Surgical staples and methods for making the same
AssigneeEthicon Endo-Surgery, Inc.
InventorsFrederick E. Shelton, IV, Chester O. Baxter, III
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A surgical staple and staple cartridge for removably storing the surgical staple. The staple can be formed and/or stamped from a sheet of material. The staple can include a base and staple legs extending from the base. The base can be non-linear and/or laterally contoured intermediate the staple legs.
Claims23
A surgical staple, comprising:
- a first leg;
- a second leg;
- and
- a non-linear base, comprising:
- a first drive surface;
- a second drive surface laterally offset from the first drive surface;
- and
- a contour intermediate the first drive surface and the second drive surface.
A surgical staple, comprising:
- a base comprising an integral drive surface;
- a first leg extending from the base;
- and
- a second leg extending from the base;
- wherein a staple midline bisects the base intermediate the first leg and the second leg, and wherein the integral drive surface extends across the staple midline.
A surgical staple, comprising:
- a leg comprising an overall leg depth,
- a base comprising an overall base height;
- wherein the base height is independent of the leg depth, and wherein the leg and the base define a seamless unitary piece.
A surgical staple stamped from a sheet of material, the surgical staple comprising:
- a first leg comprising a first cross-section;
- a second leg comprising a second cross-section;
- and
- a base comprising a base cross-section, wherein the base cross-section is different than said first cross-section and said second cross-section.
A surgical fastener formed from a sheet of material, the surgical fastener comprising:
- a first leg;
- a second leg, wherein the first leg and the second leg define a leg plane, wherein the first leg defines a first leg height and a first leg depth within the leg plane, and wherein the second leg defines a second leg height and a second leg depth within the leg plane;
- and
- a base contiguously connecting the first leg and the second leg, wherein the base comprises a base height that is larger than the first leg depth and the second leg depth.
An end effector for use with a surgical instrument, said end effector comprising:
- a channel comprising a sidewall;
- a cartridge body positioned within said channel;
- and
- a fastener cavity at least partially defined by said channel and said cartridge body;
- and
- a fastener removably stored in said fastener cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.