Specification of David Oppenheimer : surgical needle.

  • Oppenheimer, David.
Date:
1875
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Specification of David Oppenheimer : surgical needle. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    5/8 (page 3)
    Oppenheimers Improved Surgical Needle. NOW KNOW YE that I, the said David Oppenheimer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to he particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying 5 Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon as communicated to me, that is to say:— This improved needle has its head end split to form jaws ; these jaws have their ends bevilled and their inner sides grooved or recessed longi¬ tudinally, and they are provided with a pin or stud inclined in a 10 downward direction, and extending from the inner side of one jaw to or nearly to the other jaw. The ends of the jaws being bevilled form a notch into which the thread is pressed, thus extending the jaws, and allowing the thread to pass down between them and below the pin. The two ends of the thread are then drawn upward, and the pin or stud pre- 15 vents it from coming out, the two ends lying in the grooves of the jaws, and passing out through the end of the needle. The accompanying Drawings exemplify the mode in which the Invention may be best carried into practical effect. Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section of a needle constructed 20 according to this Invention; Figure 2 is a front elevation partly in section of the same. In the Drawings the needle shewn is adapted for surgical purposes, but it is obvious that the Invention may be applied in like manner to needles used for other purposes. 25 A is the needle. The head, blunt end, or thread eye end of the needle is split, slotted, or divided longitudinally for a short and suitable distance. Thus a pair of jaws is formed. These jaws are marked in the Drawings a> a*. The jaws are bevilled at their outer or open ends, as shewn, so that they form a notch b at the end of the needle. The inner 30 sides of the jaws a, ax, are grooved, channelled, or hollowed to form a longitudinal aperture, recess, or notch D at this end of the needle, i is a pin or stud projecting from one end of the jaws a*. It extends across the aperture D to or nearly to the inner side of the opposite jaw a in a downward direction, as shewn in Figure 1. In threading the needle, 35 thread is pressed into the notch b. This action spreads or extends the jaws a} ax, allowing the thread to pass down between them until it passes