JPH0642891B2 - Assembly device for surgical suture needle - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a surgical suture needle assembly apparatus for automatically attaching a surgical thread to a surgical suture needle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a surgical suture needle used in a surgical operation or the like, a needle to which a surgical thread is attached in advance is often used. However, a great variety of surgical suture needles are used, and there are some that have a diameter of 1 mm or less in terms of dimensions, and the surgical thread attached with this size becomes thin.

Conventionally, there are various methods for attaching a surgical thread to a surgical suture needle, but a vertical hole type as shown in FIG. 6 is preferred because it is easy to use. Conventionally, the surgical thread S is attached to the vertical hole type suture needle N one by one by hand, and a hole portion Nb is formed by manually piercing the rear end portion Na called a swage of the arcuate suture needle N toward the distal end portion. It is the current situation that the distal end of the surgical thread S is inserted into and the surgical thread S is caulked by a caulking machine.

[0004]

However, this manual installation has the drawback that not only the skill is high but the work efficiency is low, and the rate of product defects is large, even though it requires skill. In addition, since the operator is visually observing with a microscope or a magnifying glass, eye fatigue is extremely large.

[0005] Conventionally, the surgical thread is usually attached to the suture needle by caulking, but in that case, the surgical thread is often crimped so as to sandwich the surgical thread from both sides, and the surgical thread is not always fixed completely. It was

An object of the present invention is to provide a surgical suture needle assembling apparatus capable of efficiently manufacturing a surgical suture when attaching the surgical suture to the surgical suture needle and securely fixing the surgical suture.

[0007]

A surgical suturing needle assembling apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object has a surgical suture needle operating from a rear end portion of a surgical suture needle toward a distal end portion thereof. In a device for inserting and crimping a thread, a conveying mechanism that conveys the suture needle to a predetermined position and orients the hole portion in the advancing direction of the surgical thread, and a surgical thread feeding mechanism that pays out the surgical thread from a supply source, A guide portion that guides and inserts the distal end portion of the surgical thread into the opening of the suture needle, and a rear end of the suture needle in a state where the surgical thread is inserted into the hole portion of the suture needle by the guide portion. And a caulking mechanism for crimping the surgical thread from four directions to fix the surgical thread.

[0008]

In the surgical suture needle assembling apparatus having the above-described structure, the surgical suture needle is caulked from four directions when the surgical thread is fixed to the suture needle.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS. In FIG. 1, 1 is a crimping mechanism for crimping a suture needle N, and dies 1a to 1d (1d is not shown) are moved from the four peripheral directions toward the center, The rear end Na of the suture needle N can be caulked from two directions facing each other. Further, the stroke of each of the dice 1a to 1d can be adjusted by the micrometers 1e to 1h. The suture needles N are fixed to, for example, the work W, and the works W are conveyed one by one by the conveyance mechanism 2 using, for example, a guide table, and the rear end Na provided with the hole Nb for inserting the surgical thread S is provided. , Is located between the dies 1a to 1d of the caulking mechanism 1.

The first guide portion 3 for guiding the surgical thread S is also provided.
Is a thin tube, and its tip portion 3a is arranged at a position such that it can be brought into close contact with the rear end portion Na of the suture needle N being conveyed by aligning the axial center thereof. Surgical thread S
The insertion direction of is a trumpet shape so that the surgical thread S can be easily inserted.

The surgical thread S supplied is wound around the bobbin 4, and in accordance with the feeding order, the disinfectant container 5 containing the disinfectant solution, the sponge 6 for wiping off the disinfectant solution, and the surgical thread S.
Is sent by a feed roller 8 for passing through a heater 7 in the form of a thin tube for correcting the curling behavior of the second guide portion 9
It is adapted to be fed into the first guide portion 3 through the. Further, between the first guide portion 3 and the second guide portion 9, a cutting mechanism 10 such as scissors or a knife for cutting the surgical thread S into a predetermined length is provided.

The surgical thread S is fed out from the bobbin 4 as needed. In the process, the surgical thread S is sterilized by the disinfecting solution in the disinfecting container 5 and, for example, 13 by the electric heating coil.
The bend is corrected by passing through the heater 7 heated to 0 to 140 ° C. The temperature of the heater 7 needs to be set according to the thickness and material of the surgical thread S. After being corrected by the heater 7, the surgical thread S is fed out in the direction of the caulking mechanism 1. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, the suture needle N and the work W have a rear end Na whose tip is the tip of the first guide portion 3. It is positioned so as to match the portion 3a. Therefore, when the surgical thread S is fed by the feed roller 8, the surgical thread S passes through the first guide portion 3 and enters the hole portion Nb of the suture needle N.

