The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 18, 2014
Filed:
Jun. 24, 2011
Paul T. Franer, Cincinnati, OH (US);
Thomas A. Gilker, Cincinnati, OH (US);
Cesar E. Moreno, Jr., Cincinnati, OH (US);
Rosemarie Elefante, Loveland, OH (US);
Daniel J. Mumaw, Milford, OH (US);
Paul T. Franer, Cincinnati, OH (US);
Thomas A. Gilker, Cincinnati, OH (US);
Cesar E. Moreno, Jr., Cincinnati, OH (US);
Rosemarie Elefante, Loveland, OH (US);
Daniel J. Mumaw, Milford, OH (US);
Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc., Cincinnati, OH (US);
Abstract
Seal assemblies or valves, generally for use in trocar assemblies, are provided for reducing the amount of contact between an instrument being passed into and out of a trocar assembly and an inner surface of a sealing wall of such seal assemblies or valves. In one exemplary embodiment a valve includes an activation extension that is formed on the inner surface of the sealing wall of the valve and is configured such that a distal end of the sealing wall is moved to the open position by an instrument contacting the activation extension. In one embodiment the instrument does not come into contact with the inner surface of the sealing wall during the procedure. In another embodiment a distal-most end of the activation extension can be closer to a longitudinal axis extending through the flange than the inner surface of the sealing wall.