Granted Patent B2

US 12,390,259 · App. 18/222,830 · Granted Aug 19, 2025

Inventors: Joshua Dittrich (Warsaw, IN); Neil Singer (Warsaw, IN); Ken Pasch (Warsaw, IN); Alexander Slocum (Bow, NH); Nitin Goyal (Mclean, VA)

Assignee: Zimmer, Inc.

A61B17/92A61B2017/924A61B2017/928

Abstract

Claims (36)

1. A linear electric surgical hammer impact tool comprising:

a housing defining a cavity extending along a longitudinal axis of the housing;

a shuttle located inside the cavity and arranged along the longitudinal axis of the housing, the shuttle comprising a first end, a second end, and a wall extending from the first end to the second end, the wall including opposing exterior key grooves extending a length of an exterior portion of the wall;

a hammer assembly located at least partially within a proximal end of the shuttle and arranged along the longitudinal axis of the housing;

a linear electric motor configured to drive a piston along the longitudinal axis in a first direction and a second direction; and

an impact assembly located at least partially within a distal end of the shuttle;

wherein motion of the hammer assembly in a first direction causes the hammer assembly to contact the first end of the shuttle to generate a forward impact and motion of the hammer assembly in a second direction causes the hammer assembly to contact the second end of the shuttle to generate a reverse impact.

2. The impact tool of claim 1 , wherein the hammer assembly includes an impact piston surrounding an impact hammer.

3. The impact tool of claim 2 , wherein the impact hammer includes a curved proximal contact surface.

4. The impact tool of claim 3 , wherein the curved proximal contact surface includes a radius of 100 mm.

5. The impact tool of claim 2 , wherein the impact piston includes a distal circumferential ridge to engage a reverse impact cap to generate reserve impacts.

6. The impact tool of claim 2 , wherein the impact assembly includes an impact button adapted to receive impacts from the impact hammer.

7. The impact tool of claim 6 , wherein the impact assembly includes an impact interface adapted to transfer impacts received on the impact button to an impact tool held in a chuck adjacent a distal end of the impact tool.

8. The impact tool of claim 6 , wherein the impact button is a polymer material and the impact hammer is a dense metal.

9. The impact tool of claim 6 , wherein the impact button includes a pocket formed to receive a radiused proximal surface of the impact hammer.

10. The impact tool of claim 1 , further comprising a proximal bias spring and a distal bias spring that operate to center the shuttle within the house and absorb excess impact energy.

11. The impact tool of claim 1 , further comprising a proximal energy absorption assembly and a distal energy absorption assembly.

12. The impact tool of claim 11 , wherein the proximal energy absorption assembly includes a forward absorption ring and a proximal bias ring.

13. The impact tool of claim 12 , wherein the forward absorption ring is an energy absorbing rubber and the proximal bias ring is a metallic ring structure adapted to receive a proximal bias spring.

14. The impact tool of claim 1 , wherein an impact shaft transmits impact from the impact assembly and extends distally through an impact shaft bearing assembly, the impact shaft bearing assembly operating as a self-aligning shaft bearing on the impact shaft.

15. The impact tool of claim 1 , further comprising a position sensor assembly including a slider clip to removably couple a position slider to the shuttle.

16. A method of homing an impact tool, the method comprising:

operating a linear electric motor to reverse a shuttle mechanism to a distal hard stop;

monitoring a position sensor assembly during operation of the linear electric motor;

determining, based on feedback from the position sensor assembly and the linear electric motor, that a distal home position has been reached;

upon determining that the distal home position was reached, operating the linear electric motor to move the shuttle mechanism to a proximal home position; and

determining, based on feedback from the position sensor assembly and the linear electric motor, that the proximal home position has been reached.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the determining the distal home position has been reached includes monitoring voltages on a distal position sensor and a proximal position sensor.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising calibrating the sensor assembly based on voltage readings at the distal home and proximal home positions.

19. A method of operating an impact tool, the method comprising:

detecting activation of a trigger mechanism to initiate an impact from the impact tool;

determining a position of a shuttle assembly within a housing of the impact tool, the shuttle assembly including components adapted to generate an impact;

determining, from the position of the shuttle assembly, an intended impact direction; and

delivering an impact in the intended impact direction by operating a linear electric impact mechanism.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising after delivering the impact, determining, based on a position of the trigger mechanism, whether to repeat delivery of the impact.

21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising, upon determining not to repeat delivery of the impact, parking the linear electric impact mechanism.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (247)