Patent ID: 7041113

Claim:
A method of severing a blood vessel in a patient comprising the steps of: A. inserting a shaft through an incision in the patient, the shaft carrying first and second clamps, each clamp including a pair of base strips, each base strip carrying a jaw at a forward end thereof, the jaws being spring biased away from one another: the shaft carrying a pair of sleeves slidably disposed in the shaft, the pair of base strips of each clamp being slidably disposed within a respective one of the sleeves; B. applying the first and second clamps to the vessel in closely adjacent relationship by forwardly sliding the sleeves relative to both the shaft and the respective strips from a first position to a second position wherein the sleeves force respective pairs of jaws closed; and then C. moving the first and second clamps in generally opposing directions to sever the vessel at a location between the clamps by forwardly sliding the sleeves relative to both the shaft and both strips from the second position to a third position, wherein the sleeves and their respective strips are forced away from one another.