Articulation assemblies for use with endoscopic surgical instruments

An articulation assembly for use with a surgical instrument including an elongated portion, a first jaw member and a second jaw member, the articulation assembly comprising:

• a plurality of joints, each joint defining:
• a plurality of openings extending longitudinally therethrough;
• a central opening extending longitudinally therethrough;
• a pair of projections extending from a first surface;
• and
• a pair of grooves extending at least partially through a second surface, each groove of at least one joint configured to engage one projection of the pair of projections from an adjacent joint;
• a plurality of cables, each cable extending through one opening of the plurality of openings of each joint;
• and
• a first drive member extending through the central opening of each joint, wherein each joint of the plurality of joints includes a pair of contours and a pair of platforms, each contour of the pair of contours of at least one joint is configured to engage one platform of the pair of platforms of an adjacent joint, wherein each projection of each joint is 90° offset from each contour of the pair of contours.

An articulation assembly for use with a surgical instrument including an elongated portion, a first jaw member and a second jaw member, the articulation assembly comprising:

• a plurality of joints, each joint defining:
• a plurality of openings extending longitudinally therethrough;
• a central opening extending longitudinally therethrough;
• a pair of projections extending from a first surface;
• and
• a pair of grooves extending at least partially through a second surface, each groove of at least one joint configured to engage one projection of the pair of projections from an adjacent joint;
• a plurality of cables, each cable extending through one opening of the plurality of openings of each joint;
• a first drive member extending through the central opening of each joint, wherein the plurality of cables includes four cables;
• and
• a cable actuator disposed in mechanical cooperation with a handle assembly of the surgical instrument, the cable actuator including a first aperture and a second aperture defined therethrough, two cables of the plurality of cables extending through the first aperture of the actuator, and two cables of the plurality of cables extending through the second aperture of the actuator.