CN105491979A

CN105491979A - Knee joint orthosis having offloading function

Info

Publication number: CN105491979A
Application number: CN201480043832.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 罗云; 徐敏; 甘云
Original assignee: 罗云
Current assignee: Yee Wei medical instruments (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2013-08-09
Filing date: 2014-08-06
Publication date: 2016-04-13
Anticipated expiration: 2034-08-06
Also published as: WO2015018340A1; CN105491979B

Abstract

A knee joint orthosis comprising a femur brace, a tibia brace, and an adjusting mechanism (31 and 32). The adjusting mechanism (31 and 32) allows the knee joint orthosis to be in a first state. With the knee joint orthosis in the first state, the femur brace encumbers the thigh, the tibia brace encumbers the lower leg, the femur brace exerts onto the thigh a force that runs along a femoral mechanical axis and away from the lower leg, and the tibia brace exerts onto the lower leg a force that runs along a tibial mechanical axis and away from the thigh. The adjusting mechanism (31 and 32) also allows the knee joint orthosis to be in a second state. With the knee joint orthosis in the second state, the femur brace does not exert onto the thigh the force that runs along the femoral mechanical axis and away from the lower leg, and the tibia brace does not exert onto the lower leg the force that runs along the tibial mechanical axis and away from the thigh, and, the femur brace disencumbers the thigh while the tibia brace disencumbers the lower leg. The knee joint orthosis is driven by a lower limb of the human body and is capable of implementing automatic transformations from the second state to the first state and subsequently from the first state to the second state that match with gaits of the human body.

Description

Knee joint orthosis with load-free function

Technical Field

The invention relates to an orthosis, in particular to a knee joint orthosis with a load-free function.

Background

The lower limbs of the human body refer to the parts below the abdomen of the human body, including the buttocks, the thighs, the knees, the lower legs and the feet, which have the important function of supporting the body to stand and walk and can also make the body take various postures such as sitting, kneeling, lying and the like. Among them, the skeleton of the lower limb, which mainly functions to support body weight, is a lower limb bone, and is divided into two parts, namely a lower limb belt bone and a free lower limb bone. The lower limb has bone, i.e. hip bone, and the free lower limb bones comprise femur, patella, tibia, fibula, 7 tarsal bones, 5 metatarsal bones and 14 phalanges. The place where the bones are connected is called joint, and the lower limbs of the human body comprise three major joints: hip joint, knee joint and ankle joint, all are load bearing joints.

Due to aging, illness or accident, the bones or joints of the human body are diseased or degenerated, and the disease or degeneration of the bones or joints of the lower limbs of the human body can seriously affect the weight bearing function of the human body, thereby affecting the standing, walking and running and jumping of the human body. For this purpose, medication, traditional physiotherapy and rehabilitation are usually used, and in severe cases, surgical treatment is used to restore the function of the bones or joints of the lower limbs. In rehabilitation therapy, orthoses are often used.

Orthoses (orthoses), also called braces (braces), are extracorporeal devices used on the limbs or other parts of the human body to prevent, correct deformities, treat bone, joint, nerve, muscle disorders and compensate their functions, and relieve the dysfunction of the limbs, spine, skeletal muscle system by limiting or assisting the body's movements, or by changing the body's lines of force, etc. It can be classified into an upper limb orthosis, a spine orthosis, and a lower limb orthosis according to the applicable part. Wherein, the upper limb orthotics are mainly used for compensating lost muscle strength, supporting paralyzed limbs, keeping or fixing limbs and functional positions, providing traction force to prevent contracture and/or preventing or correcting deformity; spinal orthoses are mainly used to relieve local pain, protect the affected area from further damage, support paralyzed muscles and/or prevent, correct deformities; the lower limb orthosis is mainly used for fixing a diseased joint, preventing or correcting deformity, compensating for lost muscle function, improving gait, avoiding limb load bearing, and promoting fracture healing and early function recovery.

The knee joint is one of the important weight bearing joints of the lower limb of the human body, and is connected between the thigh femur 1 and the calf tibia 2, as shown in fig. 1, and comprises articular cartilage 4, medial meniscus 5, and lateral meniscus 6. Also shown in fig. 1 is the patella 3 and tibial tuberosity 7.

When a disease occurs in the knee joint cartilage, such as Osteoarthritis (OA), the joint cartilage gradually denatures, necroses, and wears, and then bones (i.e., femur and tibia) begin to rub against each other directly, thereby causing pain in the knee joint and affecting the daily life of the patient. In addition, knee joint aging, knee joint injury, genetics, obesity, or excessive motion can also cause additional weight to the knee joint. For these knee joint problems, it would be advantageous to provide a lower extremity orthosis in rehabilitation therapy that avoids or reduces weight bearing of the limbs of the knee joint part, i.e. has a load-free (or load-free) function, to reduce the suffering of the patient and to assist the recovery of the patient.

