Patent ID: 8801753

Claim:
A surgical staple, comprising: a substantially planar rectangular base having a first edge and a second edge substantially parallel to one another, and a third edge substantially perpendicular to said first and second edges; and a plurality of tines projecting from each of said first and second edges of said base, wherein said tines projecting from said first edge, including a first tine and a second tine adjacent to each other, are offset from said tines projecting from said second edge, including a third tine and a fourth tine adjacent to each other, wherein said tines have a first configuration and a second configuration, wherein said tines are deformed in the second configuration, and wherein in the second configuration the first tine and the third tine are closer together than a gap between a first group including the first tine and the third tine, and a second group including the second tine and the fourth tine, and wherein the second tine and the fourth tine are closer together than the gap between the first group and the second group wherein the first tine extending from the first edge has a first length and the second tine extending from the first edge has a second length, wherein the third tine extending from the second edge has the second length and the fourth tine extending from the second edge has the first length, wherein the first length is shorter than the second length, and wherein the first tine is substantially parallel to the third tine and the second tine is substantially parallel to the fourth tine.