US 11304693

Patent Overview — US 11,304,693 B2

Title: Staples and staple delivery and drill guides

Patent number: US11304693B2 | Application: US16/539,473 | Filed: 2019-08-13 | Granted/Published: 2022-04-19 | Priority date: 2014-05-21 | Adjusted expiration: 2036-04-07 (per listing; status "Active"). Current assignee: Zimmer Inc (originally Zimmer Inc; assignment records also list Nextremity Solutions, Inc.). Inventors: Lon S. Weiner, Jorge Montoya, John R. Pepper, Stuart D. Katchis, Lawrence Kiefer.

Purpose: The disclosure addresses staples or retainers, and staple/retainer delivery and drill guides. Staples are described as alternatives or additions to sutures for holding biological elements together — closing openings, incisions, or wounds, and attaching bone segments. The stated aim is applying and maintaining a compressive force or pressure between biological elements, since some (e.g., bone segments) reportedly heal or fuse quicker and more securely under compression, with less pain and greater stability during healing.

Plain-language scope (from the excerpt): The staple has a non-linearly extending bridge portion and a pair of tines extending from the bridge portion, with free ends configured to be implanted into biological elements. In a first bridge state the tines are spaced a first distance apart; the bridge is elastically deformable into a second state in which the tines are spaced a greater second distance, so the tines may be pre-loaded to apply compressive force between them. Disclosed variations: tines extending from opposing bridge ends; bridge portions comprising multiple linearly extending, mutually angled portions; arcuate shapes; serpentine patterns; at least two distinct bridge portions following differing non-linear paths; circular or rectangular cross-sections; bridge cross-sections larger near the tines than distal to them; a bridge aperture; and a bridge extending on a first side of the tines with an intermediate portion positioned furthest from the tines on that side.

Classifications listed: A61B17/064, A61B17/0642, A61B17/0682, A61B17/17, A61B2017/0645.

Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US11304693/en

What this excerpt does not establish: It is partial — text is marked "[Excerpt only; consult the source for omitted text]," so claim language, claim count, full written description, drawings, embodiments, and the delivery/drill-guide subject matter implied by the title are not shown here. It does not establish legal status, claim validity, enforceability, or the accuracy of the priority date, assignee listing, or expiration, which the source itself labels assumptions.