The goal of a Load-free orthosis (Load-freerthhosis) is to reduce the axial Load on a section of a limb, either partially or completely, of the skeleton and/or joint, as occurs primarily in lower limb orthoses. Currently, load-free orthoses for reducing or eliminating body weight loads below the mid-tibia, including ankle and foot, include patella ligament load-bearing (PTB) orthoses (fig. 2), load-free orthoses for relieving loads on femurs, knee joints, tibias, etc., include ischial load-bearing knee, ankle and foot orthoses (fig. 3), which all have a pedal portion (i.e., all are floor orthoses), and are therefore inconvenient to use and aesthetically unpleasing. And it has included the ankle joint, and the ankle joint of the not flexible enough assistive device influences healthy human ankle joint, brings great movement inconvenience, and assistive device structure is complicated, and the size overlength is difficult for dressing.

The ashore unloading-one orthosis of OSSUR (fig. 4) disclosed in US8292838B2 and the genu artro 28K20/21 orthosis of Otto Bock do not design a pedal portion, and these non-floor knee unloading aids apply inversion or eversion force to pull the gap of the damaged side joint open by three-point mechanics, and the articular surface pressure is relieved, thereby preventing further knee joint wear and aggravation of local symptoms. However, the load of the knee joint generated by the human body in the gait process is borne by the bilateral articular surfaces and the assistive device together, and because the lateral thigh and calf splints of the assistive device are not fixed on the thigh and the calf respectively and can not limit the splints to move along the axis of the leg, namely the splints can not help to transfer the force of the knee joint along the direction of the force line, when the bearing of the articular surface on the damaged side is reduced, the bearing of the articular surface on the healthy side is correspondingly increased to ensure that the bearing sum of the articular surfaces on the two sides is not changed. It is thus seen that it reduces the load on the injured side while greatly increasing the load on the articular surface on the other side, which in turn accelerates the wear of the healthy articular cartilage and ultimately leads to osteoarthritis in both condyles of the knee. Thus, neither is a true hands-free orthosis.

Accordingly, those skilled in the art have endeavored to develop a knee joint orthosis having a load-free function, which does not include a kick portion and can perform a load-free function in a true sense.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, the present invention provides a knee joint orthosis for non-touchingly relieving a knee joint by tightly binding a thigh and a calf and applying a force to maintain a gap between bones of the femur and tibia.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a knee joint orthosis, which comprises a thigh skeleton worn on a thigh and a shank skeleton worn on a shank;

the working state of the knee joint orthosis comprises a first state;

the thigh skeleton tightly restrains the thigh and the shank skeleton tightly restrains the shank, the thigh skeleton exerts force on the thigh in a direction along a mechanical axis of the femur and away from the shank, and the shank skeleton exerts force on the shank in a direction along a mechanical axis of the tibia and away from the thigh; the thigh skeleton and the shank skeleton are separated by a first distance.

Further, the working states of the knee joint orthosis also comprise a second state;

the thigh skeleton of the knee joint orthosis in the second state does not apply a force to the thigh in a direction along the femoral mechanical axis and away from the calf, and the calf skeleton does not apply a force to the calf in a direction along the tibial mechanical axis and away from the thigh; the distance between the thigh skeleton and the shank skeleton is a second distance;

the second pitch is smaller than the first pitch.

Further, the thigh skeleton of the knee joint orthosis in the second state loosely restrains the thigh, and the shank skeleton loosely restrains the shank.

Further, the knee joint orthosis further comprises an adjusting mechanism, which is arranged on the thigh skeleton and/or the shank skeleton or between the thigh skeleton and the shank skeleton, and which brings the knee joint orthosis into the first state or the second state.

Further, the adjustment mechanism places the knee joint orthosis in a first state when a difference between a hip knee ankle angle and a standing hip knee ankle angle is less than a first state transition angle; when the difference between the hip knee ankle angle and the orthostatic hip knee ankle angle is greater than a second state transition angle, the adjustment mechanism places the knee joint orthosis in the second state; the second state transition angle is greater than or equal to the first state transition angle.

Further, the shank skeleton comprises a shank support; the lower leg tray of the lower leg skeleton of the knee joint orthosis in the first state laterally constrains the lower leg at a recess between a patella and a tibial tuberosity.

Furthermore, the adjusting mechanism is arranged between the thigh framework and the shank framework and is respectively connected with the thigh framework and the shank framework.

Furthermore, the thigh framework can rotate relative to the shank framework through the adjusting mechanism.

Optionally, the adjustment mechanism is manually actuated to bring the knee brace from the first state to the second state and to bring the knee brace from the second state to the first state.

Optionally, the adjustment mechanism is electrically actuated to bring the knee joint orthosis from the first state to the second state and to bring the knee joint orthosis from the second state to the first state.

Further, the knee joint orthosis also comprises a power supply, a sensor, a motor and a control unit.

Optionally, the adjustment mechanism is actuated by the lower limb to move the knee orthosis from the first state to the second state and to move the knee orthosis from the second state to the first state.

