Surgical staple extractor

Details

Inventors: Rothfuss, Robert G.; Stone, Russell C.; Wykoff, Matthew H.;
Assignee: Senco Products, Inc. (Cincinnati, OH)
Primary Examiner: Smith; Al Lawrence
Assistant Examiner: Watson; Robert C.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Melville, Strasser, Foster & Hoffman

A manually operated surgical staple extractor comprising a pliers-like tool having first and second handle elements pivotally joined together and swingable between open and closed positions. The first handle element terminates at its forward end in a pair of elongated anvils in parallel spaced relationship. The forward ends of the anvils are angled toward each with their front-most tips substantially contiguous. The rearward ends of said anvils are provided with aligned notches, the first handle element providing a steep upwardly and rearwardly sloping surface adjacent each of the notches. The second handle element is operatively connected to a thin blade means shorter than the anvils. When the first and second handle elements are in their open position, the lower edge of the blade means lies above the anvils. When the handle elements are shifted to their closed position, the blade is pivoted downwardly such that its lower edge passes between the anvils to a position therebelow. The blade means is sufficiently thin that, as it passes between the anvils, there is clearance between the blade means and each anvil substantially equal to the diameter of the crown portion of a staple.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The manually operated surgical staple extractor of the present invention is in the form of a pliers-like tool having first and second handle elements pivotally joined together near their forward ends.
These handle elements are manually shiftable between open and closed positions and may be biased to their open position.
The first handle element is bifurcated at its forward end, the bifurcations terminating in a pair of elongated anvils in parallel spaced relationship.
The forward ends of the anvils are angled toward each other with the front-most tips thereof being contiguous or nearly so.
At their rearward ends, the anvils are provided with aligned notches to receive the crown of a staple.
The bifurcations of the first handle element provide a steep upwardly and rearwardly sloping surface adjacent each of the anvil notches to assist in and assure the location of a staple crown in the notches.
A thin blade means is located between the bifurcations of the first handle element and is operatively connected to the forward end of the second anvil element.
The blade means has a nose portion shorter than the anvils and a lower edge adapted to produce a U-shaped bend in the crown of a staple located in the anvil notches.
The blade nose portion is shiftable by the second handle element between a first position (when the handle elements are in their open position) wherein the lower edge of the nose lies above the anvils and the notches therein and a second position (when the handle elements are in their closed position) wherein the nose lies between the anvils with the lower edge of the nose located below the anvils.
The anvils are so spaced from each other and the nose of the blade means is sufficiently thin that clearance is provided between the nose and each anvil at least substantially equal to the diameter of the crown of the staple being bent.
This minimizes spreading or shifting of the anvils during the staple extracting process and enables the legs of the U-shape bend formed in the staple crown to be substantially parallel, fully opening the staple legs and rendering removal of the staple less painful

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