Patent attributes
A bone plate has an upper surface, a lower surface, and at least one first hole extending through the upper and lower surfaces. The first hole has two or three vertically separate regions, each region communicating with or abutting an adjacent region. The first hole has a first unthreaded upper region, which has a curved inward taper from the plate's upper surface toward the plate's lower surface. The first hole has a second threaded middle region, which has a conical inward taper from the plate's upper surface toward the plate's lower surface. A third unthreaded lower region has a conical outward taper from the plate's upper surface toward the plate's lower surface. The bone plate may be straight, curved, or include a combination of both straight and curved segments.
