Endoscopic surgical instrument with pivotable and rotatable staple cartridge

A surgical stapling instrument for applying one or more surgical staples to tissue, said instrument comprising:

• a support shaft having a longitudinal axis;
• a staple cartridge containing a plurality of staples and mounted on said support shaft for pivotal movement about a transverse axis of articulation perpendicular to said shaft longitudinal axis to at least one articulated position, said cartridge containing a staple advancing and forming mechanism for effecting application of one of said staples to said tissue, said cartridge also being rotatable relative to said shaft about a cartridge axis defined along the length of said cartridge;
• an operating rod generally traversing the length of said shaft longitudinal axis extending along said support shaft to said cartridge and connected with said staple advancing and forming mechanism, said rod including a flexible portion adjacent said transverse axis to accommodate the articulation of said instrument;
• a knob connected to said rod proximally of said cartridge to rotate said cartridge relative to said shaft;
• and
• a staple actuator mechanism connected to said rod and operable from a location proximally of said cartridge to move said rod longitudinally for actuating said staple advancing and forming mechanism in said cartridge and to accommodate the rotation of said cartridge relative to said shaft;
• wherein each said staple has a generally U-shaped body including a crown with a central offset portion between two non-offset portions and a pair of legs at opposite ends of said crown each depending from one of said non-offset portion;
• and
• said staple cartridge includes
• a staple storage region defined by a guide surface for supporting and guiding said staple crowns and includes a cavity for receiving said staple legs, said staples being arranged in a side-by-side stack in said storage region with each staple oriented transversely to the cartridge axis with the staple legs oriented perpendicularly to the cartridge axis;
• a staple feeder shoe in said storage region and a spring biasing said feeder shoe distally along the length of said cartridge to engage the most proximal staple in said stack and urge said stack distally;
• an inclined surface and an inclined ramp spaced from said inclined surface for receiving therebetween the distalmost staple from the stack at the distal end of said guide surface, said inclined surface and ramp each being oriented at an oblique angle relative to said cartridge axis;
• and
• spaced-apart extension surfaces for receiving said staple crown as said staple advances distally from said inclined surface and inclined ramp whereby said non-offset portions engage said ramp to rotate said staple about 90.degree. into an orientation with the staple legs oriented parallel to said cartridge axis and pointing toward the distal end of said cartridge.