Automatic hair transplanter for transplanting follicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9848909-B2
Application number	US-201615163527-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 24, 2016
Priority date	Jul 22, 2015
Publication date	Dec 26, 2017
Grant date	Dec 26, 2017

Abstract

Provided is an automatic hair transplanter for transplanting follicles including a housing having a space therein and having an aperture in a front surface, a cartridge installed behind the aperture and having a plurality of holes containing each of needle and rod assemblies, a cartridge driver configured to sequentially cause centers of the needle and rod assemblies to correspond to the center of the aperture by causing the cartridge to make a rectilinear motion or a rotary motion, a needle-and-rod assembly pressurizer configured to pressurize the back end of a needle and rod assembly whose center corresponds to the center of the aperture, and a manipulator having a switch for controlling operations of the cartridge mover and the needle-and-rod assembly pressurizer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An automatic hair transplanter for transplanting follicles, the automatic hair transplanter comprising:
a housing having a space therein and having an aperture in a front surface;
a cartridge installed behind the aperture and in which a plurality of holes containing each of needle and rod assemblies are formed;
a cartridge driver configured to sequentially cause centers of the needle and rod assemblies to correspond to a center of the aperture by causing the cartridge to make a rectilinear motion or a rotary motion;
a needle-and-rod assembly pressurizer configured to pressurize a back end of a needle and rod assembly whose center corresponds to the center of the aperture; and
a manipulator having a switch for controlling operations of the cartridge driver and the needle-and-rod assembly pressurizer.

2. The automatic hair transplanter of claim 1 , wherein the housing is formed to be divisible into upper and lower parts or left and right parts.

3. The automatic hair transplanter of claim 1 , wherein the housing has a holder for installing the cartridge.

4. The automatic hair transplanter of claim 1 , wherein the cartridge is formed in a straight-line shape in which the plurality of holes containing each of the needle and rod assemblies are disposed in one line.

5. The automatic hair transplanter of claim 4 , wherein the cartridge driver causes the cartridge of the straight-line shape to make the rectilinear motion.

6. The automatic hair transplanter of claim 1 , wherein the cartridge is formed in a cylindrical shape in which the plurality of holes containing each of the needle and rod assemblies are disposed in a circular shape.

7. The automatic hair transplanter of claim 6 , wherein the cartridge driver causes the cartridge of the cylindrical shape to make the rotary motion.

8. The automatic hair transplanter of claim 1 , wherein each of the needle and rod assemblies includes:
a needle whose front end contains a follicle;
a rod inserted into the needle;
a first elastic body configured to elastically support the needle; and
a second elastic body configured to elastically support the rod.

9. The automatic hair transplanter of claim 8 , wherein the first elastic body has a lower elasticity than the second elastic body.

10. The automatic hair transplanter of claim 1 , wherein the cartridge driver includes:
a motor configured to rotate upon application of power;
a driving gear coupled to a shaft of the motor; and
a driven gear coupled to the cartridge and engaged with the driving gear.

11. The automatic hair transplanter of claim 1 , wherein the needle-and-rod assembly pressurizer includes:
a motor configured to rotate upon application of power;
a screw configured to rotate by the rotation of the motor;
a moving block threadedly engaged with the screw; and
a pressurization shaft coupled to the moving block.

12. The automatic hair transplanter of claim 11 , wherein a center of the pressurization shaft corresponds to the center of the aperture.

13. The automatic hair transplanter of claim 1 , wherein the manipulator is disposed on an outer surface of the housing.

Assignees

• Electronics & Telecommunications Res Inst
• Kyungpook National Univ Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation

Inventors

• Bae Tae Wuk
• Kim Kyu Hyung
• Kim Moon Kyu
• Kim Jung Chul
• Suh Jung Wook
• Lee Soo In
• Lee Hyung Soo
• Jung Yong Chul
• Choi Eun Chang
• Kim Dae Sik
• Hong Chang Hyuk

Classifications

• A61B2017/00752

  Hair removal or transplantation · CPC title

• A61B2017/320064

  with tissue or sample retaining means · CPC title

• A61B2017/00969

  used for transplantation · CPC title

• A61B17/3468 Primary

  for implanting or removing devices, e.g. prostheses, implants, seeds, wires (devices for implanting seeds A61M37/0069) · CPC title

• A61B17/32053

  Punch like cutting instruments, e.g. using a cylindrical or oval knife (A61B17/326 takes precedence; trepans A61B17/1695) · CPC title