Patent ID: 7131467

Claim:
An instrument for applying a tie to two items to pull and secure the items together where the items have the tie connected thereto, comprising an assembly of all of the following parts: a first handle and a second handle relatively movable along and rotatable about an axis, a tie guide attached to said first handle for directing the tie in having the tie cross over upon itself at a location on said axis, a tie gripper attached to said second handle for securing the tie to said gripper and thereby to said second handle, said tie guide and said location and said gripper all being sequentially spaced from each other along said axis and to be sequentially disposed in a direction away from the separated items, a releasable connector operatively connected between said handles for temporarily holding said gripper and said guide in a first spaced relationship along said axis, and said connector being operatively releasable for movement between said gripper and said guide to a second spaced relationship along said axis and with the spacing of said second spaced relationship being greater than the spacing of said first spaced relationship to thereby pull on the tie to pull the items together when moving to said second spaced relationship.