US 8,784,569 B2Granted

Apparatus and method for cleaning microsurgical instruments

AssigneeAsico LLC

InventorRolf Meyer

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A cleaning apparatus for microsurgical instruments has a flush chamber closed off at one end by a first plug adapted to liquid-tightly grip one end of the instrument, allowing a portion of the instrument to extend past the first plug and out of the flush chamber. The other end of the flush chamber is closed off by a second plug having an inlet port. Liquid injected through the inlet port on the second plug passes through an internal passageway formed in the instrument and exits the instrument through the portion that extends past the first plug. In another embodiment the instrument has an internal passageway and an end cap through which flushing ports are formed which communicate with the passageway. A first plug having an inlet port is liquid-tightly attached to the end cap and liquid injected into the first plug passes through the plug, through the flushing ports and through the passageway to clean detritus from the instrument.

Claims12

Dependent claims

Apparatus for cleaning surgical instruments, said instruments having a hollow body with a longitudinally-extending internal passageway, a plunger having first and second ends and positioned within and moveable longitudinally along said passageway, said hollow body having a first body end having an aperture through which said first plunger end extends, a second body end from which said second plunger end is extendable and retractable responsive to the motion of said first plunger end, and a passageway inlet, said passageway inlet formed at said first body end, said apparatus comprising:

a first, hollow plug liquid-tightly attachable to said first body end,
said first, hollow plug having a sidewall and an end wall defining therebetween an interior cavity,
said interior cavity sized and shaped to receive said first plunger end;
said first, hollow plug having an inlet port communicating with said interior cavity, whereby liquid injected through said inlet port into said interior cavity enters said passageway inlet, passes through said passageway and exits through said second body end in a flowpath away from said inlet port whereby contaminants in said instrument are flushed in a direction away from said first body end.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/739,003Filed 11 Jan 2013 · division
Priority: 30 Sep 2005
Published: US 2013/0133698 A130 May 2013
Granted: 22 Jul 2014
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification10 codes

B08B 9/0321
By the mechanical action of a moving fluid, e.g. by flushing: using pressurised, pulsating or purging fluid
A61B 1/126
With cooling or rinsing arrangements: provided with means for cleaning in-use
A61B 90/70
Instruments, implements or accessories specially adapted for surgery or diagnosis and not covered by any of the groups A61B1/00 - A61B50/00,…
B08B 9/032
Cleaning the internal surfaces; Removal of blockages: by the mechanical action of a moving fluid, e.g. by flushing

Family

Application60/722,518Us provisional application · filed 30 Sep 2005
Application60/722,532Us provisional application · filed 1 Oct 2005
Application60/783,681Us provisional application · filed 18 Mar 2006
Application11/534,573Parent of this division · filed 22 Sep 2006
US 2013/0133698 A1Pre-grant publication · published 30 May 2013
US 8,741,069 B2Parent of this division
US 2011/0094599 A1Published application
US 8,784,569 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Timeline

Citations

Open elsewhere

Building an agent or pulling many patents? Use the API or MCP server instead of scraping pages. Get an API key