Patent ID: 8328853

Claim:
A device for compressing two or more adjacent vertebrae comprising: (a) a male plate with a male main body with a bottom side and a central protrusion extending away from the male main body, the male plate having a longitudinal axis, and the central protrusion of the plate having a top surface including a threaded hole in the top surface; (b) a female plate having a female main body with a bottom side and a protrusion receiving channel adapted to conformally receive the central protrusion, the female plate having a longitudinal axis wherein the longitudinal axis of the male plate is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the female plate when the protrusion receiving channel receives the central protrusion; (c) a locking mechanism for allowing the male and female plate to move with respect to each other under compression along their common longitudinal axis when the central protrusion is engaged with the protrusion receiving channel until a desired configuration is achieved and thereafter to prevent the male and female plate from moving with respect to each other, the locking mechanism comprising: (i) a locking clamp including a longitudinal axis generally parallel to the longitudinal axes of the male and female plates, a top surface and an opposed bottom surface, the locking clamp further including a hole extending between the top surface and the bottom surface, and parallel sides connected to the top surface and bottom surface forming an inner channel between the parallel sides and the bottom surface; and (ii) a locking screw dimensioned to rotate freely within the hole of the locking clamp, the locking screw having a head, a body and a distal end opposite the head, the head having a larger cross-sectional diameter than the threaded body, the body being threaded at least on the distal end to correspond to the threads of the threaded hole in the central protrusion; wherein the locking clamp is located over the central protrusion so that the hole in the locking clamp is aligned with the threaded hole in the top surface of the central protrusion, wherein a distance between the inner walls of the parallel sides is greater than a width of the central protrusion, and a distance between the outer walls of the parallel sides is less than a width of the protrusion receiving channel, at least a portion of the parallel sides being between the central protrusion and the protrusion receiving channel, wherein the distal end of the locking screw is capable of passing through the hole and into mating contact with the threaded hole in the top surface of the central protrusion, and wherein the locking screw is rotatable to allow the head to come into contact with the top surface of the locking clamp, wherein the locking screw is further rotatable to move the head into contact with the locking clamp, and wherein the parallel sides of the locking clamp are deformable to allow frictional contact between the parallel sides and the protrusion receiving channel.