Patent Publication Number: US-2022211412-A1

Title: Power-assisted liposuction device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0000550 filed with the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Jan. 4, 2021, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a power-assisted liposuction device and, more specifically, to a power-assisted liposuction device having a reverse cam for converting a rotational motion into a linear motion. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Recently, as the interest in appearance increases, plastic surgery is steadily increasing. The liposuction cases occupy about 14.6% of the entire plastic surgery cases. As the obese population increases and the interest in figure increases, the demand for liposuction is also increasing. It is known that more than 10,000 liposuction cases a year were performed in Korea, and the related market is rapidly increasing even abroad. 
     The liposuction is one of plastic surgery techniques to suck and remove accumulated skin layers and fat layers for the purpose of weight control and body shape correction. 
     Suction-assisted lipoplasty (SAL) which is a method for sucking and removing fat through a cannula using negative pressure generated by a vacuum pump is the most representative as the liposuction. Moreover, ultrasound-assisted lipoplasty (UAL) for emulsifying fat through ultrasound to easily suck fat is widely used. Furthermore, power-assisted lipoplasty (PAL) to make suction easy and smooth by moving a cannula during a process of sucking fat is also known. 
     The power-assisted lipoplasty among the lipoplasty methods can reduce procedure time and greatly reduce physical labor of a user since being capable of easily sucking emulsified fat tissues by making the cannula do a rotary motion or a back-and-forth reciprocating motion using electric power or compressed air pressure. So, recently, the power-assisted lipoplasty has been widely used together with the ultrasound-assisted lipoplasty. 
     For instance, a prior art discloses a power-assisted liposuction device which rotates a cannula by transferring a rotary motion of a motor to a cannula through a plurality of gears. Furthermore, in the case of the conventional power-assisted liposuction device which makes the cannula do the back-and-forth reciprocating motion, a driving device with a complicated mechanism is used to convert the rotary motion of the motor into the linear reciprocating motion of the cannula. 
     However, such a conventional power-assisted liposuction device has several disadvantages in that the driving device for the rotary motion or the linear reciprocating motion of the cannula has the complicated structure, and in that the volume and weight of a handpiece are increased. Additionally, if the user uses the device for a long time, the user may feel fatigue and may have difficulty in precisely controlling the device. 
     Therefore, there is a demand for an improved power-assisted liposuction device which has a simple structure, is lightweight, and allows a user to control it precisely. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object to provide a power-assisted liposuction device which has a simple structure and is lightweight. 
     It is another object to provide a power-assisted liposuction device capable of effectively sucking fat by implementing a linear reciprocating motion of a cannula with a small size. 
     To accomplish the above objects, there is provided a power-assisted liposuction device including: a handpiece; a motor mounted inside the handpiece and connected with a power source to provide driving force; a reverse cam of which one end is connected to the motor; and a cannula connected to the other end of the reverse cam. Here, the reverse cam converts a rotary motion of the motor into a linear reciprocating motion so that the cannula performs a reciprocating motion when the motor is operated. 
     The power-assisted liposuction device according to an embodiment of the present invention further includes a reducer arranged between the motor and the reverse cam and mounted on the motor. 
     According to an embodiment of the present invention, a central axis of the reverse cam and a central axis of the cannula are arranged on the same line. 
     According to an embodiment of the present invention, the cannula is connected with a tube for providing suction force to the cannula. 
     According to an embodiment of the present invention, the tube is connected to the cannula after penetrating the handpiece, and the central axis of the tube is arranged to be parallel with a rotary shaft of the motor. 
     The power-assisted liposuction device according to an embodiment of the present invention further includes a battery mounted inside the handpiece to function as a power source for providing electric power to the motor. 
     According to an embodiment of the present invention, the power-assisted liposuction device has a simple structure and is lightweight since converting the rotary motion of the motor into the linear reciprocating motion of the cannula utilizing the reverse cam. 
