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. 22, 2013
Filed:
Mar. 05, 2012
Darren Odom, Longmont, CO (US);
Darren Odom, Longmont, CO (US);
Covidien AG, , CH;
Abstract
A forceps includes a housing, a shaft, an end effector assembly coupled to the distal end of the shaft and including opposing jaw members, and a drive rod slidingly disposed within the shaft. Each of the jaw members includes a sealing plate attached thereto. Longitudinal reciprocation of the drive rod moves at least one of the jaw members from a first position in spaced relation relative to the other jaw member to at least one subsequent position wherein the sealing plates cooperate to grasp tissue therebetween. The forceps also includes at least one sensor configured to sense a gap distance between the opposing jaw members, and a linear actuator operably coupled to the drive rod. The linear actuator is configured to reciprocate the drive rod in a longitudinal direction as a function of the sensed gap distance in response to signals provided by the at least one sensor.