Surgical stapling apparatus and method
AssigneeTyco Healthcare Group LP
InventorsFrank Viola, David Ivanko
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure is directed to staple-gap adjustment members for use in surgical stapling apparatus and methods. A gap adjustment member includes one or more bearing portions sharing a common rotational axis and one or more cam surface portions having a periphery with at least two different points along the periphery, with each point along the periphery having a different radius from the rotational axis. The one or more cam surface portions can have a central axis parallel to and spaced a distance from the rotational axis of the one or more bearing portions.
Claims8
A method of adjusting a staple gap in a surgical stapling apparatus comprising the steps of:
- inserting a gauging element into a staple gap defined between the forward portions of a respective first and second jaw structure, the first and second jaw structures being operably coupled to one another;
- adjusting the size of the staple gap by manipulating a gap adjustment member disposed between the first and second jaw structures to approximate the size of the staple gap to the size of the gauging element;
- and
- locking the gap adjustment member into position.
A method of adjusting a staple gap in a surgical stapling apparatus comprising the steps of:
- providing a surgical stapling apparatus having a pair of jaw structures operably coupled with one another, the pair of jaw structures defining a staple gap between opposed distal surfaces thereof:
- providing a gap adjustment member between the pair of jaw structures, the gap adjustment member including one or more bearing portions sharing a common rotational axis and one or more cam surface portions having a periphery with at least two different points along the periphery, with each point along the periphery having a different radius from the rotational axis;
- inserting a gauging element into the staple gap;
- manipulating the gap adjustment member in order to adjust the size of the staple gap;
- and
- locking the gap adjustment member into position.
A method of adjusting a staple gap in a surgical stapling apparatus, comprising:
- providing a surgical stapling apparatus having a jaw structure with an anvil receiving portion and a jaw structure with a cartridge receiving portion, the jaw structures being operatively couplable to one another to provide a staple gap between a respective forward portion of the anvil and cartridge receiving portions, one of the jaw structures having a pair of mounting members thereon for mounting the other of the jaw structures thereon;
- positioning a gap adjustment member on the mounting members between the jaw structures to provide a desired gap between the forward portions of the anvil and cartridge receiving portions;
- and
- locking the gap adjustment member to the mounting members to provide the desired staple gap.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.