US5954259A — Self-contained powered surgical apparatus for app…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 179 words

A self-contained powered surgical apparatus for applying surgical fasteners to body tissue comprising: a) a handle assembly; b) a motor assembly disposed within the handle assembly; c) a power source disposed within the handle assembly for energizing the motor assembly; d) an elongated body extending distally from the handle assembly; e) a cartridge assembly detachably connected to a distal end portion of the elongated body and including: i) a housing supporting a plurality of surgical fasteners; ii) an anvil associated with the housing and mounted for movement between an open position and a closed position; iii) an actuation mechanism configured to translate relative to the housing and the anvil to progressively move the anvil from the open position to the closed position and to sequentially eject surgical fasteners from the housing to be formed against the anvil; iv) an axial drive screw threadably associated with the actuation mechanism for effectuating the translation thereof; and f) an elongated drive shaft extending through the elongated body and detachably coupling the axial drive screw of the cartridge assembly to the motor assembly.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 179 words

A self-contained powered surgical apparatus for applying surgical fasteners to body tissue comprising: a) a handle assembly; b) a motor assembly disposed within the handle assembly; c) a power source disposed within the handle assembly for energizing the motor assembly; d) an elongated body extending distally from the handle assembly; e) a cartridge assembly detachably connected to a distal end portion of the elongated body and including: i) a housing supporting a plurality of surgical fasteners; ii) an anvil associated with the housing and mounted for movement between an open position and a closed position; iii) an actuation mechanism configured to translate relative to the housing and the anvil to progressively move the anvil from the open position to the closed position and to sequentially eject surgical fasteners from the housing to be formed against the anvil; iv) an axial drive screw threadably associated with the actuation mechanism for effectuating the translation thereof; and f) an elongated drive shaft extending through the elongated body and detachably coupling the axial drive screw of the cartridge assembly to the motor assembly.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 38 words

A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the handle assembly includes an elongate barrel portion within which the motor assembly is disposed, and a depending handle gripping portion within which the power source is disposed.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 25 words

A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising a trigger mechanism associated with the handle assembly for selectively actuating the motor assembly.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 28 words

A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 3, further comprising a switching mechanism associated with the trigger mechanism for selectively reversing the polarity of the motor assembly.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 24 words

A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 4, wherein the elongated body and cartridge assembly are rotatable with respect to the handle assembly.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 23 words

A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising means for preventing rotation of the elongated body and the cartridge assembly.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 89 words

A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein the preventing means comprises a plurality of indentations circumferentially disposed about a distal portion of the handle assembly, and an annular collar formed of a resilient material and mounted about a proximal end portion of the elongated body, the annular collar including a pair of diametrically opposed radially inwardly extending protuberances dimensioned to normally engage the indentations formed on the handle assembly, and which are disengaged from the indentations by applying a radially inwardly directed force on the collar.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 25 words

A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the cartridge assembly is detachably mounted to the elongated body by a bayonet-type coupling arrangement.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 42 words

A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 8, wherein the bayonet-type coupling includes an engagement slot defined in a distal end portion of the elongated body and a corresponding engagement pin associated with a proximal end portion of the cartridge assembly.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 36 words

A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein a distal end of the elongated drive shaft is releasably coupled to a proximal end of the axial drive screw by a spring biased coupling mechanism.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 40 words

A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 10, wherein the coupling mechanism includes a compression spring, the spring facilitating axial alignment of the proximal end of the axial drive screw and the distal end of the elongated drive shaft.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 90 words

A power surgical apparatus as recited in claim 10, further comprising a shaft coupling interconnecting the elongated drive shaft and the axial drive screw, the shaft coupling being rotatably fixed but longitudinally slidable with respect to the drive shaft and being longitudinally biased into operable engagement with the axial drive screw, and a cartridge coupling operably connected to the axial drive screw, the cartridge coupling having proximally extending teeth and the shaft coupling having distally extending teeth, the shaft coupling teeth being biased into engagement with the cartridge coupling teeth.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 181 words

A cartridge assembly for a surgical apparatus configured to sequentially apply a plurality of surgical fasteners to body tissue, the apparatus including an elongated body and an actuator mounted for axial rotation within the elongated body, the cartridge assembly comprising: a) a housing supporting a plurality of surgical fasteners and configured to be detachably mounted to a distal end portion of the elongated body of the apparatus; b) an anvil associated with the housing and mounted for movement with respect thereto between an open position and a closed position; c) an actuation assembly configured to translate relative to the housing and the anvil to progressively move the anvil from the open position to the closed position and to concomitantly sequentially eject surgical fasteners from the housing to be formed against the anvil; and d) an axial drive screw thredably associated with the actuation assembly for effectuating the translation thereof, a proximal end of the drive screw being configured to detachably couple with a distal end of the actuator, whereby axial rotation of the actuator causes longitudinal translation of the actuation assembly.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 181 words

