Patent ID: 6263558
Filing Date: 2001-07-24
Classification: A61B,B21G,B65H,Y10T

Abstract:
A needle threading and swaging apparatus for attaching a single suture to either a single suture or a pair of surgical needles, each needle having a suture receiving opening formed therein, said apparatus comprising:(a) at least two universal grippers, each gripper sequentially receiving a first surgical needle and indexing said first surgical needle in a predetermined orientation from a first predetermined location through a swage station,(b) a suture cutting and inserting station located at a second predetermined location for automatically cutting an indefinite length of suture material to a definite length, said definite length having a first end and a second end, said suture cutting and inserting station having a first gripper for inserting a first end of said suture into the suture receiving opening formed in the first surgical needle, and a second invertible gripper for gripping the indefinite length suture, and after the suture has been cut, automatically inserting said suture into said suture receiving opening formed in a second surgical needle;(c) a rotatable carriage for said second invertible gripper, to rotate said second gripper and invert a cut end of said suture for insertion into said second surgical needle in the event double-armed sutures are to be formed;(d) a swage station for sequentially swaging each surgical needle to close the suture receiving openings of each surgical needle about a definite length of suture, wherein the first needle is secured to the first end of said definite length of suture and the second needle to the second end of said definite length of suture when a double-armed needle and suture assembly is to be formed.