Patent ID: 8029531

Claim:
A surgical instrument comprising: an instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; a distal motion member for coupling the distal end of said instrument shaft to said tool; a proximal motion member for coupling the proximal end of said instrument shaft to said handle; actuation means extending between said distal and proximal motion members for coupling motion of said proximal motion member to said distal motion member for controlling the positioning of said tool; a rotation knob disposed adjacent the control handle and rotatable relative to the control handle for causing a corresponding rotation of the instrument shaft and tool; and a locking mechanism for fixing the position of the tool at a selected position and having locked and unlocked states; said rotation knob having a first position in which the rotation knob is controlled to control the locking mechanism to be in its locked state and a second position in which the locking mechanism is released to its unlocked state so as to allow tool positioning; said rotation knob constructed and arranged to support the proximal motion member so that upon rotation of said rotation knob relative to said control handle, the proximal motion member, instrument shaft and tool are rotated therewith.