Patent ID: 7959052

Claim:
An endoscopic surgical stapler for stapling tissue within a body cavity, said stapler comprised of: (a) an endoscopic device comprising an insertion section ending in a distal tip; (b) a stapler comprising: i) an anvil comprising a proximal face; ii) a staple cartridge containing an array of staples, said cartridge comprised of two portions: a fixed proximal portion and a moveable distal portion, said distal portion being adapted to be able to slide into said fixed portion when a force, pushing it in a proximal direction, is applied to a distal face of said distal portion, wherein said fixed proximal portion comprises a non-moveable backstop; and iii) moving means comprising cables for moving said anvil proximally and springs for moving said anvil distally in a direction parallel to an imaginary axis passing through said distal face of said distal portion of staple cartridge and said face of said anvil; wherein, when said moving means are activated causing said anvil to push against said moveable distal portion of said cartridge causing said moveable distal portion to slide into said fixed proximal portion of said cartridge, said non-moveable backstop prevents staples stored in said moveable distal portion of said cartridge from moving in a proximal direction and therefore the legs of said staples are passively forced to exit said distal portion of said cartridge through slots in said distal face of said moveable distal portion of said cartridge; (c) tissue grasping means which can be advanced out of and retracted into channels that travel through said insertion section and exit said distal tip at a location between the proximal face of the anvil and the distal face of the cartridge; and (d) one or more visualization means enabling observation of the operating site and inspection of the results of the stapling procedure.