Trocar assembly with rotatable tip

Claim 1

A trocar assembly for piercing a body cavity which comprises: hand gripping means dimensioned and configured to be held firmly between the palm and fingers of the user; a trocar obturator having a front end portion and a rear end portion; means for mounting said rear end portion of said trocar obturator on said hand gripping means; a body piercing tip mounted on the front end portion of said trocar obturator and adapted for piercing a wall portion of the body cavity upon application of a predetermined force; means to permit said body piercing tip to rotate independently of said hand gripping means such that when said hand gripping means is held firmly between the palm and the fingers of the user and said piercing tip is positioned against a body portion, and said piercing tip is thrust through the wall of the body cavity, said piercing tip is held in fixed position by the wall of the body cavity while said hand gripping means is permitted to rotate independent of said piercing tip; an enlongated trocar tube dimensioned and configured for reception of said trocar obturator; said obturator mounting means includes a retaining head mounted on the rear end of the obturator, the retaining head being rotably and securely mounted in a socket formed in the hand grip portion; said retaining head is disposed co-axially to the obturator and includes a frusto-conically shaped end portion, the socket of the hand grip portion having a shape conforming to that of the retaining head end portion to closely receive and retain the end portion; said frusto-conically shaped end portion has a cross-section which widens in a direction rearwardly from the rear end of the obturator.

Claim 17

A method of puncturing a body wall comprising: (i) providing a trocar assembly including: a) an elongated obturator having a body piercing tip at its front end, said body piercing tip being rotatably mounted to said obturator; b) a cannula assembly including a cannula housing and an elongated trocar tube fixedly mounted to said cannula housing; c) a hand grip mounted to the rear end of said obturator and dimensioned and configured to mate with said cannula housing and to be grasped by a user; (ii) grasping at least said hand grip; (iii) positioning said piercing tip against a body wall; (iv) applying pressure to said hand grip to force said piercing tip through the body wall, said piercing tip being held in a fixed position by the body wall at least until said piercing tip passes entirely through the body wall, said hand grip and said elongated trocar tube being permitted to rotate independent of said piercing tip as pressure is applied.

Claim 18

A method of puncturing a body wall comprising: (i) providing a trocar assembly including: a) an elongated obturator having a body piercing tip at its front end, said body piercing tip being rotatably mounted to said obturator; b) a cannula assembly including a cannula housing and an elongated trocar tube fixedly mounted to said cannula housing; c) a hand grip mounted to the rear end of said obturator and dimensioned and configured to mate with said cannula housing and to be grasped by a user; (ii) grasping at least said hand grip; (iii) positioning said piercing tip against a body wall; (iv) applying pressure to said hand grip to force said piercing tip through the body wall, said piercing tip being held in a fixed position by the body wall at least until said piercing tip passes entirely through the body wall, said hand grip and said elongated trocar tube being permitted to rotate independent of said piercing tip as pressure is applied.