AU691371B2

AU691371B2 - A safety scalpel

Info

Publication number: AU691371B2
Application number: AU40596/95A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Dennis Deane Arnold
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1994-12-21
Filing date: 1995-12-20
Publication date: 1998-05-14
Anticipated expiration: 2015-12-20
Also published as: AU4059695A

Description

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S F Ref: 321711

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

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Name and Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: Dennis Deane Arnold 21 Greenfield Avenue Middle Cove New South

AUSTRALIA

Wales 2068 Dennis Deane Arnold Spruson Ferguson, Patent Attorneys Level 33 St Martins Tower, 31 Market Street Sydney, New South Hales, 2000, Australia A Safety Scalpel ASSOCIATED PROVISIONAL APPLICATION DETAILS [31] Application rNos) [33] Country PN7030 AU PN1460 AU [32] Application Date 21 December 1994 2 March 1995 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- JED/7377U ,ILCcs- I slllRL Technical Field The present invention relates to knives and more particularly to surgical scalpels.

Background of the Invention It is not uncommon for medical staff, particularly surgeons, to suffer minor cuts.

However, these cuts although being minor have the potential of being serious in that the surgeon may contract viruses such as hepatitis B or C, or even contract the human immunodeficiency virus.

Currently available surgical scalpels have a metal blade to which there is fixed a metal or plastics handle. The handles are usually relatively heavy and are unstable on a 10 smooth surface, even uneven surfaces such as sheet material draped over a patient during surgery. Existing scalpels having a handle made of plastics material suffer the same

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disadvantages. However, the scalpels with plastics handles have a further disadvantage in that the handles tend to bend and break under physical stress.

The above problems pose a safety hazard in the use of scalpels and other similar surgical instruments.

Object of the Invention It is the object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate the above disadvantages.

Summary of the Invention There is disclosed herein a scalpel comprising: a body having a handle, and a blade fixed to and extending from the handle, said blade having a cutting edge; and a scabbard movably mounted on the body and movable between a position covering said edge and a position exposing said edge to permit cutting, and wherein said scabbard is formed of a material permitting a user to view at least a portion of the blade and material being cut thereby.

Preferably the scabbard of the above scalpel is pivotally attached to the handle so as "z to be movable between its covering and exposing positions.

[.IBrr(X)470:ltrw I ri~s~ I -r 9PP r a 2 Still further, it is preferably that the above mentioned scalpel have its scabbard formed of transparent plastics material or mesh permitting a portion of the blade to be viewed when the scabbard is in the covering position.

In a still further preferred form, preferably the above scalpel includes a spring which urges (biases) the scabbard to the covering position.

Brief Description of the Drawings Preferred forms of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a schematic side elevation of a scalpel; Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view of a scabbard employed on the scalpel o f Figure 1; :i:1 Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view of shafts employed in the scalpel of Figure Figure 4 is a schematic perspective view of a spring employed in the scalpel of Figure 6 is a plan view of the scalpel as illustrated in Figure Figure 7 is a schematic end elevation of the scalpel as illustrated in Figure Figure 8 is a schematic part sectioned side elevation of the scalpel as seen in Figure 20 5, with the scabbard removed; and Figure 9 is a schematic side elevation of the scalpel of Figure 5 in use.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment Referring to the accompanying drawings it can be seen that the blade 1 of lh ,afety scalpel is attached to the narrow end 3 of the handle 2. Adjacent to the narrow end 3 of the handle 2 is a widened part 4 which carries a hole 5 while the part of tile handle 2 furthest from the blade I has the shape of a fantail 6.

Fig. 2 shows the scabbard 7 which has a broad part 13 and a curved lower edge 14 on each side. The scabbard 7 is open on its upper aspect except for two bridges 8, 9.

Between the bridges 8, 9 the two upper edges of the scabbard 7 are recessed 10. The U i; N[NAUn'riX)470' hrw

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3 broad part 13 of the scabbard 7 on each side has two holes 11, 12 to receive the prepared ends of two rigid plastic identical cylindrical shafts 15, 16.

Fig. 3 shows the identical plastic shafts 15, 16 which act as struts for the broad part 13 of the scabbard 7. The upper shaft 15 which is fixed at its ends to the hole 11 on each side of the scabbard 7 also acts as an axle perforating the handle 2 through the hole (see Fig. 1) on which the handle 2 can rotate through a narrow arc. In addition the upper shaft 15 holds the spring 17 (see Fig. 4) in position. The lower rigid plastic shaft 16 serves as a brace for the stainless steel spring 17.

Fig. 4 shows the stainless steel spring 17 which has a loop 18 which extends 1 o beneath the attachment 3 of the blade 1 to the handle 2 (see Fig. 8).

In Fig. 5 the safety scalpel can be seen assembled in its guarded mode, The blade 1 is within the concavity of the scabbard 7. The shafts 15, 16 are affixed to the respective holes 11, 12 in the broad part 13 of the scabbard. The sharp edge of the blade 1 is concealed behind the curved edge of the scabbard 14, 15 In Fig. 6 which is a longitudinal cross-section through the scabbard 7 at the level of the blade 1, shows the blade 1 within the concavity of the scabbard 7 and the shaft 15 can t be seen perforatng the handle 2 to make a bearing. The shaft 15 is fixed to the wide part of the scabbard at the hole 11. On each side of the handle 2, the spring 17 which is housed within the concavity of the scabbard 7 is wound around the shaft 0 In Fig. 7 which is a vertical cross-section of the safety scalpel in the guarded mode, the blade 1 can be seen within the concavity of the scabbard 7 and its sharp lower edge 0.

does not protrude to the level of the lower free edges 19, 20 of the scabbard 7.

