Articulating surgical stapling instrument incorporating a two-piece e-beam firing mechanism

Abstract

A surgical severing and stapling instrument, suitable for laparoscopic and endoscopic clinical procedures, clamps tissue within an end effector of an elongate channel pivotally opposed by an anvil. An E-beam firing bar moves distally through the clamped end effector to sever tissue and to drive staples on each side of the cut. The E-beam firing bar affirmatively spaces the anvil from the elongate channel to assure properly formed closed staples, especially when an amount of tissue is clamped that is inadequate to space the end effector. In particular, an upper pin of the firing bar longitudinally moves through an anvil slot and a channel slot is captured between a lower cap and a middle pin of the firing bar to assure a minimum spacing. Forming the E-beam from a thickened distal portion and a thinned proximal strip enhances manufacturability and facilitates use in such articulating surgical instruments.

Description

[0001]The present application is a continuation of and claims the benefit from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 538,154, filed Oct. 3, 2006, entitled “ARTICULATING SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENT INCORPORATING A TWO-PIECE FIRING MECHANISM”, to Shelton, IV et al. which claims the benefit of the U.S. provisional patent application entitled “SURGICAL INSTRUMENT INCORPORATING AN ELECTRICALLY ACTUATED ARTICULATION MECHANISM”, to Shelton, Ser. No. 60 / 591,694, filed on 28 Jul. 2004 and which is a continuation-in-part patent application of the U.S. nonprovisional patent application entitled “SURGICAL STAPLING INSTRUMENT INCORPORATING AN E-BEAM FIRING MECHANISM” to Shelton et al., Ser. No. 10 / 443,617, filed on 20 May 2003, the disclosures of which are each hereby incorporated by reference in their respective entireties.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates in general to surgical instruments that are suitable for endoscopically inserting an end effector that is actuated by...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention provides a surgical instrument with a firing mechanism that ensures proper stapling even when too little tissue is clamped in the end effector. This is achieved by integrating a cutting edge into an E-beam that includes a cutting edge and a separate, thinned firing bar that enhances the instrument's flexibility for articulation. The instrument's handle portion produces a firing motion that actuates the implement portion, which has an elongate channel that receives a staple cartridge opposed by a pivotally attached anvil. The firing device includes an upper member, a lower member, and a middle member operable to actuate the wedge sled, which is integral to the staple cartridge. The middle member prevents pinching of the end effector, ensuring proper staple formation even when an otherwise too small amount of tissue has been clamped. These spacing and cutting features are advantageously formed into an E-beam while flexibility for articulation is provided by a thinned firing bar attached to the E-beam.

Problems solved by technology

Approaches to articulating a surgical stapling and severing instrument tend to be complicated by integrating control of the articulation along with the control of closing the end effector to clamp tissue and fire the end effector (i.e., stapling and severing) within the small diameter constraints of an endoscopic instrument.

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