Articulate wrist with flexible central member
AssigneeEthicon, Inc.
InventorsMark A. Davison, Christopher W. Birri, William George Saulenas, Jalen Lee Wize
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An articulable wrist for an end effector includes a distal linkage provided at a distal end of the articulable wrist, a proximal linkage provided at a proximal end of the articulable wrist, and a central channel cooperatively defined by the distal and proximal linkages and extending between the distal and proximal ends. A flexible member is arranged within the central channel and has a first end operatively coupled to the distal linkage and a second end axially movable relative to the proximal linkage. One or more conduits are defined in the flexible member to receive one or more central actuation members extending through the flexible member.
Claims20
An articulable wrist for an end effector, comprising:
- a distal linkage provided at a distal end of the articulable wrist;
- a proximal linkage provided at a proximal end of the articulable wrist;
- a central channel cooperatively defined by the distal and proximal linkages and extending between the distal and proximal ends;
- a flexible member arranged within the central channel and having a first end operatively coupled to the distal linkage and a second end axially movable relative to the proximal linkage;
- and
- one or more conduits defined in the flexible member to receive one or more central actuation members extending through the flexible member.
A surgical tool, comprising:
- a drive housing;
- an elongate shaft that extends from the drive housing;
- an end effector arranged at an end of the elongate shaft;
- an articulable wrist that interposes the end effector and the elongate shaft, the articulable wrist including:
- a distal linkage provided at a distal end of the articulable wrist and operatively coupled to the end effector;
- a proximal linkage provided at a proximal end of the articulable wrist and operatively coupled to the elongate shaft;
- a central channel cooperatively defined by the distal and proximal linkages and extending between the distal and proximal ends;
- and
- a flexible member arranged within the central channel and having a first end operatively coupled to the distal linkage and a second end axially movable relative to the proximal linkage;
- and
- one or more central actuation members extending from the drive housing and through the flexible member via one or more conduits defined in the flexible member.
A method of operating a surgical tool, comprising:
- positioning the surgical tool adjacent a patient for operation, the surgical tool including a drive housing, an elongate shaft that extends from the drive housing, an end effector arranged at an end of the elongate shaft, and a wrist that interposes the end effector and the elongate shaft and includes:
- a distal linkage provided at a distal end of the wrist and operatively coupled to the end effector;
- a proximal linkage provided at a proximal end of the wrist and operatively coupled to the elongate shaft;
- a central channel cooperatively defined by the distal and proximal linkages and extending between the distal and proximal ends;
- a flexible member arranged within the central channel and having a first end operatively coupled to the distal linkage and a second end axially movable relative to the proximal linkage;
- and
- one or more conduits defined in the flexible member to receive one or more central actuation members extending through the flexible member;
- and
- articulating the wrist and simultaneously bending the flexible member within the central channel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.