Further, the adjusting mechanism comprises two adjusting mechanisms which are distributed on two sides of the knee joint of the lower limb.

Further, the rotational axis of rotation is parallel to the first rotational axis of the knee joint.

Furthermore, the shank skeleton also comprises two shank splints and a shank bandage;

the two shank splints are respectively attached to two sides of the shank, and the first ends of the two shank splints are respectively connected to the two adjusting mechanisms;

the shank bandage is transversely attached to the middle upper part of the back of the shank, and two ends of the shank bandage are respectively connected to the two shank splints;

the shank support is of a strip-shaped structure and is provided with an inner surface which can be attached to the concave part, and two ends of the shank support are respectively and fixedly connected to the two shank splints;

on the calf splint, the connection position between the calf support and the calf splint is closer to the first end of the calf splint than the connection position between the calf bandage and the calf splint.

Further, the thigh skeleton comprises a thigh support, two thigh splints and a thigh strap;

the two thigh splints are respectively distributed on two sides of the thigh, and the second ends of the two thigh splints are respectively connected to the two adjusting mechanisms;

the thigh support is of a strip-shaped structure and is provided with an inner surface which can be transversely attached to the front surface of the thigh, and two ends of the thigh support are respectively connected to the two thigh splints;

the thigh strap can be transversely attached to the back of the thigh, and two ends of the thigh strap are respectively connected to the two thigh splints;

the thigh strap is connected to the thigh link at a position closer to the first end of the thigh link than the position where the thigh strap is connected to the thigh link.

Further, the thigh support can rotate around the connection point of the thigh support and the thigh splint.

Furthermore, the adjusting mechanism comprises a groove disc and a sliding block, wherein the groove disc and the sliding block can rotate and translate mutually, a curved groove is formed in the groove disc, a protruding part is formed in the sliding block, and the protruding part can slide in the groove;

the groove disc is connected with the first end of the shank splint, and the sliding block is connected with the second end of the thigh splint; or the sliding block is connected with the first end of the shank splint, and the groove disc is connected with the second end of the thigh splint.

Further, the slider is connected to the second end of the thigh splint at an edge of the slider.

Optionally, the sliding block is connected to the second end of the thigh splint through a hinge, and the connection position of the sliding block and the hinge is at the edge of the sliding block.

Optionally, the slider is integrally formed with the thigh splint.

Further, the slotted disk is connected to the first end of the calf shank at an edge of the slotted disk.

Optionally, the slot plate is riveted to the first end of the calf shank.

Optionally, the slot disc is integrally formed with the calf splint.

Further, the slot has a first bend and a second bend;

the knee brace enters a second state from the first state when the protrusion enters the second curvature from the first curvature, driven by the gait of the lower limb; the knee brace enters a first state from the second state when the protrusion enters the first bend from the second bend.

Further, the slot includes a first slot and a second slot, the boss includes a first boss slidable within the first slot and a second boss slidable within the second slot;

the knee orthosis goes from the first state to a second state when the first protrusion goes from the first curvature of the first groove into the second curvature of the first groove and the second protrusion goes from the first curvature of the second groove into the second curvature of the second groove under the gait drive of the lower limb; the knee orthosis enters a first state from the second state when the first protrusion enters the first bend of the first groove from the second bend of the first groove and the second protrusion enters the first bend of the second groove from the second bend of the second groove.

Optionally, the grooved disc comprises a first grooved disc and a second grooved disc fixed to each other, and the slider is sandwiched between the first grooved disc and the second grooved disc; the slider has the projection slidable in the groove of the first grooved disk on a face facing the first grooved disk, and the slider has the projection slidable in the groove of the second grooved disk on a face facing the second grooved disk; the second slot disk is closer to the knee joint than the first slot disk, the second slot disk being connected to the first end of the calf splint.

Optionally, the slider comprises a first slider and a second slider fixed to each other, and the slot disc is sandwiched between the first slider and the second slider; the grooved disk has, on a face facing the first slider, the groove in which the boss of the first slider can slide; the grooved disk has, on a face facing the second slider, the groove in which the boss of the second slider can slide; the second slider is closer to the knee joint than the first slider, and the second slider is connected to the second end of the thigh splint.

Furthermore, the knee joint orthosis also comprises a shank splint stabilizing structure for preventing the two shank splints from backswing, wherein the shank splint stabilizing structure is strip-shaped and is transversely attached to the front of the shank, and two ends of the shank splint stabilizing structure are respectively connected to the second ends of the two shank splints.

Further, the calf splint stabilizing structure is a second calf strap, the second calf strap is transversely attached to the front face of the calf, and two ends of the second calf strap are connected to the second ends of the two calf splints respectively.

Further, the thigh frame further comprises a second thigh strap, the second thigh strap is transversely attached to the back surface of the thigh, both ends of the second thigh strap are connected to the two thigh splints respectively, and the connection position between the second thigh strap and the thigh splint is between the connection position between the thigh support and the thigh splint and the connection position between the thigh strap and the thigh splint.

