Patent ID: 8282655

Claim:
An apparatus for application of surgical clips to body tissue, the apparatus comprising: a handle portion; a body extending distally from the handle portion and defining a longitudinal axis; a jaw assembly mounted adjacent a distal end portion of the body, the jaw assembly including first and second jaw portions movable between a spaced-apart and an approximated position; a jaw closure member positioned adjacent the first and second jaw portions to move the jaw portions to the approximated position; a plurality of surgical clips disposed within the body; a clip pusher disposed proximal to the plurality of clips and configured to bias the plurality of clips in a distal manner; a feed bar configured to individually distally advance a surgical clip to the jaw assembly while the jaw portions are in the spaced apart position; a wedge plate longitudinally movable between the first and the second jaw portions; an actuator at least partially disposed within the body and longitudinally movable in response to actuation of the handle portion, wherein the actuator comprises a cam, and the wedge plate has a first cam slot and a first camming surface to engage with the cam to move the wedge plate distally between the first and second jaw portions upon a distal advancement of the actuator; and a slider joint, the slider joint and the jaw closure member being in substantially coaxial alignment with the actuator, wherein the slider joint couples the actuator to the jaw closure member, wherein the slider joint provides partial movement of the actuator with respect to the jaw closure member and provides distal movement of the jaw closure member upon distal movement of the actuator beyond a predetermined point.