Surgery: splint – brace – or bandage – Orthopedic bandage – Splint or brace
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-24
2001-11-27
Calvert, John J. (Department: 3765)
Surgery: splint, brace, or bandage
Orthopedic bandage
Splint or brace
C002S467000, C002S319000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06322529
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a detachment type waist protecting belt, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a detachment type waist protecting belt which is provided with a waist support in a manner such that the waist support can be attached to the waist protecting belt to be integrally used therewith or can be detached from the waist protecting belt to enable the waist protecting belt to be independently used, as occasion demands.
2. Description of the Related Art
As well known in the art, a waist protecting belt is also call an abdominal support or a pelvic girdle. Generally, the waist protecting belt is formed to have a substantial width using a proper material such as spandex. By providing a buckle or a fastener element such as Velcro-brand hook and loop fastener strips to the waist protecting belt, the waist protecting belt can be worn around the waist. The waist protecting belt serves to compress to some degree and widely support the waist of the human body, thereby maintaining the waist in substantially a straightened state and not causing a pain.
Due to the fact that the conventional waist protecting belt is made of a material having a predetermined contractibility, the conventional waist protecting belt is-suitable for a pregnant woman or a person having a stickingout stomach. However, in the case of a patient associated with the vertebra or the intervertebral disk, because it is necessary to maintain the waist in an exactly straightened state, the waist protecting belt which is made of a material such as spandex having a predetermined contractibility, is not suitable for the patient associated with the vertebra or the intervertebral disk. In particular, since the conventional waist protecting belt is constructed in a manner such that it is tightened only in a front part, in order to strictly straightly support the waist, a waist protecting belt configured in such a way as to be capable of being tightened in a rear part as well and thereby widely supporting a region including the vertebra and the waist, is demanded.
To cope with these problems, a waist protecting belt is disclosed in Korean Utility Model Application No. 96-50629 which was filed in the name of the present applicant. That is to say, as shown in
FIG. 1
, the waist protecting belt includes left and right bands
10
and
20
. Velcro-brand hook and loop fastener strips
11
and
21
are attached to distal ends and heightwise middle portions of the left and right bands
10
and
20
. A plurality of locking projections
13
and
23
having circumferential engaging grooves
12
and
22
are arranged on proximal ends of the left and right bands
10
and
20
. The waist tightening belt further includes a rear tightening arrangement
30
. The rear tightening arrangement
30
has a pair of connecting plates
30
and
30
′. The pair of connecting plates
31
and
31
′ are defined with a plurality of locking holes into which the locking projections
13
and
23
are respectively engaged. The pair of connecting plates
31
and
31
′ are formed with a plurality of projected shaft portions around which a plurality of rollers are respectively fitted in a manner such that the rollers can be idly rotated. A pulling cord
37
is wound zigzag around the rollers. Both ends
38
and
38
′ of the pulling cord
37
which both ends are freed from a center portion of one connecting plate
31
′, are connected to a tightening band
40
. By the above-described construction, due to the fact that a user can selectively tighten the waist protecting belt at a rear part thereof, convenience is rendered upon using the waist protecting belt. However, by the fact that the pair of connecting plates which actually serve to support the waist, are made of a hard material, since the pair of connecting plates cannot be brought into close contact with the waist which is always concaved inward when considering the structure of the human body, the connecting plates can adversely affect the waist, whereby an effect afforded by the waist protecting belt can be deteriorated. Also, because means for tightening the left and right bands comprises costly rollers, a manufacturing cost is increased.
To solve these drawbacks which are provoked in the waist protecting belt described in Korean Utility Model Application No. 96-50629, another waist protecting belt is disclosed in Korean Utility Model Application No. 2000-14844 which was also filed in the name of the present applicant. Namely, as shown in
FIG. 2
, the waist protecting belt includes left and right bands
101
and
102
. Velcro-brand hook and loop fastener strips
103
are attached to distal ends and a heightwise middle portions of the left and right bands
101
and
102
. A pair of connecting plates
105
and
106
are secured to proximal ends of the left and right bands
101
and
102
to be positioned in a longitudinal direction. Both ends of a pair of pulling cords
107
pass zigzag from upper and lower ends of and through the connecting plates
105
and
106
so as to be freed at heightwise middle portions of the connecting plates
105
and
106
. The both ends of the pair of pulling cords
107
pass through the connecting plates
105
and
106
at places which are spaced apart one from another by a predetermined distance in the longitudinal direction. A pair of tightening bands
108
and
109
are connected to the freed both ends of the pair of pulling cords
107
. In the waist protecting belt, the connecting plates
105
and
106
are made of a soft plastic material and are respectively stitched to the left and right bands
101
and
102
. A plurality of connection rings
110
are rotatably fastened to the connecting plates
105
and
106
by pins
110
a
in such a way as to be spaced one from another in the longitudinal direction by the predetermined distance. The both ends of the pair of pulling cords
107
pass zigzag through the plurality of connection rings
110
and are freed through two pairs of connection rings
110
which are positioned at center portions of the connecting plates
105
and
106
so as to be respectively connected to the pair of tightening bands
108
and
109
. The proximal ends of the left and right hands
101
and
102
to which the connecting plates
105
and
106
are fastened, are configured in a manner such that each of their upper waist supporting portions
111
has a length which is greater than that of each of their lower hip supporting portions
112
. In the waist protecting belt constructed as mentioned above, because the connecting plates
105
and
106
which actually serve to support the waist, are made of the soft plastic material, the waist protecting belt can be curved in conformity with a contour of the waist of the human body. Also, since the connection rings
110
can be rotated about the pins
110
a
, the connecting plates
105
and
106
can be maximally brought into close contact with the waist. Moreover, due to the fact that the upper waist supporting portion
111
has a length which is greater than that of the lower hip supporting portion
112
, it is possible to widely support a region including the vertebra and the waist in a more reliable manner when compared to the waist protecting belt described in Korean Utility Model Application No. 96-50629.
However, the waist protecting belt described in Korean Utility Model Application No. 2000-14844, constructed as mentioned above, is still encountered with defects in that, since the connection ring can be rotated about the pin by an angle of 360°, when keeping the waist protecting belt, the connection ring can be rotated rearward in such a way as to cause the pulling cord to be entangled, whereby inconvenience is induced upon using the waist protecting belt. Also, even though the connecting plates are made of a soft plastic material, because a flexibility is not so high that it is difficult to cause the connecting plates to be curved in conformity with the contour of the waist of the human
Calvert John J.
Needle & Rosenberg PC
Patel Tejash
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