There is described an apparatus for delivering a closure element into a puncture communicating with a blood vessel including an introducer sheath and a locator member disposed within the sheath, the locator member having a distal portion extending distally beyond the distal end of the sheath. A plurality of splines are provided on the distal portion of the locator member, the splines being selectively expandable between an axial collapsed configuration and a transverse expanded configuration. An actuator is coupled to the locator member for controllably expanding the splines. A housing is slidably disposed on the sheath for deploying a closure element, such as a vascular clip. The locator actuator may automatically collapse the splines upon advancement of the housing. Alternatively, the distal portion includes a helically wound wire and a tether coupled to the wire that is movable for causing the wire to buckle instead of the splines.
