Fastener assembly

A fastener apparatus which may be secured in tissue in a patient's body, said fastener apparatus comprising a first sleeve which is operable from a retracted condition to an extended condition by insertion of an actuator member into said first sleeve, and a pin which is received in an axially extending opening in said first sleeve after said first sleeve has been operated from the retracted condition to the extended condition by insertion of said actuator member, said first sleeve having a central portion with a cylindrical side surface which extends between proximal and distal end portions of said first sleeve, said proximal end portion of said first sleeve having an arcuate positioning section which has a circular cross sectional configuration and is disposed in a coaxial relationship with said side surface of said central portion, said positioning section extends radially outward from said side surface of said central portion and in a direction away from said distal end portion, said distal end portion of said first sleeve being operable from a retracted condition to an expanded condition under the influence of force applied against said distal end portion of said first sleeve by a distal end portion of the actuator member upon insertion of the actuator member into the axially extending opening in said first sleeve, said distal end portion of said first sleeve including first and second slots which extend radially of said distal end portion of said first sleeve, each one of said slots having an axially inner end portion which is disposed adjacent to said central portion of said first sleeve and a pair of parallel side surfaces which extend outward from said inner end portion of said one slot in a direction away from said proximal end portion, said axially inner end portion of said one of said slots being at least partially defined by an end of slot opening having a cross section which is larger than a distance between said pair of parallel side surfaces, said first and second slots at least partially defining a plurality of arm sections, said arm sections having inner side surfaces disposed in a conical array having a vertex on the central the central axis of said first sleeve and with an included angle of at least 100 degrees when said first sleeve is in the retracted condition, said distal end portion of the actuator member having an outer side surface which defines at least a portion of a cone having a vertex on a central axis of the actuator and with an included angle of less than 100 degrees, said distal end portion of said actuator member applies force against said arm sections to move distal ends of said arm sections away from each other and to increase the size of said slots as said first sleeve is operated from the retracted condition to the extended condition, said pin being movable into the axially extending opening in said first sleeve after said first sleeve has been operated from the retracted condition to the extended by the actuator member and after the actuator member has been withdrawn from the axially extending opening, said pin having a cylindrical side surface which engages said arm sections to retain said first sleeve in the actuated condition.