Surgical fastener apparatus

Claim 1

Apparatus for substantially simultaneously applying a plurality of surgical fasteners to body tissue or the like, which comprises a body having a longitudinal portion enclosing axial drive means, a distal portion thereof defining a tissue reception aperture; anvil means positioned at the distal portion of said tissue reception aperture; fastener holding means pivotally mounted relative to said anvil means adjacent one end portion thereof and defining a space therebetween, said fastener holding means containing a plurality of surgical fasteners arranged in generally parallel rows extending generally transversely to said longitudinal portion and said longitudinal portion being generally offset from the center of said rows of fasteners; means for initially advancing said fastener holding means distally at least sufficient to contact body tissue positioned within said aperture; means for reception of proximally directed user applied force and for translating same to distally directed drive force on said axial drive means generally in alignment with said longitudinal portion; means for translating said distally directed drive force to distally directed fastener drive force distributed generally uniformly over the length of said plurality of fasteners to apply said fasteners to the body tissue.

Claim 2

An apparatus for substantially simultaneously applying a plurality of surgical fasteners to body tissue, including a handle; trigger means; body means with a longitudinal portion enclosing an axial drive means; a U-shaped distal portion; an anvil assembly positioned at the distal leg of the U-shaped distal portion; a fastener holding cartridge pivotally mounted relative to the anvil assembly and adjacent one end of the anvil assembly thereby defining a gap between them and containing a plurality of surgical fasteners and optionally including knife means for cutting body tissue; the apparatus further including approximating means for actuating the fastener holding cartridge; and fastener pushing means for substantially simultaneously pushing all of the fasteners from the fastener holding cartridge; and said apparatus being characterized in that: the axis of the longitudinal portion of the body is in off-center alignment relative to the axial centerline of movement of the fastener pushing means, and said apparatus further includes means for translating an off-centered axial distally directed drive force to an evenly distributed drive force across the proximal end of said fastener pushing means.

Claim 7

An apparatus for substantially simultaneously applying a plurality of two-part surgical fasteners to body tissue, said two-part surgical fasteners each having a fastener portion and a retainer portion, said apparatus including a handle; a trigger means; a body with a longitudinal portion enclosing an axial drive means; a U-shaped distal portion; an anvil assembly for holding the retainers, said anvil assembly being mounted at the distal leg of the U-shaped distal portion; a fastener holding cartridge pivotally mounted relative to the anvil assembly adjacent one end of the anvil assembly thereby defining a gap between them and containing a plurality of fasteners and optionally including a knife means for cutting body tissue; the apparatus further including approximating means for actuating the fastener holding cartridge; and a fastener pushing means for substantially simultaneously pushing all of the fasteners from the fastener holding cartridge; and said apparatus being characterized in that: the U-shaped distal portion of the apparatus is defined by two U-shaped plate portions of frame means mounted in parallel spaced apart relation to each other, the mutually facing surfaces of said plate portions being flat, said two U-shaped plate portions being connected by a spacer pin transversely mounted therebetween at the ends of their respective proximal legs, and said plate portions of the frame means and said spacer pin cooperating so as to align the anvil assembly with the fastener holding cartridge.

Claim 9

An apparatus for applying a plurality of surgical fasteners to body tissue, said apparatus comprising: a body with a longitudinal portion enclosing an axial drive means; a handle associated with said body; a trigger means associated with said body; an anvil assembly; a fastener holding cartridge pivotally mounted relative to the anvil assembly adjacent one end of the anvil assembly thereby defining a gap between them, said fastener holding cartridge containing a plurality of surgical fasteners and including a knife means for cutting body tissue, said knife means being distally movable in response to movement of the axial drive means; approximating means for actuating the fastener holding cartridge; and a fastener pushing means responsive to movement of the drive means for pushing the fasteners from the fastener holding cartridge; wherein said knife means possesses a distally facing elongated surface for contacting the proximal end of the fastener pushing means, said distally facing elongated surface of the knife means abutting and moving said fastener pushing means in response to the distal movement of the axial drive means.

Claim 12

An apparatus for applying a plurality of surgical fasteners to body tissue, said apparatus comprising: a body with a longitudinal portion enclosing an axial drive means; a handle associated with said body; a trigger means associated with said body; an anvil assembly; a fastener holding cartridge pivotally mounted relative to the anvil assembly adjacent one end of the anvil assembly thereby defining a gap between them, said fastener holding cartridge containing a plurality of surgical fasteners and optionally including a knife means for cutting body tissue, said knife means being distally movable in response to movement of the axial drive means; approximating means for actuating the fastener holding cartridge; and fastener pushing means for pushing the fasteners from the fastener holding cartridge, said fastener pushing means being distally movable in response to movement of the axial drive means and said fastener pushing means including a pusher plate which is substantially flat on two opposite sides and which has a plurality of fastener-pushing members distally projecting from a back portion and interference means associated with at least one of the flat sides for frictionally engaging a cooperating surface of the fastener holding cartridge to prevent the fastener pusher plate from moving proximally after it has been moved to its distal-most position in response to movement of the axial drive means.

Claim 14

An apparatus for applying a plurality of two-part surgical fasteners to body tissue, said two-part surgical fasteners each having a fastener portion and a retainer portion, said apparatus comprising: a body with a longitudinal portion enclosing an axial drive means; a handle associated with said body; a trigger means associated with said body; an anvil assembly including a retainer mounting bar comprising an elongated bar having a plurality of mounting posts projecting transversely from said bar, said posts being frictionally engagable with the retainers and holding said retainers in a fixed position relative to the apparatus until said retainers are engaged with their respective fasteners; a fastener holding cartridge pivotally mounted relative to the anvil assembly adjacent one end of the anvil assembly thereby defining a gap between them, said fastener holding cartridge containing a plurality of surgical fasteners and optionally including a knife means for cutting body tissue, said knife means being distally movable in response to movement of the axial drive means; approximating means for actuating the fastener holding cartridge; and a fastener pushing means responsive to movement of the drive means for pushing said fasteners from the fastener holding cartridge.

Claim 33

A method for positioning a plurality of retainers in an anvil assembly of an apparatus for applying surgical fasteners and retainers to tissue comprising: (a) placing said retainers on a retainer mounting bar, said retainer mounting bar comprising an elongated bar having a plurality of mounting posts projecting transversely from said bar, said posts frictionally engaging said retainers and holding said retainers in a fixed position relative to said apparatus until said retainers engage said fasteners; and (b) mounting said retainer-holding mounting bar in said anvil assembly.