Plate benders for bone plates

A bending tool for use in bending a bone plate, the bone plate having first and second longitudinal sides with curved outer surfaces, a plurality of through holes longitudinally displaced in the bone plate between the first and second sides, and a plurality of tubular guide elements coupled relative to the plurality of through holes, the tubular guide elements for guiding a drill or similar structure into bone in advance of a bone screw, said bending tool comprising:

• a) a handle having a first end, a second end, and a longitudinal axis;
• and
• b) an end effector coupled to the first end of the handle, the end effector including:
• i) a tubular guide element retainer that is provided with a cylindrical bore having a bore axis extending transverse relative to the longitudinal axis, the bore is a throughbore sized to be received about a circumference of the tubular guide element such that the retainer can engage the tubular guide element at the bore,
• ii) a first fulcrum adapted to bear against the first longitudinal side of the bone plate, the first fulcrum positioned on a first side of the longitudinal axis and offset from the bore axis, and extending within a plane defined by the longitudinal axis and the bore axis, and
• iii) a second fulcrum adapted to bear against the second longitudinal side of the bone plate, the second fulcrum positioned on a second side of the longitudinal axis opposite the first side and offset from the bore axis on a same side as the first fulcrum,
• wherein each of the first and second fulcrums has a concave curvature connected to an upper surface and a lower surface, respectively, of the retainer such that the first and second fulcrums are configured for engagement with the curved outer surfaces of the first and second longitudinal sides of the bone plate,
• wherein each of the first and second fulcrums has a planar surface oriented parallel to the bore axis, the concave curvature of each of the first and second fulcrums connecting the respective planar surface to the respective upper and lower surfaces of the retainer,
• wherein the first and second fulcrums are located on opposite sides of the retainer and are offset by different distances from the bore axis,
• wherein the second fulcrum extends within the plane defined by the longitudinal axis and the bore axis, and
• wherein the handle and the end effector are in alignment with one another along the longitudinal axis and the bending tool is straight along the longitudinal axis.