Further, the calf strap and the second calf strap are both connected to the calf splint by a snap; the thigh strap and the second thigh strap are both connected to the thigh splint by a snap.

Furthermore, the thigh strap and/or the calf strap further comprise an elastic belt and a non-elastic belt, two ends of the elastic belt are connected to two ends of the non-elastic belt respectively, and a length adjusting device is arranged on the non-elastic belt to adjust the distance between two ends of the non-elastic belt.

Further, the length adjustment device is in a first state, the length of the strap is stretchable, and the length adjustment device is in a second state, the length of the strap is not stretchable.

Further, the length adjusting device is a hasp, the hasp comprises an upper hasp buckle and a lower hasp buckle, the upper hasp buckle and the lower hasp buckle are connected through a hinge and can rotate around a rotating shaft, the upper hasp buckle and the lower hasp buckle are not overlapped, and the hasp is in the first state; the hasp upper buckle and the hasp lower buckle are overlapped and fixed, and the hasp is in the second state.

Further, the hasp is fixed through magic thread gluing.

Furthermore, the buckle upper buckle faces the buckle lower buckle and is provided with a buckle protrusion, the buckle lower buckle is provided with a corresponding clamping hole, and the buckle passes through the buckle protrusion and is fixed with the clamping hole.

Furthermore, an elastic sheet extends from the rotating shaft along the direction opposite to the buckle lower buckle, so that the pressure generated at the rotating shaft on the fixed limbs of the human body is uniformly distributed through the elastic sheet.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a knee brace is provided that includes a thigh frame, a calf frame, and two adjustment mechanisms connected between the thigh frame and the calf frame. Thigh skeleton is including distributing in two thigh splint of thigh both sides and the thigh of connecting between two thigh splint hold in the palm, thigh bandage and second thigh bandage, and shank skeleton is including distributing in two shank splint of shank both sides and connecting shank support, shank bandage and the second shank bandage between two shank splint. Wherein the calf support is laterally at the recess between the patella and the tibial tuberosity. The two adjusting mechanisms are respectively distributed on two sides of the knee joint, are respectively connected between the two pairs of thigh splints and the shank splints and respectively comprise a slide block and two groove discs. The slider is sandwiched between two slotted disks, wherein the slider is attached to the thigh splint and the slotted disk is attached to the calf splint. The slider is provided with a lug boss which slides in the groove of the grooved disk through the lug boss, so that the slider of the adjusting mechanism moves relative to the grooved disk, and the movement comprises translation and rotation. With the lower limbs of a user wearing the knee joint orthosis of the invention being in a flexed state and an extended state, the knee joint orthosis is brought into a first state from a second state by the adjusting mechanism, the thigh skeleton of the knee joint orthosis in the first state tightly restrains the thigh, the calf skeleton tightly restrains the calf, the thigh skeleton applies a force to the thigh in a direction along the mechanical axis of the femur and away from the calf, and the calf skeleton applies a force to the calf in a direction along the mechanical axis of the tibia and away from the thigh. And as the lower limbs of the user wearing the knee joint orthosis are in a bent state from a straight state, the knee joint orthosis enters a second state from the first state through the adjusting mechanism, the thigh frameworks of the knee joint orthosis in the second state loosely bind the thighs, the shank frameworks loosely bind the shanks, the thigh frameworks do not apply a force to the thighs in the direction along the mechanical axis of the thighs and away from the shanks, and the shank frameworks do not apply a force to the shanks in the direction along the mechanical axis of the shins and away from the thighs.

It can be seen that a user wearing the knee joint orthosis of the present invention is driven by the lower limbs of the user during walking as the lower limbs undergo a process from a flexed state to an extended state and then from the extended state to the flexed state, respectively from the second state to the first state and then from the first state to the second state, which is an automatic transition process in coordination with the gait of the walking of the human body. In addition, when the human body walks, the lower limbs in the straight state need to bear heavy load, and the lower limbs in the bent state do not need to bear heavy load. For the lower limbs in the straightened state, the knee joint orthosis is in the first state, tightly restrains the lower limbs and enables a gap to be kept between the thighbone of the thigh and the bone of the shin bone of the shank, so that the weight load is transmitted to the shank framework from the thigh framework and the adjusting mechanism, and the load is effectively born by the knee joint of the human body. For lower limbs in flexion, the knee brace of the present invention is in a second state, which does not carry load and loosely restrains the lower limbs, thereby not affecting blood vessels running in the user's lower limbs. According to the invention, the lower leg support of the lower leg skeleton is arranged at the concave part between the patella and the tibial tuberosity, so that the lower leg support of the lower leg skeleton of the knee joint orthosis in the first state can be used for restraining the lower leg at the concave part, thereby effectively transmitting force, reducing the compression on the calf gastrocnemius part, and preventing the ubiquitous phenomenon that the assistive device integrally slides down. In addition, the knee joint orthosis of the present invention can unload both condyles of the entire knee joint when in the first state, and thus can be applied not only to unicondylar arthritis but also to both condylar osteoarthritis.

