Surgical blade abstract
A surgical blade holder characterized by a handle with a hollow
head portion at an obtuse angle with the longitudinal axis of the
remainder of the handle. The head portion has a first slot for accommodating
a blade-retaining ring which is attached to a shank passing through
at least the hollow head portion of the handle. Apparatus is associated
with the shank to provide relative motion between the hollow head
portion and the blade-retaining ring to move such parts into an
engaged position and into a disengaged position. The blade-retaining
ring has a slot in the anterior portion thereof and the hollow head
portion has at least one second slot for holding a surgical blade
in a variety of extensions and angles relative to the handle when
the blade-retaining ring and hollow head portion are in the engaged
position.
Surgical blade claims
What is claimed is:
1. A surgical blade holder comprising
(a) a handle with a hollow head portion at an obtuse angle relative
to the longitudinal axis of said handle;
(b) said hollow head portion having a first slot which is long
relative to three short slots through the forward most section of
the wall thereof; one slot of said three short slots having substantially
longitudinal orientation with respect to the head portion and the
other two slots on either side of said longitudinal slot at essentially
45 degrees relative thereto to form an arrowhead slot configuration;
(c) a shank fixed in said handle passing through said hollow head
portion;
(d) a blade-retaining ring attached to the anterior portion of
said shank;
(e) said blade-retaining ring having a slot in the anterior portion
thereof for engaging a surgical blade in combination with said three
short slots in said head; and
(f) means associated with said shank to cause relative motion between
said hollow head portion and said shank to move said blade-retaining
ring into said first slot in said hollow portion to thereby engage
and hold a replaceable surgical blade placed in one of said three
short slots for surgery in areas of limited surgical access.
Surgical blade description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a surgical blade holder and knife and
more particularly, to such a surgical knife for performing surgery
in areas of limited access such as gingival surgery.
The surgical blade holder and knife of the present invention is
ideally suited for selected surgical procedures where maximum blade
control is desired in areas of limited surgical access such as intra-oral
surgical procedures and particularly on the gums. However, while
the following description will be directed particularly to the use
of the invention in oral surgery, it should be understood that the
invention is not necessarily limited thereby.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Several types of surgical knives are known in the art. There are
knives with non-replaceable blades. These knives have the following
disadvantages: (1) a separate instrument must be purchased for each
blade shape, size, and blade angle combination desired which (2)
necessitates stocking a large number of instruments for a wide variety
of uses; (3) these knives are difficult to sharpen well; and (4)
their handles have to be discarded when their blades wear out, thus
increasing the cost of replacement of the blades. Also, there are
presently available knives with replaceable blades mounted in the
handle in a single, fixed, non-adjustable manner. This type has
the advantage of replaceable blades, but the built-in disadvantage
of being able to mount them in the handle in only one fixed, predetermined
relationship. A third type of presently available knives is a knife
with replaceable blades mounted in the handle in a choice of two
or more ways. This allows some discretion to be exercised in the
choice of the angle, direction, or/and blade extension. All other
factors equal, the greater the variety permitted in these areas,
the greater is the potential usefulness of the instrument. The range
of flexibility of these parameters offered by a single design varies,
but in general is quite limited. The disadvantage of each is in
its limited variability of blade orientation and extension.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a main object of this invention to provide a
surgical blade holder which can securely support replaceable surgical
blades in a variety of unique angles and blade lengths primarily
for use in intra-oral surgical procedures.
This and other objects will either be pointed out or become apparent
from the following description and drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above objects are accomplished in one aspect of the invention
by a surgical blade holder comprising
(a) a handle with a hollow head portion at an obtuse angle relative
to the longitudinal axis of said handle;
(b) said hollow head portion having a first slot which is long
relative to at least one second short slot through the forward most
section of the wall thereof;
(c) a shank fixed in said handle passing through said hollow head
portion;
(d) a blade-retaining ring attached to the anterior portion of
said shank;
(e) said blade-retaining ring having a slot in the anterior portion
thereof for engaging a surgical blade in combination with said second
slot in said head; and
(f) means associated with said shank to cause relative motion between
said hollow head portion and said shank to move said blade-retaining
ring into said first slot in said hollow portion to thereby engage
and hold a replaceable surgical blade placed in said second slot
for surgery in areas of limited surgical access.
