ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,496,064, issued on Dec. 16, was assigned to Covidien LP (Mansfield, Mass.).
"Powered stapling device with manual retraction" was invented by Suresh Kumar Prema Mohanasundaram (Cheshire, Conn.) and David M. Chowaniec (Rocky Hill, Conn.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A powered handle assembly includes a motor assembly, a toothed rack, a drive gear, a clutch assembly, a manual retraction gear, and a retraction knob. The motor assembly is coupled to the drive gear, and the drive gear is movable from a first position engaged with the rack to a second position disengaged from the rack. The clutch assembly includes a lower gear and an upper gea...