The conception, the specific structure and the technical effects of the present invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings to fully understand the objects, the features and the effects of the present invention.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the anatomy of a human knee joint.

Figure 2 shows a patella ligament load bearing orthosis.

Figure 3 shows an ischial weight bearing knee ankle foot orthosis.

Fig. 4 shows the ashore exempt # first orthosis of OSSUR.

Fig. 5 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the knee brace of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a front view of the knee orthosis shown in fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a rear view of the knee brace shown in fig. 5.

Fig. 8 shows a lower leg rest with an inclined inner surface.

Fig. 9 shows the connection between the thigh support and the thigh splint by means of the snap nails.

Fig. 10 is an exploded view of the adjustment mechanism of the knee orthosis shown in fig. 5.

Fig. 11 is a front view of the first fluted disc of the adjustment mechanism shown in fig. 9.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the knee joint orthosis shown in fig. 5.

Fig. 13 shows one form of thigh strap.

Fig. 14 shows another form of thigh strap.

Fig. 15 shows another form of thigh strap.

Fig. 16 is a schematic view of the fixedly attached end of the thigh strap shown in fig. 15.

Fig. 17 is a side view of the articulating end of the thigh strap shown in fig. 15.

Fig. 18 is a schematic view of the configuration of the articulating end of the thigh strap shown in fig. 15.

Fig. 19 shows the structure of the thigh strap in fig. 15.

Fig. 20 shows the structure of the holder buckle in fig. 19.

Fig. 21 shows the structure of the buckle in fig. 19.

Fig. 22 shows another version of the thigh strap's two elastic bands and snap connection.

Detailed Description

In the present description, the term in the field of partial radiology force line measurement is used for description, and is specifically defined as follows:

femoral mechanical shaft: the line connecting the center of the femoral head and the center of the knee joint;

mechanical shaft of shin bone: the knee joint center is connected with the ankle joint center;

center of femoral head: because the femoral head is a relatively regular circle, the center of the femoral head is determined by using a Mose ring or compasses;

knee joint center: determining the centers of the 5 points as the knee joint center by determining the soft tissue midpoint of the knee joint gap level, the tibial plateau upper edge midpoint, the femoral condyle midpoint at the intercondylar notch vertex, the tibial intercondylar ridge center and the bone intercondylar notch center;

ankle joint center: determining the centers of the 3 points as the ankle joint centers by determining the soft tissue midpoint of the ankle joint gap level, the midpoints of the medial and lateral ankle surface spacings of the ankle joint gap level and the talar center;

hip, knee, ankle angle: the hip knee ankle angle is limited to a projection angle of the included angle of the femur mechanical shaft and the tibia mechanical shaft on a left-right symmetrical plane of a human body;

standing and righting hip, knee and ankle angles: the hip, knee and ankle angles of the human body when the human body is in a standing position.

The knee joint orthosis comprises a thigh framework and a shank framework, wherein the thigh framework is worn on a thigh, and the shank framework is worn on a shank. The working state of the knee joint orthosis comprises a first state, at the moment, a thigh framework of the knee joint orthosis tightly restrains a thigh, a shank framework tightly restrains a shank, the thigh framework applies force to the thigh along a mechanical axis of the femur and in a direction away from the shank, and the shank framework applies force to the shank along a mechanical axis of the tibia and in a direction away from the thigh. Thus, the thigh frame and the calf frame maintain a gap between the bones of the thigh femur and the calf tibia to avoid direct friction between the bones. At this time, the distance between the thigh skeleton and the shank skeleton is a first distance. The spacing S between the thigh skeleton and the calf skeleton is defined as the sum of the length S1 of the projection of the connecting line of a selected position on the thigh skeleton to the knee joint center on the mechanical axis of the femur and the length S2 of the connecting line of a selected position on the calf skeleton to the knee joint center on the mechanical axis of the tibia, i.e., S = S1+ S2. The selected position on the thigh skeleton can be selected as the contact position which is closest to or farthest from the center of the knee joint in the contact positions of the thigh skeleton and the thigh, and the selected position on the shank skeleton can be selected as the contact position which is closest to or farthest from the center of the knee joint in the contact positions of the shank skeleton and the shank. It should be noted that, the projection of the connecting line from the selected position on the thigh skeleton (or the calf skeleton) to the knee joint center on the femur mechanical axis (or the tibia mechanical axis) may fall on the extension line of the femur mechanical axis (or the tibia mechanical axis), and the length of the projection at this time is set to be a negative value; and setting the length of the projection to be positive when the projection of the connecting line from the selected position on the thigh skeleton (or the calf skeleton) to the knee joint center on the femur mechanical axis (or the tibia mechanical axis) falls on the femur mechanical axis (or the tibia mechanical axis).

