Patent ID: 7682333

Claim:
A surgical handpiece for actuation of a cutting accessory attached to said handpiece, said handpiece comprising: a housing shaped to define a suction bore that extends from the cutting accessory and a valve chamber that intersects the suction bore; a power generating unit disposed in said housing for actuating the cutting accessory; a valve assembly, said valve assembly including: a valve stem rotatably mounted in the valve chamber, said valve stem being formed from rigid material and being shaped to have a valve stem bore that extends between openings formed in said valve stem, the valve stem bore having a cross sectional area; and a valve barrel formed of compressible material and disposed in the valve stem bore, said valve barrel being shaped to define a valve bore that extends through the valve stem bore, the valve bore having opposed valve bore openings and a cross sectional area less than the cross sectional area of the valve stem bore, said valve barrel being formed to define first and second ribs, each said rib extending around an outer perimeter of a separate one of the valve bore openings and being dimensioned to contact a surface of said housing that defines the valve chamber; and an arm attached to said valve stem that is located outside of said housing.