Surgical instrument
First Claim
1. A method of articulating a tool assembly of a surgical instrument, comprising:
- manipulating an articulation lever;
rotating an upper clutch about a rotation axis with respect to a lower clutch and with respect to a receptacle of the surgical instrument, wherein the lower clutch is removable from the receptacle;
engaging a plurality of protrusions of the upper clutch with at least one recess of a plurality of recesses of the lower clutch to retain the tool assembly in one articulated position out of a plurality of articulated positions; and
maintaining the position of the lower clutch along the rotation axis while rotating the upper clutch with respect to the lower clutch and with respect to the receptacle.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A surgical instrument is disclosed. The surgical instrument includes a handle assembly, a body, a tool assembly and an articulation assembly. The articulation mechanism includes a receptacle, and a main shaft. A lower clutch is fixedly positioned within the receptacle and has a serrated portion including a plurality of serrations. An upper clutch includes at least one projection positioned to engage the serrations of the lower clutch to releasably retain the main shaft at a rotatably fixed position. An angle between a first pair of adjacent serrations is defined as a first angle, an angle between a second pair of adjacent serrations is defined as a second angle, and an angle between a third pair of adjacent serrations is defined as a third angle. The first angle, the second angle, and the third angle are each different from one another.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. A method of articulating a tool assembly of a surgical instrument, comprising:
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manipulating an articulation lever; rotating an upper clutch about a rotation axis with respect to a lower clutch and with respect to a receptacle of the surgical instrument, wherein the lower clutch is removable from the receptacle; engaging a plurality of protrusions of the upper clutch with at least one recess of a plurality of recesses of the lower clutch to retain the tool assembly in one articulated position out of a plurality of articulated positions; and maintaining the position of the lower clutch along the rotation axis while rotating the upper clutch with respect to the lower clutch and with respect to the receptacle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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Specification