Patent ID: 8011550

Claim:
A surgical stapling apparatus, comprising: a housing; a handle supported by the housing; an elongated body extending distally from the housing; a tool assembly at the distal end of the elongated body, the tool assembly having a cartridge assembly including a cartridge having a plurality of surgical fasteners therein, and an anvil assembly, at least one of the cartridge assembly and anvil assembly being movable in relation to the other of the cartridge assembly and anvil assembly, wherein the anvil assembly includes an anvil plate, and wherein each of the anvil plate and the staple cartridge define an elongate longitudinal slot; a surgical buttress releasably secured to a tissue contacting surface of at least one of the anvil plate and the staple cartridge, wherein each surgical buttress is secured to the at least one of the anvil assembly and the cartridge assembly by at least one anchor, and wherein at least one of the anvil assembly and the cartridge assembly define a side slot for receiving an end of the at least one anchor therein; a release assembly operatively associated with the at least one of the anvil assembly and the cartridge assembly; a drive assembly being actuatable by the handle and slidably translatable through the tool assembly from a proximal position to a distal position, the drive assembly configured to actuate the release assembly to thereby release the anchor and to free the surgical buttress from the at least one of the anvil assembly and cartridge assembly; and the release assembly further including a first bar extending across the longitudinal slot prior to an actuation of the drive assembly, and a second bar operatively connected to and actuatable by the first bar, the second bar having an end extending at least partially into the side slot, prior to an actuation of the drive assembly.