Patent ID: 8052696

Claim:
A suture tensioning apparatus operable by a user for adding tension to a suture used in surgery and said suture tensioning device including a base member, a lever pivotally connected to said base member and locked into position whenever said lever is in a non-rotating condition, an engagable member on said lever adapted to be engaged by the user, a first spool mounted on said lever and a second spool mounted on said engagable member, said first spool adapted to have a portion of said suture wrapped there-around and said second spool adapted to have an additional portion of said suture wrapped there-around, said lever when rotated by the user is movable in an operating position wherein said rotation of said lever unlocks said lever and allows said lever to rotate, whereby, the rotation of said lever repositions said first spool, said second spool and said suture so as to pull said suture and thereby increasing the tension thereof, a fixed vertical shaft mounted on said base member and rotatably supporting said lever on one end, said first spool mounted on said lever intermediate the ends thereof and extending in a vertical direction, said engagable member mounted on the end of said lever remote from said fixed vertical shaft, said second spool mounted on said engagable member and extending horizontally, whereby the suture portion is first wrapped around said first spool and said additional portion of said suture is secondly wrapped around said second spool, wherein said fixed vertical shaft includes a central recess, a dome, a pin mounted through a central aperture in said dome and into said central recess for rotation thereof, the dome member is mounted at the top of said fixed vertical shaft and rotatably mounted on the top end of thereon, a coil spring surrounding said fixed vertical shaft and bearing there against to prevent rotation thereof, said coil spring having an upper projection and a lower projection, wherein the upper projection fits into a slot formed in said dome and said lower projection fits into a slot formed on said lever, wherein rotation of said lever allows the lower end of said coil spring to unwind and rotation of said dome allows the upper end of said coil spring to unwind wherein after said lever reaches its full extension, said coil spring causes said lever to return to the original position.