Compact pulsing pump for irrigation handpiece

A pressure gas powered, pulsed output, surgical irrigation handpiece, comprising:

• a housing;
• a finger actuable trigger movable on said housing for controlling irrigation liquid flow out of said handpiece;
• a motor/pump casing in said housing and having a pressure gas inlet port and a gas exhaust port;
• a piston axially slidable in said motor/pump casing away from said inlet port in response to increased gas pressure;
• a poppit axially slidable in said motor/pump casing and axially slidable with respect to said piston and normally positioned to block said exhaust port;
• means responsive to feeding a sufficient amount of pressure gas through said inlet in said motor/pump casing for snapping said poppit away from said exhaust port and quickly returning said piston member to a starting position in a manner to provide a sharp transition in irrigation liquid pressure in said outlet tube;
• a pumped irrigation liquid chamber in said motor/pump casing forward of said piston and means for controlling the flow of pump liquid through said chamber in response to reciprocation of said piston;
• outlet tube means extending from said pumped liquid chamber for outputting a pulsed irrigation liquid output.

A surgical irrigation handpiece, comprising:

• a pistol-like housing having a handle on a barrel extending forwardly from the top of the handle at an angle;
• a finger actuable trigger movable with respect to said housing for controlling irrigation liquid flow;
• a motor/pump unit in said handle;
• an outlet tube extending from the pump outlet end of said motor/pump unit forward toward the front end of said barrel, said trigger controlling irrigation liquid outflow from the pump/motor unit through said outlet tube;
• a tip unit removably fixed on the front end of the barrel and including means for releasably securing the tip unit to the barrel and an irrigation tube releasably and sealingly securable to the front end of said outlet tube and extending forward beyond the front end of the barrel for bringing pulsed irrigation liquid flow into a surgical site;
• a suction hose connectable at one end to a suction source and extending within said housing to a front end adjacent the front end of said barrel, said removable tip unit including a large diameter tube protruding forward from said barrel and communicating with the front end of said suction hose, said removable tip unit establishing a releasable connection between said suction hose and large diameter tube, said irrigation tube and large diameter tube extending forward from said barrel with said irrigation tube disposed eccentrically within said large diameter suction tube.

A surgical irrigation handpiece, comprising:

• a pistol-like housing having a handle and a barrel extending forwardly from the top of the handle at an angle;
• a finger actuable trigger adjacent the joinder of the handle and barre;;
• an axially elongate pulsing motor/pump unit confined in said handle and extending longitudinally of said handle and including a motor and a pump driven by the motor and having an output for pulsed irrigation liquid adjacent the top thereof;
• an outlet tube extending from said outlet of said pump into said barrel and forward along the barrel, said trigger having two compression means adjacent the pump and engageable with said outlet tube, said trigger being manually actuable to progressively release said two compression means and start and increase liquid flow through said tube from said pump;
• means for continuously feeding compressed gas to said pump for energizing said pump in a continuous manner such that said pump is under continuous full operating pressure and capable of causing said pump to emit a full irrigation liquid pulse upon opening of said compressible output tube by a momentary actuation of said trigger and without need to build up irrigation liquid pulse pressure over several pulses following actuation of said trigger.