Patent ID: 8167271

Claim:
A staple extractor comprising: a) a handle; b) a shank having a proximal end and a distal end, and attached to the handle at the proximal end of the shank, and having a pry tip at the distal end of the shank; c) a clamp head engageable with the pry tip and moveably attached to the shank so as to permit movement of the clamp head relative to the shank between a retracted position in which the pry tip and the clamp head are sufficiently distant one from the other so as to permit a staple bridge to be inserted between or removed from between the pry tip and the clamp head, and a clamping position in which the pry tip and clamp head are sufficiently proximate one to the other to releasably secure a staple bridge interposed between them; d) the clamp head including two opposed wings that, when the clamp head is in the clamping position, straddle the pry tip with each wing on an opposite side of the pry tip one from the other, and wherein each wing is bifurcated and the opening between the forks of one wing is aligned with the opening between the forks of the other wing, such that in use, when the bridge of a staple is positioned between the forks of each wing when the clamp head is in the clamping position, the forks impede movement of the staple bridge along the length of the pry tip during removal of the staple; and e) hand operable means for moving the clamp head between the retracted position and the clamping position; wherein a staple is removable by, with the clamp head in the retracted position, inserting the pry tip between a staple bridge and the underlying material, moving the clamp head to the clamping position to secure the staple bridge, pulling the thus secured staple from the underlying material, and moving the clamp head to the retracted position to release the extracted staple.