Patent claim: A surgical stapling apparatus for stapling tissue comprising a cartridge body comprising a proximal end a distal end a deck comprising a tissuesupporting surface a well defined in said deck a plurality of staple cavities wherein at least one of said staple cavities is defined in said well a plurality of staples removably stored in said staple cavities a layer positioned above said deck wherein said staples are configured to implant said layer against the tissue when said staples are ejected from said staple cavities wherein said layer extends into said well and wherein the interaction between said layer and said well is configured to reduce relative movement between said layer and said cartridge body.

Related passage: In various embodiments referring now to FIG.152 a staple cartridge such as staple cartridge 14900 for example can comprise a support portion 14910 and in addition a tissue thickness compensator 14920 positioned against the support portion 14910.Similar to the above the support portion 14910 can comprise staple drivers which can be lifted upwardly by a stapledeploying sled in order to lift staples such as staples 10030 for example at least partially positioned within the support portion 14910 toward an anvil such as anvil 10060 for example positioned opposite the staple cartridge 14900.In certain embodiments the support portion 14910 can comprise six rows of staple cavities such as two outer rows of staple cavities two inner rows of staple cavities and two intermediate rows of staple cavities positioned intermediate the inner rows and the outer rows for example wherein the anvil 10060 can comprise six rows of forming pockets 10062 aligned or at least substantially aligned with the staple cavities.In variousembodiments the inner rows of staple cavities can include staple drivers 14940a positioned therein the intermediate rows of staple cavities can include staple drivers 14940b positioned therein and the outer rows of staple cavities can include staple drivers 14940c positioned therein wherein each of the staple drivers 14940a can include a cradle 14949a configured to support a staple 10030 wherein each of the staple drivers 14940b can include a cradle 14949b configured to support a staple 10030 and wherein each of the staple drivers 14940c can include a cradle 14949c configured to support a staple 10030.In their unfired positions i.e.when the staple drivers 14940a14940c are sitting on driver supports 14926 which extend underneath the support portion 14910 the cradles 14949a of the staple drivers 14940a can be positioned closer to the anvil 10060 than the cradles 14949b of the staple drivers 14940b and the cradles 14949c of the staple drivers 14940c.In such a position a first forming distance can be defined between the cradles 14949a and the forming pockets 10062 positioned over the cradles 14949a a second forming distance can be defined between the cradles 14949b and the forming pockets 10062 positioned over the cradles 14949b and a third forming distance can be defined between the cradles 14949c and the forming pockets 10062 positioned over the cradles 14949c wherein in various embodiments the first forming distance can be shorter than the second forming distance and the second forming distance can be shorter than the third forming distance for example.When the staple drivers 14940a14940c are moved from their unfired positions FIG.152 to their fired positions each staple driver 14940a14940c can be moved upwardly an equal or an at least substantially equal distance toward the anvil 10060 by the stapledeploying sled such that the first drivers 14940a drive their respective staples 10030 to a first formed height the second drivers 14940b drive their respective staples 10030 to a second formed height and the third drivers 14940c drive their respective staples 10030 to a third formed height wherein the first formed height can be shorter than the second formed height and the second formed height can be shorter than the third formed height for example.Various other embodiments are envisioned in which the first staple drivers 14940a are displaced upwardly a first distance the second staple drivers 14940b are displaced upwardly a second distance and the third staple drivers 14940c are displaced upwardly a third distance wherein one or more of the first distance the second distance and the third distance can be different.