Surgery: splint – brace – or bandage – Orthopedic bandage – Splint or brace
Reissue Patent
1999-06-24
2001-07-24
Yu, Justine R. (Department: 3764)
Surgery: splint, brace, or bandage
Orthopedic bandage
Splint or brace
C602S016000
Reissue Patent
active
RE037297
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates generally to orthopedic knee braces, and more particularly to knee braces for use by persons having anterior cruciate ligament laxity or insufficiency to protect them from injury due to abnormal anterior tibial movement.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various types of knee braces are shown in the patent literature and are commercially available. The following constitute examples of prior art braces that deal with restricting anterior movement of the tibia: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,9055,369 (Bledsoe et al.); 5,433,699 (Smith, III); 4,751,920 (Mauldin et al.) and 4,781,180 (Solomonow). The apparatus shown by Mauldin is a knee brace that has a first attachment portion to attach the brace to the wearer's thigh and a second attachment portion to attach the brace to the wearer's tibia and a hinge connected to the medial side of the first and second attachment portions by way of a thigh bar and tibia bar, respectively. An adjustable gearing mechanism located at the hinge permits the wearer to limit the amount of rotation of the tibia bar with respect to the thigh bar. However, this brace suffers from failing to be able to prevent anterior translation of the tibia by the application of posterior pressure directed at the tibia tubercle location. Instead, like its predecessors, the Mauldin apparatus attempts to limit tibial rotation by limiting medial hinge motion.
The apparatus shown by Solomonow is a knee brace having an upper framework attached to the thigh and a lower framework attached to the lower leg just below the knee. These two frameworks are hinged on the medial and lateral sides of the leg (bilateral hinge). A bell crank is pivotally connected to the lower framework. An adjustable screw coupled to one side of the bell crank engages an offset portion of the upper framework whenever the leg is extended. The other side of the bell crank is coupled to a tibial restraining strap. As the leg is extended, the lower framework and bell crank are rotated counterclockwise until the offset of the upper framework contacts the screw, rotating the bell crank in a clockwise direction and thereby tightening the tibial restraining strap against anterior movement of the tibia.
The apparatus as shown by Bledsoe et al. is a knee brace which also utilizes bilateral hinges to connect the thigh support and calf support sections. The bilateral hinges basically comprise adjustable drive plates that alternate the pivoting point of the thigh support and calf support throughout leg flexion and extension. By varying the pivot point at different points throughout leg extension, a counter shearing force is generated to reduce the shearing force created by the quadriceps muscle which cause the undesirable anterior shift of the tibia of the leg.
Other prior art knee braces are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,581,741 (Rosman); 5,277,698 (Taylor); 5,512,039 (White); 3,387,305 (Shafer); 4,240,414 (Theisler); 4,805,606 (McDavid, III); 4,961,416 (Moore et al.); and U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,308 (Drillio).
Examples of prior art knee braces which are commercially available are: Innovative Sports C.Ti., C.Ti.
2
, C.Ti.
2
Lite, Edge, Edge Lite, Sentry, C180 and MVP all of which are sold by Innovation Sports, Inc. Of Irvine, Calif.; Cincinnati ACL which is sold by Brace Technologies, Inc. Of Cincinnati, Ohio, the OS-5 (TM) non-custom functional knee support which is sold by Omni Scientific, Inc. Of Martinez, Calif.; the Lennox Hill (TM) OTS Brace and Spectralite Brace which are sold by 3M Health Care of Long Island City, N.Y.; the SKO (TM) and TKO (TM) knee orthoses which are manufactured by Orthotic Consultants of Southern California; the ACL model knee brace which is sold by Townsend Design of Bakersfield, Calif.; the DONJOY 4-Point (TM), Gold-Point (TM), Playmaker (TM), and Defiance (TM) all of which are sold by Smith & Nephew Donjoy, Inc. of Carlsbad, Calif.; the Poli-Axial Osteoarthritis Brace which is sold by Generation Orthotics, Inc.; and, the ECKO (TM) II Extension Control Knee Orthosis which is sold by Orthomedics of Brea, Calif.
