Pull test apparatus for permanently attached sutures
US5844142A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 30, 1997 |
| Grant date | Dec 1, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 30, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N2203/0623
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A semi-automated machine for singulating individual surgical needles from an bulk supply and attaching a suture to the surgical needle is described. Each of the surgical needles has a suture receiving opening formed therein for receiving a suture. The machine includes a needle singulation station, a precise positioning station, a suture feeding station, a swage station, a pull-test station and an off-load station. A universal gripper mounted on a rotary indexing device automatically receives each individual needle in a predetermined orientation and conveys the needle for sequential processing from station to station to form the needle-suture assembly. A swage station is provided for swaging the needle to close the suture receiving opening about the suture to secure said suture thereto and form therefrom a needle and suture assembly. The suture pull-test station tests each needle suture bond with a pre-determined pull for quality control. This pull is adjustable via a precision spring tension device. The pull test station includes two sets of jaws for gripping the suture, the first for the quality control pull test, and the second for a destructive test in which the strength of the …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.