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Surgical stapler apparatus with curved shaft

  • US 4,576,167 A
  • Filed: 09/03/1981
  • Issued: 03/18/1986
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/03/1981
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. Apparatus for applying surgical staples to body tissue comprising:

  • an anvil assembly;

    a staple holding assembly containing a plurality of surgical staples and including (a) a first body, (b) anvil support means for supporting the anvil assembly for motion relative to the first body to allow the tissue to be stapled to be clamped between the anvil assembly and the first body, and (c) pusher means movably mounted relative to the first body for driving the staples from the staple holding assembly through the clamped tissue and against the anvil assembly;

    an actuator assembly remote from the staple holding assembly and including (a) a second body, (b) first actuator means movably mounted on the second body for controlling the anvil support means, and (c) second actuator meaans movably mounted on the second body for controlling the pusher means; and

    a longitudinal shaft assembly including (a) a rigid longitudinal shaft member connected at one end to the first body and at the other end to the second body, the shaft member being a hollow tube having a longitudinally curved section intermediate its ends, at least a portion of the curved section having uniform radius, the shaft member also including a longitudinally straight section substantially tangent to one end of the portion of uniform radius, (b) a longitudinal tension member disposed in the shaft member for longitudinal motion relative to the shaft member for transmitting longitudinal tension force and longitudinal motion from the first actuator means to the anvil support means to pull the anvil assembly toward the first body to clamp the tissue and to resist the force of the staples being driven through the tissue and against the anvil assembly, the tension member being longitudinally flexible and longitudinally inextensible and incompressible, (c) a longitudinal compression member disposed in the shaft member for longitudinal motion relative to the shaft member for transmitting longitudinal compression force and longitudinal motion from the second actuator means to the pusher means to cause the pusher means to drive the staples, the compression member being a longitudinally inextensible and incompressible hollow tube concentric with the shaft member tube, the compression member tube being articulated adjacent the point of tangency of the straight section of the shaft assembly to permit some relative longitudinal motion between the tubes without binding of the tubes relative to one another, the tension member being disposed in the interior of the compression member tube, and (d) means associated with the curved section of the shaft assembly for maintaining each of the tension member and the compression member coaxial with respective predetermined longitudinal axes in the shaft member while allowing the tension member and the compression member to move longitudinally relative to one another and relative to the shaft member, the means for maintaining comprising spacer means between the concave side of the tension member and the opposite inner surface of the compression member tube in the curved section of the shaft assembly.

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