Surgery: splint – brace – or bandage – Orthopedic bandage – Splint or brace
Reissue Patent
1995-03-16
2001-06-05
Peffley, Michael (Department: 3739)
Surgery: splint, brace, or bandage
Orthopedic bandage
Splint or brace
Reissue Patent
active
RE037209
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to
orthosis
orthoses
for the prevention or rehabilitation of joint injuries. It relates to an orthotic fulcrum, and for point design particularly to decelerate in one direction eliminating instability and motion problems with respect to joint extension, hyperextension, or flexion.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Just as there are many indications for orthotic management of knee and elbow joints so are there many varieties of braces for the leg and arm. Joint extension in physically active individuals, such as athletes, or in people having joint injuries, can introduce instability and the risk of injury or further injury due to the increased angular limb velocities associated with their activities or relative to their disability. Joint flexion in these people can also place severe energy and fatigue costs on their quadriceps or triceps muscles. While prior art braces include desirable features for providing extension stability, for limiting hyperextension and for providing flexion mobility, they have the kinds of problems described below.
Means for limiting hyperextension, such as pins abuting edges, co-engaging recesses and shoulders, and stops near the fulcrum to limit angular motion, themselves provide the fulcrum about which accelerating and extending limbs can rotate into injurious hyperextension. In other words, the braces themselves can do harm. Free motion braces have similar problems. Friction control arrangements, while slowing limb extension, have the disadvantage of requiring force to overcome the designed-in friction forces when the limb is flexed, a disadvantage to athletes needing quick reaction and to patients needing to conserve energy stores and avoid undue fatigue. Also, stops, pins, edges, shoulders and like tend to add undesirable weight to a brace, increasing fatigue, slowing motion, and adding discomfort. Finally, the kinds of features described in
the
prior art for extension/flexion stability/mobility generally are uniquely built into the knee or elbow brace design and are thus neither economically adaptable to a wide variety of other braces nor easily adjustable to wearer, medical or athletic needs.
The foregoing problems suggest the following minimal design criteria for an orthotic device providing extension stability, limiting hyperextension, and providing flexion mobility:
1. Should automatically decelerate the angular velocity of the limb during the last fifteen to twenty degrees of design motion prior to contact with any stop, pin, shoulder or similar stopping means.
2. Should not slow the speed of ranging of the joint other than as specified in 1 above.
3. Should be lightweight.
4. Should be economically adaptable to a wide range of braces.
5. Should be economical of manufacture and assembly.
6. Should be adjustable with respect to the range of motion within which it operates.
7. Should be adjustable with respect to the forces expected to be encountered by the limb, as conditioned by the user's activity level, state of health, weight, and usage environment, e.g., playing surface as in the case of athletics.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of this invention to meet the foregoing design requirements with features which solve the problems heretofore described, which also renders it a vast improvement on
it's
its
original merits over
the
prior art.
An orthotic device with a particularly designed fulcrum point which limits hyperextension, provides extension stability, and facilitates flexion mobility is provided. The device includes adjustable and adaptable spring rods attached near brace fulcrum points(s) with a novel post and pivot arrangement, as depicted in the drawings. As the hinge is rotated toward the fully extended position, i.e., so that the arms form an angle of 180 degrees with each other, twin posts engage the spring rods to cause deceleration of the angular motion.
One embodiment includes conventional upper and lower rigid elongated arms with geared ends and integral
stop
stops
for limiting rotation beyond 180 degrees, together with means for linking the arms adjacently and for rotating the arms in the same plane about a pivot or pivot points. An assembly of plates, spacers, bushings and screws is provided to secure the arms and to insure they rotate in the same plane. The assembly is designed both to permit the arms to be locked in any position during manufacture, while fitting the orthotic fulcrum assembly to an orthosis, and also to permit free motion of the arms during usage so that the speed of motion of the ranging of the joint is not reduced or impaired. In one embodiment a lightweight spring rod is serpentinely assembled to the orthotic fulcrum's
outer
connecting plate by means of friction reduction roller posts and central pivot screw. Placement of the roller posts controls the point during limb extension when the spring rod is activated, with roller post positioning being determined during manufacture by the needs of the user with respect to limitation of the range of motion,
the
point at which deceleration of limb angular motion is required and the like. Since the spring rod mechanically dampens the rate of angular motion of the hinge, adjustment of the rate of deceleration is controlled by adjusting the material or cross-sectional area of the spring rod to change the force required. Adjustment of the point at which deceleration starts is controlled by the variable placement of the roller posts so as to engage the spring rod sooner or later during the extension process. As shown in the drawings
,
the spring assembly can be easily adapted to a variety of different hinges and braces.
These and other features and benefits of this invention will be obvious from the drawings and disclosure which follow.
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patent: 1072369 (1913-09-01), Spahn
patent: 4320747 (1982-03-01), Daniell, Jr.
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patent: 4361142 (1982-11-01), Lewis et al.
patent: 4370977 (1983-02-01), Mauldin et al.
patent: 4372298 (1983-02-01), Lerman
patent: 4428369 (1984-01-01), Peckham et al.
patent: 4433679 (1984-02-01), Mauldin et al.
patent: 4487200 (1984-12-01), Feanny et al.
patent: 4489718 (1984-12-01), Martin
patent: 4503846 (1985-03-01), Martin
patent: 4506661 (1985-03-01), Foster
patent: 4524764 (1985-06-01), Miller et al.
patent: 4751920 (1988-06-01), Mauldin et al.
patent: 4803975 (1989-02-01), Meyers
patent: 304059 (1982-01-01), None
patent: 2098490 (1982-11-01), None
patent: 37574 (1956-08-01), None
patent: 8400264 (1985-06-01), None
Hensley David Ellis
Kielman Bradley Russell
Multer Richard D.
Peffley Michael
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