Patent ID: 8795335

Claim:
An orthopedic implant for fixing adjacent bones, comprising: an elongated body that extends along a central axis from a first segment to a second segment along a longitudinal axis; a first bone abutment surface coupled to the first segment of the elongated body, and having a long axis which defines an angle with the longitudinal axis of the elongated body which is zero when the axes are parallel; a second bone abutment surface coupled to the second segment of the elongated body; and a locking mechanism that is at least partially positioned at the second segment of the elongated body and adapted to be advanced by a locking instrument; wherein a first advancement of the locking mechanism in a first direction produces rotation of the first bone abutment surface such that the long axis of the first bone abutment surface is rotated towards a greater angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the elongated body; and wherein continued advancement of the locking mechanism produces translation of the bone abutment surfaces towards one another while maintaining unchanged the rotated angle between the long axis of the first bone abutment surface and the longitudinal axis of the elongated body.