     Moreover, the power-assisted liposuction device can implement the linear reciprocating motion of the cannula with a small size and can effectively perform liposuction since implementing desired output through the small-sized motor and reducer. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a view illustrating a power-assisted liposuction device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a view illustrating an internal structure of the power-assisted liposuction device according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a view illustrating a reverse cam of the power-assisted liposuction device according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a view illustrating an operation of the power-assisted liposuction device according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     In order to clearly describe the present invention, detailed descriptions of parts which are not related to the present invention will be omitted, and the same reference numerals are applied to the same components throughout the specification. In addition, since the size, thickness, position, etc. of each component shown in the drawings are arbitrarily shown for convenience of description, the present invention is not limited to the drawings. In other words, it is to be understood that the particular shape, structure, and characteristics described herein can be modified into other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and the position or arrangement of the individual components can be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     Accordingly, the following detailed description is not to be construed as a limited meaning, but the scope of the present invention should be taken to encompass all ranges within and equal to the claims. 
       FIG. 1  is a view illustrating a power-assisted liposuction device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 2  is a view illustrating an internal structure of the power-assisted liposuction device according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
     The power-assisted liposuction device  100  according to an embodiment of the present invention is a device for sucking pulverized and emulsified fat tissues by negative pressure after a cannula is inserted into the body, and is capable of efficiently sucking fat tissues by giving vibration, preferably, a back-and-forth reciprocating motion, to the cannula. The power-assisted liposuction device  100  can be used to suck the fat tissues after the fat tissues are pulverized and emulsified by an ultrasound liposuction device (UAL device) or the like. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the power-assisted liposuction device  100  according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a handpiece  110 , a cannula  120 , a motor  130 , a reverse cam  140 , a reducer  150 , and a tube  160 . 
     The handpiece  110  according to the embodiment of the present invention corresponds to a part gripped by a user, and has the size and shape which allow the user to grip it with one hand to operate the power-assisted liposuction device  100 . The components, such as the motor  130  and the reverse cam  140 , to give vibration to the cannula  120  are accommodated in the handpiece  110 , and these components are fixedly mounted and can be protected against contact with external environment. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the handpiece  110  may be composed of a plurality of cases which are assemblable and disassemblable. For example, the handpiece  110  includes a case for covering the motor  130  and the reducer  150 , which will be described later, and a case covering the reverse cam  140 , wherein the cases can be assembled to each other and disassembled from each other. Due to the configuration of the handpiece  110 , the components accommodated in the handpiece  110  can be maintained well. Meanwhile, the handpiece  110  may be formed of lightweight resin, or may be formed of metal or other known material. 
     The cannula  120  according to the embodiment of the present invention is inserted into the body to suck the pulverized and emulsified fat tissues, and can be connected to the tube  160  for providing negative pressure. Moreover, as described below, one end of the cannula  120  is connected to the motor  130  and the reverse cam  140  so as to effectively suck fat tissues through vibration, namely, a linear reciprocating motion. 
     The cannula  120  is an elongated hollow tube, and has a suction port formed at the front end thereof to suck fat tissues. As described above, the suction port is a single hole formed to be slightly spaced from an end portion thereof, and may be varied in size and shape in consideration of the size and function of the cannula  120 . For instance, a plurality of the suction ports may be formed in a circumferential direction of the cannula  120 . The front end portion of the cannula  120  is formed to have a convex and fluent curve in order to minimize damage of surrounding tissues which may get in contact with the cannula during liposuction. 
     The motor  130  according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted inside the handpiece  110  and is connected to a power source (not shown) so as to provide driving force to the cannula  120 . As described above, the motor  130  is connected with the cannula  120  by the medium of the reverse cam  140  to provide driving force for the linear reciprocating motion of the cannula  120 . 
     The reverse cam  140  according to an embodiment of the present invention performs a function to convert the rotary motion of the motor into the linear reciprocating motion and transfer the linear reciprocating motion to the cannula  120 . For this, one end of the reverse cam  140  is connected with the motor  130 , and a cam of the reverse cam  140  is connected to the cannula  120 . According to this embodiment, the reverse cam  140  is connected with the cannula  120  through a connection member, and a central axis of the reverse cam  140  and a central axis of the cannula  120  are arranged on the same line. However, the present invention is not limited to the above, and the reverse cam  140  and the cannula  120  may be directly connected with each other. Alternatively, the central axes may be arranged to be spaced apart from each other across the connection member, for example, the central axes are arranged to be parallel to each other. 