The thigh skeleton tightly bounding the thigh and the shank skeleton tightly bounding the shank means that when the thigh skeleton of the knee joint orthosis in the first state applies a force to the thigh in a direction along the mechanical axis of the femur and away from the shank and the shank skeleton applies a force to the shank in a direction along the mechanical axis of the tibia and away from the thigh, the thigh skeleton cannot slide relative to the thigh and the shank skeleton cannot slide relative to the shank. Therefore, when a user wearing the knee joint orthosis disclosed by the invention performs daily activities, the positioning of the knee joint orthosis on the lower limb can be ensured, so that the thigh skeleton and the shank skeleton are ensured to ensure that a gap is kept between the femur of the thigh and the bone of the tibia of the shank.

The working state of the knee joint orthosis also comprises a second state, at the moment, the thigh skeleton of the knee joint orthosis does not apply force to the thigh along the mechanical axis of the femur and in the direction away from the shank, and the shank skeleton does not apply force to the shank along the mechanical axis of the tibia and in the direction away from the thigh. At this time, it is not guaranteed that the thigh skeleton and the calf skeleton maintain a gap between the bones of the femur of the thigh and the tibia of the calf, and, for example, it may be the state when the user has just finished wearing the knee joint orthosis of the present invention. At this time, the distance between the thigh skeleton and the shank skeleton is the second distance. The second pitch is less than the first pitch for the same wearer when wearing the same knee orthosis of the present invention.

The knee joint orthosis of the invention further comprises an adjusting mechanism arranged on the thigh skeleton and/or the shank skeleton; or is arranged between the thigh skeleton and the shank skeleton and is respectively connected with the thigh skeleton and the shank skeleton. The adjusting mechanism can be driven by hand, electricity or lower limbs, and the knee joint orthosis can be in the first state or the second state according to requirements. For example, when the knee joint requires a load weight when the user is in a standing position, the adjustment mechanism can be manually actuated to place the knee joint orthosis of the present invention in a first state; and the knee orthosis of the present invention is placed in the second state by manually actuating the adjustment mechanism when the knee is not required to bear weight when the user is in the sitting position. Alternatively, when the knee joint needs to bear weight when the user is in a standing position, the knee joint orthosis of the present invention can be in the first state by electrically driving the adjustment mechanism; when the weight of the knee joint is not required to be loaded when the user is in a sitting position, the adjusting mechanism is driven electrically to enable the knee joint orthosis to be in a second state; in the case of an adjustment mechanism driven by an electric motor, the knee orthosis of the present invention can also include a power source, a motor for driving, a sensor, and a control unit. When the sensor detects that the knee joint needs to bear the weight of the body, or the load is transmitted through the knee joint (including the load transmitted from the thigh to the shank and the load transmitted from the leg to the thigh), the control unit drives the adjusting mechanism to enable the knee joint orthosis to be in the first state, and otherwise enables the knee joint orthosis to be in the second state.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the adjustment mechanism is actuated by a lower limb, in particular a human lower limb, and the adjustment mechanism causes the knee joint orthosis to be in the first state when the difference between the hip knee ankle angle and the standing hip knee ankle angle is smaller than the first state conversion angle; when the difference between the hip knee ankle angle and the standing hip knee ankle angle is larger than the second state conversion angle, the adjusting mechanism enables the knee joint orthosis to be in the second state, and the second state conversion angle is larger than or equal to the first state conversion angle. For example, for a normal person who stands upright with a hip-knee ankle angle of 0 °, setting the first state transition angle to 20 °, and setting the second state transition angle to 90 °, the knee joint orthosis is in the first state when the hip-knee ankle angle of the lower limb of the user wearing the knee joint orthosis of the present invention is less than 20 °; and when the hip-knee-ankle angle of the lower limb of the user wearing the knee joint orthosis of the present invention is greater than 90 deg., the knee joint orthosis is in the second state. Or, the first state transition angle and the second state transition angle are both set to be 45 degrees, when the hip and knee ankle angles of the lower limbs of the user wearing the knee joint orthosis of the invention are less than 45 degrees, the knee joint orthosis is in the first state; and when the hip-knee-ankle angle of the lower limb of the user wearing the knee joint orthosis of the present invention is greater than 45 °, the knee joint orthosis is in the second state. In this embodiment, the thigh skeleton of the knee joint orthosis in the second state loosely restrains the thigh, and the lower leg skeleton loosely restrains the lower leg. The thigh skeleton loosely restrains the thigh and the calf skeleton loosely restrains the calf means that a restraining force exerted by the thigh skeleton of the knee joint orthosis in the second state on the thigh is less than one half of a restraining force exerted by the thigh skeleton of the knee joint orthosis in the first state on the thigh, and a restraining force exerted by the calf skeleton of the knee joint orthosis in the second state on the calf is less than one half of a restraining force exerted by the calf skeleton of the knee joint orthosis in the first state on the calf. The binding force here means the maximum pressure, that is, the binding force applied by the thigh skeleton to the thigh is the maximum pressure (squeezing force) applied by the thigh skeleton to the thigh, and the binding force applied by the calf skeleton to the calf is the maximum pressure (squeezing force) applied by the calf skeleton to the calf. Since the shape of the lower limbs, the degree of muscle development, and the like of each human body are different from each other, when different persons wear the knee joint orthosis of the present invention, the binding force received when the thighs are tightly bound is different from each other, the binding force received when the calves are tightly bound is different from each other, the binding force received when the thighs are loosely bound is different from each other, and the binding force received when the calves are loosely bound is different from each other. For example, when a patient wears the knee joint orthosis of the present invention, the patient receives 50N of the restraint force when the thighs are tightly restrained and 20N of the restraint force when the thighs are loosely restrained. It will be appreciated that the thigh frame loosely bounding the thigh and the calf frame loosely bounding the calf have less (or zero) compression of the user's lower limb and thus have less (or no) effect on the blood vessel function of the user's lower limb. Thus, when a patient wearing the knee brace of the present invention is in a standing state or other state requiring knee loading, the knee brace in the first state achieves full or partial unloading of the knee, as determined by the actual needs of the patient, e.g., for a severe osteoarthritis patient, the knee brace in the first state may be required to completely unload the diseased knee, while for a mild osteoarthritis patient, only partial unloading may be required, such as 100N unloading; the knee brace in the second state need not be load-free of the knee when the patient wearing the knee brace of the present invention is sitting, lying, or otherwise not requiring knee loading.

