Patent ID: 8038686

Claim:
An improved endoscopic surgical clip applier having jaws which close together to approximate tissues to be clipped, a push rod adapted to close the jaws, a trigger adapted to actuate the push rod, and a ratchet mechanism adapted to prevent the trigger from opening during at least a portion of a closing stroke, the improvement comprising: a preloaded rotary joint formed between the push rod and a linkage coupling the push rod to the trigger, the preloaded rotary joint being effective to maintain the jaws in a substantially fixed partially closed position when the trigger is partially opened during a closing stroke to retain a partially formed clip between the jaws, wherein the preloaded rotary joint includes a biasing element disposed in a recess that includes at least one ridge formed therein configured to maintain the biasing element at a substantially constant load during a closing stroke and up through full closure of the jaws.