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US 2010/0076475 A1Published application
Motorized surgical instrument
AssigneeEthicon Endo-Surgery, Inc.
InventorsDavid C. Yates, Thomas W. Huitema, Frederick E. Shelton, IV, Brett E. Swensgard
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A surgical cutting and fastening instrument that is motorized. The instrument comprises in one embodiment a charge accumulator device, separate from a battery, that provides additional power to the motor under certain conditions. In addition, the motor may comprise multiple windings.
Claims17
A surgical instrument comprising:
- an end effector comprising a moveable cutting instrument;
- a shaft connected at its distal end to the end effector;
- and
- a handle connected to a proximate end of the shaft, wherein the handle comprises:
- an electric motor for actuating the cutting instrument;
- a motor control circuit for controlling the motor, wherein the motor control circuit comprises:
- a power source connected to the motor for electrically powering the motor;
- a charge accumulator device;
- and
- a switching circuit connected to the power source and the charge accumulator device for (i) temporarily connecting the charge accumulator device to the power source to charge the charge accumulator device, and (ii) selectively connecting the charge accumulator device in series with the power source to provide additional power to the motor.
7 more elements
A surgical instrument comprising:
- an end effector comprising a moveable cutting instrument;
- a shaft connected at its distal end to the end effector;
- and
- a handle connected to a proximate end of the shaft, wherein the handle comprises:
- an electric motor for actuating the cutting instrument, wherein the motor comprises at least two windings;
- a motor control circuit connected to the motor that selectively connects the at least two motor windings in series or in parallel.
3 more elements
A surgical instrument comprising:
- an end effector comprising a moveable cutting instrument;
- a shaft connected at its distal end to the end effector;
- and
- a handle connected to a proximate end of the shaft, wherein the handle comprises:
- an electric motor for actuating the cutting instrument;
- a removable battery pack for powering the motor, wherein the battery pack comprises a plurality of battery cells, wherein the plurality of battery cells comprises a first plurality of series-connected battery cells and a second plurality of series-connected battery cells;
- and
- a battery cell connector, separate from the battery pack, that connects in series the first plurality of series-connected battery cells to the second plurality of series-connected battery cells when the battery pack is installed in the instrument.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.