As shown in Figs. 5-7, in this embodiment, the knee orthosis of the present invention includes two adjustment mechanisms 31 and 32, each of which is connected between a thigh skeleton and a shank skeleton; the thigh framework comprises a thigh support 21, two thigh splints 22 and 23 and a thigh strap 24; the lower leg skeleton comprises a lower leg support 11, two lower leg splints 12 and 13 and a lower leg strap 14.

The calf support 11 lies laterally at the recess between the patella and tibial tuberosity for restraining the calf and providing support at the recess, where the support includes: for the knee joint orthosis in the first state, the load transmitted to the lower leg framework by the thigh framework through the adjusting mechanism is borne, and the lower leg framework is prevented from sliding downwards; with the knee joint orthosis in the second state, the entire knee joint orthosis is supported so as not to slip down. The lower leg support 11 is a strip-like structure having an inner surface that can be fitted into the above-mentioned recess, for example, the inner surface thereof is made of a flexible material or is attached with a sponge layer, and both ends thereof are fixedly connected to the lower leg splints 12 and 13, respectively, i.e., it is immovable with respect to the lower leg splints 12 and 13. To better conform to the recess, the inner surface of the calf support 11 is curved and gradually slopes outward (i.e., away from the mechanical axis of the tibia) in a top-down direction relative to the mechanical axis of the tibia. Specifically, the angle between the normal of the inner surface of the calf support 11 and the mechanical axis of the tibia is determined according to the tibial tuberosity shape of the wearer, and is, for example, 80 °; alternatively, in the medial section of the calf as shown in fig. 8, the angle between the inner surface CD of the calf support 11 and the mechanical axis EF of the tibia is 80 °. Preferably, the calf support 11 is made of a material having a tensile strength greater than 300MPa and a yield strength greater than 250MPa, such as aluminum alloy 6061-6T.

The two calf splints 12 and 13 are elongate and are attached to the sides of the calf, i.e. the left and right sides of the calf. First ends of the two calf splints 12 and 13 (i.e., the top ends of the calf splints 12 and 13 shown in Figs. 5-7) are connected to two adjustment mechanisms 31 and 32, respectively, wherein the first end of the calf splint 12 is connected to the adjustment mechanism 31 and the first end of the calf splint 13 is connected to the adjustment mechanism 32. Preferably, the calf splints 12 and 13 are constructed from a material having a tensile strength greater than 300MPa and a yield strength greater than 250MPa, such as aluminum alloy 6061-6T.

The calf strap 14 is transversely attached to the medial upper portion of the dorsal surface of the calf, with its ends attached to the calf splints 12 and 13, respectively. The back of the lower leg refers to a lower leg part which faces the same direction as the back of the human body when the human body is in a standing position, and the middle upper part of the back of the lower leg particularly refers to a part, close to a knee bend (namely a diamond-shaped depression at the back of the knee), above the most protruding part of calf gastrocnemius muscle and approximately 3cm below the knee bend. In addition, the attachment position of the calf strap 14 to the calf splints 12 and 13 can be adjusted so that the calf strap 14 is not perpendicular to the mechanical axis of the tibia, i.e., the calf strap is not horizontal, but is inclined at an angle to better fit the mid-upper portion of the back of the calf to provide the support function described above in conjunction with the calf support 11. The material from which the calf strap 14 is made is a non-stretchable (or less stretchable) flexible material, preferably having a coefficient of elasticity of no less than 20N/mm, such as nylon.

