US 4551862

Patent Overview: US 4,551,862 — "Prosthetic Sphincter"

Bibliographic data (from supplied text): Application US06/435,761; filed 1982-12-15; granted and published 1985-11-12; inventor Terry M. Haber; original assignee "Individual"; assigned 1986-02-03 to Habley Medical Technology Corporation (a California corporation); status "Expired – Fee Related" with anticipated expiration 2002-12-15. Classification: A61F2/0036 (implantable devices constricting a lumen); cross-reference Y10S128/25 (artificial sphincters).

Purpose: The patent addresses incontinence by providing a prosthetic sphincter implantable without invading the elimination passage itself. It is intended to close the descending intestine or lower colon in a manner analogous to the normal sphincter muscle, and can be miniaturized for occluding a smaller-diameter pediatric urethra. The specification notes that devices placed on or just beneath the abdominal wall at a stoma are "unnatural" in location, whereas this device may sit at the anal-positioned end of the intestine, near the natural sphincter position.

Plain-language scope (from the definition and description): A stationary ring has an inward flange with a flat ledge and a circumferential spacer bead; a rotatable ring seats coaxially on that ledge, held concentric by the bead, which also provides a snapping and holding function. Occlusion spring means — described as individual elongated bendable elements (e.g., 15, 16, 17) fixed at first ends to the rotatable ring at 120° spaced points (18, 19, 20), their second ends terminating in small spheres (21, 22, 23) received in securement cavities (24–26) in the stationary ring — interconnect the two rings. Rotating the rotatable ring from a first to a second position drives the elements into the ring opening to occlude a passage about which the assembly is placed, holding occlusion until the ring is rotated back. Figures 1–8 depict exploded, assembled open/closed, cross-sectional, and modified embodiments, plus implantation across the large intestine and/or urethra.

Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US4551862/en

Not established by this excerpt: the full claims and their exact wording; the complete specification (the text is marked "[Excerpt only]"); the detailed structure of the FIGS. 5–7 modified embodiments and the referenced "control means"; materials beyond passing mentions (silicone-containing polymers, metals); and any information on prior-art references, litigation, or ownership changes beyond the recorded assignment. No such matters are asserted here.