Surgical end effectors and pulley assemblies thereof
AssigneeCovidien LP
InventorChi Min Seow
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An end effector of a surgical tool includes a first jaw and a second jaw rotated by a driving pulley. A first driven pulley is attached to the first jaw and a second driven pulley is attached to the second jaw. A first end portion of a first cable is connected to a first radial side of the first driven pulley, a second end portion of the first cable is connected to a second radial side of the second driven pulley, and an intermediate portion of the first cable is connected to the driving pulley. A first end portion of a second cable is connected to a first radial side of the second driven pulley, a second end portion of the second cable is connected to a second radial side of the first driven pulley, and an intermediate portion of the second cable is connected to the driving pulley.
Claims21
1-12. (canceled)
A method comprising:
- coupling a plurality of cable sections to a plurality of jaw pulleys with at least one cable section coupled to each of at least two radial sides of each jaw pulley, each jaw pulley connected to a corresponding jaw;
- coupling each of the cable sections to a driving pulley;
- changing a direction of rotation of the driving pulley from a first direction to a second direction;
- and
- responsive to changing the direction of rotation of the driving pulley, changing a direction of rotation of each of the jaw pulleys, creating a tension in a different cable section coupled to each jaw pulley, and alternating between opening and closing the jaws.
A method of actuating an end effector of a surgical tool of a robotic surgical system, comprising:
- rotating a driving pulley in the end effector in a first direction about a first axis to open a first jaw and a second jaw each being pivotable about a second axis, the end effector including:
- a first driven pulley attached to the first jaw and a second driven pulley attached to the second jaw, the first and second driven pulleys being rotatable about the second axis, each driven pulley including a first radial side and a second radial side;
- a first cable having a first end portion, a second end portion, and an intermediate portion, the first end portion connected to the first radial side of the first driven pulley, the second end portion connected to the second radial side of the second driven pulley, and the intermediate portion connected to the driving pulley;
- and
- a second cable having a first end portion, a second end portion, and an intermediate portion, the first end portion connected to the first radial side of the second driven pulley, the second end portion connected to the second radial side of the first driven pulley, and the intermediate portion connected to the driving pulley;
- and
- rotating the driving pulley in a second direction about the first axis to close the first and second jaws about the second axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.