Claims
- 1. An automatic surgical mill, comprising a unitary casing, the unitary casing having an opening through which bone is introduced into the mill, a rotatable pulverizing cutter positioned inside a first compartment of the casing, a motor for providing a rotational force, the motor being positioned within a second compartment of the casing, and a coupling for connecting the cutter to the motor so that the rotational force provided by the motor is imparted to the particle reducer, thereby pulverizing bone introduced into the mill.
- 2. The mill of claim 1 wherein the mill is sterilizable and reusable.
- 3. The mill of claim 1 wherein the mill is non-sterilizable and disposable.
- 4. The mill of claim 1 wherein the cutter comprises a single pulverizing blade.
- 5. The mill of claim 1 wherein the cutter comprises a plurality of pulverizing blades.
- 6. An automatic surgical mill for pulverizing bone, comprising
a first casing member for housing a rotatable pulverizing bone cutter, the first casing member having an opening for receiving bone into the first casing member; a second casing member selectively connectable with the first casing member, the second casing member housing a coupling; a first sealing arrangement disposed between the first and second casing members; a third casing member selectively connectable with the second casing member, the third casing member housing a motor; and a second sealing arrangement disposed between the second and third casing members.
- 7. The mill of claim 6 wherein the motor provides a rotational force, and the motor is operatively connectable with the cutter via the coupling to impart a rotational force to the cutter.
- 8. The mill of claim 6 wherein the first sealing arrangement is an O-ring.
- 9. The mill of claim 6 wherein the second sealing arrangement is an O-ring.
- 10. The mill of claim 6 wherein the cutter includes a blade and a shaft extending from the blade, the shaft being adapted to extend through an opening defined in a wall of the second casing member to engage with the coupling.
- 11. The mill of claim 10 wherein the motor includes a shaft, the motor shaft being adapted to extend through an opening defined in a wall of the third casing member to engage with the coupling.
- 12. The mill of claim 11 further comprising a third sealing arrangement, the third sealing arrangement being disposed between the cutter shaft and the wall of the second casing member.
- 13. The mill of claim 12 further comprising a fourth sealing arrangement, the fourth sealing arrangement being disposed between the motor shaft and the wall of the third casing member.
- 14. The mill of claim 12 wherein the third sealing arrangement is an O-ring.
- 15. The mill of claim 13 wherein the fourth sealing arrangement is an O-ring.
- 16. A bone mill assembly, comprising an automatic surgical mill having a casing, means for receiving and housing bone in the casing, means for pulverizing bone housed within the casing, and means for removing pulverized bone from the housing.
- 17. The bone mill assembly of claim 16 wherein the bone mill assembly further comprises a motor, the motor being adapted to impart a rotational force to the means for pulverizing bone.
- 18. The bone mill assembly of claim 17 wherein the casing comprises a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being selectively connectable with the second portion, and wherein the second portion houses bone.
- 19. The bone mill of claim 18 further comprising a third portion, the third portion housing the motor.
- 20. The bone mill of claim 19 wherein the first portion is connectable to the second portion via a threaded engagement, and wherein the second portion is connectable to the third portion via a threaded engagement.
- 21. The bone mill assembly of claim 19 wherein at least two of the casing portions are connected together by one or more draw latches, one or more spring pins, and/or one or more plungers.
- 22. The bone mill assembly of claim 21 wherein the means for removing pulverized bone is a spatula.
- 23. The bone mill assembly of claim 18 wherein the second portion comprises a switch, the switch being engaged by the first portion when the first portion is connected with the second portion.
- 24. The bone mill assembly of claim 23 wherein the switch is electrically connected to a motor circuit associated with the motor, and wherein engagement of the switch renders the motor operable.
- 25. The bone mill assembly of claim 17 further comprising at least one multi-position switch disposed on the casing and electrically connected to the motor, the at least one multi-position switch being selectively activated to operate the motor in one of a plurality of operating modes.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/184,444, filed on Jun. 28, 2002, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10184444 |
Jun 2002 |
US |
Child |
10749316 |
Dec 2003 |
US |