Cordless, powered surgical tool

The powered surgical saw, said saw including:

• a handpiece;
• a motor disposed in said handpiece for driving a saw-blade in a back-and-forth movement at a variable speed in response to a variable energization signal;
• a battery connected to said handpiece to provide energization power to said motor;
• a user-actuated control member moveably mounted to said handpiece, said control member being rotatable about an axis between a first orientation and a second orientation, and for each orientation, being displaceable along said axis between an initial position and final position, with a plurality of user-selected intermediate positions between the initial and final positions, each said position being representative of a user selected motor speed;
• a motor regulator connected to said motor and to said battery for selectively applying an actuation signal to said motor, said motor regulator being configured to drive said motor in a first rotational direction when said control member is rotated into the first orientation and subsequently displaced toward said corresponding final position, and to drive said motor in a second rotational direction when said control member is rotated into its second orientation and subsequently displaced toward said corresponding final position;
• and
• a speed limiting assembly configured to limit the speed of said motor so that, when said control member is rotated into said first orientation and displaced to said corresponding final position, said speed limiting assembly prevents said motor from running at a speed greater than a first maximum speed, and when said control member is rotated into said second orientation and displaced to said corresponding final position, said speed limiting assembly prevents said motor from running at a speed greater than a second maximum speed that is less than said first maximum speed.

A powered surgical tool, said tool comprising:

• a handpiece;
• a variable speed motor disposed in said handpiece and configured to operate at a select speed in response to the application of a select actuation signal to said motor;
• a battery connected to said handpiece to provide energization power to said motor;
• a user-actuated control member moveable mounted to said handpiece and selectively rotatable into one of at least two orientations relative to said handpiece, and selectively displaceable between first and second spatial positions relative to said handpiece when said control member resides in one of said at least two orientations;
• a sensor assembly disposed in said handpiece, said sensor assembly including:
• at least one orientation sensor configured to wirelessly detect when said control member resides in one of said at least two orientations;
• and
• a displacement sensor configured to wirelessly detect an amount of spatial displacement undergone by said control member relative to said handpiece after said control member has been rotated into one of said at least two orientations and displaced from said first spatial position towards said second spatial position;
• a motor speed limiting circuit configured to selectively restrict a maximum operating speed of said motor to one or more predetermined speeds in response to said orientation sensor detecting said control member in one of said at least two orientations.

A powered surgical saw, said saw including:

• a handpiece;
• a motor disposed in said handpiece for driving a saw-blade in a back-and-forth movement at a variable speed in response to a variable energization signal;
• a battery connected to said handpiece to provide energization power to said motor;
• a user-actuaged control member movably mounted to said handpiece, said control member being displaceable between an initial position and a final position, with a plurality of user-selected intermediate positions between the initial and final positions, each said position being representative of a user selected motor speed;
• and
• a speed limiting assembly located on said handpiece and selectively moveable into one of at least first and second states, said speed limiting assembly when in said first state being disposed to restrict displacement of said control member by a first predetermined amount so as to limit an operating speed of said motor to a first predetermined maximum operating speed, and when in said second state being disposed to restrict displacement of said control member by a second predetermined amount so as to limit the operating speed of said motor to a second predetermined operating speed that is less than said first predetermined operating speed.

A powered surgical saw, said saw including:

• a handpiece;
• a motor disposed in said handpiece for driving a saw-blade in a back-and-forth movement at a variable speed in response to a variable energization signal;
• a battery connected to said handpiece to provide energization power to said motor;
• a user-actuated control member movably mounted to said handpiece, said control member being displaceable between an initial position and a final position, with a plurality of user-selected intermediate positions between the initial and final positions, each said position being representative of a user selected motor speed;
• at least one moveable sensed element internal to said handpiece and displaceable between a first position and a second position, wherein displacement of said control member causes displacement of said sensed element between said first position and said second position;
• a speed regulator configured to regulate the energization of said motor, said speed regulator including at least one sensor configured to monitor the displacement of said sensed element, said speed regulator energizing said motor to run at a first predefined speed when said sensed element is in said first position, and energizing said motor to run at a second predefined speed when said sensed element is in said second position, and energizing said motor to run at an intermediate speed between said first predefined speed and said second predefined speed when said sensed element is in an intermediate position between said first position and said second position;
• and
• a speed limiting assembly located on said handpiece and selectively configured into one of at least first and second states, said speed limiting assembly when in said first state is disposed to restrict displacement of said at least one sensed element by a first predetermeined amount, and when in said second state is disposed to restrict displacement of said at least one sensed element by a second predetermined amount different than said first predetermined amount;
• wherein an operating speed of said motor is equal to or less than a first maximum speed when displacement of said at least one sensed element is restricted by said first predetermined amount, and is equal to or less than a second maximum speed when displacement of said at least one sensed element is restricted by said second predetermined amount, with said second maximum speed being less than said first maximum speed.