U.S. Patent 8011551 was awarded to Tyco Healthcare Group LP on 2011-09-06 and describes a “Retraction mechanism with clutch-less drive for use with a surgical apparatus.” This patent has been cited 423 times by other U.S. patents which places it in the top 500 cited patents since 2010 according to our law firm research, and makes it of the most innovative medical technology patents in the field of instruments. The abstract states:

A retraction mechanism allows the full distal retraction of the firing drive from various positions. The retraction mechanism has been developed for use with a hand held surgical apparatus. An embodiment of the retraction mechanism includes a drive member, a first pulley, a second pulley, and a firing drive. The drive mechanism is configured to be driven by a motor. The first pulley is configured to rotate when the motor drives the drive mechanism. The second pulley is movable relative to the first pulley between a proximal position and a distal position. The firing drive is movable relative to the first pulley between proximal and distal positions. In operation, the first pulley rotates in a first direction in response to a distal translation of the firing drive and wherein the firing drive moves proximally upon rotation of the first pulley in a second direction. Link: U.S. Patent 8011551

This patent was originally filed on 2009-06-17 which gives it a processing time of 811 days, compared to an average processing time of 1080 in the field. Tyco Healthcare Group LP has 1168 total patents. The first named inventor is Joseph F. Bender-Zanoni of Hamden, CT. The primary examiner was Rinaldi I Rada.

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