In this state, the dies 1a to 1d are moved in the vertical and horizontal directions to crimp the rear end Na of the suture needle N from four directions as shown in FIG. In this way, the suture needle N to which the surgical thread S is caulked from four directions is sent by the transport mechanism 2 in the direction in which the surgical thread S is pulled out as it is,
After moving by a predetermined distance, the surgical thread S is cut by the cutting mechanism 10. Note that this cutting may be performed obliquely with respect to the longitudinal direction of the surgical thread S so that the next surgical thread S is fed into the first guide portion 3 and the suture needle N is inserted into the hole portion Nb. Will be easier.

By repeating the above steps, the surgical thread S is automatically attached to the suture needle N, so that the work can be performed extremely efficiently and reliably. Also,
In the process of delivering the surgical thread S, the surgical thread S is heated by the heater 7
The straightening is eliminated by the correction, and a smooth insertion can be performed when the first guide portion 3 and the suture needle are inserted into the hole portion Nb.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the first guide portion 3, in which a cutting portion 3b made of a gap is obliquely provided in the middle of the guide portion 3 made of a long cylindrical portion, and the cutting mechanism 10 is provided at this cutting portion 3b. Is designed to work. By doing so, the tip end of the cut surgical thread S does not come out to the outside, and therefore the surgical thread S is surely inserted from the tip end 3a of the guide portion 3 into the hole Nb of the suture needle N by being sent as it is. can do.

Further, FIG. 5 shows the tip portion 3a of the first guide portion 3.
2 shows a positioning mechanism 11 that wraps the surgical needle S. The positioning mechanism 11 also pinches the rear end Na of the suture needle N to accurately position the front end 3a and the rear end Na, and the surgical thread S Allows for reliable insertion of. When the caulking is performed after inserting the surgical thread S, the positioning mechanism 11
It will be retracted from the caulking stop.

Of the above-mentioned mechanisms, the mechanisms relating to the size and thickness of the suture needle N and the surgical thread S, such as the guide portions 3 and 9, are of course appropriate sizes when the surgical thread S has a different thickness. It needs to be replaced with a new mechanism. In this case, the mechanism can be replaced as it is, or only some of the components in the mechanism can be replaced.

After assembling the suture needle as described above, that is, after caulking, it is possible to provide a means for inspecting whether or not the surgical thread S has been caulked. That is, before or after cutting the surgical suture S after staking, the surgical suture S is pressed to move the work W with a constant force to test whether or not the surgical suture S comes out of the suture needle N. In this way, the tensile test is performed,
It is possible to manage the passing rate.

It should be noted that it is also possible to crimp the suture needle N once by using two dice and then rotate the suture needle N by 90 degrees to crimp again. .

The surgical thread S can be delivered by jetting an air flow along the surgical thread S from an air nozzle without using the feed roller 8 as in the embodiment. Further, the cutting of the surgical thread S is performed at the same time as the crimping is stopped,
Alternatively, it can be performed before caulking.

[0021]

As described above, the surgical suture needle assembling apparatus according to the present invention can automate the attachment of the surgical thread to the suture needle, which has been conventionally performed manually, and can improve efficiency and yield. There is a great advantage in that. Further, when the surgical thread is fixed to the suture needle, the suture needle is caulked from four directions, so that the fixation becomes stronger.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the operation of a caulking stop portion.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a surgical thread is attached to a suture needle.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a guide portion.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a positioning mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a suture needle to which a surgical thread is attached.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Caulking mechanism 2 Transport mechanism 3, 9 Guide part 4 Bobbin 5 Disinfection container 6 Sponge 7 Heater 8 Feed roller 10 Cutting mechanism 11 Positioning mechanism N Suture needle S Surgical thread

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A device for inserting a surgical thread into a hole drilled from a rear end portion of a surgical suture needle toward a distal end portion and caulking the surgical suture needle to convey the suture needle to a predetermined position, and then to close the hole portion. A transport mechanism for directing the surgical thread in the advancing direction, a surgical thread feeding mechanism for feeding the surgical thread from a supply source, a guide section for guiding and inserting the distal end portion of the surgical thread into the hole entrance of the suture needle, and the guide. And a caulking mechanism for fixing the surgical suture by crimping the rear end of the suture needle from four directions in a state where the surgical suture is inserted into the hole of the suture needle by a section. Suture needle assembly device.