Isolation bumps on end effector electrodes
AssigneeCilag GmbH International
InventorsJeff CLARK, Guowei John ZHANG, Steve SMOLIK
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An end effector for a surgical tool includes opposing first and second jaws, the first jaw including an electrode, and one or more isolation bumps formed on an inner surface of the electrode. Each isolation bump includes a pillar extending from the inner surface of the electrode and terminating in a plateau surface, and a curable material applied to and protruding from the plateau surface, wherein the one or more isolation bumps help define a jaw gap between the opposing first and second jaws when the opposing first and second jaws are moved to a closed position.
Claims20
An end effector for a surgical tool, comprising:
- opposing first and second jaws, the first jaw including an electrode;
- and
- one or more isolation bumps formed on an inner surface of the electrode, each isolation bump comprising:
- a pillar extending from the inner surface of the electrode and terminating in a plateau surface;
- and
- a curable material applied to and protruding from the plateau surface,
- wherein the one or more isolation bumps help define a jaw gap between the opposing first and second jaws when the opposing first and second jaws are moved to a closed position.
A method of manufacturing an isolation bump on an electrode of an end effector, the method comprising:
- forming a pillar on an inner surface of an electrode of a first jaw of the end effector, the end effector further including a second jaw opposing the first jaw, and the pillar defining a plateau surface circumscribed by an edge;
- applying a slurry of a curable material to the plateau surface;
- and
- curing the slurry on the plateau surface and thereby forming an isolation bump.
A method of setting a jaw gap of an end effector, comprising:
- forming a pillar on an inner surface of an electrode of a first jaw of the end effector, the end effector further including a second jaw opposing the first jaw, and the pillar defining a plateau surface circumscribed by an edge;
- applying a slurry of a curable material to the plateau surface;
- curing the slurry on the plateau surface and thereby forming an isolation bump;
- and
- moving the first and second jaws toward a closed position and thereby engaging an inner surface of the second jaw with the isolation bump to define the jaw gap between the first and second jaws.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.