Patent ID: 8657820

Claim:
A bone plate system, for stabilizing portions of bone, comprising: a plate configured to be fastened to at least one bone portion and having a top side which faces away from the bone portion in use and a bottom side which faces toward the bone portion in use, the plate having a keel slot having a first wall and a locking assembly; and a keel configured to extend into the at least one bone portion through the keel slot, wherein the locking assembly comprises a first lip region having a lip region first edge and a lip region second edge and extending along a first wall of the keel slot, the first wall having a first wall first edge and a first wall second edge and a keel-engaging side, and wherein the first wall is slanted such that the keel slot is narrower at the first edge of the first wall than at the second edge of the first wall, the first edge of the first wall being closer to the bottom side than the second edge of the first wall and a keel-engaging side of the first lip region is slanted such that the keel slot is narrower at a first edge of the first lip region than at a second edge of the first lip region, the first edge of the first lip region being closer to the bottom side than the second edge of the first lip region.