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US 8,945,165 B2Granted
Drive shaft for a surgical tool
AssigneeSmith & Nephew, Inc.
InventorsRafal Z. Jezierski, Peter M. Cesarini
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a drive shaft for a surgical handpiece including a first prong and a second prong, wherein the first prong and the second prong are asymmetric. A surgical handpiece and a method of coupling a surgical handpiece and a cutting tool are also disclosed.
Claims7
A motorized surgical handpiece, comprising:
- a drive shaft having a proximal and coupleable to a motor of the motorized surgical handpiece, the drive shaft having a first prong and a second prong, the first prong and the second prong each having a distal end, each of the first prong and the second prong extending distally from the proximal end of the drive shaft,
- wherein the first prong and the second prong are asymmetric relative to each other,
- wherein the first prong and the second prong define a slot therebetween, the slot being configured to engage a drive tang of a surgical tool,
- wherein the first prong is longer than the second prong,
- wherein the distal end of the first prong is tapered at a first predetermined angle and rounded at a first predetermined radius,
- wherein the tapered and rounded distal end of the first prong is operative to contact the drive tang of the surgical tool, and to cause rotation and subsequent insertion of the drive tang into the slot defined between the first prong and the second prong, thereby allowing full engagement of the drive tang and the drive shaft, and
- wherein the motor is configured to rotate the drive shaft during operation of the motorized surgical handpiece.
4 more elements
A method of coupling a surgical handpiece to a cutting tool, comprising:
- providing a surgical handpiece comprising a drive shaft and a motor, the drive shaft having a proximal end coupleable to the motor, the motor being configured to rotate the drive shaft during operation of the surgical handpiece, the drive shaft including a first prong and a second prong, the first the second prong extending distally from the proximal end of the drive shaft, the first prong and the second prong being asymmetric relative to each other, the first prong and the second prong defining slot therebetween, the slot being configured to engage a drive tang of a cutting tool, the first prong being longer than the second prong, and the distal end of the first prong being tapered at a first predetermined angle and rounded at a first predetermined radius;
- contacting the tapered and rounded distal end of the first prong to the drive tang of the cutting tool to at least partially rotate the drive tang and align the drive tang with the slot defined between the first prong and the second prong;
- and
- having at least partially rotated the drive tang and aligned the drive tang with the slot, inserting the drive tang into the slot to allow full engagement of the drive tang with the drive shaft.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.