Patent ID: 7055731

Claim:
A surgical instrument, comprising: a handle portion operably configured to produce a rotational articulation motion and a longitudinal firing motion; a shaft operably configured to separately transfer the rotational articulation motion and the longitudinal firing motion; an end effector distally coupled to the shaft; an articulation mechanism responsive to the rotational articulation motion to articulate the end effector; and a firing bar responsive to the longitudinal firing motion of the handle portion, the firing bar comprising: an elongate strip longitudinally positioned for movement through the articulation mechanism and laterally aligned with an axis of articulation, and a firing bar head distally aligned with, thicker than, and connected to the elongate strip and positioned for longitudinal movement in the end effector, wherein the elongate strip has a width aligned with an axis of articulation substantially larger than a thickness of the elongate strip transverse to the axis of articulation, thereby operably configured to resiliently bend about the axis of articulation while resisting pivoting in a lateral axis orthogonal to both the longitudinal and articulation axes.