Surgical stapling instrument incorporating an e-beam firing mechanism

Abstract

A surgical severing and stapling instrument clamps, suitable for laparoscopic and endoscopic clinical procedures, clamps tissue within an end effector of an elongate channel pivotally opposed by an anvil. An E-beam firing bar moves distally through the clamped end effector to sever tissue and to drive staples on each side of the cut. The E-beam firing bar affirmatively spaces the spaces the anvil from the elongate channel to assure properly formed closed staples, especially when an amount of tissue is clamped that is inadequate to space the end effector. In particular, an upper pin of the firing bar longitudinally moves through an anvil slot and a channel clot is captured between a lower cap and a middle pin of the firing bar to assure a minimum spacing.

1 . A surgical instrument comprising: 
 a handle portion operable to produce a firing motion;    an implement portion responsive to the firing motions from the handle portion, the implement portion comprising: 
 an elongate channel coupled to the handle portion and including a channel slot,  
 a staple cartridge received by the elongate channel and incorporating a proximally positioned wedge member aligned to cam upward a driver supporting a staple,  
 an anvil pivotally coupled to the elongate channel and including an anvil channel,  
 a firing device including a distally presented cutting edge longitudinally received between the elongate channel and the anvil, an upper member engageable to the anvil channel, a lower member engaging the channel slot, and a middle member operable to actuate the staple cartridge by distally translating the wedge member of the staple cartridge.  
   
   
   
       2 . The surgical instrument of  claim 1 , wherein the anvil forms an inwardly biased relation to the elongate channel configured to assist the firing device in affirmatively spacing between the anvil and elongate channel during actuation of the staple cartridge.  
   
   
       3 . The surgical instrument of  claim 1 , wherein the staple cartridge is a selected type of a plurality of staple cartridge types, each staple cartridge type characterized by a thickness selected for a desired spacing between the anvil and elongate channel and characterized by staples having a length suitable for the desired spacing.  
   
   
       4 . The surgical instrument of  claim 3 , wherein the wedge sled comprises a plurality of connected camming wedges each having a preselected height configured for the selected type of staple cartridge, the middle member of the firing device oriented to abut each of the plurality of staple cartridge types.  
   
   
       5 . A surgical instrument comprising: 
 a handle portion operable to produce a firing motion and a closing motion;    an implement portion responsive to the firing motions from the handle portion and diametrically dimensioned for endo-surgical use, the implement portion comprising: 
 a shaft coupled to the handle portion operable to separately transfer the firing motion and the closing motion;  
 an elongate channel coupled to the shaft and including a channel slot,  
   an anvil pivotally coupled to the elongate channel, responsive to the closing motion from the shaft, and including an anvil channel,    a firing device including a distally presented cutting edge longitudinally received between the elongate channel and the anvil, the firing device configured to affirmatively space the anvil from the elongate channel during longitudinal travel between the anvil and elongate channel.    
   
   
       6 . The surgical instrument of  claim 5 , further comprising a staple cartridge engaged by the elongate channel and including a proximally opened slot for receiving the cutting edge of the firing device, the staple cartridge including a plurality of staples cammed upwardly by the distal longitudinal movement of the firing mechanism.  
   
   
       7 . The surgical instrument of  claim 6 , wherein the staple cartridge further includes a plurality of drivers supporting the plurality of staples and a wedge sled responsive to the distal longitudinal movement of the firing mechanism to cam upwardly the drivers and thus form the plurality of staples against the anvil.  
   
   
       8 . The surgical instrument of  claim 6 , wherein the anvil forms an inwardly biased relation to the elongate channel configured to assist the firing device in affirmatively spacing between the anvil and elongate channel during actuation of the staple cartridge.  
   
   
       9 . The surgical instrument of  claim 6 , wherein the staple cartridge is a selected type of a plurality of staple cartridge types, each staple cartridge type characterized by a thickness selected for a desired spacing between the anvil and elongate channel and characterized by staples having a length suitable for the desired spacing.  
   
   
       10 . The surgical instrument of  claim 9 , wherein the wedge sled comprises a plurality of connected camming wedges each having a preselected height configured for the selected type of staple cartridge, the middle member of the firing device oriented to abut each of the plurality of staple cartridge types.  
   
   
       11 . A surgical instrument, comprising: 
 a handle means for producing a closing motion and a firing motion;    a clamping means responsive to the closing motion to clamp tissue;    a firing means responsive to the firing motion for vertically spacing the clamping means and for causing severing and stapling of clamped tissue therein.