Surgical stapler safety and sequencing mechanisms
First Claim
1. A surgical stapling instrument including a stapler head having a clamping mechanism and a stapling mechanism, a handle including means for actuating said stapling mechanism at a predetermined stapling gas pressure, and means interconnecting said handle and said stapler head comprising:
- a source of pressurized gas located in said handle;
coupled to said gas source, first means for developing pressure regulated from said pressurized gas source;
coupled to said first means and to said clamping mechanism, second means for variably controlling the pressure of gas supplied to said clamping mechanism, said second means including a manual control;
coupled to said actuating means, third means for preventing actuation of said stapling mechanism prior to the development of said predetermined stapling gas pressure within said actuating means, said third means comprising a first lock which prevents said actuating means from actuating said stapling mechanism prior to the development of said predetermined stapling gas pressure and the manual disengagement of said first lock; and
fourth means for inhibiting successive operation of said actuating means prior to manually resetting said fourth means.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A surgical stapling instrument is provided having safety and sequencing features to mandate proper operation of the instrument during surgical clamping and stapling of tissue. The instrument is powered by pressurized gas, and includes a manual control for supplying gas to a clamping mechanism in the stapler head and a trigger for actuating a stapling mechanism therein. The instrument prevents actuation of the trigger until the tissue has been clamped. The trigger may not be actuated to implant staples until a trigger safety has been actuated. Following actuation of the stapling mechanism, the instrument is either automatically reset to its initial condition, or may require manual control by the user to restore the clamping and stapling mechanisms to their initial conditions. The instrument affords correct sequencing of operation and prevents inadvertent stapling.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A surgical stapling instrument including a stapler head having a clamping mechanism and a stapling mechanism, a handle including means for actuating said stapling mechanism at a predetermined stapling gas pressure, and means interconnecting said handle and said stapler head comprising:
-
a source of pressurized gas located in said handle; coupled to said gas source, first means for developing pressure regulated from said pressurized gas source; coupled to said first means and to said clamping mechanism, second means for variably controlling the pressure of gas supplied to said clamping mechanism, said second means including a manual control; coupled to said actuating means, third means for preventing actuation of said stapling mechanism prior to the development of said predetermined stapling gas pressure within said actuating means, said third means comprising a first lock which prevents said actuating means from actuating said stapling mechanism prior to the development of said predetermined stapling gas pressure and the manual disengagement of said first lock; and fourth means for inhibiting successive operation of said actuating means prior to manually resetting said fourth means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A surgical stapling instrument including a stapler head having a clamping mechanism and a stapling mechanism, a handle including means for actuating said stapling mechanism, and means interconnecting said handle and said stapler head comprising:
-
first means, located in said handle for supplying pressurized gas; second means, coupled to said first means, and operable in a first mode for supplying gas to said clamping mechanism and in a second mode for supplying gas to said stapling mechanism, said second means comprising a spool valve; a manually actuated control, coupled to said second means, for controlling said second means in order to supply gas to said clamping mechanism; and a trigger, located in said handle and coupled to said second means for controlling said second means to supply gas to said stapling mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20)
-
-
18. A surgical stapling instrument incl stapler head having a clamping mechanism and a stapling mechanism, a handle including manually resettable actuating means for repeatedly actuating said stapling mechanism and readying said stapling mechanism for refiring, and means interconnecting said handle and said stapler head, comprising:
-
means, coupled to said actuating means, for developing pressurized gas suitable for actuation of said clamping mechanism; means, coupled to said actuating means, for developing pressurized gas suitable for actuation of said stapling mechanism; and means for releasing pressurized gas from said stapling mechanism, including a check valve to maintain a residual gas pressure within said stapling mechanism prior to manually resetting said actuating means. - View Dependent Claims (19)
-
Specification