US2307384A - Wound clip protector - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 5; 1943. A. BOWEN WOUND CLIP PROTECTOR,

Filed Feb. 27, 1941 WW m0 m W5 0 m m WW0 m 2m Patented Jan. 5, 1943 assist WOUND CLIP PROTECTOR Arthur Bowen, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Clay Adams Co. Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York ApplicationFebruary 27, 1941, Serial No. 380,783

12 Claims.

This invention relates generally to surgical devices. More particularly my invention relates to improved means for protectively supporting wound clips.

It is well known that wound clips of the type generally employed by physicians and surgeons today are provided with relatively small sharp projecting points in order to cause a minimum of pain to the patient when applied and'so that no scars will remain after removal. It is there- The support H comprises a pair of jaws or fore obvious that these projecting points are necarms l2 and 14 provided at opposite ends thereessarily exceedingly delicate and easily injured, of with pairs of apertured ears I2a and Ma and that a wound clip with bent or dulled points respectively. A shaft [5 passing through aligned must be discarded. apertures of adjacently disposed ears l2a and Ma Wound clips are today sold in units, each of 'pivotally interconnects the said arms I2 and Id. which comprises a series of said clips, of a cer- A coil spring l6 surrounding the shaft 15 and tain size, slidably mounted on a bent wire carhaving projecting end portions Ilia pressing rier. In order to efficiently meet the physicians against the inner walls of the arms 12 and I l and surgeons needs for dealing with different serves to normally urge said arm to spread apart. types and sizes of wounds, wound clips are made To facilitate the movement of the arms I2 and in a variety of sizes. 7 M to closed position against the action of the Before use, it is necessary to sterilize wound spring It, for purposes which will soon become clips; and when a wound clip unit is dropped apparent, angularly arranged finger gripping into ajsterilizer along with heavier surgical inmembers I! and [8 are provided. The said finstrumeiits, the sharp projecting points of the ger members I! and It may be integral with the clips are frequently damaged. arms 12 and M respectively, as shown, or they It is therefore one of the objects of my invenmay be connected in any other suitable manner. tion to provide a highly improved device for sup- As hereinbefore described the clip unit It! ilporting a wound clip unit of the class described lustrated in the drawing is of the standard type which shall be so constructed and arranged as gen r lly pp d to p ns and r ns and to accommodate series of wound clips of different comprises a series of wound clips 29 mounted sizes and which at the same time shall prevent on a bent wire carrier comprising the legs 2! damage 'to the points thereof. interconnected at one of their ends by a trans- Another object of my invention is to provide verse integral portion 22. a device for protectively supporting a wound clip As shown in Fig. 6 of the drawing, each wound unit of'the class described having means to faciliclip 20 may be of the well known type formed tate the removal of individual wound clips from f o & Strip f tab e be da le material 3% the bent wire carrier. provided with loops 3! at opposite ends thereof Further objects of my invention will become and having relatively small sharp points 32 proapparent in the following detailed description 40 Ject g outwardly therefrom. The loops 3| are thereof, designed to slidably receive therethrough the legs In the accompanying drawing, 2| of the wire carrier to hold a predetermined Fig. l is an elevational view of a wound clip quantity of wound clips 20 thereon. It is noted unit and a support therefor, constructed and arthat the projections 32 are angularly inclined toranged in accordance with my invention; ward each other.

Fig. 2 is an end view thereof as viewed sub- The foll win onstruction is provided to pr stantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; tect the points 32 of the wound clips 2% against Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional View taken substanage u il they are used. tially along the line 3-3 of Fig. l, and illustrat- A po 33 djacent the top lon itudinal ing in dotted lines the manner of its use; to edges of each of the arms l2 and It is angularly Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the assembled outwardly fla ed as S own. The angle of the said device shown in Fig. 1; portion 33 is such that th inner surface of the Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but of repoints-32 will contactively ride over the surfaces duced size and with the wound clip unit removed; of the said portions 33 and there will thus be Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the wound formed a prot backing for the Points 32.v

clips shown in Figs. 1 through 4 and removed from its carrier; and

Fig. '7 is a perspective view of a wound clip unit support illustrating a modified form of my invention.

Referring now in detail to the drawing I have shown in Figs. 1 to 5 a wound clip unit It effectively mounted on a supporting device i I constructed in accordance with my invention.

jacent said flared portions 33 are turned inwardly towards each other, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. It is thus seen from the above described construction that in addition to providing a surgical device of the class described in which the points 32 of the wound clips are protected against damage until they are used, my device is so constructed and arranged that it may be satisfactorily employed for a variety of sizes of Wound clips.

As illustrated by the dotted lines I2 and Id of Fig. 3 of the drawing, when it is desired to use the device for smaller sized clips it is merely necessary to press the finger members I! and I8 together, against the action of the spring I6, a suflicient amount so that the portions 33 and 3311 will fit between the corresponding pairs of points 32. If larger sized clips are used, the normal action of the spring IE will spread the arms apart and into contactive engagement with the points 32. To add rigidity and strength to the arms I2 and I4 and to the finger gripping members I! and I3, I provide th reinforcing ridges 44 and 45.

