Patent ID: 7568604

Claim:
A surgical fastener applying apparatus, comprising: a cartridge section having a loading unit, the loading unit including a cartridge body with staple retaining slots and a plurality of surgical staples; an anvil section having an anvil surface for forming the plurality of surgical staples, the cartridge section and the anvil section being arranged to be joined to one another and relatively movable from an unclamped position to a clamped position; a first clamp lever operatively connected to the cartridge section and a second clamp lever operatively connected to the anvil section, each clamp lever being movable from a closed position in which the cartridge section and the anvil section are in the clamped position to an open position in which the cartridge section and the anvil section are in the unclamped position, each clamp lever being movable to the open and closed position independently of the other clamp lever; and a firing lever longitudinally movable to sequentially fire the plurality of surgical staples, wherein the firing lever is pivotable to extend from a selected one of a right and left side of the apparatus.