Force transmission mechanism for teleoperated surgical system

A force transmission mechanism for a teleoperated surgical instrument, comprising:

• a gear;
• a push/pull drive element configured to transmit force to actuate an end effector of the surgical instrument and to rotate with a shaft of the surgical instrument when the shaft is rotated by the force transmission mechanism;
• and
• a connection element operatively coupling the gear and the push/pull drive element, wherein the connection element is configured to convert rotational movement of the gear to a substantially linear movement of the push/pull drive element, wherein the connection element is configured to rotate with the push/pull drive element and relative to the gear, and wherein the connection element is configured to move along an arc in response to rotation of the gear.

A surgical instrument for a teleoperated surgical system, comprising:

• a shaft;
• an end effector disposed at a distal portion of the shaft;
• and
• a force transmission mechanism disposed at a proximal portion of the shaft, the force transmission mechanism comprising:
• an input disk;
• a sector gear engaged with the input disk, the input disk being configured to impart rotational movement to the sector gear;
• a push/pull drive element extending along the shaft to the end effector, wherein the push/pull drive element is configured to transmit force to actuate the end effector;
• and
• a connection element operatively coupling the sector gear and the push/pull drive element to convert rotational movement of the sector gear to a substantially linear movement of the push/pull drive element to actuate the end effector;
• wherein the connection element is configured to rotate with the push/pull drive element and relative to the sector gear.