Ethicon, Gmbh

Harro Hofliger Verpackungsmaschinen Gmbh

Harro Hofliger

Donald Pompei

Konstantin K Ivanov

Robert J Cerwin

Clifford A Dey

Mehmet Reyhan

David A Szabo

William R Reinhardt

Robert Nunez

J Mark Findlay

Erwin Bauder

Manfred Reiser

Martin Sobel

Joseph Stanley Siernos

Manfred Hild

Andrew Chaloka

John Rega

Haro Hofliger

Edgar Wieland

Roland Eissele

Jost Mucheyer

James Lotze

Walter Bohringer

John M Findlay

Lorens Slokovic

Automated packaging of surgical needle-suture assemblies includes a framing operation in which adjacent sheets of polymer coated aluminum foils are conveyed through a sequence of steps in an apparatus which produces frames containing plastic packets of needle-suture assemblies. A vision system having video cameras connected to a specially adapted computer enables monitoring the product traveling through the framing operation to detect various defects in the foil and in the product formation. Upon detection of a defect, the computer system can either identify and separate rejected product from good product or shut down the apparatus.

Method of and apparatus for detecting defects in a process for making

A package for maintaining a needle-suture product in a sterile condition includes a peelable foil container in which a peripheral heat seal defines a cavity for retaining a suture packet. The packet has a plastic tray and a stiff paper lid secured to the tray by hinged paper cleats extending into sockets in the tray. The lid covers most of the area of the tray, leaving an uncovered portion for accessing a needle mounted in the tray. A suture attached to the needle is coiled in a peripheral track in the tray so that an extended length of suture material can be retained in a relatively small space. The container has top and bottom aluminum foils with differentiated polymeric coatings on their interior surfaces, which are thermally fused to form the seal. Unsealed foil flaps are provided at one end of the container to enable peeling apart the foils to open the package.

Surgical suture package with peelable foil heat seal

Automated packaging of surgical needle-suture assemblies includes a framing operation in which adjacent sheets of polymer coated aluminum foils are conveyed through a sequence of steps in an apparatus which produces frames containing plastic packets of needle-suture assemblies. The apparatus pulls a web of foil off a large diameter feed roll and maintains web alignment as it travels down line through the apparatus by a system that optically detects transverse movement of the web as it is fed into the apparatus and adjusts the position of the feed roll relative to the centerline of travel using a hi-directional stepper motor. Discontinuities in the polymer coating on the top surface of the web of foil are automatically detected so that remedial steps can be taken to avoid processing defective sections of the web. A vision system having video cameras connected to a specially adapted computer enables monitoring the product travelling through the apparatus to detect various defects in the product formation. Upon detection of a defect, the computer system can either identify and separate rejected product from good product or shut down the apparatus. A servo drive system enables rapid and controllable advancement of the web down line in the apparatus.

Apparatus for feeding foil stock in a process for making sealed sterile

A method for making sterile suture packages employs a frame assembly line, a sterilization line and a blanker/cartoner line. A web of foil is advanced in a series of movements through the frame assembly line to assemble a frame containing needle-suture assemblies in a plurality of cavities in the frame, the frame having top and bottom aluminum foils with heat seal coatings on their facing surfaces. The cavities are formed in the bottom foil of each frame by a combination of pressurized air and mechanical plugs which are forced against the bottom foil and an underlying die having recesses for defining the cavities. A blanking operation following sterilization and sealing separates individual packages, each containing one needle-suture assembly, from the frame. The packages are then conveyed by belts through inspection stations and reoriented for loading into shipping cartons.

Method for making sterile suture packages

The specification discloses an automated apparatus and method for packaging surgical needles having sutures attached thereto wherein a bundle of needles and sutures are placed at a semi-automated separation station and an operator feeds the needles, one at a time, into a rotating needle feed wheel. As the feed wheel advances, the suture is tensioned and directed along a pre-determined path to separate it from the remaining sutures in the bundle. The apparatus has a plurality of individually rotatable tool nests which are sequentially spaced on a rotating or indexing turntable. These tool nests sequentially receive plastic packages for receiving the needle and suture at a first station. At a second station, a needle is inserted into the package by robotic fingers which have retrieved the needle and attached suture from the rotating needle feed wheel. The rotating needle feed wheel and the rotating tool nests are synchronized to step together as each advances. At a third station, the package and needle are rotated to tension the suture and position the package and the suture for automatic winding of the suture into the package. At a fourth station, the rotatable tool nest is rapidly rotated to wind the suture into a circumferential channel in the package which surrounds the needle.

Automatic zipper package winding and packaging machine

Needle feed wheel and needle transfer mechanism

Zipper package winding tool mechanism

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Montville, NJ, United States of America

Donald Pompei