Spring assisted sealing instrument

A surgical instrument, comprising:

• a housing including a shaft extending therefrom having an end effector at a distal end thereof, the end effector including first and second jaw members, at least one of the jaw members moveable between a spaced apart configuration relative to the other jaw member and a closed position relative wherein the jaw members cooperate to grasp tissue therebetween;
• and
• a drive assembly including:
• a drive rod operably associated with the at least one jaw member and actuatable to move the at least one jaw member between the spaced apart position and the closed position;
• and
• a progressive spring operably associated with the drive rod and having a variable spring rate “k” configured to offload forces associated with the drive rod during actuation thereof, the spring including a first spring rate “k1” associated with initial activation thereof and at least one different spring rate “k2” as the spring is compressed.

A surgical instrument, comprising:

• a housing including a shaft extending therefrom having an end effector at a distal end thereof, the end effector including first and second jaw members, at least one of the jaw members moveable between a spaced apart configuration relative to the other jaw member and a closed position wherein the jaw members cooperate to grasp tissue therebetween;
• a drive assembly including a drive rod operably associated with the at least one jaw member and actuatable to move the at least one jaw member between the spaced apart position and the closed position for grasping tissue;
• a knife tube disposed within the shaft, the knife tube having a knife at a distal end thereof configured to cut tissue disposed between the jaw members;
• and
• a spring having a spring rate “k” operably associated with the knife tube and configured to offload forces associated therewith during actuation of the knife tube, the spring including at least a first length wherein adjacent coils of the spring are spaced a distance relative to one another such that the spring offloads forces associated with the knife tube as per the spring rate “k” of the spring and a fully compressed length wherein the adjacent coils of the spring abut one another and the forces associated with the knife tube are transferred through the spring to prevent damage to the knife.