Acetabular cup impactor

An apparatus for positioning a prosthetic cup assembly in a patient, with the cup assembly including an inner surface defining a semi-spherical cavity therein, the positioning apparatus comprising

• a handle having a longitudinal axis,
• a gripping head insertible into the semi-spherical cavity of the cup assembly, the gripping head having at least two separable members, said members having at least a quarter-spherical external surface with offset gripping surfaces thereon the separable members moveable apart from each other to engage the inner semi-spherical cavity surface of the cup assembly
• means for coupling the gripping head to the handle, and
• means for alternately separating and unifying the separable members to have their quarter-spherical surfaces to respectively and coincidentally engage the inner semi-spherical cavity surface of the cup assembly and disengage from the inner semi-spherical cavity surface of the cup assembly to release the cup assembly.

An apparatus for positioning a prosthetic cup assembly in a patient, with the cup assembly including an inner surface defining a semi-spherical cavity therein, the positioning apparatus comprising

• a handle having a longitudinal axis,
• a gripping head insertible into the semi-spherical cavity of the cup assembly, the gripping head having at least two separable members with spherical quadrant surface that can be moved apart from each other to engage the inner semi-spherical cavity surface of the cup assembly
• means for coupling the gripping head to the handle comprising:
• a first set of cooperating screw threads to fixedly attach one of the at least two separable members to the handle,
• a pivot pin on one of said at least two separable members,
• another of said at least two separable members pivotally coupled to said pivot pin.
• means for alternately separatingly pivoting said other of said at least two separable members with respect to said one of said at least two separable members to respectively engage the inner semi-spherical cavity surface of the cup assembly and for bringing the two separable members toward each other to disengage the gripping head from the inner semi-spherical cavity surface of the cup assembly and release the cup assembly.