In another aspect of the invention, the objects are accomplished
by a surgical knife comprising
(a) a handle;
(b) a hollow head portion at an obtuse angle relative to the longitudinal
axis of said handle;
(c) said hollow head portion having a first long slot relative
to at least one second short slot through the forward most section
of the wall thereof;
(d) a shank fixed in said handle passing through said hollow head
portion;
(e) a blade-retaining ring at the anterior portion of said shank
and having a slot in the anterior portion of said ring;
(f) means associated with said shank to cause relative motion between
said hollow head portion and said shank to move such parts into
an engaged position and a disengaged position; and
(g) a replaceable surgical blade placed in said second short slot
at the desired blade extension and angular orientation relative
to said handle and held in place by the slot in the blade-retaining
ring when said ring and head are in the engaged position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a top view of one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a side view of another embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 4 is a prospective view of the surgical knife of the invention
with a replaceable blade in one orientation;
FIG. 5 is a partial prospective view similar to FIG. 4 showing
a replaceable blade in another orientation; and
FIG. 6 is a partial prospective view similar to FIGS. 4 and 5 showing
the blade in still another orientation when the head of the handle
has therein an arrowhead configuration slot arrangement.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 the blade holder shown generally
at A comprises a handle 1 which may be solid or hollow, preferably
constructed of stainless steel. A stationary threaded shank 3 oriented
at an obtuse angle B to the longitudinal axis of the handle is fixed
to the handle 1 as by setscrew 5. The anterior portion of the shank
3 carries a blade-retaining ring 7. The blade-retaining ring 7 has
a slot 8 which is preferably "Vee"-shaped. The shank 3
extends from said handle 1 through a hollow head portion shown generally
at 9. The hollow head portion consists of knurled and threaded retracting-extension
collar 11 which engages the threads of the shank 3 on its inner
surface and advances or retracts by rotation. The collar 11 drives
or withdraws a non-threaded slotted sleeve 13. The sleeve 13 has
a first slot 15 which is long relative to a second slot 17 (see
FIGS. 4 5 and 6) through the forward portion of the wall of the
sleeve. The sleeve 13 will respond to movement of the collar 11
which in turn will engage and stabilize the blade 19 in the desired
orientation (see FIGS. 4 5 and 6). The second slot 17 is preferably
made of three slots 21 22 and 23 (see FIG. 6) in an arrowhead
configuration. This arrangement gives greater flexibility to blade
angle than the single slot shown in FIGS. 1 through 5.
Referring to FIG. 3 a blade holder of this embodiment consists
of hollow handle 30 with a hollow head portion 32 at an obtuse angle
to the longitudinal axis of the handle 30. A retraction-extension
rod 34 extends through the entire length of the handle 30 and terminates
at the end opposite the head portion and threadably engages a retraction-extension
knob 36. The retraction-extension rod 34 has a shank portion 38
extending through the head portion 32 and has attached thereto a
blade-retaining ring 40. The head portion 32 has a first slot 42
to receive the blade-retaining ring 40 when the latter is retracted
and at least one second slot 17 not visible in FIG. 3 (see FIGS.
4 5 and 6) shorter than slot 42 to accommodate the surgical blades
when they are mounted in place.
In operation, both embodiments of the invention shown are designed
to receive a variety of blades presently available. Various modes
of blade installation are shown in FIGS. 4 5 and 6. With the blade
oriented relative to the long axis of the handle (FIGS. 5 and 6)
incisions lateral to the mandibular posterior teeth are facilitated
relative to presently available instruments. With the blade oriented
at right angles to the long axis of the blade holder (see FIG. 4)
incisions proximal to the posterior teeth are possible. If deeper
penetration of the blade is required, greater blade length is provided
by appropriate blade selection and mounting. Less extensive requirements
for blade penetration in areas where surgical access is restricted
can be met by less extensive blade extension during blade installation.
The present invention provides a surgical blade holder which provides
unique flexibility in the choice of the blade orientation and blade
length previously unavailable to the surgeon. This uniqueness is
particularly desirable for intra-oral cutting procedures where surgical
access is restricted.
While the invention has been described with reference to certain
preferred embodiments and the best mode of operation, it should
be understood that certain modifications can be made thereto without
departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. For example,
the slot configuration can be varied to accommodate various commercial
blades. As already mentioned, one or more blade-retaining slots
may be used. The slot in the blade-retaining ring may be a "Vee"
or a "U"-shaped slot. The pitch of the threads on the
threaded shank may be varied to provide better security of blade
retention. The outside dimension of the hollow head portion may
be varied to provide better observation of the surgical site. Further,
the shank 3 shown in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 may be arranged
so that it can be rotated up to ninety degrees to the right or left
of its standard position and fixed by setscrew 5 in order to provide
still greater flexibility of choice of blade angles relative to
the handle. |