Surgical wound clip applier with disposable clip magazine

Claim 2

A surgical clip applier for closing surgical wounds, comprising: a rigid body member having spaced front and back portions and an actuator member slidably mounted between said portions, a pair of forceps pivoted together and slidably mounted between said members and adjacent said actuator member for sliding movement in the same direction as said actuator member, means for biasing said actuator member upwardly away from the bottom end of said body, stop means for limiting the length of the path of movement of said forceps, camming means interconnecting said forceps and said actuator member for moving said forceps outwardly from the bottom end of said body while closing said forceps, means detachably secured to the lower end of said body for supplying surgical clips to the interior thereof, each clip in turn being positioned in alignment with said forceps and in position to be closed by closing of said forceps, said forceps having a configuration for gripping a clip and holding it while it is being closed by closing of the forceps, said actuator upon downward movement separating the front clip from the next adjacent clip in said supplying means, and means for manually holding said body member and for pressing said actuator downwardly therein against said biasing means to bend and close a clip at a position beyond the lower end of said body.

Claim 3

A surgical clip applier as set forth in claim 1 wherein said members include quickly detachable means for holding said front and back members in assembled relationship with said forceps and said actuator.

Claim 4

A surgical clip as set forth in claim 2 wherein said quickly detachable means comprises: a resilient part of said back portion and a spaced projection on said front portion engaging one another when said members are assembled and a foot on said resilient part hooking over said projection to lock said assembly together and stop means for preventing release of said foot by relative sliding movement of said front and back portions.

Claim 5

A surgical clip applier as set forth in claim 3 whErein said resilient portion further engages and holds said detachable clip supplying means when positioned on said assembly, said supplying means having a flange held against said projection by said resilient portion.

Claim 6

A surgical clip applier as set forth in claim 1 including a flexible lip on said detachable clip supplying means for holding the front clip in position in said body member for engagement by said forceps, said lip being flexed out of the path of the clip by downward movement of said actuator.

Claim 7

A surgical clip applier for closing surgical wounds, comprising: a body having a hollow base member and an upright hollow member at a forward end of said base member and formed of a material capable of withstanding sterilizing temperatures without deterioration; a surgical clip magazine assembly seated in the hollow portion of the base for holding a string of clips and including means for urging the string forwardly toward said upright member so as to maintain an end clip in the upright member at the forward end of the base member; said upright member having a cam cover at its forward end, including an upper grip portion and a lower slot, said upright member having a slide guide at its rear end joined to the base member and including an upper grip portion, and having a sliding blade, including an upper spring portion, supported for manual depressing movement along the slide guide to separate the forward end clip from the next adjoining clip in said magazine assembly, and retractable by action of said upper spring portion upon termination of the manual movement; two cooperative forceps jaws mounted for pivotal movement on a pivot extending through the slot in said cam cover, each jaw having a cam surface; and cooperative means on said sliding blade for engaging said cam surfaces during the depressing movement and moving said jaws in gripping relation to the separated clip whereby said clip has its extremities closed in guided clamping juxtaposition about tissue adjoining a wound and is released from clamping contact with said forceps by retracting movement of said blade after the clip is clamped.

Claim 8

A surgical clip applier for closing surgical wounds, comprising: a body having a hollow base member and an upright hollow member at a forward end of said base member and formed of a material capable of withstanding sterilizing temperatures without deterioration; a surgical clip magazine assembly seated in the hollow portion of the base for holding a string of clips and including means for urging the string forwardly toward said upright member so as to maintain an end clip in the upright member at the forward end of the base member; said upright member having a cam cover at its forward end, including an upper grip portion and a lower slot, said upright member having a slide guide at its rear end joined to the base member and including an upper grip portion, and having a sliding blade, including an upper spring portion, supported for manual depressing movement along the slide guide to separate the forward end clip from the next adjoining clip in said magazine assembly, and retractable by action of said upper spring portion upon termination of the manual movement; two cooperative forceps jaws mounted for pivotal movement on a pivot extending through the slot in said cam cover, each jaw having a cam surface; and cooperative means on said sliding blade for engaging said cam surfaces during the depressing movement and moving said jaws in gripping relation to the separated clip whereby said clip has its extremities closed in guided clamping juxtaposition about tissue adjoining a wound and is released from clamping contact with said forceps by retracting movement of said blade after the clip is clamped.

Claim 9

A clip applier as recited in claim 6, in which a clip string is detachably secured within said hollow portion of the base member for replacement and removal as required.

Claim 10

A clip applier as recited in claim 6, including spring means for mounting said pivot in alternative upper and lower positions in the slot in said cover and in which said pivot on which the jaws are mounted is retained during initial action of said cooperative forceps jaws and then to the lower position so as to properly align the jaws over the ends of the clip.

Claim 11

A clip applier as recited in claim 6, in which the cam cover, sliding blade and slide guide are confined at their sides by structure normally clamped onto the slide guide and manually removable from the slide guide for cleaning, inspection or replacement of the cover, sliding blade and slide guide.

Claim 12

A clip applier as recited in claim 6, in which the grip portion of the slide guide limits the extent of movement of the spring portion of the sliding blade.

Claim 13

A clip applier as recited in claim 6, in which the sliding blade terminates at its lower end in a cutting edge.

Claim 14

A clip applier as recited in claim 6, in which the forceps jaws are of the same configuration and afford interchangeable mounting of the jaws.

Claim 15

A clip applier as recited in claim 6, including means for limiting upward movement of the sliding blade.