Surgical drill with detachable hand-piece

Claim 1

A surgical drill of the type comprising: a. a hand-piece housing b. a compound driven shaft rotatably mounted in said housing having aligned forward and intermediate shaft members, a pinion on said forward shaft member adjacent said intermediate shaft member, a drive gear mounted on said intermediate shaft and member the teeth of which extend outwardly therefrom toward said pinion, said gear and pinion maTing in operative driving relation. c. a cutting element having a shank releasably connectable to said driven shaft d. means to exchangeably and operatively couple said cutting element and said driven shaft which comprises a slotted shaft front-piece having a central opening therein adapted to receive the shank of said cutting element, and a collet adapted to fit over said shank and said front-piece and threadedly engage with said front-piece so as to releasably hold said shank in said shank. e. a drive housing including drive means therein having a drive shaft f. means to detachably connect said hand-piece housing to said drive housing and g. means to exchangeably and operatively couple said drive and driven shafts which comprises a clutch member attached to said drive shaft, a claw member on rear end of said intermediate shaft member of said compound driven shaft having cooperating arm members extending therefrom toward said clutch member adapted to mate in operative driving relation when said handpiece is connected to said drive housing.