Vascular clamp and forceps system

Claim 1

In combination: a vascular clamp comprising a pair of arms, a pivot joining said arms together for pivotal movement toward and away from one another, spring means in opposition to both of said arms biasing them apart, a clamping blade carried by each arm on the same side of the pivot as its respective arm, said clamping blades being so disposed and arranged relative to their respective arms and to each other that they tend to approach each other as the arms are spread apart, and to move apart from one another when the arms are moved toward one another, each clamping blade having a bearing surface, said bearing surfaces facing one another whereby to bear upon tissue held between the blades and to clamp onto said tissue as a consequence of the bias of the spring means when the arms are released, and forceps-engaging means on each of said arms to engage the jaws of a forceps whereby the arms may be pressed together by said forceps; and forceps for engaging said clamp and spreading the clamping blades apart by pressing said arms together, comprising a pair of jaws, a pivot joining said jaws together for a pivotal movement toward and away from one another, a handle attached to each jaw and extending on the opposite side of the pivot from its respective jaw, said jaws being so disposed and arranged relative to their respective handles and to each other that they tend to approach each other as the handles are spread apart, and to move apart from one another when the handles are moved toward each other, clamp-engaging means on each jaw removably engaged to the forceps-engaging means on the clamp, and springing means engaged to the handles biasing said handles apart, whereby with the clamp-engaging means engaged to the forceps-engaging means, the handles released, the springing means of the forceps will cause the jaws to move toward each other, compressing the spring means of the clamp, moving the arms together and the clamping blades apart, and whereby forcing the handles toward one another so as to compress the springing means, spreads the jaws apart, and enables the spring means to move the arms apart and the clamping blades toward one another.