US1368842A - Scalpel - Google Patents

Description

H. W. RO'ELING.

SCALPEL.

APPLICATION FILED FEVB. 51.1920.

- Patented Feb. 15, 19211`f' HENRY WILLIAM IROELING, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

SCALPEL'.

Speclication of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. l5, i921.

Application led February 5, 1920. Serial No. 356,548.

To all vwhom t may concern:

Be it known that l. HENRY WILLIAM ROELING, a citizen of the United States,V residing at New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Scalpels; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to improvements in scalpels, and has for an object to provide an improved scalpel in which a minimum number of parts will be employed and arranged to be readily disassembled so that the same may be readily sterilized.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an instrument which will be simple in construction, economical of manufacture and at the same time capable of being readily assembled or separated into its various parts, whereby subsequent blades may be substituted quickly.

1t is a furtherV object of the present in- Vention to provide an improved scalpel in which the blade is separable from the handle by which it is carried, which merely necessitates the discarding'of the' blade after Ythe'same becomes dull, whereas the handle may be used indefinitely and supplied with fresh sharp blades whenever occasion demands. This is a distinct improvement over the scalpel as at present in use, as the entire instrument must be .discarded after being used once or twice.

A still. further object of the present invention resides in providing an instrument of this character in which a guard is formed bythe handle about the blade, allowing only a small portion of the blade to project. 0f course this guard feature is so arranged and constructed in relation to the blade edge that it will not hamper or prevent the surgeon from making the incision, but in delicate operations the presence of a vguard eliminates the danger of the blade accidentally slipping or of possible unsteadiness in the hand of the surgeon, which sometimes causes the blade to enter a vital part, thereby causing agony, and very often death. The improved guard prevents the blade from cutting any more than the thickness of the tissues which are to be separated7 while holding such tissues apart.

1n the accompanying drawings forming apart of this application, and in which similar reference symbols indicate corresponding parts in the several views:

Figure 1 is a plan view of an improved scalpel constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal edge View thereof;

Fig. 3 is an elevation with the parts opened out;

Fig. l is an edge View of the two-part handle;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the improved holding clip; and

Fig. 6 isa plan view of the improved blade.

Referring more particularly to the draw.- ings, wherein only a single embodiment of the invention is shown, l and 2 designate two elongated flat thin bars of resilient metal which, as indicated in Fig. Il, are bent centrally or bulged away from each other, while the ends are allowed to come into Vcontact'. l

A portion 3 of the outer face of one of the members, say 2, is roughened, corrugated, or otherwise treated to aiford a gripping surface for the thumb or other portion of the hand of the surgeon to facilitate his grip on the handle made up by the two bars 1 and 2. fl`he bar l, near the end thereof, is provided with a pin Il adapted to enter a circularperforation 5 in the other bar 2 for the purpose of pivotally connecting the bars and centering the onevb'ar on the other. f The pin l is free to escape from the perforation 5 to allow the bars being separated.V

Near the other end of the bar 1 are secured a pair of spaced apart lugs 6and Y projecting at right angles from the in ner face of said bar and arranged to receive, respectively, the perforations 8 and`9 in the blade 10. Theblade 10 is advantageously constructed substantially after the manner shown in Fig. 6, `being of the general reotangular form having the rounded cutting edge 11. The opposite bar 2 is provided 1n its inner face, opposite the lugs 6 and 7, with recees or indentations 12 and l'for receiving the lugs 6 and 7, respectively, when the twofbars l and 2 are placed together.

The blade 10 fits the lugs 6 and 7 substantially in the way shown in Fig. 3, the cutting edgey 11 projecting beyond the similarly rounded edge 14 of the; bar l. As

also shown in this figure, the edge of the l companion bar 2is also rounded to conform Y to the curvature of therounded end 14C of the Vbar 1, so that these two ends 14 and15 accurately correspond and provide a guard on opposite sides of the projecting edge 11 of the blade, thus preventing too deep an incision or the passage of the knife into vital parts.

