Methods and structure for confirming proper assembly of powered surgical stapling systems

A surgical stapling system, comprising:

• an adapter assembly having an outer housing;
• a trocar assembly receivable within the outer housing of the adapter assembly and supporting a tip protector thereon;
• a processor;
• and
• a memory including instructions stored thereon, which when executed by the processor, cause the surgical stapling system to:
• move the tip protector relative to the outer housing;
• cause the tip protector to engage the outer housing of the adapter assembly;
• detect an amount of force applied between the tip protector and the adapter outer housing when the tip protector is moved relative to the outer housing;
• compare the amount of force detected to a threshold force stored on the memory;
• and
• if the amount of force detected is greater than the threshold force stored on the memory, selectively output an indication that the trocar assembly is properly secured to the adapter assembly.

A method for determining if a trocar assembly of a surgical stapling system is properly attached to an adapter assembly of the surgical stapling system before attachment of an end effector to the trocar assembly, the method comprising:

• moving the trocar assembly relative to the adapter assembly;
• selectively determining an amount of force applied between the trocar assembly and the adapter assembly when the trocar assembly is moved relative to the adapter assembly;
• selectively determining an amount of current in the surgical stapling system when the trocar assembly is moved relative to the adapter assembly;
• selectively determining an amount of time lapsed from when movement of the trocar assembly relative to the adapter assembly is initiated;
• and
• based on a determination of at least one of the amount of force determined, the amount of current determined, or the amount of time lapsed, selectively outputting an indication that the trocar assembly is properly secured to the adapter assembly or improperly secured to the adapter assembly.

A non-transitory storage medium that stores a program causing a processor to execute a method for determining if a trocar assembly of a surgical stapling system is properly attached to an adapter assembly of the surgical stapling system, the method comprising:

• selectively determining an amount of force applied between the trocar assembly and the adapter assembly when the trocar assembly is moved relative to the adapter assembly;
• selectively determining an amount of current in the surgical stapling system when the trocar assembly is moved relative to the adapter assembly;
• selectively determining an amount of time lapsed from when movement of the trocar assembly relative to the adapter assembly is initiated;
• and
• based on a determination of at least one of the amount of force determined, the amount of current determined, or the amount of time lapsed, selectively outputting an indication that the trocar assembly is properly secured to the adapter assembly or improperly secured to the adapter assembly.