamping button (8) being operatively connected to a plunger (14;

29), an elongated tamping member (10) being able to transmit the pressure force from the plunger (14;

29) to the outer seal (2), and a motion transforming assembly (15;

28), which transforms a single manual operation of the tamping button (8) in the forward direction into two actions, the first action comprising the retraction of the pusher (5;

30), and the second action comprising the advancement of the outer seal (2) into engagement with the outer vessel wall.

2. Tamping mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that said two actions are executed in an essentially sequential order.

3. Tamping mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that the clamping member (3) is a thread, which runs through an opening in the outer seal (2) and the distal end of which is fastened to the inner seal (1), the proximal end of the thread (3) being tightened and secured by a retainer (16) mounted on the housing (9).

4. Tamping mechanism according to claim 3, characterized in that the retainer (16) is actuated by a retainer actuating assembly (23) when the tamping button (8) enters its end position, thereby releasing the thread (3) from the retainer (16).

5. Tamping mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that the retainer actuating assembly (23) is a recess in the plunger (14;

28), into which recess (23) the retainer (16) falls when the tamping button (8) enters its end position, thereby releasing the thread (3) from the retainer (16).

6. Tamping mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that the release of the thread (3) constitutes an additional, third, action.

7. Tamping mechanism according to claim 6, characterized in that said three actions are executed in an essentially sequential order.

8. Tamping mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that the motion transforming assembly (15) comprises a cam curve (15), which is movable in the housing (9) and to which the pusher (5), the plunger (14) and the tamping member (10) are connected by a respective pin (17, 18, 19) that can slide in a respective groove (20, 21, 22) provided in the surface of the cam curve (15), which grooves (20, 21, 22) are arranged so that, when the tamping button (8) is pressed and the plunger (14) is moving a first distance into the housing (9), the cam curve (15) will move and force the pusher (5) to move backwards, and when the plunger (14) is pressed further into the housing (9), the plunger (14) will press directly against the tamping member (10).

9. Tamping mechanism according to claim 8, characterized in that the cam curve (15) is cylindrical and rotatable in the housing (9).

10. Tamping mechanism according to claim 9, characterized in that the tamping mechanism is provided with a safety mechanism comprising a pin (26), which is mounted at the proximal end of an introducer cone (7), and a flexible catch (24), which is provided with a groove (25) and mounted at the distal end of the plunger (14), so that, before the introducer cone (7) and the housing (9) have been snapped together, the flexible catch (24) is tilted outwards and prevents the cam curve (15) from rotating around the plunger (14) in the housing (9) and, at the same time, the groove (25) in the flexible catch (24), which is in engagement with a projection (27) from the inner surface of the housing (9), prevents the plunger (14) from sliding into the housing (9), and when the introducer cone (7) and the housing (9) have been snapped together, the flexible catch (24) is pressed down by the pin (26), thereby releasing the plunger (14) and the cam curve (15).

11. Tamping mechanism according to claim 8, characterized in that, when the cam curve (15) is outspread to a sheet, the groove (20) for the plunger pin (17) and the groove (21) for the pusher pin (18) take the general form of the letter Y, with the groove (22) for the tamping member pin (19) being provided as an extra groove (22) near the bottom end of the base of the letter Y, and the groove (21) for the pusher pin (18) being the upper branch of the letter Y being on the opposite side of the base of the letter Y as the extra groove (22);

so that, in the initial position, the plunger pin (17) is in the upper end position, the pusher pin (18) is near the base of the letter Y, and the tamping member pin (19) is in the outer end position in the extra groove (22), which is perpendicular and open to the groove (20) for the pusher pin (18).

12. Tamping mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that the motion transforming assembly (28) comprises a gear mechanism (28), which comprises the tamping member (10), a partly cogged plunger (29) in engagement with a first gear wheel (31) being connected to a second gear wheel (32), and a partly cogged pusher (30) in engagement with the second gear wheel (32);

so that, when the cogged plunger (29) is pushed in the forward direction and rotates the first and second gear wheels (31, 32), the second gear wheel (32) moves the cogged pusher (30) backwards, thereby executing the first of said actions, and when the cogged plunger (29) is pushed further, the first gear wheel (31) comes out of engagement with the cogged plunger (29) by entering the portion of the partly cogged plunger (29) that has no cogs and the cogged plunger (29) presses directly against the tamping member (10), thereby executing the second of said actions.

13. Tamping mechanism according to claim 12, characterized in that the first gear wheel (31) and the second gear wheel (32) have different diameters.

14. Tamping mechanism according to claim 12, characterized in that the first gear wheel (31) and the second gear wheel (32) have the same diameter, thereby, in practice, constituting one single gear wheel.

15. Tamping mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a safety mechanism that prevents accidental tamping of the inner and outer seals (1, 2).