Patent ID: 11950994
Assignee: ETHICON, INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 13:
14. An applicator instrument for dispensing surgical fasteners comprising:
a housing;
an elongated shaft extending from the housing, the elongated shaft including a proximal end secured to the housing, a distal end spaced from the proximal end, and a first channel extending along a first axis between the proximal end and an intermediate channel angled with respect to the first channel, a second channel extending distally from a distal end of the intermediate channel along a second axis;
a plurality of stacked surgical fasteners disposed in the elongated shaft;
a distal end cap secured to the distal end of the elongated shaft, the distal end cap having a surgical fastener dispensing window and a ramp configured for guiding the surgical fasteners from the second channel toward the surgical fastener dispensing window, wherein the ramp extends along a third axis angled relative to the first axis and the intermediate channel;
a firing system disposed in the housing, the firing system including a flexible firing rod extendable through the first channel, the intermediate channel and the second channel to contact a distal-most one of the surgical fasteners so that distal movement of the firing rod dispenses the distal-most surgical fastener through the surgical fastener dispensing window; and
an actuator coupled with the housing to move the firing rod distally to advance the distal-most surgical fastener over the ramp extending along the third axis for dispensing the distal-most surgical fastener distally from the surgical fastener dispensing window of the distal end cap.