Patent ID: 7988706

Claim:
A tissue puncture closure device for partial insertion into and sealing of an internal tissue wall puncture, comprising: a filament extending from a first end of the closure device to a second end of the closure device; an anchor for insertion through the tissue wall puncture attached to the filament at the second end of the closure device; a sealing plug slidingly attached to the filament adjacent to the anchor; a tamping assembly to compact the sealing plug toward the anchor, the tamping assembly comprising a tamping tube and an automatic transmission, the automatic transmission comprising a filament spool about which a portion of the filament is wound, an input gear arranged coaxially with the filament spool, an output gear arranged in contact with the tamping tube, at least two intermediate gears operable between the input and output gears, and a clutch member operable to releasably engage two of the intermediate gears with each other, the automatic transmission being operable to automatically change a gear ratio between the input and output gears for achieving an additional mechanical advantage when a torque of the automatic transmission exceeds a clutch breakdown value to increase a force applied to the sealing plug by the tamping tube, and automatically decrease a mechanical advantage when the torque falls below the clutch breakdown value.