Surgical instruments with progressive jaw closure arrangements

A surgical instrument comprising:

• a handle assembly;
• a shaft extending from the handle assembly, wherein the shaft defines a shaft axis;
• an end effector pivotably coupled to a distal end of the shaft;
• a nozzle assembly extending from the handle assembly and surrounding a proximal portion of the shaft, wherein the nozzle assembly is rotatable relative to handle assembly to roll the shaft and rotate the end effector about the shaft axis;
• and
• an articulation motor, within the nozzle assembly, having a motor output gear which rotates about a motor axis, and actuatable to pivot the end effector, wherein the articulation motor is mounted to the nozzle assembly such that the motor axis is parallel to and offset from the shaft axis;
• an articulation drive to transmit an articulation motion from the articulation motor to the end effector to rotate the end effector about the articulation axis;
• and
• a gear assembly comprising gears to transmit a rotational drive motion output by the articulation motor to the articulation drive, wherein each of the gears of the gear assembly rotate about an axis parallel to and offset from an axis of rotation of another gear of the gear assembly and parallel to and offset from the shaft and motor axes.

A surgical instrument comprising:

• a housing;
• a shaft extending from the housing along a shaft axis;
• an end effector rotatably coupled to a distal end of the shaft, the end effector comprising a first jaw and a second jaw movable relative to the second jaw;
• a manual shaft roll actuator coupled to the shaft, wherein actuation of the manual shaft roll actuator causes the shaft to roll about the shaft axis;
• and
• a motor, having a motor output gear which rotates about a motor axis, to drive rotation of the end effector, wherein the motor is mounted to the manual shaft roll actuator such that the motor axis is parallel to and offset from the shaft axis;
• an articulation drive to transmit an articulation motion from the motor to the end effector to rotate the end effector;
• and
• a gear assembly comprising gears to transmit a rotational drive motion output by the motor to the articulation drive, wherein each of the gears of the gear assembly rotate about an axis parallel to and offset from an axis of rotation of another gear of the gear assembly and parallel to and offset from the shaft and motor axes.