Patent ID: 9545254
Date: 2017-01-17
CPC Classifications: A61B

Claim:
1. A shaft assembly for surgical instruments, the shaft assembly comprising: a housing having a stationary feature projecting therefrom; a plurality of surgical clips disposed within the housing; jaws mounted adjacent a distal end portion of the housing, the jaws being movable between an open spaced-apart condition and a closed approximated condition; a pusher bar reciprocally disposed within the housing and including a first spring clip supported thereon for detachably connecting to the stationary feature of the housing when the pusher bar is at a distal-most position thereof, the pusher bar being configured to load a distal-most surgical clip into the jaws while the jaws are in the open spaced-apart condition and remain in the distal-most position during movement of the jaws toward the closed approximated condition; a wedge plate reciprocally disposed within the housing, the wedge plate being movable between a position where a distal end thereof is disposed in the jaws and a position where the distal end thereof is free from the jaws; and a connector plate reciprocally disposed within the housing, wherein the connector plate, during at least a portion of a firing stroke thereof, detachably connects to each of the pusher bar and the wedge plate.