Surgical instrument with a separable coaxial joint

US9028495B2 · US · B2

Patent metadata
FieldValue
Publication numberUS-9028495-B2
Application numberUS-82202410-A
CountryUS
Kind codeB2
Filing dateJun 23, 2010
Priority dateJun 23, 2010
Publication dateMay 12, 2015
Grant dateMay 12, 2015

How to read this patent

A practical reading order for non-experts. Skip the full description unless you need deep technical detail.

  1. Title

    What the patent document calls the invention.

  2. Abstract

    A short plain-language summary of the technical disclosure.

  3. Assignees and inventors

    Who owns or filed the patent and who is credited as inventor.

  4. Key dates

    Filing, priority, publication, and grant dates set the timeline.

  5. First independent claim

    The legal scope of protection — read this for what is actually claimed.

  6. CPC / IPC classifications

    Technology tags used to group this patent with similar filings.

  7. Citations and related patents

    Prior art links and similar publications in this corpus.

Abstract

Official abstract text for this publication.

A surgical instrument includes an elongated shaft having a proximal structural member and a proximal drive member that is selectively movable with respect to the proximal structural member. A modular end effector is removably coupled to the elongated shaft, and has a distal structural member and a distal drive member that is operatively coupled to a pair of jaw members. A separable joint is defined between the elongated shaft and the end effector. The separable joint includes laterally prominent and laterally indented portions of each of the proximal and distal structural members and of each of the proximal and distal drive members. The structural members are interlocked to resist longitudinal separation and permit lateral separation. The drive members are movable relative to structural members to move the separable joint to a locked configuration wherein the drive members prohibit lateral separation of the structural members.

First claim

Opening claim text (preview).

What is claimed is: 1. A surgical instrument, comprising: a handle assembly supporting a first actuator thereon; an elongated shaft extending distally from the handle assembly and defining a longitudinal axis, the elongated shaft including a proximal structural member and a proximal drive member, the proximal drive member operatively coupled to the first actuator such that manipulation of the first actuator induces movement of the proximal drive member relative to the proximal s…

Assignees

Inventors

Classifications

Patent family

Related publications grouped by family.

External sources

Next steps

Free tools are coming soon. Tell us what you want to track and we'll notify you.

Frequently asked questions

Answers are generated from the same data shown on this page.

What does patent US9028495B2 cover?
A surgical instrument includes an elongated shaft having a proximal structural member and a proximal drive member that is selectively movable with respect to the proximal structural member. A modular end effector is removably coupled to the elongated shaft, and has a distal structural member and a distal drive member that is operatively coupled to a pair of jaw members. A separable joint is def…
Who is the assignee on this patent?
Mueller Peter M, Evans Allan J, Covidien Lp
What technology area does this patent fall under?
Primary CPC classification A61B18/1445. Mapped technology areas include Human Necessities.
When was this patent published?
Publication date Tue May 12 2015 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) (B2). Legal status and post-grant events are not shown on this page.
What related patents are in patentsdb?
We list 8 related publications on this page (citations in our corpus or others sharing the same primary CPC).