An apparatus for curving a needle is provided which comprises at least two generally cylindrical members rotatably connected to a frame. At least one anvil shaft is positioned substantially between the cylindrical members and is rotatably connected to the frame. A needle is positionable between the anvil shaft and the cylindrical members such that the needle is curvable about the anvil shaft. A driving assembly rotates the cylindrical members and the anvil shaft such that the needle is curved about the anvil shaft and expelled from the apparatus.

An automated machine for attaching a suture to a surgical needle comprises a first apparatus located at a first predetermined location for sorting a plurality of randomly oriented needles and orienting each needle for automatic handling at a first predetermined location, each of the needles having a suture receiving opening formed therein. A second apparatus located at a second predetermined location is provided for automatically cutting an indefinite length of suture material to a definite length suture strand and for automatically inserting an end of the definite length suture strand into the suture receiving opening formed in the needle. Also provided is a third apparatus 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. An indexing device automatically receives each individual needle in a predetermined orientation at the first predetermined location and conveys the needle for sequential processing from the first to the second locations to form the needle-suture assembly.

An apparatus having a frame; a shuttle member, adapted to receive and hold a needle blank, and movably mounted to the frame; a clamp member detachably mounted on the frame for supplying needle blanks to the shuttle member; a transfer mechanism mounted on the frame for facilitating the transfer of the needle blanks from the clamp member to the shuttle member; a press mechanism for imparting first flat surfaces to first opposing sides of the needle blanks held by the shuttle member; a mandrel mounted on the frame for imparting an arcuate profile to the needle blanks; a transport mechanism for transporting the needle blanks from the shuttle member to the mandrel; and a needle side press for imparting second flat surfaces to second opposing sides of the needle blanks. A method of forming a curved, rectangular bodied needle from substantially round-elongated needle blanks is also disclosed and comprises the steps of: transferring needle blanks from a clamp to a holding shuttle having die surfaces on needle engaging faces thereof; flat pressing first opposing sides of the needle blanks between die surfaces; transporting the needle blanks from the shuttle onto a rotatable mandrel; curving the needle blanks between the rotatable mandrel and a reciprocable belt; rotating the needle blanks about the mandrel and adjacent side press dies and depositing the needle blanks therebetween; and side pressing second opposing sides of the needle blanks between side press dies.

An apparatus for preparing drilled needle blanks from a spool of coiled stock wire may include a laser for drilling a bore in the end of the stock wire and a cutting device for cutting the drilled wire into needle blanks.

An apparatus for forming at least one curved, rectangular bodied surgical needle which comprises frame means, flat press means associated with said frame means for imparting first flat surfaces to opposite sides of at least a portion of at least one needle blank, curving means associated with said frame means for imparting an arcuate profile to at least a portion of the at least one needle blank and side press means mounted on said frame portion for imparting second flat surfaces to opposite sides of the needle blank, wherein said second flat surfaces are imparted substantially perpendicular to said first flat surfaces. There is also disclosed a method of forming a curved rectangular bodied needle from a substantially round-elongated needle blank comprising the steps of flat pressing opposite sides of the needle blanks between a pair of flat press dies, drawing the needle blanks from at least one of said flat press dies onto a rotatable mandrel, curving the needle blanks between said rotatable mandrel and a reciprocable belt, rotating the needle blanks adjacent side press dies and depositing the needle blanks therebetween and side pressing opposite sides of the needle blanks between said side press dies, on sides of the needle blanks substantially perpendicular to the flat pressed sides. A surgical needle is also disclosed having a tapered distal portion, a rectangular central portion and a bored proximal portion formed according to the apparatus and method described above. The tapered distal portion of the needle has a generally circular cross-section, the rectangular central portion is generally square and the bored proximal portion also has a generally circular cross-section.

This invention provides for a novel retractable, telescoping, surgical needle cover and a collapsible needle, such that the sharp tip of the needle is covered after use thereby protecting the user from accidental needle sticks. In one embodiment, the needle cover is hollow and holds the needle at the tip. When the sharp tip is struck on a hard surface, the needle collapses inside of the needle cover. A second embodiment of the invention provides for a cover which slides back and forth along the length of a needle and is held in a forward position by a lever which is movably disposed within a groove at the base of the needle. In the third embodiment, the needle cover only partially the covers the outer surface of the needle, and when the needle is held by a needle holder such that the needle holder contacts both the cover and the needle, then the needle tip is exposed. When the needle is gripped by the needle holder such that only the needle cover is held, the tip of the needle is struck on a hard surface and the needle cover slides forward to cover the tip.

