Surgical sagittal saw blade assembly formed by punching a pivot boss from one of the static plates of the assembly

Abstract

A surgical sagittal saw blade assembly formed that includes a static bar, an oscillating blade head and at least one drive rod that reciprocates to oscillate the blade head. The bar is formed from two plates. A boss is pouch formed to extend up from one of the plates. The boss serves as the static pivot point around which the blade head oscillates. When the plates are secured together to form the bar, the top of the boss is welded to the inner surface of the second plate.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A surgical sagittal saw blade assembly having an oscillating blade head manufactured according to the steps of:
 providing a first plate;   punching out a portion of said first plate to form a boss, said boss having an outer wall that is at least partially circular and a top surface that is substantially perpendicular to said outer wall;   positioning a blade head on a distal end of said first plate, said blade head having a base that is disposed against said boss so as to be able to pivot around said outer wall of said boss and a crown located outside of said first plate, the crown being formed with teeth;   positioning at least one drive rod on said first plate, said at least one drive rod attached to said blade head; and   positioning a second plate over the fist plate so that the second plate covers the blade head base, the boss formed in the first plate and the at least one drive rod; and   securing the second plate to the first plate wherein said securing step includes forming a weld between the top surface of the boss and an adjacent surface of the second plate.   
     
     
         22 . The, wherein said punching step to define said boss includes performing a plurality of different punching sub-steps that are sequentially performed to form said boss. 
     
     
         23 . The surgical sagittal saw blade assembly of  claim 21 , wherein, as a result of said step of punching out a portion of said first plate to form said boss, the outer wall of said boss has a substantially circular shape. 
     
     
         24 . The surgical sagittal saw blade assembly of  claim 21 , wherein said punching step to define said boss includes:
 a first punching action in which the first plate is formed so as to define in said plate a boss having an outer wall with a substantially circular shape and a tip that protrudes from the outer wall that has a curved shape; and   at least one second punching action in which the boss is further formed to flatten the tip into the top surface that is substantially perpendicular to the boss outer wall.   
     
     
         25 . The surgical sagittal saw blade assembly of  claim 24 , wherein said punching step to define said boss includes performing a plurality of said second punching actions to form the top surface of the boss. 
     
     
         26 . The surgical sagittal saw blade assembly of  claim 21 , wherein said step of securing the plates together includes the further steps of:
 forming at least one center weld between the plates, said center weld located inwardly of opposed sides of the plates; and   after said at least one center weld is formed, welding together a first section of adjacent surfaces on a first side of said plates; welding together a first section of adjacent surfaces on a second side of said plates; welding together a second section of adjacent surfaces on said first side of said plates; and welding together a second section of adjacent surfaces on said second side of said plates.   
     
     
         27 . The surgical sagittal saw blade assembly of  claim 26 , wherein in said step of securing the plates together:
 said step of forming the at least one center weld between the plates, an elongated weld is formed between the plates; and   after said step of forming the elongated weld between the plates, said step of welding the top surface of the boss to the second plate is performed.   
     
     
         28 . The surgical sagittal saw blade assembly of  claim 21 , wherein said steps of forming the welds between the plates is performed by laser welding. 
     
     
         29 . The surgical sagittal saw blade assembly of  claim 21 , wherein said step of forming the weld between the top surface of the boss and the second plate is performed by penetration welding. 
     
     
         30 . The surgical sagittal saw blade assembly of  claim 21 , wherein said step of securing said second plate to said first plate further includes the steps of:
 forming at least one inwardly directed gusset in one of said plates; and   forming at least one center weld between said plates, wherein the at least one said gusset is welded to an adjacent interior surface of a second one of said plates.   
     
     
         31 . The surgical sagittal saw blade assembly of  claim 21 , wherein said step of securing said second plate to said first plate further includes the steps of:
 forming one of the first plate or the second plate with a lip that extends along an outer perimeter of the plate so that when the second plate is placed over the first plate, a side edge surface the other plate is adjacent a side surface of said lip; and   welding said plates together so that the side surface of said lip is welded to the other one of the plates.   
     
     
         32 . The surgical sagittal saw blade assembly of  claim 21 , wherein the at least one drive rod that attached to the blade head that is disposed in the blade bar is pivotally attached to the blade head. 
     
     
         33 . The surgical sagittal saw blade assembly of  claim 21 , wherein the blade head that is placed on the first plate is shaped so that
 the base dimensioned to fit between the first and second plates; and   the crown ( 48 ) has a thickness greater than that of base so that kerf cut by the crown is of sufficient thickness to receive the blade head base and distal ends of the first and second plates.   
     
     
         34 . The surgical sagittal saw blade assembly of  claim 21 , wherein:
 both the first and second plates have a distal end and the blade head crown extends forward from the distal ends of the plate;   at least one of the plates has an opening located proximal to the distal end;   a finger extends above said at least one drive rod and distally forward of said drive rod so as to extend over the blade head base, wherein the finger is pivotally attached to the blade head base, and   said blade head and said at least one drive rod are positioned on the first plate so that, if the first plate is formed with the opening, the finger seats in the opening or, if the second plate is formed with the opening, when the second plate is positioned over the first plate, the finger seats in the opening formed in the second plate.   
     
     
         35 . The surgical sagittal saw blade assembly of  claim 21 , wherein in said step of positioning at least one drive rod on the first plate, plural drive rods that are attached to the blade head base are positioned on the first plate.