Patent claim: A surgical instrument comprising an elongate shaft assembly defining a shaft axis a surgical end effector pivotally coupled to said elongate shaft assembly for selective articulation relative to said elongate shaft assembly about an articulation axis that is transverse to said shaft axis and an articulation system comprising an articulation cable journaled on a distal pulley attached to said surgical end effector and a proximal pulley supported on said elongate shaft assembly said articulation cable comprising a first cable end and a second cable end andan articulation driver for selectively causing said articulation cable to rotate about said proximal pulley in first and second articulation directions said articulation driver comprising a first cleat attached to said first cable end a second cleat attached to said second cable end and being spaced from said first cleat and means coupled to said first and second cleats for moving said first and second cable ends toward each other to increase an amount of tension in said articulation cable.

Related passage: In one form the cable 2382 may be fabricated from stainless steel tungsten aluminum titanium etc.for example.The cable may be of braided or multistranded construction with various numbers of strands to attain desired levels of tensile strength and flexibility.In various arrangements for example the cable 2382 may have a diameter in the range of 0.03 inches to 0.08 inches and more preferably in the range of 0.050.08 inches.A preferred cable may for example be fabricated from 300 series stainless steelhalf hard to full hard.In various arrangements the cable may also be coated with for example Teflon copper etc.for improved lubricity andor to reduce stretching for example.In the illustrated example the cable 2382 has a lug 2384 attached to one end thereof and a lug 2385 attached to the other end thereof by for example crimping.The first distal articulation driver 2370 includes a pair of spaced cleats 2372 2374 that are spaced from each other sufficiently so as to accommodate the lugs 2384 2385 therebetween.For example the proximal cleat 2372 includes a proximal slot 2373 for receiving a portion of the cable 2382 adjacent the lug 2384 and the distal cleat 2374 includes a distal slot 2375 for receiving a corresponding portion of the cable 2382 adjacent the lug 2385.The slots 2373 and 2375 are sized relative to the lugs 2384 2385 respectively so as to prevent the lugs 2384 2385 from pulling therethrough.The proximal slot 2375 is oriented at an angle as compared to the distal slot 2375 so as to cinchingly grip the corresponding portion of the cable 2382 therein.See FIG 30.An attachment ball or lug 2398 is attached to the endless member 2382 and is received in the detent or pocket 2396 formed in the distal pulley 2392.See FIG.31.Thus when the first distal articulation driver 2370 is axially retracted in the proximal direction PD in the manners described above the endless member 2382 will articulate the end effector 2300 in the direction represented by arrow 2376 in FIG.31.Conversely when the first distal articulation driver 2370 is axially advanced in the distal direction DD the surgical end effector 2300 is articulated in the direction represented by arrow 2399 in FIG.31.In addition the proximal and distal cleats 2372 2374 are spaced sufficiently so as to accommodate the lugs 2384 2385 therebetween.A tensioning wedge 2378 is used as shown in FIGS.2932 to apply sufficient tension to the cable 2382 such that when the cable is actuated it will apply an articulation motion to the end effector 2300.In the alternative arrangement depicted in FIG.35 the proximal cleat 2374 is initially not attached to the first articulation driver 2370.The proximal cleat 2374 is positioned on the firstdistal articulation driver 2370 so as to capture the lugs 2384 and 2385 between the distal cleat 2372 and the proximal cleat 2374.The proximal cleat 2374 is moved toward the distal cleat 2372 until a sufficient amount of tension is generated in the cable 2382 and then the proximal cleat 2374 is attached to the first distal articulation driver 2370.For example the proximal cleat 2374 may be attached to the first distal articulation driver 2370 by laser welding or other suitable form of attachment means or fastener arrangement.