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US 4,043,504 AGranted
Staple cartridge and feed means for use with a surgical stapling instrument
AssigneeSenco Products, Inc.
InventorsJ. Charles Hueil, Robert G. Rothfuss
Life of this patent
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AssigneeSenco Products, Inc.
InventorsJ. Charles Hueil, Robert G. Rothfuss
Estimating the term…
A staple cartridge and feed means for use with a surgical stapling instrument of the type having an anvil about which a staple is formed during emplacement thereof in the skin or fascia of a patient. The cartridge comprises a body having a vertical staple feeding track adapted to hold a stack of staples and a separate vertical staple forming track with a staple former reciprocable therein by the surgical stapling instrument. The staple forming track and the staple feeding track are in parallel relationship separated by a divider wall. A window, defined by the cartridge body and the divider wall, provides a horizontal path between the staple feeding track and the staple forming track and is so sized as to permit the passage therethrough of a single staple from the bottom of the staple stack. Horizontal feeder means normally prevent passage of the bottommost staple from the stack through the window into the staple driving track. The horizontal feeder means, actuable by the surgical stapling instrument, positively shifts the bottommost staple of the stack from the staple feeding track horizontally through the window to the staple forming track and cooperates with retainer springs to hold a shifted staple in position in the staple forming track to be implanted and formed about the anvil by the staple former.
A staple cartridge for use with a stapling instrument, said cartridge comprising a body having therein a staple forming track with a reciprocable staple former therein actuable by said instrument, a separate and distinct parallel staple feeding track for a stack of staples, a passage between said staple feeding and forming tracks so sized as to permit the passage therethrough of one staple at a time from said staple feeding track to said staple forming track, means actuable by said instrument to shift one staple at a time from said staple feeding track through said passage into said staple forming track, said staple shifting means closing said passage when a staple is not being shifted therethrough by said staple shifting means, and means to maintain a staple shifted into said staple forming track in proper position therein to be acted upon by said staple former.
A staple cartridge for use with and affixable to a surgical stapling instrument of the type having an anvil about which a staple is formed during emplacement thereof in the skin or fascia of a patient, said cartridge comprising a body having therewithin a vertical staple feeding track with closed upper and lower ends and a separate, parallel, vertical staple forming track with a closed upper end and an open lower end adapted to be adjacent said surgical stapling instrument anvil when said cartridge is affixed to said instrument, a staple former shiftable within said staple forming track by said instrument between a retracted position and an extended position wherein it forms a staple about said anvil, a stack of staples located within said vertical staple feeding track, a horizontal passage extending laterally from said vertical staple feeding track adjacent said lower end thereof to said vertical staple forming track and being so sized as to permit the shifting therethrough of only one staple at a time from said vertical staple feeding track to said vertical staple forming track, horizontal feeder means actuable by said instrument to shift the bottommost staple of said stack from said staple feeding track horizontally through said passage into said vertical staple forming track, said horizontal feeder means closing said passage when a staple is not being shifted therethrough by said horizontal feeder means and means to maintain a staple shifted into said vertical staple forming track in proper position therein to be engaged by said staple former and formed about said instrument anvil when said staple former is shifted by said instrument from said retracted to said extended position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.