Acetabular cup assembly

Claim 1

A three-component acetabular cup assembly for receiving and releasably retaining the femoral head component of a prosthesis, comprising a two-component cup and a locking ring, in which: said cup comprises (i) a metal shell defining an opening about a peripheral edge and adapted to removably fit within the natural anatomical acetabulum, and (ii) a cup-shaped inner bearing of substantially rigid plastic fixedly secured within said metal shell, the inner surface of said bearing being substantially hemispherical with a cylindrical apron and adapted to accept said femoral head, said apron having a plurality of resilient leaves formed by longitudinal slits extending to a distal end, whereby said leaves are adapted to move outwardly to allow passage of said femoral head into said inner bearing; and said locking ring is made from the same plastic as said inner bearing and has a substantially cylindrical configuration terminating in an outwardly projecting lip which overlaps the peripheral edge of said metal shell in the locked position, and also has projecting flanges, at least one of which is adapted to snap into a groove in said cup so that when said locking ring is pushed over the outer wall of said inner bearing it prevents the leaves of said bearing from moving outward and thereby releasably locks said bearing around said femoral head, there being an annular gap left between said lip of the locking ring and the adjacent periphery of the metal shell, whereby said locking ring may be readily disengaged and said femoral head removed while leaving said bearing fixedly secured within said shell by prying said lip away from said shell periphery.