Patent ID: 8267944

Claim:
An apparatus for application of surgical clips to body tissue, the apparatus comprising: a handle assembly including a trigger and a drive bar reciprocally translatable by the trigger upon an actuation thereof; and a shaft assembly extending distally from the handle assembly and defining a longitudinal axis, the shaft assembly including: a housing; a plurality of surgical clips disposed within the housing; a jaw mounted adjacent a distal end portion of the housing, the jaw being movable between an open spaced-apart condition and a closed approximated condition; a pusher bar reciprocally disposed within the housing of the shaft assembly, the pusher bar being configured to load a distal-most surgical clip into the jaws during distal movement; a connector plate reciprocally disposed within the shaft assembly, wherein the connector plate is detachably connectable to the pusher bar, wherein during an initial distal movement of the connector plate the pusher bar is distally advanced and during a further distal movement of the connector plate the connector plate is disconnected from the pusher bar; an advancer plate reciprocally disposed within the shaft assembly, the advancer plate including at least one fin detachably connectable to a shoulder of the pusher bar, wherein the shoulder of the pusher bar engages the at least one fin of the advancer plate during a distal and a proximal movement of the pusher bar to effectuate one of a distal and proximal movement of the advancer plate; a clip follower slidably supported in the shaft assembly for urging the plurality of surgical clips in a distal direction; and a clip carrier disposed in the shaft assembly, wherein the clip carrier is configured to retain the plurality of surgical clips and the clip follower; wherein the clip follower includes a first tab projecting from a first surface thereof and a second tab projecting from a second surface thereof, wherein the first tab of the clip follower engages the advancer plate as the advancer plate is moved distally such that the clip follower is moved distally to advance the plurality of surgical clips, and wherein the second tab of the clip follower engages a feature as the advancer plate is moved proximally such that the clip follower remains stationary; and wherein the clip follower includes a catch extending from a surface thereof, wherein the catch engages the pusher bar following a firing of a last surgical clip and prevents movement of the pusher bar in a proximal direction.