Abstract:
A counter mechanism includes: a counter housing including a shaft and a hole; a first set of cam teeth located in the hole; a striker located in the hole and configured to move axially with respect to the hole having a second set of cam teeth; a counter wheel hub having a third set of cam teeth configured to communicate with both the first and second set of cam teeth, the counter wheel hub also having an actuator; and a counter wheel having an actuation feature configured to communicate with the actuator to cause the counter wheel to rotate when the counter wheel hub rotates. A method for counting dispensed items may also be described.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to a counting device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a device and method for counting how many objects have been delivered by an applier. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     More and more surgery is conducted with the aid of surgical devices. For example, laparoscopic surgery may include the use of an automatic ligation device. The automatic ligation device, when actuated by a surgeon, may deploy a clip to close off a blood vessel. In some instances each time a trigger or other lever is actuated by the surgeon, the ligation device may deploy a clip. Clips may be stored in a magazine within the applier. Once the clip has been deployed it is no longer connected to or otherwise controlled by the applier. It may be desirable for the surgeon to know how many clips have been deployed. 
     Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide a device that counts how many clips have been deployed by an applier. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The foregoing needs are met, to a great extent, by the present invention, wherein in one aspect an apparatus is provided that in some embodiments keeps track of how many times an applier has been actuated or how many objects have been deployed from the applier. 
     In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a counter mechanism may be provided. The counter mechanism may include: a counter housing including a shaft and a hole; a first set of cam teeth located in the hole; a striker located in the hole and configured to move axially with respect to the hole having a second set of cam teeth; a counter wheel hub having a third set of cam teeth configured to communicate with both the first and second set of cam teeth, the counter wheel hub also having an actuator; and a counter wheel having an actuation feature configured to communicate with the actuator to cause the counter wheel to rotate when the counter wheel hub rotates. 
     In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a method for counting dispensed items may be provided. The method may include: engaging a first set of cam teeth and a second set of cam teeth with a third set of cam teeth; moving a striker axially through a hole in the counter housing to disengage the third set of cam teeth from the first set of cam teeth; rotating a wheel hub until the third set of cam teeth come to rest in a notch in the second set of cam teeth; and rotating a counter wheel when the counter wheel hub rotates. 
     In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, a counter mechanism may be provided. The counter mechanism may include: a counter housing including a shaft and a hole; a first means for engaging located in the hole; a striker located in the hole and configured to move axially with respect to the hole having a second means for engaging; and a counter wheel hub having a third means for engaging configured to communicate with both the first and second means for engaging. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, certain embodiments of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof herein may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional embodiments of the invention that will be described below and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of embodiments in addition to those described and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
     As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view illustrating a multi-delivery device counter in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded, isometric view of the multi-delivery device counter shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The invention will now be described with reference to the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout. An embodiment in accordance with the present invention provides a device for counting objects that may be delivered by a multi-delivery device. For example, and automatic clip applier such as the one shown and described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/618,215 filed Sep. 14, 2012, Titled “Automatic Surgical Ligation Clip Applier” incorporated herein by reference in its entirety may deliver a ligation clip upon actuation of the trigger device such as the one shown and described herein may be attached to the automatic clip applier and keep track of how many clips have been applied. 
     An embodiment of the present inventive apparatus is illustrated in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  illustrates a counter  10 . The counter  10  includes a counter housing  12 . A counter wheel  14  is mounted onto the counter housing  12 . The counter wheel  14  includes a counter wheel window  16 . The counter wheel  16  may rotate and display indicia  18  that is located on a fixed disk  17 . When the counter wheel  14  rotates, the counter wheel window  16  will also rotate thereby selectively covering and uncovering indicia  18  located on the fixed disk  17 . 
     The counter wheel  14  and the fixed disk  17  both are supported on the wheel shaft  20 . While the fixed disk  17  does not rotate about the wheel shaft  20 , in some embodiments the counter wheel  14  does rotate. In other embodiments it may be the disk  17  that rotates and the counter wheel  14  that remains fixed. 
     The counter wheel  14  attaches to the counter housing  12  by the wheel shaft  20  extending through the hole  22  in the counter wheel  14 . The wheel shaft  20  attaches to the counter housing  12  of the of the shaft mounting  24  the shaft mounting  24  may be connected to reinforcing fins  25  which are also attached to the counter housing  12 . 
     The counter wheel  14  may be rotated by operation of the actuator wheel  26  teeth  28  interacting with the counter wheel actuation structure  30 . As the actuator wheel  26  rotates, it causes the teeth  28  on the actuator wheel  26  to rotate and mesh with the counter wheel actuation structure  30  causing the wheel actuation structure  30  and counter wheel  14  to rotate. More discussion of the rotation the counter wheel  26  will be made in the description with respect to  FIG. 2 . 
     At the other end of the counter housing  12 , the counter striker  32  is illustrated. The counter striker  32  is what the attaching structure  34  is connected to. The attaching structure  34  is used for attaching the counter  10  onto an instrument such as, for example, an automatic applier for counting items dispensed by the applier. The attaching mechanism  34  includes holes  36  and the slot  35 . 
