Patent ID: 8444643

Claim:
A clamping assembly for clamping an elongate rod comprising: a clamping element having opposing first and second moveable clamping jaws, each clamping jaw having an outer rim and inner nose defining a longitudinal recess therebetween extending along a longitudinal axis, wherein the first and second clamping jaws are hingedly connected such that the inner nose of the first clamping jaw is adjacent to the inner nose of the second clamping jaw; a clamp insert mounted in the clamping element longitudinal recess having a hollow body comprising a first and second longitudinal end, an inner cavity defined therein extending from the first longitudinal end through the second longitudinal end for accommodating the elongate rod, a space running from the first longitudinal end through the second longitudinal end of the hollow body thereby forming at least two insert jaws for clamping the elongate rod, the insert jaws having spaced free ends, the inner cavity having three reception grooves offset from one another in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis, a cross-sectional area of each groove decreasing on moving inwardly from the spaced free ends; the first longitudinal end of the clamp insert comprises a flange, the flange comprises a first and second free end, wherein each of the free ends comprise a nose for slidable insertion into the corresponding recess of each of the clamping jaws and for slidably engaging the inner nose and outer rim of the corresponding clamping jaw, thereby prohibiting the longitudinal and rotational movement of the clamp insert with respect to the longitudinal axis of the clamping element.