There is disclosed an apparatus for forming a surgical incision member comprising which includes a first die associated with a base and having a first groove therein for receipt of at least a portion of a needle blank. A second die is mounted for movement on the base between a position remote from the first die and a position adjacent the first die. The second die includes a second groove alignable with the first groove to hold a needle blank therebetween, the first and second dies each having spaced apart channels intersecting the first and second grooves. A notching die is provided and is mounted for movement within at the channels so as to engage and notch an edge of the needle blank contained within the first and second grooves. The apparatus also includes structure for curving a needle blank contained within the first and second grooves. A method of forming a surgical incision member is also disclosed, and a surgical incision member blank.

An apparatus is disclosed for attaching a surgical needle having a generally cylindrical end portion defining an elongated aperture having a generally circular cross-section and a suture having a generally elongated end portion of generally circular cross-section corresponding in dimension to the elongated aperture of the needle. The apparatus includes a pair of dies, each having a die face with an inner die surface portion. The inner die surface portion includes at least one generally planar crimping surface having an arcuate recess formed therein which extends along at least a portion of the planar crimping surface. The arcuate recess defines a material relief zone such that when the end portion of the suture is positioned within the aperture of the needle and the dies are positioned about the generally cylindrical end portion of the needle with the crimping surfaces generally facing the outer surface thereof, the application of an inward crimping force to the dies causes the dies to impact the needle and produce inward crimping forces on opposed sides of the needle end portion to attach the needle to the suture. The relief zones defined by the arcuate recesses receive and collect deformed material from the needle. According to the invention, the symmetry of the needle is maintained and the attachment is predictable and superior to those of the prior art.

A method and apparatus for attaching sutures to curved surgical needles. A vibratory bowl and vibratory rail function to present individual surgical needles to a transfer system in a predetermined orientation. The transfer system then delivers each oriented needle to a frame which positions the needle for subsequent swaging by a rotating die system which selectively impacts the needle to secure the suture thereto.

A machine and method for knurling an end portion of a cylindrical workpiece including a hypodermic needle or biopsy needle. The machine includes a base to which a reciprocating mechanism and a serrated block are attached. A pressure bar is positioned above the base and has a second serrated block attached thereto. The pressure bar is reciprocated back and forth, each movement comprising a stroke. A pair of lobes are attached to the top surface of the pressure bar. A pair of roller blocks are also attached to the base, each roller block having a rectangular opening and a roller located therein. The pressure bar passes through the rectangular openings. As the pressure bar is reciprocated back and forth and the lobes come into contact with the rollers, the pressure bar is biased toward the base whereby a knurl is formed in a workpiece placed between the two serrated blocks. A method for knurling an end portion of a cylindrical workpiece is also disclosed.

An apparatus for forming at least one curved, rectangular bodied surgical needle which comprises frame means, flat press means associated with said frame means for imparting first flat surfaces to opposite sides of at least a portion of at least one needle blank, curving means associated with said frame means for imparting an arcuate profile to at least a portion of the at least one needle blank and side press means mounted on said frame portion for imparting second flat surfaces to opposite sides of the needle blank, wherein said second flat surfaces are imparted substantially perpendicular to said first flat surfaces. There is also disclosed a method of forming a curved rectangular bodied needle from a substantially round-elongated needle blank comprising the steps of flat pressing opposite sides of the needle blanks between a pair of flat press dies, drawing the needle blanks from at least one of said flat press dies onto a rotatable mandrel, curving the needle blanks between said rotatable mandrel and a reciprocable belt, rotating the needle blanks adjacent side press dies and depositing the needle blanks therebetween and side pressing opposite sides of the needle blanks between said side press dies, on sides of the needle blanks substantially perpendicular to the flat pressed sides. A surgical needle is also disclosed having a tapered distal portion, a rectangular central portion and a bored proximal portion formed according to the apparatus and method described above. The tapered distal portion of the needle has a generally circular cross-section, the rectangular central portion is generally square and the bored proximal portion also has a generally circular cross-section.

