Patent ID: 8464922

Claim:
A surgical fastener cartridge comprising: a cartridge body including a tissue contacting surface, the tissue contacting surface including a plurality of fastener retention slots; a plurality of surgical fasteners operatively disposed in the plurality of fastener retention slots; a plurality of pushers operably associated with the plurality of surgical fasteners, each pusher configured for ejecting an associated surgical fastener towards a depression in an anvil; and an actuation sled housed within the cartridge body, the actuation sled includes a plurality of cam wedges, at least one of the plurality of cam wedges being relatively flexible, the at least one of the plurality of cam wedges having a deflectable portion, the plurality of cam wedges configured to sequentially contact the plurality of pushers such that a surgical fastener that is ejected closer to a cut line produces a greater compression force to stapled tissue than a surgical fastener ejected further from the cut line.