The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 12, 2019
Filed:
Mar. 17, 2015
Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Donald Alden, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Bram Gilbert Antoon Lambrecht, Redwood City, CA (US);
Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
An indicator mechanism for a surgical instrument includes an aperture fixed to a base. An indicator body is rotatably supported by the base. The indicator body includes features for engaging a motor that rotates the indicator body. A visual indicator, visible through the aperture, is coupled to the indicator body. A detent mechanism holds the indicator body in one of two positions. A first of the two positions provides a visual indication that the surgical instrument is in service and a second of the two positions provides a visual indication that the surgical instrument is expired. A controller may track use events for a surgical instrument to determine expiration. Use events may include operations and conditions in addition to those that occur in the surgical instrument. When the use events tracked by the controller indicate expiration, the controller may rotate a motor to set the visual indication to expired.