JP2015087926A - Two-dimensional symbol stamp method to small steel object - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable stamping a two-dimensional symbol to a small steel object which belongs to a medical institution, in which the two-dimensional symbol does not deteriorate due to rust or scratches and has hard durability even when the two-dimensional symbol is subjected to cleaning and sterilization repeatedly.SOLUTION: A device and a tool required for treatment are installed and preparation for work is performed. Then, part of the small steel object is subjected to surface treatment by pulse discharging, and coating before stamping of the two-dimensional symbol. Then, by a laser marking device, the two-dimensional symbol is stamped to the coated part of the small steel object.

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for marking a two-dimensional symbol on a medical steel accessory such as a forceps or a scalpel, and more particularly to a two-dimensional symbol marking method capable of marking a durable two-dimensional symbol.

  There are many types of small steel items used in medicine, such as forceps, needle holders, retractors, and scalpels. For example, even with a single forceps, there are various types for each type of operation. Although it depends on the scale of the hospital, it is said that it has about 5,000 steel items on average, and tens of thousands of small steel items when it becomes a large hospital.

  In hospitals, identification code marks having information such as product codes, serial numbers, and manufacturing dates are attached to manage these steel items. In recent years, a two-dimensional symbol having a size of about 3 to 5 mm square as shown in FIG. 6 is used as the identification code mark.

  This type of two-dimensional symbol is generally stamped on a steel accessory by a laser marking device (Patent Document 1).

  In recent years, regarding steel small articles, computer systems that read two-dimensional symbols with an optical reader and store and manage information in a database have become widespread (Patent Document 2).

JP-A-6-328275 JP 2003-16198 A

  Steel items used in the operation are cleaned and then sterilized. Surgery, cleaning, and sterilization are performed in one cycle, and steel articles are used repeatedly over and over. It is not uncommon for steel accessories to be used several dozen times a year.

  In this way, small steel products are used repeatedly, so in the process of repeated severe cycles of cleaning and sterilization, corrosion, rust, etc. occur on the surface over time, and the small items rub against each other and scratches are generated. Will occur. Then, the two-dimensional symbol engraved on the surface gradually deteriorates, so that the reading accuracy may be lowered or reading may become impossible.

  Conventionally, in order to prevent this type of two-dimensional symbol from deteriorating, a carbon coating is applied to the entire surface of the small steel article, and then the two-dimensional symbol is marked in part.

  However, this involves coating and marking during the manufacture of small steel articles and requires extensive equipment.

  On the other hand, it is a fact that there has been virtually no means for coating the steel accessory that has not been coated yet and already owned by a medical institution.

  As described above, since medical institution repeatedly uses small steel articles, there is a problem that it cannot be taken out only for coating for a long period of time. It was also impossible to bring large coating equipment to medical institutions.

  Therefore, the object of the present invention is to eliminate the problems of the prior art, and even if the steel accessories held by medical institutions are repeatedly subjected to treatments such as washing and sterilization, they will not deteriorate due to scratches or rust. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for imprinting a durable two-dimensional symbol.

  It is another object of the present invention to provide a method capable of going to a medical institution having a steel accessory and imprinting a durable two-dimensional symbol on the steel accessory.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is a method of imprinting a two-dimensional symbol carrying character information on the surface of a steel accessory used for medical procedures and surgery, and includes an apparatus and an instrument necessary for the processing. Installing and preparing for work, applying a surface treatment to a part of the steel accessory by pulse discharge, coating the part before imprinting the two-dimensional symbol, and a laser marking device And a step of marking a two-dimensional symbol on the coated portion.

  In the present invention, preferably, a pulse discharge surface treatment device, a laser marking device, and other necessary equipment are brought into a medical institution such as a hospital for work.

  Furthermore, in this invention, it is preferable to wash | clean by irradiating an ultrasonic wave to the steel small article which finished coating.

  In the present invention, the imprinted two-dimensional symbol may be read by a reading device to check whether the two-dimensional symbol is imprinted correctly.

  According to the present invention, a durable two-dimensional symbol that does not deteriorate due to scratches, rust, or the like can be engraved on a steel accessory possessed by a medical institution even if it is repeatedly subjected to processing such as cleaning and sterilization. .