While the aforementioned patents seem suitable for their intended purposes, it would be a significant advance in the art to provide a knee brace assembly that applies posterior pressure on the wearer's tibia in response to extension of the wearer's leg through the use of a cross-strap that is positioned over the wearer's tibia, wrapped in crisscross manner behind the wearer's knee and attached to biased strap guides slidably mounted to the brace assembly.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide a knee brace assembly which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a knee brace assembly for restricting anterior movement of the wearer's tibia.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a knee brace assembly for restricting abnormal anterior tibial movement without preventing the wearer from being able to fully extend his/her leg.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a knee brace assembly that is inexpensive to manufacture.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a knee brace assembly that is reliable in operation.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a knee brace assembly that is simple in construction.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a knee brace assembly that is lightweight.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a knee brace assembly that is comfortable when worn.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These and other objects of this invention are achieved by providing a knee brace assembly for restricting anterior tibial movement. The knee brace assembly includes a proximal cuff for engaging the wearer's leg above the knee and a distal cuff for engaging the wearer's leg below the knee. The proximal and distal cuffs are linked together by a hinge means that permits pivotal rotation of the proximal cuff relative to the distal cuff. The proximal cuff has lateral and medial portions each having a slot extending there along. A strap guiding means is slidably mounted within each of the slots. Each strap guiding means is arranged to slide between a proximal extreme when the wearer's leg is in flexion and a distal extreme as the wearer extends his or her leg. A biasing means biases each strap guiding means towards its proximal extreme. A cross-strap, having free ends and a length, is provided for engagement with the wearer's leg. The cross-strap attaches to the wearer's leg below the knee and wraps behind the knee in crisscross fashion. The free ends of the strap attach to the strap guiding means. The cross-strap is operative in response to extension of the wearer's leg to pull the strap guiding means from the proximal extreme towards the distal extreme thus creating a force counteractive to abnormal anterior movement of the tibia.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3046981 (1962-07-01), Biggs
patent: 3387305 (1968-06-01), Shafer
patent: 3581741 (1971-06-01), Rosman
patent: 4240414 (1980-12-01), Theisler
patent: 4381768 (1983-05-01), Erichsen
patent: 4554913 (1985-11-01), Womack et al.
patent: 4751920 (1988-06-01), Mauldin et al.
patent: 4781180 (1988-11-01), Solomonow
patent: 4805606 (1989-02-01), McDavid, III
patent: 4854308 (1989-08-01), Drillo
patent: 4955369 (1990-09-01), Bledsoe et al.
patent: 4961416 (1990-10-01), Moore et al.
patent: 4991571 (1991-02-01), Kausek
patent: 5052379 (1991-10-01), Airy et al.
patent: 5063916 (1991-11-01), France et al.
patent: 5117814 (1992-06-01), Luttrell et al.
patent: 5135469 (1992-08-01), Castillo
patent: 5213094 (1993-05-01), Bonutti
patent: 5277698 (1994-01-01), Taylor
patent: 5383845 (1995-01-01), Nebolon
patent: 5433699 (1995-07-01), Smith, III
patent: 5512039 (1996-04-01), White
patent: 5624389 (1997-04-01), Zepf
patent: 5662595 (1997-09-01), Chesher et al.
Advertisement for the Innovation C.Ti Brace.*
Advertisement for the Innovation C.Ti. 2 Brace.*
Advertisement for the Innovation C.Ti.2 Lite, Edge, Edge Lite, Se
Caesar Rivise Bernstein Cohen & Pokotilow Ltd.
Yu Justine R.
LandOfFree
Dynamic orthopedic knee brace assembly does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Dynamic orthopedic knee brace assembly, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Dynamic orthopedic knee brace assembly will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2462087