Patent ID: 8118340

Claim:
An apparatus for passing a flexible member through one or more eyes, where the apparatus comprises: two substantially semicircular arm members whose guiding channels are substantially semicircular and whose paths of motion transcribe a portion of a semicircle; a first channel, a first arm member, and a first motion path which is described by a first circle, and a second channel, a second arm member, and a second motion path which is described by a second circle; where the first circle lays on a first plane and the second circle lays on the second plane; the first plane and the second plane are inclined to each other and cross, forming an intersection line which is substantially parallel to the line of action of convergence of the ends of the arm members, the point of convergence falling on the intersection line; the first circle and second circle substantially touching each other at the convergence point, and the circles are substantially tangent to the intersection line at the point of convergence; a housing to secure the first arm member and the second arm member in the first and second channel in a suitable orientation to each other; the outer end of the first arm member with means to retain the end of the flexible member in a secure manner until captured and pulled away by the second arm member; the outer end of the second arm member with automatic latching means to capture the end of the flexible member when the outer ends of the arm members converge; means to extend the arm members until they converge and the end of the flexible member engages the automatic latching means, means to retract the arm members back into the channels thus pulling the end of the flexible member away from the first arm member with the second arm member with the end of the flexible member captured by the automatic latching means, drawing the flexible member through the eye; positioning means to locate the apparatus adjacent the eye; and adjusting means to orient the apparatus relative to the positioning means to achieve a suitable approach attitude of the apparatus relative to the eye.