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AssigneeEthicon Endo-Surgery, Inc.
InventorsZhifan F. Huang, Chad P. Boudreaux, Joseph C. Hueil, Dean B. Bruewer, Aron O. Zingman, David B. Smith, Geoffrey C. Hueil, Hector Chow, Mark R. Shaw
Estimating the term…
A surgical instrument can comprise a channel configured to support a staple cartridge and, in addition, an anvil pivotable between open and closed positions relative to the channel. The surgical instrument can further comprise a cutting member configured to incise tissue positioned captured between the staple cartridge and the anvil and, in addition, means for stopping the cutting member prior to a distal end datum, wherein the distal end datum can be defined by the distal-most staple cavity in the staple cartridge. In such embodiments, the incision within the tissue may not extend beyond the portion of the tissue that has been stapled.
A surgical instrument, comprising:
A surgical instrument, comprising:
A surgical instrument for treating the tissue of a patient, comprising:
A surgical instrument for treating the tissue of a patient, comprising:
A surgical instrument comprising:
A surgical instrument comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Surgical instruments, devices or methods: surgical staplers , e.g. containing multiple staples or clamps
For applying a row of staples in a single action, e.g. the staples being applied simultaneously: the staples being applied sequentially
Steerable: steering mechanisms
Aspects not otherwise provided for: battery operated
About 8 months of term left · ends 22 Jun 2027 (estimated)
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to surgical stapling instruments and, more particularly, to surgical staplers having a closing system for closing an end effector and a firing system for deploying staples.
2. Description of the Related Art
The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a surgical instrument in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an elevational view of a handle portion of the surgical instrument of FIG. 1;
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplifications set out herein illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, in one form, and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.
Certain exemplary embodiments will now be described to provide an overall understanding of the principles of the structure, function, manufacture, and use of the devices and methods disclosed herein. One or more examples of these embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the devices and methods specifically described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings are non-limiting exemplary embodiments and that the scope of the various embodiments of the present invention is defined solely by the claims. The features illustrated or described in connection with one exemplary embodiment may be combined with the features of other embodiments. Such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.
In various embodiments, a surgical instrument in accordance with the present invention can be configured to insert surgical staples into soft tissue, for example. In at least one embodiment, referring to FIGS. 1-4, surgical instrument 100 can include handle portion 102, elongate shaft assembly 104, and end effector 106. In various embodiments, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, end effector 106 can include staple cartridge channel 108 and staple cartridge 110, where staple cartridge 110 can be configured to removably store staples therein. In at least one embodiment, end effector 106 can further include anvil 112 which can be pivotably connected to staple cartridge channel 108 and can be pivoted between open and closed positions by an end effector closure system. In order to deploy the staples from staple cartridge 110, surgical instrument 100 can further include a staple driver configured to traverse staple cartridge 110 and a firing drive configured to advance the staple driver within the staple cartridge. In various embodiments, anvil 112 can be configured to deform at least a portion of the staples as they are deployed from the staple cartridge. Although various embodiments of an end effector closure system and a firing drive are described in further detail below, several embodiments of end effector closure systems and firing drives are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,905,057, entitled SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENT INCORPORATING A FIRING MECHANISM HAVING A LINKED RACK TRANSMISSION, which issued on Jun. 14, 2005, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,044,352, entitled SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENT HAVING A SINGLE LOCKOUT MECHANISM FOR PREVENTION OF FIRING, which issued on May 16, 2006, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein. Also incorporated by reference in its entirety is the disclosure of the commonly-owned, contemporaneously-filed United States patent application entitled SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENT WITH AN ARTICULATABLE END EFFECTOR, application Ser. No. 12/765,337, filed Apr. 22, 2010, and now Application Publication No. 2010/0264193.