Patent ID: 8585717

Claim:
An apparatus for application of surgical clips to body tissue, the apparatus comprising: a handle assembly including a trigger and a drive bar reciprocally translatable by the trigger upon an actuation thereof; a shaft assembly extending distally from the handle assembly and defining a longitudinal axis, the shaft assembly including: a housing; a plurality of surgical clips disposed within the housing; a jaw mounted adjacent a distal end portion of the housing, the jaw being movable between an open spaced-apart condition and a closed approximated condition; a pusher bar disposed within the housing for reciprocal movement between a proximal position and a distal position defining a stroke having a length, the pusher bar being configured to load a distal-most surgical clip into the jaws upon a movement from the proximal position to the distal position; an advancer plate disposed within the housing for reciprocal movement between a proximal position and a distal position, wherein the advancer plate is engaged by the pusher bar during a distal and a proximal movement of the pusher bar to effectuate one of a distal and proximal movement of the advancer plate, wherein the advancer plate moves a distance less than the length of the stroke; and a snap clip supported on the advancer plate and detachably engagable to the housing to releasably maintain the advancer plate in one of the proximal position and the distal position.