Surgical cutting device

Claim 1

In combination: a surgical instrument having an instrument head containing a cutting device for the cutting of a binding element; a binding element having an end-piece and a thicker section attached to the end-piece, the end-piece of said element which is to be cut off by said cutting device, said end-piece being drawn into said instrument until a predetermined section of said element has reached the vicinity of said instrument head; and said cutting device characterized in that said cutting device comprises: a cutting edge on said instrument head, said cutting edge being automatically movable essentially transversely through the end-piece, when a pre-set force on said cutting device exerted by said binding element is exceeded; and an actuation part on said instrument head engaging said predetermined section of said binding element; and characterized in that the cutting device is designed as a first leaf spring whose end-zone is curved towards the end-piece which is to be cut off and is sharpened to a cutting edge, and that the actuation part is a second leaf spring with an engagement piece arranged at its end, the side of the engagement piece which points to the instrument head lying against the curved end-zone of the first leaf spring and being engageable by the thicker section, the engagement piece curving the curved end-zone of the first leaf spring against the forces exerted by the first and second leaf spring.