  In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to go to a medical institution that possesses a steel accessory and imprint a highly durable two-dimensional symbol on the steel accessory.

FIG. 4 is a process diagram of a two-dimensional symbol marking method according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a principle figure of the pulse discharge surface treatment utilized for the coating prior to the marking of a two-dimensional symbol. It is composition explanatory drawing of a pulse discharge surface treatment apparatus. The figure which shows the forceps which is an example of the steel accessory which stamps a two-dimensional symbol. It is a block diagram of a laser marking device used for marking a two-dimensional symbol. The top view which shows the example of a two-dimensional symbol.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a method for marking a two-dimensional symbol on a medical steel accessory according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a process diagram of the two-dimensional symbol marking method of the present invention.
First, the two-dimensional symbol marking method according to the present embodiment is a process of bringing equipment and instruments necessary for processing into a medical institution such as a hospital, preparing for work, and performing surface treatment on a part of a steel accessory by pulse discharge, Prior to engraving the two-dimensional symbol, the process of coating the part, the process of irradiating the coated small steel parts with ultrasonic waves, and the laser marking device on the coated part of the small steel parts A step of marking a two-dimensional symbol and a step of reading the stamped two-dimensional symbol with a reading device and confirming whether or not the two-dimensional symbol is correctly stamped.

Hereinafter, each step will be described in detail.
In the present invention, a set of pulse discharge surface treatment devices, ultrasonic cleaning devices, laser marking devices, personal computers necessary for data processing of two-dimensional symbols, other necessary devices and instruments necessary for the marking processing of two-dimensional symbols are as follows: It is loaded into a truck and transported to a medical institution by this truck. When arriving at the medical institution, prepare equipment and equipment in the truck and prepare for installation adjustment work.

  Next, the process of pulse discharge surface treatment (Micro Spark Coating) will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the mechanism of the pulse discharge surface treatment. Reference numeral 1 indicates a material to be processed. Reference numeral 2 denotes a processing liquid, and the workpiece 1 is immersed in the processing liquid 2. The electrode 3 is an electrode made of a powdered ceramic sintered body such as titanium carbide (TiC) or tungsten carbide (WC). A power supply device 4 that generates a pulse discharge is connected to the electrode 3, and a pulsed discharge with a minute energy is generated between the electrode 3 and the workpiece 1. By this pulse discharge, the ceramic material of the electrode 3 forms a coating 5 on the melted portion of the surface of the member 1 to be processed.

  In the present invention, a part of the surface of the steel accessory is coated by applying the pulse discharge surface treatment as described above.

  FIG. 3 shows an apparatus for performing pulsed discharge surface treatment. Reference numeral 10 is a pulse power source that generates a pulse discharge of minute energy. 11 is an electrode made of ceramic powder, and 12 is a processing tank containing a processing liquid. Reference numeral 13 denotes a servo mechanism for precisely controlling the distance between the electrode 11 and the material to be processed to about several tens of micrometers, and reference numeral 14 denotes a control device.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a steel accessory to be coated. Here, forceps are shown. The part indicated by ○ is the part to be coated by pulse discharge. The display area of the two-dimensional symbol is 3 to 5 mm square, and the coating range is a little wider than this.

  Therefore, the steel accessory is placed in the processing tank 12, the positions of the electrode 11 and the steel accessory are adjusted, and then a pulse discharge is generated in the processing liquid to form a ceramic film at the display position of the two-dimensional symbol. .

  The small objects that have been subjected to the pulse discharge surface treatment are transferred to an ultrasonic cleaning device and irradiated with ultrasonic waves to remove foreign substances from the surface of the produced ceramic film and clean them.

  Next, FIG. 5 shows a laser marking device used to imprint a two-dimensional symbol. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 20 denotes a laser light source. 22a and 22b are galvanometer mirrors. Reference numerals 24a and 24b denote galvanometer mirror driving devices that move the galvanometer mirrors 22a and 22b. The galvanometer mirror 22a scans with a laser beam in the X-axis direction, and the galvanometer mirror 22b scans with a laser beam in the Y-axis direction. A controller 26 controls the laser light source 20 and the driving devices 24a and 24b. Reference numeral 27 denotes a personal computer 27 in which software for generating two-dimensional symbol creation data from character information and converting the two-dimensional symbol into character data is installed. This personal computer 27 is connected to a database of steel accessory data stored in the medical institution. When this steel accessory is specified and data is read, the data for creating a two-dimensional symbol is automatically generated. Is generated. Based on the creation data sent from the personal computer 27, the controller 26 irradiates the laser beam and imprints a two-dimensional symbol as shown in FIG.

