US1684473A - Needle holder - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 18, 1928.

U. S. CHAPMAN NEEDLE HOLDER Filed Jan. 2) 1926 EA. Um awocwtoz Fatented Sept. 18, 1928.

UNITED stares UL YSSQES S CHAPMAN, OE GARTHAGE, MISSOURI.

NEEDLE nonnnn.

Application filed January 2, 1926. Serial No 78,095).

This invention aims, to provide novel means whereby a surgeon or other person may grip, hold, and release, a needle or other object, without rendering it necessary to use more than one hand on the tongs which engages the needle.

It within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and to enhance the utility ofdevices of that type to which the invention appertains.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the de tails of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings 2 Figure 1 shows in elevation, a device con structed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section;

Figure 3 is an elevation wherein the device is viewed at right angles to the showing of Figure 2, parts being broken away;

Figure at is a fra-gmental elevation disclosing one of the springs and attendant parts;

Figure 5 is a section on the line 55 of Figure 2. i

The tool forming the subject matter of this application comprises levers 1 and 2 which are halved together and crossed, the levers being pivotally connected at 3, at their point of crossing. The levers 1 and 2 terminate in jaws 4 which may be roughened as at 5, to hold a needle, the aws having depressions 6 on their inner surfaces which coact to receive any enlargement on the object which is being held between the jaws 4:. The lever 2 terminates in a loop 7 which forms a socket for the reception of the fingers of the operator. The first lever 1 has no such loop. In order to separate the levers 1 and 2, and consequently the jaws a a spring tongue 8 is se; cured at9 to the second lever 2 at a point near to the end of the said lever, the spring tongue 8 having a curved end 10 which bears slidably on the inner edge of the lever 1 at a point intermediate the ends of the said lever.

A means is provided for holding the jaws 4 engaged with the needle, and this means includes a latch 11, one end of which extends into a recess 12 formed in the inner edge of the lever, 2, the latch being mounted on a pivot element 1 1 carried by the lever land extended across the recess 12. The latch 11 has a transverse projection A spring tongue 16 is provided, and is connected by a securing" member 17 with the lever 2'. "The spring tongue 16 has notch 18 receiving the latch 11, the inner edge of the spring tongue 16 bearing against the projection 15 on thcvlatch 11, and swinging the latch auto,- n iatically, so that a rack 21 on the'latch will cooperate with a k eper 20 formed on the lever 1, the keeper 2() extending into an opening 19 in the lever 1, the latch 11 extending slidably through the opening 19, and being supplied at its outer end with abut-ton 22.

In practical operation, the operator can take the levers 1 and 2 in one hand, the fingers of that hand extending through the loop 7, and the levers being pressed together. A. needle or other object is gripped between the jaws 4E. When the levers 1 and 2 are pressed together, as above explained, the latch 11, under the action of the spring 16, is so operated that the rack 21 rides along the keeper 20 and engages automatically therewith, the spring 8 being compressed. W hen the operator wishes to release the latch 11, he can do this by tilting the latch on its pivot element 14, the thumb of the operator being engaged with the button 22, the thumb on the same hand which is engaged through the loop 7. Nhen the latch 11 is disengaged from the keeper 20, the implement swings to an open position under the operation of the tongue 8.

The device forming the subject matter of this application is simple in construction, and it is so made that it maybe closed and opened by one hand of an operator, the other hand of the operator being left free, and the implement, in nowise being a two-hand tool.

It is to be observed that the means 14: for mounting the latch 11 pivotally, the means 17 for securing the first spring 16, and the means 9 for securing the second spring 8, are all mounted on the second lever 2. This is an advantage in assembling the tool, and espe cially in manufacturing it, because practically all of the hand work is done on the'lever 2, the hand work being the threading of the hole for the screw 9, the mounting of the screw 9 in place, the threading of the hole for the screw 17 the mounting of the screw 17 in place, and the mounting of the pivot element 14. The person who does the handwork is not called upon to shift from one lever of the tool to the other, and a saving in time results. The button 22 on the latch llis of larger area than, the opening 19, and, consequently, neither the direct thrust of the second spring 8 against the first lever 1, nor the reaction of the first spring 16 against the second lever 2, can swing the first lever 1 clear of the latch 11, and the tool always is in working condition. This is especially desirable in view of the fact that the tool is employed in surgery, where, necessarily, there is no time for adjusting or assembling unhan dy instruments.

What is claimed is A tool of the class described, comprising pivotally connected first and second levershaving jaws, the first lever being provided with a transverse opening, a ratchet latch extended through the opening and engageable with the first lever, a first spring engaging the latch to 20 hold it in working position, a second spring engaging the first lever and tendin to open the jaws, means for mounting the datch for swinging movement, means for securing the first spring, and means for securing the second spring; the tool being characterized by the fact that all three of the means specified are mounted on the second lever, thereby confining the hand work, in manufacture and assembly, to that lever; and the tool being further characterized by a button on the outer end of the latch and of larger area than the opening, whereby neither the direct thrust of the second spring against the first lever, nor the reaction of the first spring against the second lever, can swing the first lever clear of the latch. I i p In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature.

ULYSSES S. CHAPMAN.

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