Patent ID: 6959852

Claim:
A surgical instrument, comprising: an end effector operatively configured to clamp upon tissue and subsequently responsive to a longitudinal firing motion to perform a surgical operation; a shaft distally connected to the end effector; a firing member slidingly receiving by the shaft to transfer the firing motion to the end effector between an unfired position and a fully fired position; a firing trigger operatively configured for repeated user actuation and release; a firing mechanism operatively configured to couple each user actuation of the firing trigger into distal advancement of the firing member accomplishing a portion of the longitudinal firing motion; and an anti-backup mechanism comprising: a locking plate including an aperture circumferentially encompassing the firing member, the locking plate pivotal between a locking position wherein the aperture lockingly engages the firing member and an unlocking position wherein the aperture slidingly engages the firing member, a locking device responsive to the firing member having traversed from the unfired position toward the fully fired position to tilt the locking plate to the locked position, and a retract mechanism responsive to a retract condition to position the locking plate to the unlock position.