Patent ID: 6860889

Claim:
A device for extracting a screw, wherein said screw has a threaded shaft with a right-hand thread and a screw head, comprising: a. a shaft, having a first end and a second end, wherein: i. said first end comprises a handle; ii. said second end opens into a hollow interior including a tapered bore proximate said second end; iii. said hollow interior includes a straight bore between said tapered bore and said handle; iv. said hollow interior includes a threaded protrusion lying within said straight bore, with said threaded protrusion having a left-hand thread; b. a collet, having a first end and a second end, wherein: i. said first end comprises an insertion cylinder sized to slidably fit within said straight bore within said shaft; ii. said first end opens into a threaded bore, with said threaded bore having a left-hand thread, and being threaded onto said threaded protrusion within said hollow interior of said shaft; and iii. said second end comprises at least two jaws, forming therebetween a screw head cavity, wherein the exterior surface of said at least two jaws forms a tapered journal shaped to bear against said tapered bore, so that when said at least two jaws are placed over said screw head, and when said shaft is then rotated in a counterclockwise direction when viewed from said first end of said shaft toward said second end of said shaft, said jaws will bear against said screw head, thereby impeding the rotation of said collet and causing said shaft to rotate in a counterclockwise direction relative to said collet, whereby said left-hand threaded engagement between said threaded bore in said collet and said threaded protrusion within said hollow interior of said shaft will draw said collet further into said hollow interior, causing said tapered journal to bear against said tapered bore so as to squeeze said at least two jaws inward, so that said screw head is gripped tightly, whereby continuing counterclockwise rotation of said shaft will back out said orthopedic screw.