Surgical stapling instrument with an articulatable end effector

A surgical instrument, comprising:

• (a) a body;
• (b) a shaft including a first shaft portion extending from the body and a second shaft portion comprising a datum protrusion;
• (c) an end effector operatively coupled with the second shaft portion, the end effector comprising:
• (1) a staple cartridge including a plurality of staples;
• and
• (2) a knife movable distally through a firing stroke to actuate the staple cartridge to deploy the plurality of staples;
• (d) an articulation joint configured to permit the end effector to articulate relative to the second shaft portion;
• and
• (e) a drive assembly, comprising:
• (1) a firing driver movable through a firing stroke from a proximal start position at which none of the staples have been fired to a distal end position at which all of the staples have been fired, and wherein the firing driver is configured to drive the knife through the firing stroke;
• and
• (2) a stop configured to engage the datum protrusion to limit distal movement of the firing driver and thereby define the distal end position.

A surgical instrument, comprising:

• (a) a body;
• (b) a shaft operatively coupled with the body;
• (c) an end effector operatively coupled with the shaft, comprising:
• (1) a staple cartridge including a plurality of staples;
• (2) a knife movable distally through a firing stroke to actuate the staple cartridge to deploy the plurality of staples;
• and
• (3) a distal end;
• (d) an articulation joint configured to permit the end effector to articulate relative to the shaft;
• (e) a datum protrusion positioned distally with respect to the articulation joint;
• and
• (f) a drive assembly, comprising:
• (1) a firing driver movable through a firing stroke from a proximal start position at which none of the staples have been fired to a distal end position at which all of the staples have been fired, and wherein the firing driver is configured to drive the knife through the firing stroke;
• and
• (2) a stop configured to engage the datum protrusion to limit distal movement of the firing driver and thereby define the distal end position.