1 2
in situ and still have all of the strength and rigidity
SCALPEL WITH UNIVERSALLY ADJUSTABLE necessary to sucessfully carry out surgery.
BLADE It is, of course, an object of the present invention to
provide a scalpel which is easily disassembled for steril
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 5 ization and thereafter reassembled, which can employ
The present invention relates to a surgical scalpel and conventional disposable and/or reusable blades,
in particular to a periodontal scalpel, although not spe- It is a specific object of the present invention to pro
cifically limited thereto, wherein the blade is univer- vide a scalpel having a novel chuck mechanism for
sally adjustable. universally positioning the blade, it being a more spe
Scalpels presently used for general and dental sur- 10 cific object to provide the chuck mechanism so that it is
gery, particularly periodontal surgery are very small in operable by simple manipulation of the handle by the
size and of the type generally fixed in construction in user during actual use of the scalpel,
that the cutting blade, when mounted in the chucked These objects as well as others will be apparent from
end of the scalpel, is fixed in position. Hence, although the following disclosure, the cutting blade may be removed from the chuck to be 15
replaced by blades of different shapes and sizes to en- SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION able the periodontist to manipulate the blade into According to the present invention, a scalpel is prosmaller confined spaces, once the blade is chucked to vjded having m elongated handle conveniently shaped the handle it is not movable with respect to the handle. in the form of a shaft> alth h not limited theret0> a As a consequence during the performance of surgery, it 20 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ is necessary for the surgeon to have a large number of Qf ^ shaf ^ tQ fee universa„ adjustable! whereby the
handles already mounted with cutting blades each of ,, , . . , ^ , . - , c .' ,
. . J, , , ... . , blade is orientated m any one of a plurality of selected
different sizes, shapes and angular positions so that he ,. , . ^ x, J . . , r, ,,J , ,
may draw upon and select any one of those that he directions relative to the axis of the handle, namely, by
needs at any given time. 25 relatively rotating the handle and blade about the axis of
Since this is a severe drawback and limitation upon the shaft and/or swinging the blade in an arc subtended
the maneuverability of the surgeon, it is helpful to have bv the axls of the shaft and ln a llne perpendicular
a single scalpel that he may manipulate in a single hand thereto, and correspondingly rotating the holder about
and which may have the capability of permitting the lts own axls
blade to be pivoted at any universal angle so desired at 30 In particular, the blade is mounted or held in a chuck
the moment required by the surgeon and locked in the having a ball-shaped base, which is set into a spherical
angle of positioning and to permit the blade to be re- socket formed in a cylindrical chuck housing, co-axially
moved and substituted for by another blade. mounted at the end of the shaft. The end of chuck hous
Attempts have been made to provide scalpels with ing is cut in the form of a cleft defined by the axis of the
adjustably positionable blades. For example, reference 35 shaft-handle and a perpendicular line thereto. Mounted
can be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,609,864 and within the chuck housing is an operable stop member
4,275,735.In the latter U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,735, a hollow adapted to engage the ball and fixedly hold the chuck in
handle is provided, having at its distal end a plurality of its selected position. The stop member is operated by a
slots into a selected one of which a given blade is crank mechanism located in the shaft-handle, which is
placed. Within the handle is mounted a retractable 40 operable and easily manipulated by the operating hand
shank, at the anterior end of which is a ring which of and during surgery by the surgeon via a lever extend
overlies the blade and which is adapted to secure the ing aiong the surface of the shaft actuating an eccentric
blade in a given slot. This device does not provide for crank t0 cause the stop member t0 moVe axially within
the ability of the blade to be adjusted or enable its ad- the housing into and out of engagement with the ball
justment after insertion in the slot, nor does it provide 45 base Qf ^e d^ck
the surgeon with the degree of maneuverability and In anQther ct of {he invention, the chuck is pro
adaptabihty as is desirable at any given moment during vided wkh an axial ^ in which the felade ig received;
the operative procedure. and a sleeve surrounding the blade and slot retains the
In the earlier patent U S. Pat. No. 3,609,864 a scalpel ... The ... {& ... tQ ^ ... fe a
is shown in which the blade is held on a plate-hke blade 50 , -4.1.1.4.1.1 .
, , , , . •, , ... , . , , • spring member passing through the sleeve and the
holder which is provided with a spherical anchoring *T ;P _ ,. ,, ^, 0 , ,. ,
, , -4.1.■ 1 4. r j ■ 4.1. j- * 1 A e chuck. Preferably, the spring also engages the blade
end held within a socket formed m the distal end of a . . , J % , ,, ? ■ , , ,
handle and held therein by an internal clamping rod. Preventing axial movement of the blade m the chuck,
The socket is provided with a narrow slot through the spring being manually depressible, to release the
which the plate holder passes and in which it is movable 55 blade for removal from the chucL A removable plate is
in the single plane of the plate. The blade thus has lim- provided for biasing the spring against depression,
ited movement at the anterior end of the handle in a Ful1 details of the Present invention are set forth m
single plane. Rotation of the blade about the longitudi- the following description and illustrated in the accom
nal axis of the blade is not possible, nor is universal panying drawings.
positioning of the blade holder. 60 BRffiF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
It is an object of the present invention to provide a
scalpel which enables universal positioning of the cut- In the Drawings:
ting edge of the blade relative to the axis of the handle, FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the scalpel of the present
in situ, i.e., while the blade is mounted on the handle and invention;
at any desired moment during the surgery. 65 FIG. 2 is a cross-section taken along the diametrical
It is an object of the present invention to provide a plane 2—2 of FIG. 2;
scalpel in which the blade is easily and simply mounted FIG. 3 is an exploded isometric view of the scalpel of
at the end of a handle so as to be universally adjustable the present invention;
