Patent ID: 8348127

Claim:
A surgical fastener cartridge comprising: a cartridge body including a tissue contacting surface, the tissue contacting surface including a plurality of fastener retention slots, the cartridge body defining a longitudinal axis therethrough; a plurality of surgical fasteners operatively disposed in the plurality of fastener retention slots; and an actuation mechanism housed within the cartridge body, the actuation mechanism comprising: a plurality of pushers operably associated with the plurality of surgical fasteners, each pusher configured for ejecting an associated surgical fastener towards a depression in an anvil; an internal channel housing; a plurality of pivotably connected link assemblies operably coupled to one another via an activation structure configured to apply a pull force along the longitudinal axis for transitioning each of the link assemblies, wherein the plurality of pivotably connected link assemblies are movable from an initial position where each of the link assemblies are engaged with a corresponding bottom surface associated with each of the pushers and a corresponding top surface associated with the internal channel housing, through a subsequent position where each of the link assemblies are configured to cause the corresponding pusher to eject the associated surgical fastener towards the depression in the anvil, and to a final position where each of the link assemblies are disengaged from the bottom and top surfaces of the pusher and internal channel housing, respectively, wherein each of the pushers and corresponding top surface associated with the internal channel housing includes an arcuate portion configured to releasably engage a respective proximal end of a first and second link arm associated with each of the plurality of pivotably coupled link assemblies.