Reverse loading surgical clip applier

An end effector for a surgical clip applier, comprising:

• a body having a proximal end and a distal end;
• a clip cartridge coupled to the body and containing one or more surgical clips, each surgical clip having a crown and a pair of legs extending from the crown;
• a head arranged at the distal end;
• and
• first and second jaw members mounted to the head, wherein the first and second jaw members are alignable with the clip cartridge to receive a distal-most surgical clip of the one or more surgical clips, and
• wherein the distal-most surgical clip is fed crown first into the first and second jaw members from the clip cartridge.

A surgical clip applier, comprising:

• a drive housing;
• an elongate shaft that extends from the drive housing;
• and
• an end effector arranged at a distal end of the elongate shaft, the end effector including:
• a body having a proximal end and a distal end;
• a head arranged at the distal end;
• first and second jaw members mounted to the head;
• and
• a linear actuator arranged within the head and operable to collapse and open the first and second jaw members, the linear actuator including a jaw pulley about which the drive cable is routed to cause rotation of the jaw pulley, a bevel gear assembly operatively coupled to the jaw pulley, and a threaded linear drive operatively coupled to the bevel gear assembly;
• and
• a drive cable extending from the drive housing to the end effector and actuatable to operate the linear actuator,
• wherein rotation of the jaw pulley causes actuation of the bevel gear assembly, which actuates the threaded linear drive and thereby collapses or opens the first and second jaw members.