Patent ID: 7637896

Claim:
A trocar obturator, comprising: a shaft having a proximal end and a distal end including a landing area, the shaft also including an outer surface; a tip member secured to the distal end of the shaft, the tip member including a first end and a second end, as well as an outer surface wherein the first end of the tip member is shaped and dimensioned to fit over the landing area of the shaft; wherein a coupling structure links the tip member to the shaft, and the shaft adjacent the tip member tapers to a surface diameter substantially coextensive with the outer surface of the tip member, and the tip member adjacent the shaft tapers to a surface diameter substantially coextensive with the outer surface of the shafts; wherein the landing area includes a plurality of abutment members circumferentially oriented about the shaft defining raised sections and lowered sections along the distal end of the shaft, and the first end of the tip member includes extension arms shaped and dimensioned to fit between the abutment members creating an interlocking keyed coupling structure wherein the first end of the tip member extends different lengths to fit within the raised and lowered sections along the distal end of the shaft and the abutment members contact the first end of the tip member in recessed sections between the extension arms to define a series of spaced engagement joints between distal faces of the respective abutment members and the recessed sections at the first end of the tip member, the extension arms are tapered downwardly as they extend away from the second end of the tip member and the raised portions of the shaft taper upwardly as they extend toward the distal end of the shaft.