Apparatus for applying surgical clips

Claim 2

Apparatus for applying hemostatic clips to tissue comprising: a body; means associated with the body for storing a plurality of undeformed hemostatic clips having elongated, spaced-apart arms; a pair of jaws at one end of the body for receiving, holding and deforming a clip, the jaws being movable relative to each other in their common plane to deform the clip by bringing the spaced-apart arms of the clip towards one another: means for camming the jaws closed including first cam surface means associated with the jaws, and means for moving the first and second cam surface means relative to each other to cause the jaws to move towards one another in their common plane to deform a clip; means for feeding one clip at a time from the means for storing to the jaws; and actuating and sequencing means for sequentially actuating the means for feeding and the means for camming the jaws closed to first cause the means for feeding to move a clip from the means for storing to the jaws and to then cause the means for camming the jaws closed to move the jaws towards each other to close the clip.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the body includes an elongated sleeve extending towards the jaw end of the apparatus and the first cam surface means for closing the jaws is associated with the jaw end of the sleeve.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 2 wherein at least a portion of the sleeve is longitudinally curved.

Claim 5

Apparatus for applying hemostatic clips to tissue comprising: a body including an elongated sleeve which extends along the distal-proximal axis of the apparatus; means within at least a portion of the sleeve for storing a plurality of undeformed hemostatic clips having elongated, spacedapart arms, the means including first and second ratchets located adjacent to each other to form a space for the clips, the ratchets having teeth thereon for engagement with the clips, the teeth being directed into the space between the ratchets and facing towards the distal end of the apparatus; a pair of jaws at the distal end of the sleeve, the jaws having a first, spaced-apart position for receiving and holding a clip and being movable toward each other in their common plane for deforming a clip by bringing the spaced-apart arms of the clip towards one another; means for moving the first ratchet relative to the second ratchet from a first position to a second position to feed the clip closest to the jaws into the jaws and to index each of the clips remaining in the means for storing one tooth on the second ratchet closer to the jaws; means for camming the jaws closed including first cam surface means associated with the distal end of the sleeve, second cam surface means associated with the jaws, and means for moving the first and second cam surface means relative to each other to cause the jaws to move towards one another in their common plane to deform a clip; means for returning the jaws to their first, spaced-apart position after they have been cammed closed by the means for moving the cam surface means relative to each other; means for returning the first ratchet to its first position after the clip closest to the jaws has been fed and the remaining clips indexed; and actuating and sequencing means for sequentially applying the plurality of hemostatic clips by actuating in sequence the means for moving the first ratchet from its first to its second position, the means for moving the first and second cam surface means relative to each other, the means for returning the jaws to their first position and the means for returning the first ratchet to its first position.

Claim 6

Apparatus for applying hemostatic clips to tissue comprising: a body including an elongated sleeve which extends along the distal-proximal axis of the apparatus; means within at least a portion of the sleeve for storing a plurality of undeformed hemostatic clips having elongated, spacedapart arms, the means including first and second ratchets located adjacent to each other to form a space for the clips, the ratchets having teeth thereon for engagement with the clips, the teeth being directed into the space between the ratchets and facing towards the distal end of the apparatus; a pair of jaws at the distal end of the sleeve, the jaws having a first, spaced-apart position for receiving and holding a clip and being movable toward each other in their common plane for deforming a clip by bringing the spaced-apart arms of the clip towards one another; means for moving the first ratchet relative to the second ratchet from a first position to a second position to feed the clip closest to the jaws into the jaws and to index each of the clips remaining in the means for storing one tooth on the second ratchet closer to the jaws; means for camming the jaws closed including first cam surface means associated with the distal end of the sleeve, second cam surface means associated with the jaws, and means for moving the first and second cam surface means relative to each other to cause the jaws to move towards one another in their common plane to deform a clip; means for returning the jaws to their first, spaced-apart position after they have been cammed closed by the means for moving the cam surface means relative to each other; means for returning the first ratchet to its first position after the clip closest to the jaws has been fed and the remaining clips indexed; and actuating and sequencing means for sequentially applying the plurality of hemostatic clips by actuating in sequence the means for moving the first ratchet from its first to its second position, the means for moving the first and second cam surface means relative to each other, the means for returning the jaws to their first position and the means for returning the first ratchet to its first position.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the actuating and sequencing means includes a clutch mechanism which prevents the jaws from returning to their first position until after the jaws have been cammed closed sufficiently far to insure that any clip in the jaws will fall out of the jaws, when the jaws return to their first position.

Claim 9

The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the actuating and sequencing section includes two relatively movable handles operatively connected to the rotatable cam and the means for moving the first and second cam surface means relative to each other, the handles being engageable by one hand and being movable from a first position through an intermediate position to a final position with clip feeding occurring as the handles move from the first to the intermediate position and clip closure occurring as the handles move from the intermediate to the final position.

Claim 10

Hemostatic clip applying apparatus comprising: a body; a pair of jaws at one end of the body, the jaws having a first, spaced-apart position for receiving and holding a clip and being movable towards each other from the first position for deforming a clip; a pair of arms carrying the jaws, the arms being movable towards each other and being spaced from each other, when unconstrained, by a distance such that the spacing between the jaws is less than the spacing between the jaws in the first, spaced-apart position; and means associated with the arms and the body for increasing the spacing between the arms to bring the jaws to their first, spaced-apart position.

Claim 11

Hemostatic clip applying apparatus comprising: a body; a pair of jaws at one end of the body, the jaws having a first, spaced-apart position for receiving and holding a clip and being movable towards each other from the first position for deforming a clip; a pair of arms carrying the jaws, the arms being movable towards each other and being spaced from each other, when unconstrained, by a distance such that the spacing between the jaws is less than the spacing between the jaws in the first, spaced-apart position; and means associated with the arms and the body for increasing the spacing between the arms to bring the jaws to their first, spaced-apart position.

Claim 12

A ratchet for moving surgical clips along a path at least a portion of which is longitudinally curved comprising: an elongated body which can be flexed into the shape of the path; a plurality of teeth associated with one side of the body, the teeth being divided into sets with the distance the teeth project from the body, when the body is uncurved, varying between the sets to accommodate the curved portion of the path so that when the body is flexed into the shape of the path, the teeth of the various sets project from the body to approximately the same extent, notwithstanding the curve.

Claim 13

A ratchet for moving surgical clips along a path at least a portion of which is longitudinally curved comprising: an elongated body which can be flexed into the shape of the path; a plurality of teeth associated with one side of the body, the teeth being divided into sets with the distance the teeth project from the body, when the body is uncurved, varying between the sets to accommodate the curved portion of the path so that when the body is flexed into the shape of the path, the teeth of the various sets project from the body to approximately the same extent, notwithstanding the curve.

Claim 14

The ratchet of claim 9 wherein the path has one longitudinally curved portion and one longitudinally straight portion, the tooth side of the body has a convex curvature when the body is flexed into the shape of the path, and the set of teeth associated with the curved portion of the body project from the body, when it is uncurved, less than the set of teeth associated with the straight portion of the body project from the body.