Patent ID: 8091754

Claim:
A surgical fastener applying apparatus, comprising: a cartridge half-section supporting a pair of camming surface extensions extending from a cam bar arrangement; an anvil half-section, said cartridge and anvil half-sections being relatively movable from an unclamped position to a clamped position; a first clamp lever operatively connected to the cartridge half-section and a second clamp lever operatively connected to the anvil half-section; wherein each clamp lever is movable between a first position in which the cartridge and anvil half sections are in the unclamped position, and a second position in which the cartridge and anvil half sections are in the clamped position; and a pivotably mounted firing lever operatively associated with said pair of camming surface extensions to move said pair of camming surface extensions longitudinally to thereby sequentially fire a plurality of surgical staples in a direction transverse to a direction of travel of said pair of camming surface extensions, wherein the firing lever is pivotable to extend to a right side and left side of the apparatus.