Patents by Inventor Nicholas Richard Kemp

Nicholas Richard Kemp has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5879368
    Abstract: A gas-tight seal module is incorporated in a trocar system to form a gas-tight seal about an instrument inserted into the cannula of the trocar system. The module incorporates an apertured disc. The aperture in the disc can be stretched to accommodate a seal about an instrument inserted into the cannula. The disc is carried by a flaccid membrane which extends across the module. A pair of rigid washers clamped on opposite sides of the disc are constrained for movement between two parallel spaced surfaces. The disc is thus freely moveable in its own plane to accommodate off-axis movement of the instrument thus avoiding the breakage of the seal with the instrument which would otherwise occur if the disc did not have the same freedom of movement. The disc also acts to clean the surface of the instrument when withdrawn so as to avoid contamination of a flap valve upstream of the disc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 9, 1999
    Assignee: 3i Group plc
    Inventors: William John Hoskin, deceased, Nicholas Richard Kemp
  • Patent number: 5810881
    Abstract: A surgical needle holder has the facing surfaces of its jaws lined with memory alloy which is soft enough to distort around a needle when gripped between the jaws. A better grip on the needle is thus achieved. The surfaces of the inserts may be profiled with ribs to allow the alloy to be subject to a greater pressure per square centimeter locally and so more readily deformed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 22, 1998
    Assignee: Microsurgical Equipment Ltd.
    Inventors: William John Hoskin, deceased, Nicholas Richard Kemp
  • Patent number: 5730728
    Abstract: A gas-tight seal module is incorporated in a trocar system to form a gas-tight seal about an instrument inserted into the cannula of the trocar system. The module incorporates an apertured disc. The aperture in the disc can be stretched to accommodate a seal about an instrument inserted into the cannula. The disc is carried by a flaccid membrane which extends across the module. A pair of rigid washers clamped on opposite sides of the disc are constrained for movement between two parallel spaced surfaces. The disc is thus freely moveable in its own plane to accommodate off-axis movement of the instrument thus avoiding the breakage of the seal with the instrument which would otherwise occur if the disc did not have the same freedom of movement. The disc also acts to clean the surface of the instrument when withdrawn so as to avoid contamination of a flap valve upstream of the disc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 1996
    Date of Patent: March 24, 1998
    Assignee: 3i Group plc
    Inventors: William John Hoskin, deceased, Nicholas Richard Kemp