CLAMP HAVING BENDABLE SHAFT

摘要

A clamp (20) has a handle assembly (26), a gripping assembly (30) having a pair of jaws that can be opened and closed to grip an element, and a shaft assembly. The shaft assembly has a flexible shaft (22) having a proximal end (24) that is coupled to the handle assembly and a distal end (28) that is coupled to the gripping assembly. The flexible shaft also defines a bore that retains a cable (40) which is operatively coupled to the handle assembly and to the gripping assembly. The shaft assembly also includes a retractable generally rigid covering (32) which can be oriented in a first position where the covering exposes a portion of the flexible shaft, and in a second position where the covering completely covers the flexible shaft.