A cartridge assembly for a surgical apparatus configured to sequentially apply a plurality of surgical fasteners to body tissue, the apparatus including an elongated body and an actuator mounted for axial rotation within the elongated body, the cartridge assembly comprising: a) a housing supporting a plurality of surgical fasteners and configured to be detachably mounted to a distal end portion of the elongated body of the apparatus; b) an anvil associated with the housing and mounted for movement with respect thereto between an open position and a closed position; c) an actuation assembly configured to translate relative to the housing and the anvil to progressively move the anvil from the open position to the closed position and to concomitantly sequentially eject surgical fasteners from the housing to be formed against the anvil; and d) an axial drive screw thredably associated with the actuation assembly for effectuating the translation thereof, a proximal end of the drive screw being configured to detachably couple with a distal end of the actuator, whereby axial rotation of the actuator causes longitudinal translation of the actuation assembly.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 34 words

A cartridge assembly as recited in claim 13, further comprising a cutting blade configured to translate through the cartridge assembly in conjunction with the actuation assembly to form an incision in stapled body tissue.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 18 words

A cartridge assembly as recited in claim 14, wherein the anvil is normally biased into the open position.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 32 words

A cartridge assembly as recited in claim 15, wherein the anvil includes a fastener forming surface against which fasteners are driven when ejected from the housing, and an opposed outer camming surface.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 43 words

A cartridge assembly as recited in claim 16, wherein the actuation assembly includes a cylindrical roller cam dimensioned and configured to engage the outer camming surface of the anvil to effect the progressive closure thereof during the longitudinal translation of the actuation assembly.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 40 words

A cartridge assembly as recited in claim 17, wherein a slot is defined in the anvil to receive the cam roller and permit the anvil to return to a normally biased open position at the conclusion of a fastening operation.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 117 words

A surgical apparatus comprising: a) a handle assembly; b) an elongated body extending distally from the handle assembly; and c) a cartridge assembly detachably connected to the elongated body by a bayonet-type coupling, the cartridge assembly comprising: i) a housing supporting a plurality of surgical fasteners; ii) an anvil movable with respect to the housing between open and closed positions; iii) an actuation mechanism configured to translate relative to the housing and anvil to move the anvil from the open to the closed position and to eject the surgical fasteners from the housing to be formed against the anvil; and iv) a drive member operably associated with the handle assembly to effect translation of the actuation mechanism.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 117 words

A surgical apparatus comprising: a) a handle assembly; b) an elongated body extending distally from the handle assembly; and c) a cartridge assembly detachably connected to the elongated body by a bayonet-type coupling, the cartridge assembly comprising: i) a housing supporting a plurality of surgical fasteners; ii) an anvil movable with respect to the housing between open and closed positions; iii) an actuation mechanism configured to translate relative to the housing and anvil to move the anvil from the open to the closed position and to eject the surgical fasteners from the housing to be formed against the anvil; and iv) a drive member operably associated with the handle assembly to effect translation of the actuation mechanism.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 17 words

A surgical apparatus as recited in claim 19, wherein the drive member is an axial drive screw.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 44 words

A surgical apparatus as recited in claim 20, further including a motor disposed within the handle assembly and an elongated drive shaft extending through the elongated body, the elongated drive shaft coupling the axial drive screw of the cartridge assembly to the motor assembly.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 24 words

A surgical apparatus as recited in claim 21, further comprising a trigger mechanism associated with the handle assembly for selectively actuating the motor assembly.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 89 words

A surgical apparatus as recited in claim 21, further comprising a shaft coupling interconnecting the elongated drive shaft and the axial drive screw, the shaft coupling being rotatably fixed but longitudinally slidable with respect to the drive shaft and being longitudinally biased into operable engagement with the axial drive screw, and a cartridge coupling operably connected to the axial drive screw, the cartridge coupling having proximally extending teeth and the shaft coupling having distally extending teeth, the shaft coupling teeth being biased into engagement with the cartridge coupling teeth.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 37 words

A surgical apparatus as recited in claim 21, wherein the handle assembly includes an elongate barrel portion within which the motor assembly is disposed, and a depending handle gripping portion within which a power source is disposed.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 43 words

A surgical apparatus as recited in claim 21, further comprising a switching mechanism associated with a trigger mechanism for selectively reversing the polarity of the motor assembly, and wherein the cartridge is detachably mounted to the elongated body by a bayonet-type coupling arrangement.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 22 words

A surgical apparatus as recited in claim 19, further including a motor assembly and a power source disposed within the handle assembly.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2002-09-20	2003-03-22	2003-09-21	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2006-09-20	2007-03-22	2007-09-21	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2010-09-20	2011-03-22	2011-09-21	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Self-contained powered surgical apparatus for applying surgical fasteners

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