In Fig. 8 the stainless steel spring 17 can be seen wound around the shaft 15 on one side. The loop 18 of the spring is shown extending beneath the attachment of the blade 1 to the narrow part 3 of the handle 2, Referring to Fig. 9 the safety scalpel is shown in incision mode with the rounded edge 14 of the scabbard 7 in contact with the material to be incised 23. The fantail end 6 of the handle 2 is rotated upwards and the blade 1 incises the material 23.

LlBnr~j(X)47W t I R I 4 The instrument is held to make an incision in either of two ways. In the first method which is similar to the usual method of holding a pen to write, the instrument is held by the broad part 13 of the scabbard 7 between the thumb and the middle finger while the index finger rests on the exposed, blunt, upper edge of the blade and the fantail end 6 of the handle 2 lies above the hand.

In the second method which is similar to the usual method of holding a dining knife, the instrument is held by the broad part 13 of the scabbard 7 between the thumb and middle finger while the index finger rests on the blunt upper edge of the blade 1. The fantail end 6 of the handle 2 is below the hand and is held by the flexed ring and little 1o fingers.

To make an incision with either method, the two curved lower edges 19, 20 of the scabbard 7 are applied to the skin or other surface to be incised and held thus by the thumb and middle finger while the fantail end 6 of the handle 2 is elevated by flexion and elevation of the wrist which causes the handle 2 to rotate on the staff 15 which perforates 15 it so that the blade 1 protrudes below the lower edges 19, 20 of the scabbard 7. The index finger then depresses the entire instrument to the required depth and the hand is then drawn towards or across the operator by flexion of the elbow and an appropriate movement of the shoulder.

The lower edges of the scabbard 19, 20 stabilise the blade 1 during the in;ision and help to keep the plane of the incision at right angles to the surface being incised.

The handle 2 is made of stout rigid plastic such as 4mm sheet acrylic and close to the blade 1 attachment has an expanded portion where there is a bearing for the scabbard 7. The handle 2 and the scabbard 7 are thus hinged on one another and can rotate on one anothler through a narrow arc in the plane of the intended cut. The scabbard 7 is made of rigid, transparent plastic such as 2mm sheet acrylic and is folded to make a hood which covers the scalpel blade 1 and overhangs its cutting edge in the guarded mode. As an alternative, the scabbard 7 could be moulded. Because of the transparent nature of the scabbard 7 the operator is able to see material to be cut before and during the incision, as well as the cutting edge of the blade.

N:LIBTTIr(X)470:HRW The scabbard 7 is open along its lower aspect and its lower edges close to the sharp edge of the blade 1 are curved. It is also partially open on its upper aspect. The stainless steel spring 17 which is housed within the concavity of the scabbard 7 holds the blade 1 within the scabbard 7 in the guarded mode.

In another preferred form of the invention the handle 2 is made of metal and is lightened by multiple perforations or is made of a light metallic substance such as an aluminium alloy while the scabbard is made of metallic mesh. In this form the blade 1 is attached by the conventional slotted mechanism commonly used in existing surgical scalpels and the safety scalpel is for multiple use, In the above discussed preferred embodiments, the scabbard 7 is pivotally attached to the handle 2 by means of the shaft 15. However, it should be appreciated that other means may be employed to movably attach the scabbard 7 to the handle 2 and/or blade 1, For example, if the handle 6 is formed of plastics material, the scabbard 7 may be integrally formed therewith and pivotally attached thereto by an integrally formed plastics hinge. In such an arrangement, the plastics material forming the pivot may bias the scabbard 7 to a position covering the blade 1.

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Claims

1. A scalpel comprising: a body having a handle, and a blade fixed to and extending from the handle, said blade having a cutting edge; and a scabbard movably mounted on the body and movable between a position covering said edge and a position exposing said edge to permit cutting, and wherein said scabbard is formed of a material permitting a user to view at least a portion of the blade and material being cut thereby,

2. The scalpel of claim 1, wherein said blade is elongated and said scabbard is lo also elongated so as to extend along the blade, said scabbard having sides which extend generally parallel to the blade and a bridge portion which extends transversely between the sides, and wherein said scabbard has an aperture exposing the blade, which aperture is located between the two sides of the scabbard, they then provide the user with access to a blunt portion of the blade so as to be able to apply pressure thereto. tooo 15 3. The scalpel of claim 1 or 2, wherein said scabbard is pivotally attached to said .:Go

006. handle for pivoting movement about a transverse axis so that said scabbard is movable between the covering position and the exposing position with respect to said edge. 4. The scalpel of any one of claims 1 to 3 further including a spring biasing said S scabbard to said covering position. 5, The scalpel of any one of claims i to 4 further including a shaft attached to said handle and pivotally supporting said scabbard. 6. The scalpel of any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein said scabbard is formed of transparent material, 7, The scalpel of claim 6, wherein said scabbard is formed of plastics material which is transparent.

8. The scalpel of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said scabbard is formed of mesh material permitting the user to see at least a portion of the blade. IN:',IB'IT(X)4-70: P'VH 7

9. A scalpe,.l substantially as hereinbefore described with referene to the accompanying drawings. Dated 12 March, 1998 Dennis Deane Arnold Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/Nominated Person SPRUSON FERGUSON IN',IBrr(X)470 PVII M ABSTRACT A Safety Scalpel A scalpel having a handle 2 to which there is attached a blade 1. A scabbard 7 is also mounted on the handle 2 and is movable relative to the blade from a position covering the blade to a position exposing at least the cutting edge of the blade. Preferably the scabbard 7 is formed of transparent plastics material so that the cutting edge of the blade may be viewed. t 0 00*0 00 o 6 to 89 0* 0 44 0 4 IN LtU3V110470lMtW