US 11,298,180 B2Granted

Gear assembly for surgical instruments

AssigneeCovidien LP

InventorsKurt J. Anglese, Jason T. Sanders, Dylan R. Kingsley, Gregory P. Hertrich

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A surgical instrument includes a housing having a shaft extending distally therefrom, an end effector assembly disposed at a distal end of the shaft, a handle assembly coupled to the housing for manipulating the end effector assembly, a deployable assembly, at least one actuator for deploying and retracting the deployable assembly, and a closure member. The closure member is keyed to the actuator(s) and operably positioned relative to the movable handle of the handle assembly such that, upon rotation of the actuator(s) relative to the housing from an un-actuated position to an actuated position, the closure member is urged into contact with the movable handle to urge the movable handle from an initial position to a compressed position, thereby moving the end effector assembly to an approximated position.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A gear assembly of a surgical instrument, comprising:

a ring gear;
a planet gear operably engaged with the ring gear and configured to orbit within the ring gear, the planet gear coupled to an output and configured to impart translational motion to the output, wherein a first one-half orbit of the planet gear within the ring gear translates the output from a first position to a second position and wherein a second one-half orbit of the planet gear within the ring gear translates the output from the second position to the first position;
and
a ratchet gear coupled to an input configured to impart rotational motion to the ratchet gear, wherein the ratchet gear is releasably coupled to the planet gear such that, with the ratchet gear coupled to the planet gear, rotational motion imparted by the input effects translational motion of the output, and such that, with the ratchet gear decoupled from the planet gear, the output remains stationary despite rotational motion imparted by the input.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/047,139Filed 27 Jul 2018 · continuation
Priority: 17 Sep 2014
Published: US 2018/0333198 A122 Nov 2018
Granted: 12 Apr 2022
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification24 codes

A61B 18/1445
Probes having pivoting end effectors, e.g. forceps: at the distal end of a shaft, e.g. forceps or scissors at the end of a rigid rod
A61B 17/29
Surgical forceps: forceps for use in minimally invasive surgery
A61B 18/1206
By passing a current through the tissue to be heated, e.g. high-frequency current: generators therefor
A61B 18/1447
At the distal end of a shaft, e.g. forceps or scissors at the end of a rigid rod: wherein sliding surfaces cause opening/closing of the end effectors

Family

Application62/051,409Us provisional application · filed 17 Sep 2014
Application62/051,416Us provisional application · filed 17 Sep 2014
Application62/051,415Us provisional application · filed 17 Sep 2014
Application62/051,412Us provisional application · filed 17 Sep 2014
Application14/802,726Parent of this continuation · filed 17 Jul 2015
US 2018/0333198 A1Pre-grant publication · published 22 Nov 2018
US 10,039,593 B2Parent of this continuation
US 2016/0074102 A1Published application
US 11,298,180 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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