Patent ID: 7635371

Claim:
An implant-inserter assembly, comprising: a spinal implant having an implant body, said implant body having a first pair of substantially parallel sidewalls extending parallel to a longitudinal axis of said implant body, a second pair of substantially parallel sidewalls disposed transversely with respect to said first pair of sidewalls and an angled sidewall extending between a sidewall of said first pair of substantially parallel sidewalls and a sidewall of said second pair of substantially parallel sidewalls, said implant further including a leading end opposite said angled sidewall and a third pair of substantially parallel sidewalls, a first one of said third pair of substantially parallel sidewalls extending from said sidewall of said first pair of substantially parallel sidewalls toward said leading end and a second one of said third pair of substantially parallel sidewalls extending from said sidewall of said second pair of substantially parallel sidewalls toward said leading end, wherein said third pair of sidewalls are obliquely to said first pair and said second pair of substantially parallel sidewalls; and an inserter having a distal guide with a locking mechanism coupled to said implant, said distal guide having a first angled drive surface, a second angled drive surface opposing said first drive surface, and a third surface extending between said first drive surface and said second drive surface, said locking mechanism abuttingly engages said sidewall of said first pair of substantially parallel sidewalls of said implant against said first drive surface and said sidewall of said second pair of substantially parallel sidewalls of said implant against said second drive surface while said locking mechanism is threadingly coupled to said implant, wherein said angled sidewall defines a trailing end of said implant and said first angled driving surface of said inserter engages said implant along said sidewall of said first pair of substantially parallel sidewalls from said trailing end toward said leading end to inhibit rotation of said implant on said inserter as said implant is inserted into a spinal disc space with said inserter, and further wherein said distal guide includes parallel first and second sidewall surfaces defining a maximum width of said distal guide with said first sidewall surface of said distal guide extending from and co-planar with said first one of said third pair of substantially parallel sidewalls of said implant and said second sidewall surface of said distal guide extending from and co-planar with said second one of said third pair of substantially parallel sidewall surfaces of said implant.