Circular stapling instrument with firing trigger having integral resilient features

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10835256-B2
Application number	US-201715717270-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 27, 2017
Priority date	Sep 27, 2017
Publication date	Nov 17, 2020
Grant date	Nov 17, 2020

Abstract

An apparatus includes a body assembly, an end effector, and a firing assembly. The body includes a handle portion and a shaft portion. The end effector includes a staple driver. The firing assembly includes a driver actuator and a trigger. The driver actuator is configured to actuate the staple driver. The driver actuator is slidably housed within the shaft portion. The trigger includes a lever and an integral spring member. The lever is pivotally coupled to the handle portion via a pivot boss of the handle portion. The trigger is configured to pivot between a first position and a second position to slide the driver actuator within the shaft portion, to thereby actuate the staple driver. The integral spring member is at least partially housed within a spring channel of the handle portion and is configured to resiliently bias the trigger toward the first position.

First claim

We claim:

1. An apparatus, comprising:
(a) a body assembly comprising:
(i) a handle portion, wherein the handle portion comprises a pivot boss and a pair of internal ribs defining a spring channel, and
(ii) a shaft portion extending distally from the handle portion;

(b) an end effector comprising a staple driver, wherein the staple driver is operable to actuate relative to the shaft portion of the body between an unfired position and a fired position; and
(c) a firing assembly comprising:
(i) a driver actuator configured to actuate the staple driver between the unfired position and the fired position, wherein the driver actuator is in communication with the staple driver, wherein the driver actuator is slidably housed within the shaft portion, and
(ii) a trigger comprising a lever and an integral spring member, wherein the lever is pivotally coupled to the handle portion via the pivot boss, wherein the trigger is configured to pivot between a first position and a second position to slide the driver actuator within the shaft portion, wherein the first position is associated with the staple driver in the unfired position, wherein the second position is associated with the staple driver in the fired position, wherein the integral spring member comprises a proximal portion coupled to the lever and a distal portion terminating into a free end, wherein the distal portion of the integral spring member is at least partially housed within the spring channel of the handle portion, wherein the integral spring member is configured to resiliently bias the trigger toward the first position.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the lever further comprises a first side wall defining a first pivot hole and a second side wall defining a second pivot hole, wherein the pivot boss extends through the first pivot hole and the second pivot hole.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the lever further comprises a bottom wall, wherein the integral spring member extends from the bottom wall of the lever.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the integral spring member comprises a leaf spring.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the lever and the integral spring member are formed from a single piece of sheet metal such that the lever and the integral spring member consist of a homogenous continuum of material.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the single piece of sheet metal has a thickness of 0.040 inches.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the lever comprises a pair of tabs configured to communicate motion to the driver actuator.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an anvil and a closure system, wherein the closure system is configured to selectively couple with the anvil and actuate the anvil relative to the end effector.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the closure system further comprises a gap indicator assembly, wherein the gap indicator assembly is configured to prevent the trigger from pivoting to the second position when the anvil is out of a predetermined operating range relative to the end effector, wherein the gap indicator assembly is configured to allow the trigger to pivot to the second position when the anvil is within the predetermined operating range relative to the end effector.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the gap indicator assembly comprises an indicator bracket within the handle assembly, wherein the trigger comprises a lockout interface, wherein the indicator bracket in configured to directly abut against the lockout interface when the anvil is out of the predetermined operating range relative to the end effector.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the closure system further comprises a rotary knob attached to the body assembly and a trocar slidably housed within the body assembly, wherein the rotary knob is configured to rotate in order to slide the trocar relative to the body assembly.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the integral spring extends distally relative to the lever.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the end effector further comprises a cylindrical knife member coupled with the staple driver.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a slidable trigger carriage attached to the trigger and the driver actuator.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the shaft portion comprises a pre-formed bend.

16. An apparatus, comprising:
(a) a body assembly comprising a handle portion;
(b) an end effector comprising a staple driver, wherein the staple driver is operable to actuate relative to the body assembly between an unfired position and a fired position; and
(c) a trigger comprising a lever and an integral spring member extending unitarily from the lever, wherein the lever is pivotally coupled to the handle portion, wherein the trigger is configured to pivot between a first position and a second position to slidably actuate the staple driver, wherein the first position is associated with the staple driver in the unfired position, wherein the second position is associated with the staple driver in the fired position, wherein the integral spring member is housed within the body assembly, wherein the integral spring member is configured to resiliently bias the trigger relative to the body assembly toward the first position, wherein the integral spring member extends distally past the lever.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the lever comprises a first side wall and a second side wall defining a gap, wherein the integral spring member has a first portion extending within the gap of the first side wall and the second side wall.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the integral spring comprise a second portion that abuts against an internal rib of the body assembly.

19. An apparatus, comprising:
(a) a body assembly comprising:
(i) a handle portion,
(ii) a shaft portion extending distally from the handle portion;

(b) an end effector comprising a staple driver, wherein the staple driver is operable to actuate relative to the shaft portion of the body between an unfired position and a fired position; and
(c) a trigger configured to pivot between a first position and a second position to actuate the staple driver, wherein the first position is associated with the staple driver in the unfired position, wherein the second position is associated with the staple driver in the fired position wherein the trigger is made from a single piece of sheet metal such that the trigger consists of a homogenous continuum of material, wherein the trigger comprises:
(i) a lever pivotally coupled to the handle portion, wherein the lever comprises a first side wall, a second side wall, and a bottom wall extending between the first side wall and the second side wall, and
(ii) an integral spring member, wherein the integral spring member is configured to resiliently bias the trigger toward the first position, wherein the integral spring member extends between a proximal portion and a distal end, wherein the proximal portion of the integral spring member is coupled to the bottom wall, wherein the proximal portion of the integral spring member defines a gap with both the first side wall and the second side wall.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the handle portion of the body assembly houses a portion of the integral spring member.

Assignees

• Ethicon Llc

Inventors

• Fox William D
• Bakos Gregory J

Classifications

• A61B17/2909

  Handles · CPC title

• A61B2090/0811

  for the position of a particular part of an instrument with respect to the rest of the instrument, e.g. position of the anvil of a stapling instrument · CPC title

• A61B17/072

  for applying a row of staples in a single action, e.g. the staples being applied simultaneously · CPC title

• A61B2017/2845

  with a spring pushing the handle back · CPC title

• A61B2017/1157

  applying the staples radially · CPC title