A process for manufacturing surgical needles from solid, cylindrical needle blanks. A plurality of needle blanks are cut from a roll of wire and mounted to a flat carrier strip. The carrier strip then indexes each needle blank to a grinding station where an orbital grinding means grinds the distal end of each needle blank into a taper point while the needle blanks are held fixed in the carrier strip.

There is disclosed an apparatus and a method for progressively forming high strength surgical needles from bulk needle stock material. The apparatus generally includes a series of progressive needle processing stations. A first series of needle processing stations removes material from needle stock material to rough form needle blanks attached to a carrier strip while a second series of processing stations refine the rough formed needle blanks attached to the strip into the desired surgical needles. The disclosed method generally includes the steps of gutting needle stock material to rough form needle blanks attached to a carrier strip and progressively coining the rough formed blanks into surgical needles. Finally, there is disclosed a high bend strength surgical needle formed on the disclosed apparatus or by the disclosed method. Preferably, the surgical needle is a surgical incision member having a predetermined radius of curvature and an optimized conical radius at the tips.

There is disclosed an apparatus and method for forming curved and pointed needle blanks from a coiled length of wire needle stock material. The apparatus includes an inner mandrel having a circumferential wire receiving groove and at least one longitudinally extending broach receiving channel formed in the outer surface. The apparatus also includes an outer member having an inner surface defining a bore sized to receive the inner mandrel wrapped with wire needle stock. The outer member includes at least one longitudinal broach receiving channel formed in the outer member inner surface. The outer mandrel further includes a circumferential wire receiving groove formed in the inner surface such that, when wrapped with the length of wire needle stock material, the inner mandrel is threaded into the outer member. The apparatus further includes at least one broach which is movable within the channels to cut the length of wire needle stock into curved and pointed needle blanks. The method includes wrapping a length of wire needle stock around an inner mandrel and inserting the wire wrapped mandrel within an outer member. The method further includes moving at least one broach within a longitudinal channel formed in at least one of the mandrel and outer member to cut the length of wire needle stock into needle blanks. A needle blank formed by the apparatus and method is disclosed.

There is disclosed an apparatus for forming curved and rectangular bodied needle blanks from a length of needle stock which includes a generally cylindrical inner mandrel having a plurality of longitudinal channels formed in an outer surface thereof, the mandrel being dimensioned and configured for insertion within the length of needle stock. The apparatus also includes a plurality of broaches insertable into the longitudinal channels such that an edge of each broach projects radially outwardly of the mandrel to form a plurality of inner grooves on an inner surface of the length of needle stock. There is also provided structure for forming outer grooves in an outer surface of the length of needle stock to form a substantially grooved length of needle stock, cutters for cutting the grooved length of needle stock to form rings of curved rectangular bodied needle blanks interconnected by web portions and structure for dividing the rings at the web portions to form a plurality of curved rectangular bodied needle blanks. There is also disclosed a method of forming needle blanks from a length of needle stock having a longitudinal cavity therethrough and defining a longitudinal axis by forming at least two inner grooves in an inner surface of the length of needle stock and substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis, forming a number of outer grooves, equal to the number of inner grooves, in an outer surface of the length of needle stock and in substantial radial alignment with the at least two inner grooves to form a grooved length of needle stock and sectioning the grooved length of needle stock to form individual needle blanks.

A taper point surgical needle having improved needle point strength is disclosed. In one embodiment of the needle, a tip portion includes first and second integral tapered regions having first and second cross-sectional areas respectively which decrease progressively toward the tip of the needle in accordance with first and second angles of inclination respectively, with the first angle being greater than the second angle. In another embodiment of the needle of the present invention, the tip portion includes a third tapered region integral with the second tapered region and having a cross-sectional area which decreases progressively toward the needle tip in accordance with a third angle of inclination which is smaller than the second angle.

