Articulating Surgical Jaw Assembly Near the Pivot Axis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical stapling and cutting instruments face challenges in ensuring precise and efficient tissue stapling and cutting, particularly in maintaining the proximity of movable jaws to the articulation axis, which affects the instrument's functionality and efficacy.
Innovation Solution
The development of articulatable surgical instruments with movable jaws positioned in close proximity to the articulation axis, incorporating features such as jaw retainers and articulation systems that enhance the precision and efficiency of tissue stapling and cutting operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If movable jaws are positioned in close proximity to the articulation axis, then precision and efficiency in tissue stapling and cutting are improved, but device complexity increases due to the need for specialized retainers and articulation systems
Solution Approach 1:
The articulation system is divided into separate functional components: the articulation axis, movable jaws, and jaw retainers. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently for precision while managing overall system complexity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
Jaw retainers serve as intermediary components that mediate between the articulation axis and the movable jaws. These retainers maintain the precise spatial relationship required for accurate stapling and cutting while simplifying the overall articulation mechanism through an intermediate structural element.
2Productivity
If movable jaws are positioned in close proximity to the articulation axis, then efficiency in tissue stapling and cutting is improved, but ease of manufacture decreases due to tighter tolerances and more complex assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The jaw retainers are designed to pre-establish the correct positioning and orientation of the movable jaws relative to the articulation axis. This preliminary positioning action ensures that subsequent assembly steps are simplified and that manufacturing tolerances can be more easily achieved through modular component fabrication.
Solution Approach 2:
The design implements local quality by providing specialized retainer structures only at the specific locations where jaw positioning is critical near the articulation axis. This allows high-precision manufacturing techniques to be applied locally where needed while using simpler manufacturing approaches for other parts of the instrument.
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical instrument that includes a first jaw that has a pair of laterally aligned vertical slots formed in a proximal end portion thereof. Each vertical slot includes an open upper end. A second jaw is movably supported for selective pivotal travel relative to the first jaw between a fully open and a fully closed position. Pivot members protrude laterally from the second jaw and are each received in a corresponding one of the vertical slots in the first jaw such that the pivot members may pivot therein. A retainer member is configured to operably engage the proximal end portion of the first jaw and retain the pivot members in the corresponding vertical slots as the second jaw moves between the fully open and the fully closed positions.