Surgical staples having attached drivers and stapling instruments deploying the same

Abstract

A surgical stapling system including a driver and a staple where the driver is connected to the staple. In previous surgical stapling systems, the driver and the staple were not connected. A surgical stapling system in accordance with the present invention may have fewer components, less assembly and manufacturing time, and may accommodate larger staples which are at least partially embedded in the driver. In various embodiments, a surgical stapling system comprises a staple, the staple including a deformable member, and a stapler, the stapler including an anvil, a staple cartridge for removably storing the staple, and a cam movable between a first position and a second position. In these embodiments, the surgical stapling system further comprises a driver attached to the staple, the driver being operatively engaged with the cam to move the staple toward the anvil when the cam is moved between the first position and the second position.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A surgical staple cartridge comprising:
 a cartridge housing having a longitudinal axis;   the cartridge having a knife channel disposed along the longitudinal axis dividing the cartridge into a first side and a second side;   a first, a second and a third row of staple pockets located on the first side of the cartridge housing having staples therein, wherein the first, the second and the third row of staple pockets are aligned parallel to the knife channel;   a first fastener driver oriented to drive at least three fasteners out of the staple pockets in the first, the second and the third row of staple pockets, respectively; and   a second fastener driver oriented to drive at least four fasteners out of the staple pockets in at least the second and third row of staple pockets, respectively.   
     
     
         2 . A surgical staple cartridge comprising:
 a cartridge housing having a longitudinal axis;   the cartridge having a knife channel disposed along the longitudinal axis dividing the cartridge into a first side and a second side;   a first, a second and a third row of staple pockets located on the first side of the cartridge housing having fasteners therein, wherein the first, the second and the third row of staple pockets are aligned parallel to the knife channel and at least the second row of staple pockets is offset from the first and the third rows along a transverse axis;   a first staple driver oriented to drive at least four staples from the staple pockets simultaneously.   
     
     
         3 . A fastener cartridge comprising:
 a cartridge housing having a knife channel;   an anvil disposed opposite the cartridge housing;   a first, a second and a third row of pockets disposed on one side of the knife channel and oriented substantially parallel thereto where the second row is offset from the first and the third rows along an axis transverse to the knife channel;   staples located in the staple pockets;   a staple driver to drive at least two staples out of the staple pockets simultaneously in either the first, the second or the third row wherein the at least two staples contact the anvil simultaneously.