     Turning now to  FIG. 2 , an exploded view of the counter  10  is shown. The housing  12  includes the shaft mounting  24  to which the shaft  20  is mounted. The housing  12  defines a hole  37 . Within the hole  37 , cam teeth  38  are located. The cam teeth  38  include a sloped portion  40  and a vertical portion  42 . The counter striker  32  is shown outside of the hole  37 , but normally resides in the hole  37 . 
     The cam teeth  38  are configured to interact with the cam teeth  44 . The cam teeth  44  include a slanted edge  46 . The cam teeth  44  located on the counter wheel hub  48 . Normally, both the counter striker  32  and the counter wheel hub  48  are located in the hole  37  in the counter housing  12 . The counter striker  32  includes stopping structure  50  which fit into slots in the hole  37  (not shown) to limit the rotation of the striker  32  in the housing  12  and to prevent the counter striker  32  from moving all the way through the hole  37  in the counter housing  12 . The counter striker  32  also has a set of cam teeth  52 . The cam teeth  52  and have high points  54  and low points  56  as well as a sloped area  58  located between the high points  54  and the low points  56 . The cam teeth  52  are generally V-shaped. The cam teeth  52  on the striker  32  are located at a lower diameter that the teeth  38  in the housing  12 . 
     The counter wheel hub  48  has the actuator wheel  26  attached. The actuator wheel  26  includes actuator teeth  28  which are configured to interact with the counter wheel actuation structure  30  located on the counter wheel  14 . The counter wheel hub  48  and actuator wheel  26  include holes  60 ,  64 . The spring  66  extends through the hole  64  in the counter wheel hub  48 . While the shaft portion  62  of the wheel hub  48  extends into the hole  60  in the counter striker  32 . 
     The spring  66  is capped with a spring cap  68  that when the counter  10  is assembled, urges against the counter wheel  14 . As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the counter wheel  14  includes a window  16  to uncover indicia  18 . The counter wheel  14  also includes a hole  22  to allow the counter wheel  14  to be mounted onto the wheel shaft  20 . The counter wheel actuation structure  30  can barely be seen in  FIG. 2  and is better shown in  FIG. 1 . One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that additional counter wheel actuation structure  30  is present on the back of the counter wheel  14  than what can be seen in the FIGURES. 
     The hole  64  in the wheel hub  48  is not a through hole. Thus, when assembled, the spring  66  is compressed between a floor in the hole  64  and the spring cap  68 . As a result, the wheel hub  48  is biased axially toward the cam teeth  38 . The spring cap  68  provides a smooth surface against the counter wheel  14  to limit friction force from the spring  66  which could otherwise impede the rotation of the counter wheel  14 . 
     The cam teeth  52  on the striker  32  are located at a lower diameter that the teeth  38  in the housing  12 . The cam teeth  52  on the striker  32  are offset from the cam teeth  38  in the housing  12 . When assembled, the wheel hub  32  is centered in the housing  12  by cam teeth  44 . The cam teeth  44  communicate with cam teeth  38  of the housing  12  and the cam teeth  52  of the striker  32 . 
     The counter  10  is actuated by the axial movement of the striker  32  against the wheel hub  48 . This axial movement of the striker  32  is the input into the counter  10  from an external device such as an automatic clip applier. Actuation of the clip applier results in the axial movement of the striker  32  against the wheel hub  48 . 
     When the wheel hub  48  moves axially toward the counter wheel  14 , the cam teeth  44  on the wheel hub  48  disengage from the cam teeth  38  in the housing  12 . Due to the urging of the spring  66  against the wheel hub  48 , the slanted edge  46  of the cam teeth slide along the sloped area  58  of the cam teeth  52  until the cam teeth  44  come to a stop in the low point  56  of the cam teeth  52 . This cases partial rotation of the wheel hub  48 . 
     When input to the counter  10  subsides, the spring  66  causes the striker  32  to return axially into the housing  12 . The cam teeth  44  reengage the cam teeth  32 . However, now the cam teeth  38  and  44  are misaligned. The force of the spring  66  will cause the slanted edge  46  of the cam teeth  44  to slide along the sloped portion  40  of the cam teeth  38  until the cam teeth  44  encounter and are stopped by the vertical portion  42  of the cam teeth  38 . This sliding action causes the wheel hub  48  to rotate. 
     Due to the interaction between actuator wheel teeth  28  and the counter wheel actuation structure  30 , when the wheel hub  48  rotates, the counter wheel  14  will also rotate. 
     As described above, the counter wheel  14  will rotate as a result of axial movement of the striker  32  in both the axial directions (toward and away from the housing  12 ). In some embodiments, when the striker  32  moves axially way from the housing  12 , the counter wheel  14  will move half way to indicate a count and when the striker  32  returns toward the housing  12 , the counter wheel  14  will move the rest of the way to indicate a count. 
     After reading this disclosure, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand how to select the pitch, dimensions for the teeth  28 ,  38 ,  44 , and  52 , the slanted edge  46 , the sloped portions  40  and  58 , and teeth (or gear) ratios to achieve a desired amount of rotation of the wheel hub  48 . 
     The total number of objects that can be counted is related to the size and number of gear mesh and cam meshes. As mentioned above, these can be varied to allow for different counter configurations. The counter mechanism can be varied and customized to allow for different counts. The indicia  18  on the counter wheel  14  may also be varied or customized. For example, the indicia  18  may include, colors, symbols, characters such as numbers, letters, roman numerals, or any other desired indicia. 
     The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.