A new machine for and method of manufacturing fluted pin fasteners and the pins produced thereby are disclosed which utilize a circular grinding arrangement of a plurality of grinders which grind flutes into a threaded pin. An internally threaded collar threads onto the pin. When the collar engages a surface of a work piece, resistance to further threading increases. When sufficient resistance to threading occurs, the driver deforms the lobes of the collar radially inward toward the axis of the collar. Material of the collar positioned internally from the lobes responds to deformation of the lobes and flows radially inward into the flutes of the pin to lock the collar, pin, and work piece together. The driver then rotates freely, and a joint has been made with a predetermined axial load thereby locking the component parts together. The apparatus grinding the flutes into the pins comprises a vibratory feed bowl loading threaded pins into a four station rotary drum assembly rotationally driven by a drive mechanism through a plurality of stations.

A surgical needle has a top edge formed by two pressed faces located inside or outside of curvature from pressing a material blank made of austenitic stainless steel having fibrous texture and cutting edges formed on both sides of a base. The top edge is sharp at a needle point and the sharp needle point is constituted of fibrous texture formed at the surface layer of the material blank. Grinding marks extending crosswise formed on the face of the mold are transferred to the pressed faces. A mold constitutes plural faces forming projecting angles (angle between two intersecting faces is 180° or below, and the line at which the two faces intersect is made as a projecting line) along edges of the blocks made of two rectangular prisms, and constitutes a cavity by suitably contacting the edges of the blocks.

A process for progressively manufacturing cutting edge needles or wire members. Needle blanks or wire blanks are cut from a roll of wire and mounted to a carrier strip. The carrier strip and needles are moved through a succession of coining dies and at least one trimming die, wherein the first coining die is an open coining die and the one or more successive coining dies are closed coining dies. The needle blanks or wire members are optionally curved, heat treated and electrochemically treated resulting in cutting edge needles or wire members formed without a grinding step and without adversely affecting point ductility.

There is disclosed an apparatus for forming curved and rectangular bodied needle blanks from a length of needle stock which includes a generally cylindrical inner mandrel having a plurality of longitudinal channels formed in an outer surface thereof, the mandrel being dimensioned and configured for insertion within the length of needle stock. The apparatus also includes a plurality of broaches insertable into the longitudinal channels such that an edge of each broach projects radially outwardly of the mandrel to form a plurality of inner grooves on an inner surface of the length of needle stock. There is also provided structure for forming outer grooves in an outer surface of the length of the needle stock to form a substantially grooved length of needle stock, cutters for cutting the grooved length of needle stock to form rings of curved rectangular bodied needle blanks interconnected by web portions and structure for dividing the rings at the web portions to form a plurality of curved rectangular bodied needle blanks. There is also disclosed a method of forming needle blanks from a length of needle stock having a longitudinal cavity therethrough and defining a longitudinal axis by forming at least two inner grooves in an inner surface of the length of needle stock and substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis, forming a number of outer grooves, equal to the number of inner grooves, in an outer surface of the length of needle stock and in substantial radial alignment with the at least two inner grooves to form a grooved length of needle stock and sectioning the grooved length of needle stock to form individual needle blanks.

A continuous process for heat treating and cleaning and tempering martensitic stainless steel surgical needles is disclosed. The method comprises exposing the surgical needles to a partial vacuum at a temperature less than the heat treating temperature to remove volatile surface contaminant. Then the needles are heat treated in an argon gas environment at a pressure equal to or greater than 1.0 Torr. Next the temperature of the oven is lowered to temper the needles.

A steel pin is disclosed of a type to be forcibly driven into a steel substrate by using a powder-actuated tool. The steel pin has a substantially cylindrical shank and a substantially sharp point which extends from one end of the substantially cylindrical shank, which conforms substantially to a tangent or secant ogive except for a substantially spherical tip having a radius in a range of approximately 0.02 inch (approximately 5 millimeters) to approximately 0.03 inch (approximately 7.5 millimeters), which has substantially true concentricity, which has surface-texture irregularities with a roughness-height index value in a range from approximately 10 microinches (approximately 0.25 micrometers) to approximately 15 microinches (approximately 0.38 micrometers), and which appears to be substantially free of other surface imperfections when viewed under 60× magnification. The substantially cylindrical shank is joined to the substantially sharp point at a transition having a substantially smooth, continuously curved surface, and is knurled near the transition. The steel pin is made by deforming a length of steel wire as by forging or swaging, so as to form the steel pin with the substantially cylindrical shank and with the substantially sharp point, and reshaping the substantially pointed end as by barrel finishing the steel pin in a finishing medium.

