Paragraph Number

80

In the illustrative example of FIGS. 1-9, the fastener legs 124, 126 have a generally elliptical cross section. Near the trailing end the cross section is approximately circular. Near the distal end, the legs are non-circular having a major diameter 129 greater than a minor diameter 131 (FIG. 8). In the illustrative example of FIGS. 1-9, the leg shape can be describes as being a pair of cylinders that diverge toward the leading end with material removed on the outboard surfaces so that the outboard surfaces are rendered parallel. The resulting legs are circular at the trailing end as seen in FIG. 7 and transition into the shape of intersecting circles as the material is removed, becoming narrower, i.e. tapering, in the minor axis toward the leading end as seen in FIG. 8. The front 152 and back 154 of each leg are parallel as seen in FIG. 4. The trailing end of each leg includes barbs 156 as seen in FIG. 6. The barbs 156 are generally in the form of upwardly swept circular projections 158 on the front, back and inboard surfaces of the trailing portion of the leg such as would result if the barbs were circular projections surrounding divergent cylindrical legs and material was removed on the outboard surfaces so that the outboard surfaces were rendered parallel and consequently removing progressively more of the circular projections in the leading direction. Alternatively, the barbs may extend completely around the circumference of the leg. The trailing ends of the legs include a cavity 160 (FIG. 9) operable to couple with an inserter as described below. In one embodiment, the cavity is threaded to receive a threaded connector. In the illustrative example of FIGS. 1-9, the cavity 160 is a stepped cylindrical cavity with a larger diameter trailing portion 162 and a smaller diameter, threaded leading portion 164. The leading end of each leg includes a radius 161, 163 to ease insertion of the fastener 100 into holes formed in bone. The inboard surfaces 128, 130 of the legs have an inboard surface trailing end spacing 165 at the trailing end of the legs. The trailing end of the body 108 is recessed toward the leading end of the legs by a trailing end recess distance 170. The leading end of the body 106 is recessed toward the trailing end of the legs by a leading end recess distance 172. The recess distances 170, 172 may be equal to or greater than a bone cortex thickness at a location at which the fastener is to be used so that the body 104 is located inward of the cortical bone when the fastener is installed.

Added by DJM 12 2021