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:
Jan. 02, 2024
Filed:
Nov. 20, 2019
Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Tibor Hites, San Lorenzo, CA (US);
INTUITIVE SURGICAL OPERATIONS, INC., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
The present disclosure provides a surgical instrument, such as a tissue sealing instrument, with an elongate shaft and an end effector movably coupled to the shaft with a joint or wrist assembly. The wrist assembly includes a first outer link, a second outer link, and an inner link. The first outer link is connected to the elongated shaft and movably coupled to the second outer link by the inner link. The inner link includes a pair of posts, and the first and second outer links each include a recess configured to receive a respective one of the pair of posts. The posts and recesses defining a rocking hinge, which permits the wrist assembly to accommodate a reduction in the size of the rolling radius to reduce the likelihood of grabbing and pinching tissue during articulation of the end effector without sacrificing the internal bend radius of the hinge joint.