A process for the manufacture of suture needles and, more particularly, a process for enhancing the physical strength of the suture needles through an expedient cold-working or cold-forming procedure. Also disclosed is the provision of a novel and physically strengthened suture needle, particularly a surgical suture needle possessing a curvilinear configuration wherein the cross-sectional configuration of the needle is cold-formed into varying shapes in order to produce a needle having superior physical characteristics and strengths imparted thereto through the inventive process. The needles are essentially cold formed, and which process includes the aspect of imparting to straight metal rods which are preferably constituted from stainless steel, manufacturing steps which include sharpening one end of rod severed segments so as to form the needle tip, thereafter curving the needle with the metal still being in a relatively ductile state, and subjecting the needle to a cold forming process, such as through the intermediary of pressure die molds or stamping, to produce varying cross-sectional shapes along the length of the needle.

A steel pin is disclosed of a type to be forcibly driven into a steel substrate by using a powder-actuated tool. The steel pin has a substantially cylindrical shank, and a substantially sharp point which extends from one end of the substantially cylindrical shank, which conforms substantially to a tangent or secant ogive except for a substantially spherical tip having a radius in the range of approximately 0.015 inch (approximately 3.75 millimeters) to approximately 0.03 inch (approximately 7.5 millimeters), which has substantially true concentricity, which has surface-texture irregularities with a roughness-height index value not greater than approximately 30 microinches (approximately 0.76 micrometers), and which appears to be substantially free of other surface imperfections when viewed under 60× magnification. Optimally, the ogive is a tangent ogive with an ogive radius approximately ten times the shank diameter and with an ogive length approximately twice the shank diameter, and the tip radius is approximately 0.1 times the shank diameter. The substantially cylindrical shank is joined to the substantially sharp point at a transition having a substantially smooth, continuously curved surface, and which is knurled near the transition. The steel pin is made by deforming a length of steel wire, as by forging or swaging, so as to form the steel pin.

The present invention provides a surgical needle having a needle tip end and a clamping portion to be clamped by a needle holder for applying a current, wherein the needle tip end is made from a conductive material which is electrically connected to a conductive material of the clamping portion, an insulating layer is provided over the clamping portion and a tip surrounding portion of the surgical needle, whereas at least the needle tip end is electrically exposed, and when the insulating material over the clamping portion is clamped by the needle holder, the conductive material of the clamping portion is electrically connected to the needle holder.

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. The singulation station has a sliding surface that assists an operator in singulating needles and depositing them in a pair of drop locations for subsequent automatic handling. Indexing conveyors, an articulated robot and a precision conveyor are used with a pre-positioning and a precise positioning station for orienting each needle for automatic handling. 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. A final off-load station provides an apparatus for assembling a predetermined number of need-suture assemblies in a bundle for subsequent packaging.

A curved surgical needle and a method for producing the same from a solid sheet of material rather than from coiled wire including the steps of drilling a bore in one edge of the material, grinding an edge opposite the drilled edge to form a sharpened point, curving the material and cutting the material at a point of equal distance between each drilled bored to provide a surgical needle. A suture is then attached to the surgical needle, optionally lubricated, sterilized, and packaged by suitable means known in the art.

Channel-bodied surgical needles and surgical incision members are disclosed having a generally U-shaped cross-sectional body portion and a penetrating tip portion formed on at least one end thereof. Preferably, penetrating tip portions are formed at both ends of the channel-bodied portion. The surgical needle and/or surgical incision member may additionally includes apparatus engagement structure formed adjacent either end of the body portion and engagable with a suitable surgical suturing apparatus. The channel-bodied surgical needle and/or surgical incision member may additionally include securement structure for attachment of a length of suture material thereto. There is also disclosed apparatus for forming a channel-shaped body portion and the suture attachment structure. Additionally, methods for suturing tissue sections, particularly vascular tissue sections, with the channel-bodied surgical needle and the channel-bodied surgical incision members, are disclosed. Also, methods for forming the channel-bodied surgical needle and channel-bodied surgical incision member are disclosed.

