DYNAMIC BONE FRACTURE PLATES

摘要

A bone fracture plate assembly including female and male plate portions. The female plate portion has a post, a female dovetail, and an extending arm with a group of ratchet teeth. The male plate portion has two upstanding posts, a male dovetail for coupling to the female dovetail so that the plate portions move linearly with respect to each other, a slot for the arm, and a pawl for engaging the ratchet teeth. A spring, coupled to the posts of the plate portions, dynamically connects the plate portions by applying a compressive load therebetween. The spring has a pair of elongated ears, each defining a slot to allow for relative movement of the plate portions. The ratchet teeth are engaged by the pawl to retain the plate portions together, and the spring mounts on the posts of the plate portions such that the spring biases the plate portions together.