Pneumatically powered surgical cutting and fastening instrument with mechanical linkage coupling end effector and trigger motion

A surgical instrument for use in connection with a pneumatically powered tool having a staple firing mechanism operably supported therein that is movable between an unactuated position and an actuated position, said surgical instrument comprising:

• a handle assembly;
• an elongate shaft assembly having a proximal end operably coupled to said handle assembly and a distal end;
• means associated with said distal end of said elongate shaft assembly for operably supporting the pneumatically powered tool;
• means for selectively applying at least one of a firing motion and a retraction motion to the staple firing mechanism of the pneumatically powered tool to cause the staple firing mechanism to move between the unactuated position and the fully retracted position in response to pneumatic signals from a source of pneumatic power;
• and
• position indicating means operably supported by said handle assembly and cooperating with said means for selectively applying to provide a tactile indication of a relative linear position of the staple firing mechanism of the pneumatically powered tool as the staple firing mechanism selectively moves back and forth between the unactuated position and the actuated position upon receipt of the firing and retraction motions.

A surgical instrument comprising:

• a handle assembly;
• a closure drive supported by said handle assembly and configured to generate a closing motion and an opening motion;
• an elongate shaft assembly coupled to said handle assembly and communicating with said closure drive to transfer said opening and closing motions;
• a drive system supported by at least one of said handle assembly and said elongate shaft assembly and being configured to selectively generate at least one of a firing motion and a retraction motion;
• an end effector coupled to said elongate shaft assembly, said end effector comprising:
• an elongate channel sized to receive a staple cartridge therein;
• an anvil pivotally coupled to said elongate channel and being pivotally responsive to said open and closing motions from said elongate shaft assembly;
• and
• a firing mechanism operably supported within one of said elongate channel and the staple cartridge and being movable from an unactuated position to an actuated position in response to an application of said firing motion from said drive system and being movable from said actuated position to said unactuated position in response to another application of said retraction motion from said drive system and wherein said surgical instrument further comprises:
• a relative position trigger communicating with said drive system and being movably supported by said handle assembly between a first position corresponding to said unactuated position of said firing mechanism and a second position corresponding to the actuated position, such that said drive system causes said relative position trigger to move back and forth between the first and second positions in a manner that corresponds to the relative position of the firing mechanism as the firing mechanism is moved back and forth between the unactuated and actuated positions.