Patent ID: 11877745
Assignee: CILAG GMBH INTERNATIONAL
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 12:
13. A surgical stapling assembly, comprising:
(a) a cartridge body defining a slot extending along a longitudinal axis, wherein the cartridge body comprises a tissue-supporting deck, wherein cavities are defined in the cartridge body and form rows of openings in the tissue-supporting deck, and wherein the rows of openings comprise:
(i) a first row on a first side of the slot and comprising first openings obliquely-oriented relative to the longitudinal axis;
(ii) a second row on the first side of the slot and comprising second openings obliquely-oriented relative to the longitudinal axis; and
(iii) a third row on the first side of the slot and comprising third openings positioned parallel to the longitudinal axis; and

(b) a fastener removably positioned in each of the cavities and having a proximal fastener leg and a distal fastener leg, wherein the fasteners are positioned to form alternating first and second leg clusters, and wherein each first leg cluster includes a first distal fastener leg of a first fastener positioned in the first row, a second proximal fastener leg of a second fastener positioned in the second row, and a third distal fastener leg of a third fastener positioned in the third row,
wherein each second leg cluster includes a first proximal fastener leg of the first fastener in the first row, a second distal fastener leg of a fourth fastener positioned in the second row, and a third proximal fastener leg of the third fastener positioned in the third row,
wherein the second proximal fastener leg is distal to the first proximal fastener leg, and the second proximal fastener leg is proximal to the first distal fastener leg,
wherein the first leg cluster defines a first maximum distance between the second proximal fastener leg and either of the first distal fastener leg or the third distal fastener leg, and the second leg cluster defines a second maximum distance between the second distal fastener leg and either of the first proximal fastener leg or the third proximal fastener leg, wherein the second maximum distance is greater than the first maximum distance.