Patent ID: 6981628

Claim:
A surgical instrument, comprising: an end effector; a shaft having a longitudinal axis and including an articulation motion transfer member operatively configured to transfer an articulation motion; an articulation mechanism responsive to the articulation motion from the articulation motion transfer member and pivotally coupling the end effector to a distal end of the shaft in a single plane bisected by the longitudinal axis to articulate selectively in a first direction and a second direction; and an articulation control coupled to a proximal portion of the shaft, comprising: an actuator laterally and linearly positionable by a user, a lateral motion therefrom aligned to the single plane to correspond to the selected one of the first and second direction of articulation, and a motion conversion mechanism coupled to the actuator and to the articulation mechanism and operably configured to convert the lateral motion from the articulation control to an articulation motion.