Patent ID: 8444037

Claim:
A device for clamping tissue, comprising: a cartridge housing; an anvil defining at least one slot, the anvil being movable relative to the cartridge housing between an open state and a closed state to apply a clamping force between tissue engaging surfaces of the cartridge housing and anvil; a clamp screw having a proximal end portion and a distal end portion, the clamp screw defining a screw plane and a screw axis that extends centrally through the clamp screw between the proximal and distal end portions of the clamp screw, the clamp screw being threadably engaged with an inner cam shaft of the cartridge housing to axially translate the inner cam shaft between proximal and distal positions, the inner cam shaft having a pair of opposed lateral end portions, the inner cam shaft defining a cam shaft axis that extends centrally through the inner cam shaft between the pair of opposed lateral end portions, the cam shaft axis being transverse to the screw axis and within the screw plane, the cam shaft axis extending through the at least one slot of the anvil, the inner cam shaft being engageable with the at least one slot of the anvil to move the anvil relative to the cartridge housing between the open and closed states as the inner cam shaft axially translates between the proximal and distal positions of the inner cam shaft.