Prosthesis (i.e. – artificial body members) – parts thereof – or ai – Leg – Knee
Reexamination Certificate
2003-04-22
2004-03-16
Snow, Bruce E (Department: 3738)
Prosthesis (i.e., artificial body members), parts thereof, or ai
Leg
Knee
Reexamination Certificate
active
06706074
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an artificial knee joint assembly, and more particularly to a safety artificial knee joint assembly, which can maintain a knee angle between a lower leg and a thigh when the assembly stands on a horizontal or inclined surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, a conventional artificial knee joint assembly
200
is shown to include a linkage unit
81
connected to a residual thigh
8
, a support frame
82
disposed between the linkage unit-
81
and a prosthetic lower leg
9
, and a damping or hydraulic cylinder unit
83
disposed within the support frame
82
. The hydraulic cylinder unit
83
includes a cylinder body
830
, a piston
831
disposed movably within the cylinder body
830
so as to divide an interior space in the cylinder body
830
into upper and lower oil chambers
832
,
833
, and an oil passage
834
formed in the support frame
82
and in fluid communication with the upper and lower oil chambers
832
,
833
.
When the thigh
8
is raised to separate the artificial knee joint assembly
200
from the ground, as shown in
FIG. 1
, the lower leg
9
is inclined relative to the thigh
8
. As such, the linkage unit
81
moves the piston
831
downwardly within the cylinder body
830
, thereby permitting flow of some hydraulic oil from the lower oil chamber
833
into the upper oil chamber
832
.
When the artificial knee joint assembly
200
stands on the ground, the linkage unit
81
will move the piston
831
upwardly from a lower limit position shown in
FIG. 2
so as to cause some hydraulic oil to flow from the upper oil chamber
832
into the lower oil chamber
833
. As such, the lower leg
9
is aligned with the thigh
8
so as to support the same. However, when standing on an inclined surface, the lower leg
9
is inclined relative to the thigh
8
so that the lower leg
9
cannot support the thigh
8
, thereby resulting in tumbling of the prosthesis wearer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of this invention is to provide a safety artificial knee joint assembly that can support effectively a residual thigh on a horizontal or inclined surface.
According to this invention, an artificial knee joint assembly includes a knee seat connected fixedly to a residual thigh, a support frame connected to the knee seat by means of a linkage unit, a prosthetic lower leg connected pivotally to a lower end of the support frame, a hydraulic cylinder unit disposed within the support frame so as to dampen the movement of the support frame relative to the knee seat, and a valve assembly disposed within the support frame. When the lower leg stands on a horizontal or inclined surface, the valve assembly is actuated by the lower leg to stop the operation of the hydraulic cylinder unit, thereby preventing rotation of the lower leg relative to the thigh.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2672618 (1954-03-01), Haag
patent: 4179759 (1979-12-01), Smith
patent: 5376137 (1994-12-01), Shorter et al.
patent: 5779735 (1998-07-01), Molino
patent: 6106560 (2000-08-01), Boender
patent: 6117177 (2000-09-01), Chen et al.
patent: 6206933 (2001-03-01), Shorter et al.
patent: 92/22267 (1992-12-01), None
Ladas & Parry
Snow Bruce E
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