Articulating clip applier cartridge

An articulating surgical clip applier, comprising:

• a handle assembly having a housing and a trigger, the handle assembly including an axially reciprocatable drive assembly having a flexible drive cable operatively connected to and actuatable by the trigger;
• and
• an end effector operatively connected to the handle assembly, the end effector comprising:
• a distal housing portion defining a proximal end, a distal end, and a longitudinal axis;
• a knuckle portion extending proximally from the proximal end of the distal housing portion, the knuckle portion being bifurcated into a first geared portion and a second geared portion, the distal housing portion being rotatably mounted to the knuckle portion to allow the distal housing portion to rotate about the longitudinal axis with respect to the knuckle portion;
• a proximal housing portion pivotably connected to the knuckle portion at a pivot axis, wherein the flexible drive cable extends from the handle assembly to the distal housing portion of the end effector and across the pivot axis of the end effector;
• a gear train supported in the proximal housing portion, the gear train including:
• a distal-most spur gear operatively engaged with the first geared portion and the second geared portion of the knuckle portion;
• and
• a proximal-most spur gear supported in the proximal housing portion and operatively connected to the distal-most spur gear;
• and
• a rack slidably supported in the proximal housing portion and operatively engaged to the proximal-most spur gear;
• a jaw assembly supported on the distal housing portion, the jaw assembly including a first jaw and a second jaw extending distally from the distal housing portion and being movable between a spaced apart position and an approximated position;
• a plurality of surgical clips loaded in the distal housing portion in a partially stacked fashion;
• and
• a jaw closure mechanism disposed in the distal housing portion and operatively associated with the jaw assembly and the plurality of surgical clips,
• wherein a distal end of the flexible drive cable is connected to the jaw closure mechanism so as to transmit an operative force to the jaw closure mechanism when the longitudinal axis of the distal housing portion is either axially aligned or angled with respect to a longitudinal axis of the handle assembly;
• and
• wherein the jaw closure mechanism feeds a clip into the jaw assembly and forms the fed clip upon a single complete stroke of the flexible drive cable.