  This two-dimensional symbol carries a product code, serial number, date of manufacture, hospital-specific information, etc. as character information about the steel accessory. Two-dimensional symbol data carriers include Data Matrix and QR Code, but any data carrier may be used.

  The personal computer 27 is connected to a symbol reading device 30 for reading a two-dimensional symbol.

  Using such a laser marking device, a two-dimensional symbol carrying information on the steel accessory is imprinted on the already coated portion by pulse discharge surface treatment.

  When the marking of the two-dimensional symbol is completed, the symbol reading device 30 reads the two-dimensional symbol, confirms whether or not the two-dimensional symbol can be read accurately, and the series of steps is completed.

  According to the present embodiment, a ceramic film is formed in advance by a pulse discharge surface treatment at a site where a two-dimensional symbol is to be imprinted, and the two-dimensional symbol is imprinted with laser light from the film. . As a result, the concave portion of the two-dimensional symbol reaches the base material of the small steel product, but the surface of the convex portion is protected as it is by the ceramic film. For this reason, the convex portion can be prevented from being scratched or corroded even if it is rubbed during cleaning and sterilization, and the two-dimensional symbol can be protected from deterioration.

  In addition, the ceramic coating coated by pulsed discharge surface treatment has extremely high wear resistance, strong bondability with the base material, and higher hardness on the coating surface side. Even if the treatment is repeated repeatedly, the coating is not peeled off or damaged.

  In addition, the characteristic of the pulse discharge surface treatment is that the ceramic molecules penetrate into the substrate and the coating properties remain on the substrate. Due to this property, when the two-dimensional symbol is engraved with a laser beam, the characteristics of the film remain even in the concave portion surrounding the film, so that the corrosion resistance can be remarkably improved.

  In addition, in the case of pulse discharge surface treatment, it is easy to control the position at which the film is formed and the film thickness, so that itself is small like a steel accessory used for medical purposes, and further, it is 3 to 5 mm square. The ceramic film can be formed so as to surround the display range of a very narrow two-dimensional symbol.

  Further, conventionally, coating of small steel products has required large facilities. On the other hand, uncoated steel small articles already owned by medical institutions could not be effectively coated because they could not be taken out for a long time to a factory with a coating facility. Is the actual situation.

  On the other hand, according to the present invention, the pulp discharge treatment device and the laser marking device are relatively small devices that can be carried on a truck or the like. A set of devices and instruments can be transported to a medical institution that desires marking, and work can be performed at that medical institution.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Material to be processed, 2 ... Processing liquid, 3 ... Electrode, 4 ... Power supply device, 5 ... Coating, 10 ... Pulse power supply, 11 ... Electrode, 12 ... Processing tank, 13 ... Servo mechanism, 14 ... Control device, 20 ... Laser light source, 22a, 22b ... Galvano mirror, 27 ... PC, 30 ... Symbol reading device

Claims (4)

A method of imprinting a two-dimensional symbol carrying character information on the surface of a steel accessory used for medical treatment or surgery,
Installing equipment and tools necessary for processing and preparing for work;
Applying a surface treatment to a portion of a small steel article by pulse discharge and coating the part prior to engraving a two-dimensional symbol;
A step of marking a two-dimensional symbol on a coated part of a steel accessory with a laser marking device;
A method for engraving two-dimensional symbols on steel accessories characterized by comprising:   The method for marking two-dimensional symbols on small steel products according to claim 1, wherein a pulse discharge surface treatment device, a laser marking device, and other necessary equipment are brought into a medical institution such as a hospital.   The method of marking a two-dimensional symbol on a steel accessory according to claim 1, wherein the steel accessory after coating is cleaned by irradiating with ultrasonic waves.   2. The method of marking a two-dimensional symbol on a steel accessory according to claim 1, wherein the stamped two-dimensional symbol is read by a reader to check whether or not the two-dimensional symbol is correctly stamped.

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