Endoscopic surgical clip applier

An apparatus for application of surgical clips to body tissue, the apparatus comprising:

• a) a handle assembly;
• b) a shaft assembly extending distally from the handle assembly and defining a longitudinal axis;
• c) a plurality of surgical clips disposed within the shaft assembly;
• d) jaws mounted adjacent a distal end portion of the shaft assembly, the jaws including a pair of jaw members movable between a spaced-apart and an approximated position;
• e) a clip pusher bar configured to individually distally advance a surgical clip to the jaws while the jaw members are in the spaced apart position;
• f) a drive bar at least partially disposed within the handle assembly and the shaft assembly, the drive bar being longitudinally movable in response to actuation of a trigger of the handle assembly;
• g) a drive channel positioned adjacent the first and second jaw members to move the jaw members to the approximated position;
• and
• h) a wedge plate slidably supported in the shaft assembly,
• wherein the wedge plate includes a distal end configured and dimensioned for placement between the jaw members when the jaw members are in the spaced-apart position and when the drive channel is in a proximal position, wherein the wedge plate is configured to wedge the jaw members to the spaced-apart position when the wedge plate is place between the jaw members, wherein the wedge plate is slidable relative to the pusher bar, wherein the wedge plate is slidable relative to the drive channel, and
• wherein when the handle assembly is actuated, the wedge plate is moved in a proximal direction to withdraw the distal end thereof from between the jaw members and move the drive channel in a distal direction.