Surgical Stapler

A surgical stapler, comprising:

• a handle assembly including a movable handle;
• an elongated body extending distally from the handle assembly and defining a longitudinal axis;
• an actuation assembly including an actuation member having teeth and a driving pawl, the driving pawl being operatively associated with the movable handle and movable into engagement with the actuation member to effect longitudinal movement of the actuation member, the driving pawl being biased away from the actuation member when the movable handle is in a first position at rest, and the driving pawl being biased toward the actuation member when the movable handle is moved to a second position;
• a staple cartridge supported by the elongated body and containing a plurality of staples;
• an anvil mounted adjacent the staple cartridge, the anvil having a fastener forming surface thereon, the anvil and staple cartridge being movable in relation to one another between an open and a closed position;
• and
• an actuator operatively connected to the actuation member, the actuator being configured to move relative to the staple cartridge and anvil to effectuate sequential ejection of the staples from the staple cartridge.

A surgical stapler, comprising:

• a handle assembly including a movable handle;
• an elongated body extending distally from the handle assembly and defining a longitudinal axis;
• a staple cartridge supported by the elongated body and containing a plurality of staples;
• an anvil mounted adjacent the staple cartridge, the anvil having a fastener forming surface thereon, the anvil and staple cartridge being movable in relation to one another between an open and a closed position;
• an actuation assembly including an actuation member having teeth, a driving pawl, and a locking member, the driving pawl being operatively associated with the movable handle and movable into engagement with the actuation member to effect longitudinal movement of the actuation member, the actuation member being biased in a proximal direction, and the locking member being arranged for maintaining the position of the actuation rack;
• an actuator operatively connected to the actuation member, the actuator being configured to move relative to the staple cartridge and anvil to effectuate sequential ejection of the staples from the staple cartridge.

A surgical stapler, comprising:

• a handle assembly including a movable handle;
• an elongated body extending distally from the handle assembly and defining a longitudinal axis;
• a staple cartridge supported by the elongated body and containing a plurality of staples;
• an anvil mounted adjacent the staple cartridge, the anvil having a fastener forming surface thereon and a slot at a distal end thereof, the anvil and staple cartridge being movable in relation to one another between an open and a closed position;
• an actuation assembly including an actuation member, the movable handle being arranged to effect longitudinal movement of the actuation member;
• and
• a drive assembly arranged to be driven in a distal direction by the actuation member, the drive assembly having an upper end for engaging the anvil, the upper end dropping through the anvil slot when the upper end reaches the distal end of its travel.

A surgical stapling apparatus comprising:

• a handle assembly including a movable handle, the movable handle being movable through an actuation stroke;
• an elongated body extending distally from the handle assembly and defining a longitudinal axis, the elongated body having a distal end adapted to releasably engage a plurality of loading unit types;
• and
• an actuation member mounted for longitudinal movement in response to manipulation of the movable handle;
• the loading unit types being selected from the group consisting of a first disposable loading unit having a staple cartridge and an anvil against which surgical staples contained in the staple cartridge are driven, and a second disposable loading unit having a housing, a jaw structure, and a plurality of surgical clips disposed in the housing.

A method of stapling tissue, comprising:

• moving a movable handle from a neutral position to an actuating position, the movable handle effecting movement of an actuation member in a longitudinal direction to a first position and effecting clamping of the tissue between a staple cartridge containing surgical staples and an anvil having a fastener forming surface thereon;
• releasing the movable handle;
• and
• moving the movable handle to the actuating position, the actuation member moving from the first position to a second position to eject at least some of the staples from the staple cartridge.