Sub-miniature surgical staple cartridge
First Claim
1. A surgical staple cartridge supporting at least one row of miniature generally U-shaped surgical staples, said cartridge comprisingan elongated housing comprising longitudinally extending elongated thin strips of material each having a predetermined thickness,at least two of said strips forming parallel walls for said housing with corresponding end portions of said walls connected together,at least one of said strips having a plurality of longitudinally spaced integral ribs extending laterally across said strip to define a row of longitudinally spaced pockets between said ribs,at least one of said elongated strips adjacent said ribs and closing said pockets,one of said surgical staples supported within each of said pockets for lateral sliding movement,a plurality of substantially flat drivers within said pockets and supported for lateral sliding movement within said pockets to eject said staples from said pockets, andeach of said strips has a longitudinally extending top edge portion defining longitudinally spaced recesses in lateral alignment with said pockets.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A sub-miniature surgical staple cartridge includes an elongated housing having longitudinally extending strips forming walls with a wall thickness preferably less than 0.015 inch. The walls define a plurality of longitudinally spaced pockets which receive a corresponding plurality of U-shaped surgical staples above generally flat corresponding drivers. The thin walls are formed of sheet metal or extruded plastics material or heat-formed sheet plastics material with the outer side walls having opposite end walls welded together or integrally connected. The outer side walls may be sheet metal enclosing sheet metal or plastic extruded internal walls, or the entire cartridge may be extruded of a plastics material or formed of sheet plastics material and have a plastic bottom wall.
1265 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A surgical staple cartridge supporting at least one row of miniature generally U-shaped surgical staples, said cartridge comprising
an elongated housing comprising longitudinally extending elongated thin strips of material each having a predetermined thickness, at least two of said strips forming parallel walls for said housing with corresponding end portions of said walls connected together, at least one of said strips having a plurality of longitudinally spaced integral ribs extending laterally across said strip to define a row of longitudinally spaced pockets between said ribs, at least one of said elongated strips adjacent said ribs and closing said pockets, one of said surgical staples supported within each of said pockets for lateral sliding movement, a plurality of substantially flat drivers within said pockets and supported for lateral sliding movement within said pockets to eject said staples from said pockets, and each of said strips has a longitudinally extending top edge portion defining longitudinally spaced recesses in lateral alignment with said pockets.
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5. A surgical staple cartridge supporting a plurality of rows of miniature generally U-shaped surgical staples, said cartridge comprising
an elongated housing comprising longitudinally extending elongated thin strips of material each having a predetermined thickness, two of said strips forming longitudinally extending parallel side walls for said housing, each of said strips forming said side walls having a plurality of longitudinally spaced integral ribs each extending laterally across said strip to define a row of longitudinally spaced and longitudinally extending elongated pockets between said ribs, one of said elongated strips extending longitudinally adjacent said ribs of one of said side walls and closing said pockets, one of said surgical staples supported within each of said pockets for lateral sliding movement, a plurality of substantially flat driver members within said pockets and supported for lateral sliding movement within said pockets to eject said staples from said pockets, and each of said strips forming said side walls has a longitudinally extending top edge portion defining longitudinally spaced recesses in lateral alignment with said pockets.
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8. A surgical staple cartridge supporting at least one row of miniature generally U-shaped surgical staples, said cartridge comprising
an elongated housing including longitudinally extending elongated separate sheet metal strips each having a uniform thickness less than 0.15 inch; -
at least one of said separate sheet metal strips of uniform thickness forming a plurality of longitudinally spaced integral ribs extending laterally across said strip to define a row of longitudinally spaced pockets between said ribs, at least one of said elongated separate sheet metal strips of uniform thickness extending longitudinally adjacent said ribs and closing said longitudinally spaced pockets, one of said surgical staples supported within each of said pockets for lateral sliding movement, and a plurality of substantially flat driver plates within said pockets and supported for lateral sliding movement within said pockets to eject said staples from said pockets. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification