Collapsible orthopaedic reamer

An orthopaedic reamer assembly, comprising:

• a driver;
• a reamer connected to said driver, said reamer including:
• an at least partially hemispherical cutting head which is rotatable about a primary axis;
• at least one deployable wing connected to said cutting head, each said at least
• one deployable wing being pivotable about a corresponding secondary axis, at least one said corresponding secondary axis being in a same plane as said primary axis;
• and
• a driver attachment attachable to said cutting head and configured for driving said cutting head in a cutting direction and a noncutting direction, and an interconnection between said drive attachment and said deployable wing so that said at least one deployable wing pivots about said secondary axis to an operating position when said cutting head is driven in said cutting direction and pivots about said secondary axis to a nonoperating position when said cutting head is driven in said noncutting direction.

A method of using an orthopaedic reamer assembly, comprising the steps of:

• providing a reamer including an at least partially hemispherical cutting head which is rotatable about a primary axis and at least one deployable wing connected to said cutting head, each said at least one deployable wing being pivotable about a corresponding secondary axis, at least one said corresponding secondary axis being in a same plane as said primary axis;
• rotationally driving said cutting head about said primary axis;
• pivoting said at least one deployable wing about said secondary axis to an operating position in response to rotation of said reamer in a cutting direction;
• and
• actuating said reamer in a noncutting direction and in response thereto simultaneously pivoting said at least one deployable wing about said secondary axis to a nonoperating position.