Patent ID: 7686827

Claim:
An electrosurgical instrument, comprising: a housing having a shaft extending distally therefrom, said shaft having an end effector assembly attached at a distal end thereof, said end effector assembly including a pair of opposing jaw members, each opposing jaw member having an electrically conductive sealing surface that communicates electrosurgical energy through tissue held therebetween, said electrically conductive sealing surface of each jaw member being adapted to communicate with a power source; a pair of first and second handles connected to the housing and operatively connected to the end effector assembly, at least one of said handles moveable relative to the other said handles to effectively actuate the end effector assembly; and a magnetic closure mechanism including a first variable electromagnet having a first magnetic polarity connected to said first handle and a second variable electromagnet having a second magnetic polarity connected to said second handle, said first and second variable electromagnets being securely engageable with one another by a variable magnetic attraction force when said handles are moved from a first spaced configuration to a second closer configuration, wherein said power source is configured to regulate said first and second magnetic polarities of the first and second electromagnets to vary the magnetic attraction force between the first and second electromagnets, thus providing and maintaining a working pressure between said opposing jaw members.