Surgical stapler

Claim 1

A stapler for inserting a staple into a pair of adjacent articles to facilitate interconnection of the articles comprising a casing including handle means thereof for manual operation of the stapler, an elongated barrel integral with said handle means defining the other end of said casing, support means at the free end of said barrel remote from said handle means for supporting a deformable staple, and fixed, substantially V-shaped anvil means at said free end of said barrel for forcing overlapping pointed free ends of a substantially U-shaped staple out of the barrel in opposite directions perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said barrel into both said articles; plunger means slidably mounted in said barrel for bearing against the staple to deform the latter and force the pointed ends of the staple out of the barrel into said articles; trigger means at said one end of said casing for moving said plunger means from a rest position to a staple ejecting position; spring means in said casing for returning said plunger means to the rest position; control sleeve means rotatably mounted on said one end of said plunger means and projecting out of said casing for controlling movement of said plunger means in said barrel; and pin means in said casing for engaging said control sleeve means to permit or prevent movement of said plunger means in said barrel; said control sleeve means including an annular flange and an annular groove on the inner end thereof, said groove slidably receiving said pin means, a slot in said flange permitting passage of said pin means through said flange for assembling and dismantling of the stapler, the remainder of said flange preventing movement of said plunger against the staple, and a longitudinally extending channel in said sleeve connected to and perpendicular to said groove permitting longitudinal movement of said plunger against a staple.