Medical Instrument with Consistent Smoothness of Action - US12599392B2
Summary
The USPTO granted Patent US12599392B2 to Aesculap AG for a medical instrument featuring improved pivot mechanism design with bearing portions and shoulder elements that ensure consistent sliding action. The patent, filed October 18, 2021, contains 19 claims covering surgical instruments with enhanced operational smoothness. Aesculap AG and its inventors Sven Barthelmes, Holger Loesdau, Christian Stark, and Markus Knecht hold the rights to this technology.
What changed
The USPTO granted Patent US12599392B2 to Aesculap AG for a medical instrument featuring bearing portions with support surfaces that pivot in a sliding fashion, with shoulder elements stepped outwardly relative to bearing portions to enhance operational smoothness. The patent covers instruments including forceps and surgical tools classified under A61B categories.\n\nMedical device manufacturers and surgical instrument developers should monitor this patent for potential licensing implications or to assess freedom-to-operate for similar pivot mechanism designs in their own product lines. The patent's 19 claims provide broad coverage for instruments with improved pivot axis configurations.
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Archived snapshot
Apr 15, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
Medical instrument with consistent smoothness of action
Grant US12599392B2 Kind: B2 Apr 14, 2026
Assignee
Aesculap AG
Inventors
Sven Barthelmes, Holger Loesdau, Christian Stark, Markus Knecht
Abstract
A medical instrument includes a first instrument branch having a first bearing portion with a first support surface, and includes a second instrument branch having a second bearing portion with a second support surface. The first support surface bears flat against the second support surface such that the first support surface can pivot in a sliding fashion so that the first instrument branch is pivotable relative to the second instrument branch about a pivot axis. The first bearing portion and/or the second bearing portion has, in the region of the pivot axis, a shoulder portion or a shoulder element with an end face that includes the associated support surface. The shoulder portion or shoulder element is stepped outwardly relative to the associated bearing portion in the direction of the pivot axis so that the associated support surface is stepped outwardly relative to the associated bearing portion.
CPC Classifications
A61B 17/28 A61B 17/2812 A61B 17/2816 A61B 17/29 A61B 17/3201 A61B 2017/00477 A61B 2017/0084 A61B 2017/00845 A61B 2017/2808 A61B 2017/2919 A61B 2017/2947 A61B 18/1442 A61B 18/1445 A61B 18/1447 A61B 2018/146 A61B 2090/0813 B25B 7/06 B25B 7/08 B26B 13/28
Filing Date
2021-10-18
Application No.
18032549
Claims
19
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Source
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