Claims
- 1. An improved surgical stapler of the type having a cartridge and a handle, the cartridge, having means for forming a staple including an anvil and a forming blade, and a staple feed track movably containing a plurality of surgical staples and means for biasing the staples toward the anvil, each staple having a crown, and two opposite side legs; and the handle having means for activating said forming means, the activating means in said handle being cooperatively attached to said forming means in said cartridge, the improvement comprising in combination the distal end of each leg of a surgical staple contacting the crown of the adjacent preceding staple, each staple having at least one bend in the crown such that the distal ends of said legs of each staple in an essentially symmetrical converging relationship, and said biasing means acts only on the proximal staple, whereby the plurality of staples are self-aligning on the staple feed track.
- 2. A cartridge of claim 1 wherein said staple feed track comprises two opposed grooves.
- 3. A cartridge of claim 1 wherein said crown has two bends.
- 4. A cartridge of claim 3 wherein said bends are equidistant from the center of said crown.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 669,497, filed Nov. 8, 1984, abandoned May 22, 1987.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
273146 |
Apr 1951 |
FRX |
529968 |
Jul 1955 |
ITX |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
669497 |
Nov 1984 |
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