This invention relates to a method for manufacturing a needle attached suture and an apparatus therefor. A needle attached suture is obtained by inserting a suture into an insertion hole formed in the end of a needle N which is held by a needle retaining unit 16 and by swaging the end of the needle with the suture. The method and the apparatus have been developed to accurately position the end of the needle for swaging with the suture to stabilize the swaging strength between the suture and the needle. Before the swaging, the needle is held by the needle retaining unit 16, and the end of the needle N is pushed to a certain position by a rod 99 or its equivalent. Thereby, the end of the needle N relative to the needle retaining unit 16 is accurately positioned.

A hypodermic needle featuring a multi-beveled point geometry is disclosed. In one embodiment, the multi-beveled point features a primary bevel, a pair of tip bevels, and a pair of middle bevels each intermediate the primary bevel and a respective one of the tip bevels. The primary and middle bevels are provided at angles of inclination, measured between the central axis and a reference plane that are substantially identical. The tip bevels are formed at an angle of inclination respective to the central axis which is not equal to the angle of inclination at which the primary and middle bevels are formed. The resulting five-beveled point geometry contributes to a more continuous bevel face free of abrupt intercepts or transitions between the respective bevel faces, lessening the penetration force required to urge the needle point through skin, flesh, or other material.

A new machine for and method of manufacturing fluted pin fasteners and the pins produced thereby are disclosed which utilize a circular grinding arrangement of a plurality of grinders which grind flutes into a threaded pin. An internally threaded collar threads onto the pin. When the collar engages a surface of a work piece, resistance to further threading increases. When sufficient resistance to threading occurs, the driver deforms the lobes of the collar radially inward toward the axis of the collar. Material of the collar positioned internally from the lobes responds to deformation of the lobes and flows radially inward into the flutes of the pin to lock the collar, pin, and work piece together. The driver then rotates freely, and a joint has been made with a predetermined axial load thereby locking the component parts together. The apparatus grinding the flutes into the pins comprises a vibratory feed bowl loading threaded pins into a four station rotary drum assembly rotationally driven by a drive mechanism through a plurality of stations. There is a feed station to receive pins into drum assembly, a grind station to grind the pins, and an eject station to eject the ground pins. The circular arrangement of grinders is mounted on a table which is translated up and down by an air spring against a cam wheel to grind the pins located at the grinding station.

A swaging apparatus for attaching sutures to surgical needles includes at least a first die and a second die. The first die has a first member, which includes a first surface, and a second member, which includes a second surface. The second member is movable relative to the first member between an extended position, in which the second surface extends beyond the first surface, and a retracted position, in which the second surface does not extend beyond the first surface. The second die has at least one surface and is movable relative to the first die between a remote position and an adjacent position. When the second die moves relative to the first die from the remote position towards the adjacent position, the second member of the first die is caused to move from the extended position towards the retracted position, and the surfaces of the first and second dies cooperate with one another so as to swage a surgical needle positioned between the first and second dies. The second member of the first die is movable to the retracted position when the second die abuts the first die. In this manner, surgical needles of many different types or sizes can be swaged by the swaging apparatus.

A semi-automated machine and method 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 singulation station having a sliding surface that assists an operator in singulating needles and depositing them in a pair of drop locations for subsequent automatic handling. Indexing conveyors, an articulated robot and a precision conveyor are used with a precise positioning station for orienting each needle for automatic handling. 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 suture feeding and cutting station automatically cuts an indefinite length of suture material to a definite length suture strand and automatically inserts an end of the definite length suture strand into the suture receiving opening formed in the needle. 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. A suture pull-test station test each needle suture bond, and selectively and destructively tests the bond for adjusting the swage dies and for statistical quality control. A final off-load station provides an apparatus for assembling a predetermined number of need-suture assemblies in a bundle for subsequent packaging.

A method and an apparatus is disclosed for forming a one-piece introducer needle having a member portion and a needle portion by introducing a photoresist on a substrate. The temperature of the substrate is increased and then decreased. A photomask is deposited onto a substrate.

A tip portion of a needle main body having an edge point includes a first slant surface slanted at 10-18 degrees with respect to the axis of the needle main body, a pair of second slant surfaces slanted at 16-23 degrees, and a pair of third slant surfaces slanted at 19-27 degrees. The ratios of the lengths of the first, second, and third slant surfaces are set to be 40-50%, 5-15%, and 35-55%. At the time of forming the second slant surfaces and the third slant surfaces, a grinding wheel or the needle main body is turned relative to the other in a horizontal plane so that the direction of axis of the grinding wheel and the direction of axis of the needle main body are in a twisted or distorted relationship from a substantially orthogonal relationship such that the radial outer sides of the second and the third slant surfaces are included downwardly.

An apparatus for forming armed sutures has a swaging station for receiving, holding and swaging needles that are deposited therein. A linear motor drives a suture insertion gripper, which pulls suture from a supply reel and inserts a cut end thereof into a needle held in the swaging station. A ganged needle transfer assembly with a plurality of spaced needle gripper units carries needles along a line substantially at right angles to the suture line and transfers them to and from the swaging station and other needle processing stations. A precisor orients needles prior to placement in the swaging station and a pull test assembly tests armed sutures in both destructive and non-destructive modes. Both ends of the production line may be automated, e.g., by robots which load and offload needles prior to and after swaging, respectively. The apparatus is capable of forming double armed sutures by using a rotatable mount for the suture insertion gripper and a secondary, loop gripper. A suture transfer gripper extending up to the suture from a multi-tiered stack of slide tables. The suture transfer gripper cooperates with the suture insertion and loop grippers to hold the suture during cutting, insertion and transfer to the pull test apparatus and thereby protects the suture during processing.

A method for manufacturing a surgical needle devoid of a grinding process includes the steps of swaging a needle blank to define a substantially tapered or conical needle end, pressing the tapered needle to form a plurality of intersecting surfaces and forming cutting edges along the lines of intersection of the intersecting sides. The needle may be subjected to an etching process (e.g., an acid bath) to sharpen the cutting edges and/or provide a matte finish on the needle. The needle produced by the novel process is extremely sharp and durable, and exhibits an enhanced retention of sharpness relative to conventional ground needles over periods of prolonged use.

A process for manufacturing a surgical needle incorporates at least one pressing operation which, preferably, in conjunction with a trimming and/or etching process, ultimately forms the sharpened needle end. The grinding operation in the preferred process does not produce the primary sharpened edges of the needle, but, rather is incorporated, in one instance, to reduce excess needle material prior to the pressing operation. Consequently, the amount of flash material generated during pressing is substantially reduced. This feature desirably enhances the subsequent trimming and etching operations, and produces a needle which is extremely sharp, durable and exhibits an improved retention of sharpness over periods of prolonged use.

In a manipulator needle portion defect repairing method, the existence of an abrasion or a fracture in a needle portion for holding a sample at an end of a manipulator disposed in an FIB device is confirmed using a microscope function of the FIB device. The abrasion or the fracture in the needle portion is then repaired by chemical vapor deposition using a focused ion beam of the FIB device.

Surgical needles are produced by immersing a needle possessing a distal end surrounded at least in part by flash material and a body portion in an acid bath according to a predetermined sequence, wherein the distal end of the needle is exposed to the acid bath under conditions sufficient to remove flash material from the distal end of the needle and the body portion of the needle is exposed to the acid bath under conditions sufficient to provide a matte finish on at least a portion of the body portion of the needle.

A process for manufacturing a surgical needle incorporates at least one pressing operation which, preferably, in conjunction with a trimming and/or etching process, ultimately forms the sharpened needle end. The grinding operation in the preferred process does not produce the primary sharpened edges of the needle, but, rather is incorporated, in one instance, to reduce excess needle material prior to the pressing operation. Consequently, the amount of flash material generated during pressing is substantially reduced. This feature desirably enhances the subsequent trimming and etching operations, and produces a needle which is extremely sharp, durable and exhibits an improved retention of sharpness over periods of prolonged use.