       FIG. 3  is a view illustrating a reverse cam of the power-assisted liposuction device according to the embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 3 , the reverse cam  140  includes a cam  143  moving along a cam shaft  141  of a cylinder type. The cam shaft  141  can rotate in line with rotation of the motor  130 , and grooves corresponding to a movement route for the cam  143  are formed on the outer circumferential surface of the cam shaft  141  to cross each other. When the cam shaft  141  is rotated by operation of the motor  130 , the cam  143  performs a linear reciprocating motion along the grooves formed on the cam shaft  141 . The cam  143  may be connected to the cannula  120  across the connection member so that the rotary motion of the motor  130  is converted into the linear reciprocating motion of the cannula  120  through the reverse cam  140 . 
       FIG. 4  is a view illustrating an operation of the power- assisted liposuction device according to the embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 4 , according to the rotation of the motor  130 , the cam  143  of the reverse cam  140  performs a reciprocating motion between the left side ( FIG. 4( a ) ) and the right side ( FIG. 4( b ) ) so that the cannula  120  connected to the cam  143  of the reverse cam  140  also performs the linear reciprocating motion. 
     The power-assisted liposuction device  100  according to the embodiment of the present invention may further include the reducer  150  arranged between the motor  130  and the reverse cam  140 . The reducer  150  is to get high power torque by reducing the number of revolutions when the motor  130  is driven. The reducer  150  can be disposed selectively depending on the use purposes of the power-assisted liposuction device  100 , and a reduction gear ratio can be also selected as occasion demands. For instance, in the case of facial liposuction procedure which does not need high power, the reducer is not essential. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the cannula  120  according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected with the tube  160  to provide a suction force for sucking fat tissues. The tube  160  is connected with an external suction pump (not shown) so as to suck fat tissues pulverized and emulsified through the cannula  120  by generating vacuum negative pressure from the suction pump. 
     As illustrated, the tube  160  can penetrate the handpiece  110  and be connected to the cannula  120 , and the central shaft of the tube  160  is arranged to be parallel with the rotary shaft of the motor  120 . The tube  160  is fixed at the handpiece  110  while penetrating the handpiece  110 , thereby preventing movement or separation of the tube  160  to provide suction force stably when the power-assisted liposuction device  100  is used. Of course, the tube  160  may have various structures and arrangements suitable for suction, movement and discharge of fat. 
     Besides the above, the power-assisted liposuction device  100  according to the embodiment of the present invention may further include a power source for supplying electric power to the motor  130 , for instance, a battery (not shown). Of course, the power-assisted liposuction device  100  according to the embodiment of the present invention may not include an internal power supply unit but may be connected to an external power source. 
     The power-assisted liposuction device  100  according to the embodiment of the present invention can implement the back-and-forth reciprocating motion of the cannula  120  by the coupling structure of the motor  130 , the reverse cam  140  and the cannula  120 . Furthermore, since the reducer  150  is mounted on the motor  130 , even though a small-sized motor is used, the power-assisted liposuction device  100  according to the embodiment of the present invention can provide enough torque for the linear reciprocating motion of the cannula  120 . 
     Therefore, the power-assisted liposuction device  100  according to the embodiment of the present invention is simpler than the conventional power-assisted liposuction device, can implement vibration of the cannula, namely, the linear reciprocating motion in spite of the small size, and can perform more effective liposuction. Additionally, since the inner components of the handpiece are simple, the degree of freedom of the handpiece is increased, and the handpiece has a user-friendly design so as to reduce the user&#39;s fatigue caused by long-time use. In addition, the power-assisted liposuction device  100  according to the embodiment of the present invention can reduce manufacturing costs due to the simplified structure of the device. 
     While the present invention has been described with reference to particular details such as specific elements, the embodiments, and the drawings as described above, this is provided only to help the overall understanding of the present invention and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. It will be understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs that various modifications and changes may be made from the description. 
     Therefore, the spirit of the present invention is not determined by being limited to the above-described embodiments, but the claims described later and all of those that are equivalent to the claims and equivalent modifications thereof belong to the spirit and scope of the present invention.