Patent ID: 11937813
Assignee: COVIDIEN LP
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. A surgical stapling instrument, comprising:
a reload including a staple cartridge assembly and an anvil assembly moveable with respect to one another;
an adapter assembly having an elongate shaft and an articulating distal end, a mounting member being disposed at the distal end and being pivotably attached to the elongate shaft, the mounting member having a connection feature for attaching the reload to the adapter assembly, the articulating distal end being articulatable to move the reload between an unarticulated position and an articulated position relative to the elongate shaft of the adapter assembly;
a first centerline extending longitudinally through the adapter assembly;
a second centerline extending longitudinally through the reload, the second centerline movable with the reload relative to the elongate shaft of adapter assembly; and
a drive mechanism in the adapter assembly, the drive mechanism including a bar extending through the mounting member and having a beam at a distal end of the bar, the bar being flexible and supported by a pair of bar guides, one of the bar guides alongside a first side of the bar, and the other of the bar guides being alongside a second side of the bar, the bar being further supported by a pair of blowout plates, one of the blowout plates being alongside the first side of the bar, and the other of the blowout plates being alongside the second side of the bar, the pair of blowout plates being distal to the pair of bar guides, the bar being further supported by a support block having an opening, the bar and the pair of blowout plates being disposed in the opening of the support block, wherein when the reload is disposed in the unarticulated position, the bar, the pair of bar guides, the pair of blowout plates, and the support block are substantially aligned with the first and second centerlines, and wherein when the reload is disposed in the articulated position, at least one of the bar, the pair of bar guides, the support block, or the pair of blowout plates is pivoted to an offset position relative to the first and second centerlines, and wherein the mounting member is configured to pivot relative to the elongate shaft in a first direction, and the bar guides are configured to pivot in a second direction opposite to the first direction when the mounting member is pivoted in the first direction.