Electrosurgical Jaw Alignment via Pre-Assembly Drilling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for manufacturing jaw members for electrosurgical instruments often result in tissue-contacting surfaces not being accurately oriented when assembled, leading to potential misalignment and inefficiencies in tissue treatment during surgery.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the assembly of jaw members in a required orientation before forming pivot holes and inserting a pivot pin, ensuring precise alignment, which can be achieved through clamping and drilling or using softer materials to facilitate easier hole formation while maintaining the desired orientation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If jaw members are manufactured by overmoulding process, then manufacturing efficiency is improved, but manufacturing precision of tissue-contacting surface orientation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The jaw members are assembled in the required orientation before forming the pivot holes. This preliminary assembly ensures that the tissue-contacting surfaces are correctly oriented relative to each other before the pivotal connection is established, thereby resolving the orientation precision issue while maintaining manufacturing efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
A pivot pin is introduced as an intermediary component to connect the jaw members. The pivot pin passes through pivot holes that are formed after assembly, allowing the jaw members to be held in the correct orientation while providing a mechanical connection that maintains this orientation during operation
2Manufacturing precision
If pivot holes are formed after assembly, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The jaw members are pre-assembled in the required orientation before pivot hole formation. This preliminary assembly step establishes the correct geometric relationship between the jaw members, which simplifies the subsequent pivot hole formation process by providing a stable reference frame
Solution Approach 2:
The formation of pivot holes in both jaw members is combined into a single drilling operation. The drill bit passes through both jaw members simultaneously while they are held in the required orientation, thereby reducing the number of separate operations and minimizing the increase in process complexity
3Manufacturing precision
If jaw members are clamped together for drilling, then manufacturing precision is improved, but ease of manufacture deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
A localized clamping arrangement is applied only at the regions where the jaw members need to be held together during drilling. This provides sufficient stability for precision hole formation without requiring complete rigid fixation of the entire assembly, thereby maintaining ease of manufacture
Solution Approach 2:
A pilot hole or guide structure may be used as an intermediary to facilitate the drilling operation. This intermediary element helps establish the correct hole trajectory and position while the jaw members are clamped, making the hole formation process easier while maintaining precision
Data Source
AI summary
A pair of jaw members for an electrosurgical instrument is manufactured by providing first and second jaw members (2&3), each jaw member including a planar sealing surface (5&7). The jaw members are assembled with the first and second jaw members in a required orientation such that the planar sealing surface (5) of the first jaw member (2) is at a predetermined orientation with respect to the sealing surface (7) of the second jaw member (3). The first and second jaw members are held in the required orientation, and pivot holes (11&12) are formed in the first and second jaw members while they are held in the required orientation. When a pivot pin is inserted through the pivot holes in the first and second jaw members, the first and second jaw members are assembled into a pair of jaws.