Variable compression surgical fastener cartridge

1. A surgical fastener cartridge comprising:

a cartridge body including a tissue contacting surface, the tissue contacting surface including a plurality of fastener retention slots;

a plurality of surgical fasteners operatively disposed in the plurality of fastener retention slots;

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; and

an actuation sled housed within the cartridge body, the actuation sled includes a plurality of cam wedges, at least one of the plurality of cam wedges being relatively flexible, the at least one of the plurality of cam wedges having a deflectable portion, the plurality of cam wedges configured to sequentially contact the plurality of pushers such that a surgical fastener that is ejected closer to a cut line produces a greater compression force to stapled tissue than a surgical fastener ejected further from the cut line.

2. A surgical fastener cartridge according to claim 1 , wherein the actuation sled is adapted to operatively connect to a drive assembly associated with a surgical fastening apparatus such that the actuation sled is longitudinally movable within the cartridge body.

3. A surgical fastener cartridge according to claim 1 , wherein the tissue contacting surface includes a channel configured to accommodate longitudinal movement of a cutting element.

4. A surgical fastener cartridge according to claim 1 , wherein a central support of the sled is configured to engage an abutment surface of the cutting element.

5. A surgical fastener cartridge according to claim 1 , wherein the sled has a central support and the plurality of cam wedges on opposing sides of the central support includes inner, middle, and outer cam wedges.

6. A surgical fastener cartridge according to claim 5 , wherein the inner cam wedges include proximal ends that are relatively rigid and the middle and outer cam wedges each include proximal ends that are relatively flexible.

7. A surgical fastener cartridge according to claim 6 , wherein the middle and outer cam wedges each define a respective gap distance “G 1 ” and “G 2 ”.

8. A surgical fastener cartridge according to claim 7 , wherein each of the gap distances “G 1 ”, “G 2 ” separate respective deflectable portions of middle and outer cam wedges, wherein the respective deflectable portions are configured to deflect toward a base of the actuation sled when the plurality of surgical fastener contacts a corresponding surgical fastener forming depression associated with an anvil of the surgical fastening apparatus.

9. A surgical fastener cartridge according to claim 8 , wherein each of the deflectable portions is configured to contact a respective non-deflectable portion of the middle and outer cam wedges.

10. A surgical fastener cartridge according to claim 5 , wherein each of the proximal ends of middle and outer cam wedges include a notched area configured to alter the amount of deflection of the middle and outer cam wedges.

11. A surgical fastener cartridge according to claim 10 , wherein the gap distance “G 1 ” of the middle cam wedge is less than the gap distance “G 2 ” of the outer cam wedge.

12. A surgical fastener cartridge according to claim 1 , wherein the sled has a first cam wedge with a proximal end and a second cam wedge with a proximal end, the proximal end of the first cam wedge including a notched area configured to deflect the proximal end of the first cam wedge during the formation of the surgical fasteners.