U.S. Pat. No. 3,385,299 discloses a wound clip which is particularly effective in closing wound flaps as a quick and convenient replacement for conventional suturing techniques. The wound clip of that patent incorporates ratchet teeth along the sides of a member which slides in a housing. The ratchet teeth are selectively engaged by a spring fitting in slots in the housing. While this arrangement is effective it does require a certain amount of force to disengage the spring for permitting release of the ratchet whereby the sliding action may take place. It would be desirable to avoid the necessity of such manipulations by providing simpler methods of manipulations by the nurse or technician without any hampering in the degree of effectiveness. It would also be desirable to minimize the number of separate components by, for example, avoiding the necessity of using a completely detachable spring as in the above patent.
A further prior ratchet type arrangement is the suture clamp of U.S. Pat. No. 268,632.
The present invention is particularly directed to human application. There exists in other arts various other devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 380,093 relates to a hoof clasp which includes a pair of relatively slidable members each of which terminates in a series of hooks or prongs for securement into the hoof. One of the members terminates in an undulated or grooved portion which is intended to cooperate with a bent tongue in the other member. The locking action generally takes place above the crack rather than at a more secured area such as the area where the device itself is anchored. Additionally, the clasp is made of a sheet metal material which would tend to be deformed thus limiting its useful life.