Bone support apparatus
First Claim
1. An apparatus for connecting a bone anchor to a support rod, comprising:
- a connector body having an upper portion, a middle portion, and a lower portion, the lower portion including a socket for polyaxially receiving a head portion of the bone anchor, the upper portion including a pair of diametrically opposed arms defining a rod-receiving channel for receiving the support rod, each arm including an inner surface, an outer surface, opposite edge surfaces, a rim projecting radially inward, and a recess formed in the rim; and
a cap sized and configured to engage the inner surfaces of the arms, the cap including a pair of bosses projecting radially outward, a pair of stoppers projecting radially outward, and a pair of flanges projecting radially outward and located beneath the bosses and stoppers;
wherein the cap is receivable in the channel in a partially installed position in which the bosses, stoppers and flanges are located circumferentially between the arms of the connector body, rotation of the cap from the partially installed position toward an installed position causes the arms to interfere with further movement of the bosses, and further rotation of the cap to the installed position causes
1) the arms to deflect outwardly to move out of interference with the bosses such that the bosses are movable past the rim on each arm so as to be received in the recesses, and
2) the stopper to abut a side edge of an arm.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for connecting a bone anchor to a support rod includes a connector body and a cap. The connector body has a channel to receive and locate the support rod relative to the bone anchor. The cap is moveable longitudinally into a partially installed position in the channel, and snaps into non-threaded engagement with the connector body by rotating from the partially installed position to an installed position without moving axially relative to the connector body. In some embodiments, a sleeve fits over a socket portion of the connector body in a temporary position in which the sleeve permits insertion of the bone anchor into the socket. The sleeve engages the connector body so as to be restrained from axial and rotational movement relative to the connector body when in the temporary position. Tools are provided for installing the connector body, sleeve, cap, and support rod.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. An apparatus for connecting a bone anchor to a support rod, comprising:
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a connector body having an upper portion, a middle portion, and a lower portion, the lower portion including a socket for polyaxially receiving a head portion of the bone anchor, the upper portion including a pair of diametrically opposed arms defining a rod-receiving channel for receiving the support rod, each arm including an inner surface, an outer surface, opposite edge surfaces, a rim projecting radially inward, and a recess formed in the rim; and a cap sized and configured to engage the inner surfaces of the arms, the cap including a pair of bosses projecting radially outward, a pair of stoppers projecting radially outward, and a pair of flanges projecting radially outward and located beneath the bosses and stoppers; wherein the cap is receivable in the channel in a partially installed position in which the bosses, stoppers and flanges are located circumferentially between the arms of the connector body, rotation of the cap from the partially installed position toward an installed position causes the arms to interfere with further movement of the bosses, and further rotation of the cap to the installed position causes
1) the arms to deflect outwardly to move out of interference with the bosses such that the bosses are movable past the rim on each arm so as to be received in the recesses, and
2) the stopper to abut a side edge of an arm. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. An apparatus for connecting a bone anchor to a support rod, comprising:
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a connector body having an upper portion, a middle portion, and a lower portion, the lower portion including a socket for polyaxially receiving a head portion of the bone anchor, the upper portion including a shoulder surface and a pair of diametrically opposed arms defining a rod-receiving channel for receiving the support rod, each arm including an inner surface, an outer surface, opposite edge surfaces, a rim projecting radially inward, and a recess formed in the rim; and a cap including an upper portion and a lower portion and configured to engage the inner surfaces of the arms, the cap including a pair of bosses projecting radially outward, a pair of stoppers projecting radially outward, a pair of flanges projecting radially outward and located beneath the bosses and stoppers, and at least two projections extending from the lower portion of the cap; wherein the cap is receivable in the channel in a partially installed position in which the bosses, stoppers and flanges are located circumferentially between the arms of the connector body, and wherein when the cap is rotated from the partially installed position to an installed position, the bosses are received in the recesses, the stopper abuts a side edge of an arm, the flanges are located beneath the rims, and the at least two projections contact the shoulder surface. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. An apparatus for connecting a bone anchor to a support rod, comprising:
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a connector body having an upper portion, a middle portion, and a lower portion, the lower portion including a socket for polyaxially receiving a head portion of the bone anchor, the upper portion including a pair of diametrically opposed arms defining a rod-receiving channel for receiving the support rod, each arm including an inner surface, an outer surface, opposite edge surfaces, a rim projecting radially inward, and a recess formed in the rim; and a cap including an upper portion and a lower portion and configured to engage the inner surfaces of the arms, the cap including a pair of bosses projecting radially outward, a pair of stoppers projecting radially outward, and a pair of flanges projecting radially outward; wherein the cap is receivable in the channel in a partially installed position in which the bosses, stoppers and flanges are located circumferentially between the arms of the connector body, the cap is rotatable from the partially installed position toward an installed position such that the arms interfere with movement of the bosses, and the cap is further rotatable to the installed position such that the arms deflect outwardly to permit the bosses to move past the rim on each arm and the bosses are received in the recesses, the stopper abuts a side edge of an arm, and the flanges are located beneath the rims; wherein the flanges guide the rotation of the cap within the arms to the installed position such that the bosses deflect the arms outwardly to move out of interference with the bosses, the bosses snap into the recesses when the cap is in the installed position, and the engagement of the stopper with the side edge of the arm prevents over-rotation of the cap. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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Specification