Patent ID: 7618417

Claim:
A clamp for bone pins comprising: a first jaw member having a bone pin engaging surface including a plurality of elements for locating a plurality of bone pins; a second jaw member having a bone pin engaging surface, the first and second jaw members each having first and second ends; a pair of clamping elements extending through said first and second jaw members for moving said bone pin engaging surfaces towards another; and a pair of spring elements each engaging an external surface at the first and second ends of said first and second jaw members spaced from said pin engaging surfaces acting to bias the bone pin contacting surfaces of said first and second jaw member towards one another while allowing respective first and second ends of the first and second jaw members to move apart to accommodate the plurality of bone pins, wherein each of the pair of spring elements engage external surfaces of said first and second jaw members, wherein the spring elements are in the form of a C-shaped leaf spring that exhibits connecting knobs on its free ends that is received within recesses in each of said jaw members, and that the leaf spring exhibits at its center a direct flat manipulation area or an activation area that is realized through ribs, wherein a force acting from the outside onto the manipulation area or activation area of both spring elements reduces the curvature of each of the spring elements which results in a relative movement between said first jaw member and said second jaw member apart from each other such that said bone pins can be introduced.