Surgical stapling device with floating staple cartridge

Abstract

A surgical stapling device includes tool assembly having an anvil assembly and a cartridge assembly including a cartridge channel and a staple cartridge supported within the cartridge channel. The cartridge channel has a pair of spaced sidewalls and a bottom wall. The cartridge assembly includes compression strips that are supported on upper edges of the side walls and are positioned to support the staple cartridge. In embodiments, each of the compression strips includes a connecting portion and the upper edge of each of the side walls defines a slot that is configured to receive the connecting portion of a respective compression strip to secure the compression strip to the side wall of the cartridge channel. In some embodiments, the tool assembly also includes a compressible pad that is supported on the bottom wall of the cartridge channel between the bottom of the cartridge channel and the staple cartridge.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A tool assembly, comprising:
 an anvil assembly having a tissue contacting surface;   a cartridge assembly having a tissue contacting surface, the anvil assembly or cartridge assembly being pivotable to move to a clamped position, the cartridge assembly having a channel and a staple cartridge, wherein the channel defines retention slots;   compression strips disposed in the retention slots, the compression strips being disposed between the channel and the staple cartridge and being compressible to allow the staple cartridge to move and change the distance between the staple cartridge and the anvil assembly.   
     
     
         2 . The tool assembly of  claim 1 , wherein each of the compression strips have a connecting portion for connecting with one of the retention slots, and each of the compression strips having a supporting portion with a flat surface for supporting the staple cartridge. 
     
     
         3 . The tool assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the channel defines notches, each notch communicating with one of the retention slots. 
     
     
         4 . The tool assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the channel defines notches, each notch communicating with one of the retention slots. 
     
     
         5 . The tool assembly of  claim 3 , wherein each notch allows access to the retention slots. 
     
     
         6 . The tool assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising compression pads disposed on a bottom wall of the channel to support the staple cartridge. 
     
     
         7 . The tool assembly of  claim 1 , wherein thin tissue corresponds to a close relation of the staple cartridge to the anvil assembly, and thicker tissue corresponds to a farther relation between the staple cartridge and the anvil assembly. 
     
     
         8 . The tool assembly of  claim 7 , wherein thin tissue corresponds to a staple formation having a first configuration and thicker tissue corresponds to a staple formation having a second configuration. 
     
     
         9 . The tool assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein the channel has a first side wall, a second side wall, and a bottom wall, and wherein the first side wall has an upper edge and the second side wall has an upper edge. 
     
     
         10 . The tool assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the upper edge of the first side wall defines a plurality of retention slots in the first side wall, and the upper edge of the second side wall defines a plurality of retention slots in the second side wall. 
     
     
         11 . The tool assembly of  claim 10 , wherein there are compression strips at multiple locations along the first side wall of the channel, and there are compression strips at multiple locations along the second side wall of the channel. 
     
     
         12 . The tool assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the staple cartridge defines shoulders and the flat surface of the compression strips support the shoulders of the staple cartridge. 
     
     
         13 . A surgical stapling instrument having the tool assembly of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         14 . A surgical stapling instrument having the tool assembly of  claim 11 . 
     
     
         15 . The surgical stapling instrument of  claim 13 , further comprising a mechanical handle. 
     
     
         16 . The surgical stapling instrument of  claim 13 , further comprising a powered handle.