A method of mechanically treating alloy metal surgical needles to improve bending strength is disclosed. The needles are curved and reverse-curved in this method to improve bending strength.

In a method of attaching a suture to a needle barrel, a first compression stroke compresses the radially-defined top of the barrel against a suture in the bore of the barrel while restraining the bottom and sides of the barrel against deformation. A second compression stroke compresses the bottom of the barrel against the suture while restraining the sides against deformation. In another method, the top and bottom are compressed concurrently while the sides are restrained against deformation. An apparatus for attaching a suture to a needle barrel includes two die sets, each including a die with a groove therein. In one die set, the groove protects the bottom and sides of the barrel from deformation while the top is compressed. In the other die set, the groove protects the sides of the barrel from deformation while the bottom is compressed.

In a process for producing a microneedle (12) that can be inserted into body tissue in which a needle tip (20) and a preferably capillary collecting channel (14) having a distal inlet for body fluid formed at the needle tip (20) are formed, it is provided that at least part of a preform (38) prefabricated from a flat material is shaped into a tubular structure (22) so that the collecting channel (14) is at least substantially annularly closed in the cross-section in the area of the tubular structure (22).

A method of stress relieving drilled surgical needles is disclosed. At least the metal about a drilled bore hole is heat treated to relieve stress without annealing.

A radial piston pump has a plurality of cylinders within which pistons reciprocally move. Each cylinder is connected to a first port by an inlet passage that has an inlet check valve, and is connected to a second port by an outlet passage that has an outlet check valve. A throttling plate extends across the inlet passages and has a separate aperture associated with each inlet passage. Rotation of the throttling plate varies the degree of alignment of each aperture with the associated inlet passage, thereby forming variable orifices for altering displacement of the pump. Uniquely shaped apertures specifically affect the rate at which the variable orifices close with throttle plate movement, so that the closure rate decreases with increased closure of the variable orifices.

A liquid flow rate control valve is provided in which since a total area of overlapping sections of a communication hole group (38c, 38d) of a distributor (38) and an outlet opening (37a, 37b) of a sleeve (37) changes when the distributor (38) is rotated by a first electric motor (46), if a rotor (42) is rotated by means of a second electric motor (47), an input port (31e) communicates with an output port (31f) through an inlet opening (42c, 42d) of the rotor (42), the communication hole group (38c, 38d) of the distributor (38), and the outlet opening (37a, 37b) of the sleeve (37) when the inlet opening (42c, 42d) of the rotor (42) passes through the overlapping sections, thereby making it possible to carry out PWM control of a flow rate of liquid. Since a thrust load in an axis (L) direction does not act on the distributor (38) and the rotor (42), supporting the distributor (38) and the rotor (42) becomes easy, thereby enabling the cost and weight to be cut.

A method of actuating an assembly of a transmission, with which are associated a plurality of actuators with whose help the assembly can in principle be actuated, such that out of the actuators available in principle for actuation, a control unit selects at least one actuator for the actual actuation and activates the selected actuator with an output signal in such manner that a status parameter of the actuated assembly corresponds to or follows a control-side nominal value, such that out of the actuators available in principle for actuating the assembly, the control unit selects at least one actuator for the actual actuation of the assembly in such manner that, for all the actuators available in principle for actuating the assembly over the operating life of the transmission, the extent of their utilization is approximately uniform.

The present invention relates to an implement, in particular an excavator or machine for material handling, with an element movable via at least one working drive, wherein at least one energy recovery cylinder is provided for energy recovery from the movement of the movable element, which includes a chamber filled with gas, wherein the actuation of the implement is effected in dependence on the directly or indirectly determined temperature of the gas in the chamber filled with gas.

Method of indicating the position of a hydraulically actuated armature, comprising an adjust cylinder for actuating the armature, connected by at least one pressure medium line to an adjustment valve through which the pressure medium line can be switched between pressure-causing forward flow and pressure-less backward flow, wherein the flow through the pressure medium line is converted into a number of electric pulses and the number of pulses reflecting the flow is processed in a program in an indicator unit such that the number of pulses occurring in a predetermined adjustment travel when the flow in the pressure medium line is pressure-less is calculated as being the same adjustment travel as when the pressure medium line is switched to be the pressure line.