Apparatus for endoscopic procedures

A surgical stapling instrument comprising:

• an end effector including a staple cartridge assembly and an anvil assembly that are coupled to a proximal housing and movably positioned relative to one another, the staple cartridge assembly having a drive beam and a sled, the sled carrying a knife that is rotatably supported on the sled, the knife positioned to rotate in a distal direction from a first position in which the knife is disposed below a tissue-contacting surface of the staple cartridge assembly to a second position in which the knife is raised above the tissue-contacting surface to enable tissue cutting, the drive beam configured to move the knife relative to the drive beam;
• a biasing member configured to apply a distal biasing force on a distal portion of the knife to bias the knife into the first position, wherein the distal portion of the knife is distal of a connection of the knife to the sled;
• an adapter assembly having an elongated shaft that extends distally to an articulating assembly, the articulating assembly including a distal joint member for coupling to the proximal housing of end effector and a proximal joint member for coupling to a distal end portion of the elongated shaft, the distal joint member coupled to the proximal joint member by a pin and movable relative to the proximal joint member to articulate the end effector relative to the proximal joint member;
• and
• a rotation lockout assembly configured to prevent rotation of the end effector during a firing of the surgical stapling instrument.