In use, the physician or surgeon generally removes the clips 20 one at a time, as required, by sliding the same in the direction of the arrow A, past the flared ends Zla of the bent wire carrier and ofi the ends of the arms I2 and I4. In order to prevent the entire clip unit I0, including the bent wire carrier, from moving along with the clip 20, or to become disarranged or dislodged from its protective support II for any other reason, I provide the following construction:

Adjacent one transverse edge of each arm I2 and I 4 I provide a notch 40 adapted to receive therein the transverse portion 22 of the bent Wire carrier member. As clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 5 of the drawing, each of the said notches 40 comprise a horizontal portion extending inwardly from the transverse edges of the arms I2 and I4 and a vertical portion extending to a point adjacent the bent over edge portions 33a. There is thus provided an abutment portion 4| which also limits the movement of the bent wire carrier in a direction opposed to that of the arrow A.

In Fig. '7 I have shown a modified form of my invention in which the protective support II instead of being composed of a pair of pivotally interconnected arms, is formed from a single sheet of resilient material comprising the arms 5| and 52, interconnected by an integral portion 53. As illustrated the arms SI and 52 are normally spread apart in a V-shaped formation and may be resiliently brought together by pressure of the fingers to cause the upper flared portions of the longitudinal edges to engage between corresponding pairs of points.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which the several objects of this invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. For use in combination with wound clips having projecting points, a device for protectively supporting said clips comprising a pair of arms having longitudinal edges, adapted to contactively engage said projecting points, and means for normally urging said arms apart to urge said longitudinal edges into contactive engagement with said projecting points to removably hold said clips thereon.

2. In combination, a Wound clip unit comprising a plurality of wound clips, each of said clips having projecting points, and being slid ably removably mounted on a bent wire carrier member, a device for supporting said unit, said device comprising a pair of arms having longitudinal edges, outwardly flared portions adjacent said longitudinal edges adapted to contactively engage said projecting points, said arms being normally resiliently urged apart to cause said flared portions to contactively engage said projecting points, and means for maintaining said carrier member against displacement while permitting the removal therefrom of said wound clips.

'3. In combination, a wound clip unit comprising a plurality of wound clips, each of said clips having projecting points, and being slidably removably mounted on a bent wire carrier member, a device for supporting said unit, said 'device comprising a pair of arms having longitudinal edges, outwardly flared portions adjacent said longitudinal edges adapted to contactively engage said projecting points, said arms being normally resiliently urged apart to cause said flared portions to contactively engage said projecting points, and means for maintaining said carrier member against displacement while permitting the removal therefrom of said wound clips, said last named means comprising notches in said arms adapted to receive a portion of said wire carrier therein.

4. For use in combination with wound clips having projecting points, a device for protectively supporting said clips, comprising a pair of arms having longitudinal edges, outwardly flared portions adjacent said longitudinal edges adapted to contactively engage said projecting points, and means for normally urging said arms apart to urge said flared portions into contactive engagement with said projecting points to removably hold said clips thereon.

5. For use in combination with wound clips having projecting points, a device for protectively supporting said clips, comprising a pair of arms having longitudinal edges, outwardly flared portions adjacent said longitudinal edges adapted to contactively engage said projecting points and means for normally urging said arms apart to urge said flared portions into contactive engagement with said projecting points to removably hold said clips thereon, said last named means comprising a shaft pivotally interconnectingsaid arms and a spring for normally urging the pivprising a plurality of wound clips having projecting points and slidably mounted on a bent wire carrier with means for supporting said unit, said supporting means comprising elements resiliently urged into contact with said projecting points for protecting said points against damage.

7. The combination of a wound clip unit comprising a plurality of Wound clips having projecting points and slidably mounted on a bent wire carrier, with a device for removably supporting said unit, said device comprising means for protecting said point against damage, and for slidably removably supporting said wound clips thereon, and means for limiting the relative axial movement between said device and said bent wire carrier.

8. In combination, a wound clip unit comprising a plurality of wound clips, each of said clips having projecting points and being slidably removably mounted on a bent Wire carrier member, a device for supporting said unit, said device comprising a pair of arms having longitudinal edge portions adapted to contactively engage said projecting points, said arms being normally resiliently urged apart to cause said edge portions to contactively engage said projecting points, and means for maintaining said bent wire carrier member against displacement while permitting the removal therefrom of said Wound clips.

9. As an article of manufacture, a wound clip protector comprising a pair of hinged arms, said arms having longitudinal edge portions extending in parallel relation and formed to fit between the projecting points and the body portion of a Wound clip, and spring means resiliently urging said edge portions apart.

10. A wound clip protector according to claim 9, in which the arms are provided with finger pieces, for conveniently bringing said edge portions closer together against the action of said spring means.

11. The combination according to claim 2, in which the said arms are provided with finger pieces for conveniently bringing said arms closer together.

12. The combination according to claim 8 in which the said arms are provided with finger gripping portions for conveniently bringing said arms closer together.

ARTHUR BOWEN.

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