Patent ID: 9700341
Date: 2017-07-11
CPC Classifications: A61B

Claim:
1. A surgical instrument comprising: (a) a body; (b) a shaft assembly extending distally from the body; (c) an end effector coupled with a distal end of the shaft assembly, wherein the end effector is operable to manipulate tissue; (d) a transducer assembly, wherein the transducer assembly is operable to convert electrical power into ultrasonic vibrations, wherein a distal end of the transducer assembly is configured to removably couple with a proximal end of the shaft assembly; and (e) a loading assembly, wherein the loading assembly comprises an actuator configured to selectively move from a first position to a second position to thereby couple the distal end of the transducer assembly with the proximal end of the shaft assembly, wherein the loading assembly is configured to rotatably drive the transducer assembly successively through a first stage of rotation and a second stage of rotation when moving the actuator from the first position to the second position, wherein the loading assembly during the first stage of rotation is configured to rotatably drive the transducer assembly with a first rotational speed and a first rotational torque, wherein the loading assembly during the second stage of rotation is configured to rotatably drive the transducer assembly with a second rotational speed and a second rotational torque, wherein the second rotational speed is less than the first rotational speed, and wherein the second rotational torque is greater than the first rotational torque for coupling the distal end of the transducer assembly with the proximal end of the shaft assembly.