Patent ID: 7867237

Claim:
A surgical instrument, comprising a pair of tips configured to distract vertebrae, each tip having a pair of tines configured to support a core implant, a stop defining a continuous surface along a proximal end of each tine and configured to limit proximal movement of a core implant seated between the pair of tips, and a recessed portion recessed from the pair of tines and having a recess formed in a proximal portion of the recessed portion such that an entirety of the recess is located proximal to the continuous surface of the stop, wherein the pair of tines on one of the pair of tips nests within the pair of tines on the other one of the pair of tips, wherein facing planar surfaces of the recessed portions do not contact one another when the pair of tines on one of the pair of tips nests within the pair of tines on the other one of the pair of tips, and wherein the recesses formed in the tips face each other and are opposed to one another such that the recesses define a space that allows access to a space between the tines.