US 4,520,817 AGranted

Surgical instruments

AssigneeUnited States Surgical Corporation

InventorDavid T. Green

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A surgical stapling instrument is disclosed, having upper and lower elongate jaws, one of which is adapted to receive a staple magazine, the other jaw being adapted to receive an anvil or to serve as one itself. A pusher bar and knife assembly including a pair of pusher bars and a central knife carrier moves along the jaws to eject staples from the magazine sequentially and to form laterally spaced staple rows in tissue gripped between the jaws while the knife cuts the tissue along a line between the staple rows. The instrument includes structure for locally supporting the jaws in the region of the forward ends of the pusher bars as these elements move along the jaws to resist forces which arise during staple ejection and shaping and which tend to vertically separate or laterally distort the jaws, or both. The magazine and the pusher bar and knife assembly may together constitute a unitary disposable cartridge. One jaw may have tabs or lugs for gripping the other jaw to provide additional lateral stability. A detent may also be provided to prevent operation of the instrument while the jaws are open.

Claims4

Dependent claims

A disposable loading unit for use with a surgical stapler of the type having a first jaw adapted to carry a disposable loading unit, and using a pusher bar to eject staples sequentially from a disposable loading unit carried on the first jaw, and having a second jaw facing the first jaw for closing staples ejected from a disposable loading unit on the first jaw;

said disposable loading unit comprising:
a body containing at least one longitudinally extending row of surgical staples and having a first longitudinal passage for receiving a pusher bar;
camming means for cooperating with a pusher bar to eject said surgical staples from said body;
and a slot extending through the entire thickness of said body for receiving jaw support means for supporting the stapler jaws;
further comprising jaw support means for supporting the stapler jaws, wherein said jaw support means comprises shoe means slidably movable along said slot in tandem with a pusher bar when a pusher bar is received in said first longitudinal passage, said shoe means being adapted to cooperate with a surgical stapler of said type for maintaining the jaws of the surgical stapler substantially stationary relative to each other in the vicinity of said shoe means.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.