United States Surgical Corporation

The Toro Company

Fluidmaster, Inc.

United States of America Surgical Corporation

Richard C McClure

Keith L Milliman

Mitchell J Palmer

Lisa W Heaton

David T Green

Robert C Savage

Henry Bolanos

Alli Alim

Steven C Renquist

Peter Janku

Saroj Manandhar

Henry R Sienkiewicz

John C McKay

Graham W Bryan

Alan B Bachman

Miguel C Garcia

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention a sprinkler is provided, having a first shaft coupled to a drive mechanism and a grooved deflector. A second shaft is disposed within the first shaft, coupled to a water flow adjustment mechanism and an adjustment region on the top of the deflector. The first shaft transfers rotational movement from the drive mechanism to a grooved deflector on the top of the sprinkler. The second shaft rotates with the first shaft during normal operation due to a friction clutch within the sprinkler. When the user desires to adjust the water flow (i.e., the radius of the water), the friction of the clutch can be overcome by rotating the second shaft, increasing openings of flow passages within the sprinkler body. In this respect, flow adjustments can be made from the top of the sprinkler while the deflector rotates.

Sprinkler with dual shafts

A disposable loading unit is disclosed for use in conjunction with a surgical stapling apparatus configured to sequentially apply a plurality of surgical fasteners to body tissue. The apparatus includes an actuation assembly for effectuating a fastener applying operation, and a housing for receiving and releasably supporting the disposable loading unit. The disposable loading unit includes a staple cartridge body having a longitudinal pathway extending therethrough and a plurality of spaced apart retention slots defined therein each supporting a respective surgical fastener, a plurality of fastener ejection members disposed adjacent the plurality of spaced apart retention slots and communicating with the longitudinal pathway, and an actuator supported within the staple cartridge body and configured to engage the actuation assembly of the apparatus and translate through the longitudinal pathway to contact the fastener ejection members and thereby sequentially eject the surgical fasteners from their respective retention slots.

Disposable loading unit for surgical stapler

A flush valve is adapted to be mounted in the tank of a toilet and includes a selector assembly and a flush valve. The selector assembly is accessible from outside the toilet and provides for initiation of the flushing operation and an alternative choice between a larger flush water volume and a smaller flush water volume. A support structure provides for both axial and radial movement of the selector assembly relative to the flush valve in order to facilitate mounting and alignment of the flush valve assembly. A slide mechanism provides for variation of at least the smaller flush water volume.

Dual-flush valve

Apparatus for applying surgical fasteners to body tissue which includes a body having a proximal portion defining a central longitudinal axis and an articulating distal portion; a fastener cartridge containing at least one surgical fastener therein and positionable in the articulating distal portion; an anvil mounted adjacent the fastener cartridge and defining a fastener forming surface against which surgical fasteners are formed when ejected from the fastener cartridge; a fastener driving mechanism operatively associated with the fastener cartridge and actuatable from the handle to eject the at least one fastener from the fastener cartridge; a link member having a distal portion offset from the body central longitudinal axis and pivotably connected to the articulating distal portion at a point spaced from the body central longitudinal axis, the link member being movable between a proximal-most position to move the distal portion to an articulated condition away from the central longitudinal axis on a first side of the body and a distal-most position to move the distal portion to an articulated condition away from the central longitudinal axis on a second side of the body; and a control lever connected to the link member and pivotable about a point located along the body central longitudinal axis between a first position corresponding to the proximal-most position of the link member and a second position corresponding to the distal-most position of the link member.

Articulating apparatus for applying surgical fasteners to body tissue

Apparatus for applying a plurality of surgical fasteners to body tissue includes an elongated body extending from a handle assembly. A fastener cartridge housing pivotably connected to a distal portion of the elongated body receives a fastener cartridge containing a plurality of surgical fasteners. A fastener driving mechanism actuatable from the handle assembly ejects fasteners from the fastener cartridge to form them against an anvil mounted adjacent the cartridge housing. The fastener cartridge is pivotably movable from a position in alignment with a longitudinal axis of the elongated body to a position out of alignment with the elongated body. Visual indication of the relative position of the fastener cartridge is provided by a control lever which is movable toward and away from the handle assembly to correspond with movement of the fastener cartridge. A clamp mechanism is also provided to move the anvil relative to the cartridge housing to clamp tissue therebetween.

An apparatus for applying surgical fasteners is disclosed which includes a first lockout mechanism configured to prevent premature ejection of fasteners during shipment, and a second lockout mechanism to prevent reactuation of the apparatus after it has once been actuated.

Surgical stapler with lockout mechanism

A dual flush valve that can be operated in a partial flush mode to release only about half of the tank water to the toilet bowl, or in a full flush mode to release almost all of the tank water, is of simple and reliable construction. For a partial flushing a chain device (64, FIG. 2) connected to the outer end of the flush member, is pulled to raise the flush member only a small amount (to 14C), and a release mechanism (90) is connected to a separate location on the flush member to keep it up until a float (110) senses that about half of the tank water has been released. The float pivots an arm (102) to disengage a latch 94 on the arm from a catch (96) on the yoke of the flush member to release it. The float slides along the refill/overflow tube (26).

Float-controlled dual flush valve

A self contained gas powered endoscopic surgical apparatus is provided for placing lateral lines of surgical fasteners into body tissue. The apparatus includes a frame portion, an elongated portion extending from the frame portion, and an articulating fastener applying assembly associated with a distal end of the elongated portion. The fastener applying assembly includes a base portion, a staple cartridge housing, and an anvil member which has a forming surface thereon against which surgical fasteners are driven as they are ejected from the cartridge housing. A serf contained pneumatic system is associated with the frame portion and is actuable to eject the surgical fasteners from the cartridge assembly. A first mechanism is provided for effectuating the rotation of the fastener applying assembly about an axis defined by the body portion, a second mechanism is provided for effectuating the articulation of the fastener applying assembly, and a third mechanism is provided for independently rotating the cartridge housing and anvil member relative to a longitudinal axis defined by the base position to increase the range of operability of the apparatus.

Self contained gas powered surgical apparatus

A self contained gas powered endoscopic surgical apparatus is provided for placing lateral lines of surgical fasteners into body tissue. The apparatus includes a frame portion, an elongated portion extending from the frame portion, and an articulating fastener applying assembly associated with a distal end of the elongated portion. The fastener applying assembly includes a base portion, a staple cartridge housing, and an anvil member which has a forming surface thereon against which surgical fasteners are driven as they are ejected from the cartridge housing. A self contained pneumatic system is associated with the frame portion and is actuable to eject the surgical fasteners from the cartridge assembly. A first mechanism is provided for effectuating the rotation of the fastener applying assembly about an axis defined by the body portion, a second mechanism is provided for effectuating the articulation of the fastener applying assembly, and a third mechanism is provided for independently rotating the cartridge housing and anvil member relative to a longitudinal axis defined by the base position to increase the range of operability of the apparatus.

Growing community of inventors

Claremont, CA, United States of America

Richard C McClure