Surgical drill
AssigneeCodman & Shurtleff, Inc.
InventorsRaphael F. Meloul, Jose F. Lizardi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A surgical drill assembly is provided having a clutch mechanism that requires a sufficient axial load on cutting surfaces of the drill to enable rotation of the drill. Rotation of the drill ceases almost immediately upon the axial load falling below the predetermined axial load threshold. In one embodiment the drill assembly is disposable, and is virtually impossible to disassemble and reassemble to an operative form. In another embodiment the drill assembly is reusable. The reusable embodiment includes a drill body that enables quick and easy attachment and detachment of a drill head. The reusable drill body is of a unitary construction that can be sterilized and reused without any disassembly.
Claims13
A drill apparatus for penetrating bone, comprising
- a generally cylindrical primary drill member having cutting surfaces at a distal end thereof and an elongate stem at a proximal end thereof, the stem having at least one driver engaging surface at its proximal end;
- a generally cylindrical secondary drill member having cutting surfaces at a distal end thereof and a stem at a proximal end thereof, the secondary drill member having an axial bore extending therethrough for receiving the primary drill member in a clearance fit such that at least a portion of the proximal end of the primary drill member stem is able to protrude from the proximal end of the bore in the secondary drill member;
- coupling means for joining the primary and secondary drill members to facilitate the rotation of the secondary drill member upon rotation of the primary drill member;
- a drill body member for receiving proximal portions of the primary and secondary drill members, the drill body member having at a distal end thereof a cylindrical portion with a first axial bore extending therein for a distance less than the length of the drill body member, and having an elongate stem extending proximally from the cylindrical portion for insertion into a drill chuck;
- and
- a clutch mechanism having
- a driver means for facilitating clockwise rotation of the primary drill member, the driver means being disposed at a bottom portion of the first axial bore of the drill body member and having at least one substantially vertical drive surface for engaging the driver engaging surface of the primary drill member stem upon clockwise rotation of the driver means and an angled non-drive surface adjacent the drive surface that is unable to engage the driver engaging surface of the primary drill member stem upon counterclockwise rotation of the driver means;
- and
- compression means for biasing the stem of the primary drill member away from the driver means to prevent rotation of the primary dill member absent an axial load on the primary drill member able to overcome the biasing force of the compression means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.