Patent ID: 8277446

Claim:
A surgical instrument, comprising: an end effector including a pair of jaw members having opposing tissue clamping surfaces, at least one of the jaw members configured to move with respect to the other jaw member to move the end effector between an open configuration for receiving tissue and a closed configuration for clamping tissue between the opposing tissue clamping surfaces, the at least one jaw member including an elongate cam slot extending longitudinally along the at least one jaw member over a substantial a length of the tissue clamping surfaces; a plurality of electrically isolated electrodes supported by at least one of the tissue clamping surfaces of one of the jaw members, each of the plurality of electrodes longitudinally spaced along the at least one tissue clamping surface and configured to deliver electrosurgical energy to tissue; and a reciprocating member extendable through the elongate cam slot to a longitudinal sealing position with respect to each of the electrodes, wherein when the reciprocating member is in the sealing position with respect to a particular electrode, the reciprocating member defines a predetermined gap distance between the particular electrode and the opposing tissue clamping surface; and an interruption mechanism to interrupt advancement of the reciprocating member at each of the longitudinal sealing positions.