Patent ID: 11957402
Assignee: COVIDIEN LP
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 14:
15. An electrosurgical vessel sealing instrument, comprising:
a housing;
a drive assembly disposed within the housing;
a shaft extending distally from the housing;
an end effector assembly coupled to a distal end of the shaft and including a pair of first and second jaw members configured to deliver electrosurgical energy to tissue;
a cam slot defined in each of the first and second jaw members;
a pair of cam members disposed within the cam slots defined by the respective first and second jaw members, the pair of cam members configured to translate relative to the first and second jaw members;
a drive rod coupled to the drive assembly and extending through the shaft, the drive rod configured to translate through the shaft in response to actuation of the drive assembly to move the pair of cam members within the cam slots defined by the respective first and second jaw members, thereby moving at least one of the first or second jaw members relative to the other jaw member; and
a resilient member disposed between the drive rod and the pair cam members, the resilient member configured to cooperate with the drive rod to cause the first and second jaw members to provide a closure force on tissue disposed between the jaw members in response to actuation of the drive assembly.