The bars 1 and 2, at or near their central parts, are provided with perforations 16 and 17 that are adapted to register when the bars are brought together, and provide for the entrance therethrough of arlug 18 carried by a holding clip 19. This clip 19 is shown in Fig. 5, and is made of rigid metal or other suitable material, having 'part thereof bent substantially Ufshaped, las indicatedat 20, while the remaining edge adjacent `such Ushaped clip 20 is left free, as indicated at 21. The free edge 21 allows the rotation of the holding clip about the perforations 16 and 17. The U-shaped part is of. a width corresponding substantially to the width of the two bars 1 and 2 so as to clamp the same tightly together at their central bulged out portions7 as shown in Fig. 2.

When the holding clip is in place, the bars 1 and 2 bulge out slightly between the clip and the blade, as indicated at 22 in Fig. 2. The tendency of the bars 1 and'2 to expand frictionally holds the U-shaped part 20 of the clip so that it is very difficult torotate the vsame aboutthe lug 18 to remove'this U-l shaped par't 20 from the bars 1 and 2, but the compression Vof the bars 1 and 2 atthe point 22, shown in Fig. 2, between the fingers, will relieve this frictional expansion to a great extent from the U-shaped part. 2O

of the clip, and will render it comparatively easy for the clip -to be rotated to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3 where the bars 1 and 2 may springapart.

1t' will be understood from the that the improved scalpel cons'istsvof only three parts, excluding the blade which may be renewed from time to time, and which is provided with an effectual guard formed by the rounded edges 14. andV 15 .of the two handle bars 1 and 2.

It will furthermore Vbe appreciated that the device is exceedingly simple in construc tion and cheap lof manufacture, while al-V lowing of the ready dismembering of the parts for purposes of sterilizing and therenewal of blades, but Vvwhich will holdftogether most effectually and `not be apt to become accidentally displaced when assembled and during the operation. It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary thedetails of construction and arrangements of parts without departing from the spirit of my invention, and therefore I donot wish to be limited to such features except as may be required by theclaims.`

foregoing Y v I claim: Y

l. Anliiiiproved,Y scalpeloiricluding a pair of elongatedl flat. thin resilient metal bars .adapted to be placed. together and having their central portions bulged away from each other, a pivot on one bar adapted toengage the other bar, a pair of-spaced apart lugs atftlie other end of one of the bars for Y receiving the perforations in a removable v blade having a .rounded cutting edge extend ing beyond the adjacent end of said bar, said bar and the companion bar .having similarly curved edges extending Yinwardly from the edge of thefblade whereby to probars Vwhereby toclamp the same tightly therebetween when the bars are in closeV contact, thefedge'of the holdingclip beneath f the lug being left free topermit swinging of the clip about said lug, said bars adapted to Y bulge out slightly between theholding clip andthe blade when the clip is .in position for engagement by the fingersto compress the barsV whereby to ease the swinging of the holding clip, substantially as described.

2; .An improved scalpel including a pair of elongated flat thin bars of'resilient material adapted to be placed together flatwise and having Ytheir. central portions bulged away from, each other, a pivot on one 4bar adapted to engage therother bar to permit of the edgewiserelative swinging of the bars in planes substantially parallel to Seach' other,

- means at the other end of one of the bars for receiving a removable blade having a rounded cutting edge extending beyondthe adjacent ends of said bai-s, said bars Yhaving similarly curvededges extending inwardly from the edge of the blade whereby to provide a guard therefcnsaid bars being, per-l forated centrally, andl a holding clip having a lug adapted-to pass throughV the central A' perforations andV formed withV af substantially U-shaped portion at thenend'of ythe clip remote from the lug, saidU-sliap`ed` portion beingof awidth substantially equal to the thickness of the two bars wherebyto clamp thejsam'e tightlyltherebetween Vwhen the bai'slare inclose contact, the edge of the holding clip beneath .the lug being left. free vto lpermit swingingof the clip about said lug, said bars adapted to bulge out slightly HENRYWILLIAM Romane.

betweentheholding clip andthe blade'whefn iio Y

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