Patent ID: 7833224

Claim:
A device for clamping a bone fixation element comprising: a hollow body having a cavity, a longitudinal axis, a front end and a rear end, wherein the cavity includes a length extending from a top of an opening at the front end along the longitudinal axis and has a wall; a clamping body having an external surface, the clamping body moveable within the cavity between a first position and a second position wherein, in the first position, the external surface of the clamping body is separated from the wall of the cavity by a first distance selected to permit introduction of a bone fixation element through the opening and along the length between the external surface and the wall and, when in the second position, the external surface is separated from the wall by a second distance smaller than the first distance to fix a bone fixation element therebetween via contact with both the external surface and the wall; and a clamping device operably associated with the clamping body so that movement of the clamping device moves the clamping body between the first position and the second position, wherein a shape of the clamping body at the first position is the same as at the second position.