On the calf splints 12 and 13, the connection location of the calf support 11 therebetween is closer to the first ends of the calf splints 12 and 13 than the connection location of the calf strap 14 therebetween. That is, the position of the connection between the calf support 11 and the calf splint 12 shown in FIGS. 5-7 is closer to the top end of the calf splint 12 than the position of the connection between the calf strap 14 and the calf splint 12; the position of connection between the calf support 11 and the calf splint 13 is closer to the tip of the calf splint 13 than the position of connection between the calf band 14 and the calf splint 13.

The lower leg armature may also include a lower leg splint stabilizing structure for providing a better fit of the lower leg armature of the knee brace of the present invention worn on the lower limb of the user against rearward swinging of the lower leg splint therein during movement of the user. In this embodiment, the calf splint stabilizing structure is a second calf strap 15 which fits transversely over the front of the calf with its ends attached to the second ends of the calf splints 12 and 13, respectively. Wherein the front of the lower leg refers to the portion of the lower leg that faces the same as the face of the person when the person is in a standing position, and the second ends of the lower leg splints 12 and 13 are the ends of the lower leg splints 12 and 13 as shown in figures 5-7. The second calf strap 15 is made of a non-stretchable (or less stretchable) flexible material, preferably having a modulus of elasticity of not less than 20N/mm, such as nylon. The calf splint stabilizing structure may also be other than a strap, such as a rigid strip structure fixedly attached transversely between the second ends of the calf splints 12 and 13, which fits transversely over the face of the calf, made of an aluminum alloy, hard plastic, etc., and which may have a layer of flexible material attached to the surface for fitting over the face of the calf.

In addition, in other embodiments of the present invention, the lower leg supporter, the lower leg splint, and the first and second lower leg straps may have other shapes as long as they satisfy the above-described connection and positional relationship.

The thigh support 21 is a strip-like structure having an inner surface which can be fitted transversely to the front surface of the thigh, for example, an inner surface which is curved in an arc shape, and is made of a flexible material or to which a sponge layer is attached; which are connected at both ends to two thigh splints 22 and 23, respectively. The front of the thigh refers to the part of the thigh that faces the same as the human face when the human is in a standing position. In this embodiment, the thigh support 21 is rotatable about its connection points with the thigh cleats 22 and 23, i.e., the thigh support 21 is rotatable about an axis defined by its connection points with the thigh cleats 22 and 23. This is achieved by a flexible or gap connection between the thigh support 21 and the thigh cleats 22 and 23. In this embodiment, the gap connection between the thigh support 21 and the thigh splints 22 and 23 is realized by the snap nails. As shown in fig. 9, taking the thigh support 21 and the thigh clamp plate 22 as an example, the connecting axis direction GH (i.e. the direction perpendicular to the contact surface therebetween) between the two is not perpendicular to the axis IJ defined by the connecting points of the thigh support 21 and the thigh clamp plates 22 and 23, so that the thigh support 21 cannot flexibly rotate about the axis IJ if the connection between the two is a rivet connection or a screw connection; however, the movable connection of the snap nails shown in fig. 9 is adopted, the snap nails are long, and a certain gap is left between two contact surfaces of the thigh support 21 and the thigh clamping plate 22, so that the thigh support 21 and the thigh clamping plate can obtain more rotational degrees of freedom, that is, the thigh support 21 can flexibly rotate around the axis IJ. In addition, in other embodiments, the thigh support may be immovable relative to the two thigh cleats. Preferably, the thigh support 21 is made of a material having a tensile strength greater than 300MPa and a yield strength greater than 250MPa, such as aluminum alloy 6061-6T.

The two thigh cleats 22 and 23 are elongated and fit on the respective sides of the thigh, i.e., the left and right sides of the thigh. The second ends of the two thigh splints 22 and 23 (i.e. the ends of the thigh splints 22 and 23 shown in fig. 5-7) are connected to two adjustment mechanisms 31 and 32, respectively, wherein the second end of the thigh splint 22 is connected to the adjustment mechanism 31 and the second end of the thigh splint 23 is connected to the adjustment mechanism 32. Preferably, the thigh splints 22 and 23 are constructed from a material having a tensile strength greater than 300MPa and a yield strength greater than 250MPa, such as aluminum alloy 6061-6T.

The thigh strap 24 can be applied transversely to the back of the thigh with its ends attached to the thigh cleats 22 and 23, respectively. Wherein the back of the thigh refers to the thigh section facing the same as the back of the human body when the human body is in a standing position. The thigh strap 24 is made of a non-stretchable (or less stretchable) flexible material, preferably having a coefficient of elasticity of not less than 20N/mm, such as nylon.

On the thigh cleats 22 and 23, the position of attachment of the thigh support 21 therebetween is closer to the first ends of the thigh cleats 22 and 23 (i.e., the top ends of the thigh cleats 22 and 23 shown in fig. 5-7) than the position of attachment of the thigh strap 24 therebetween. That is, the position of the connection between the thigh support 21 and the thigh splint 22 shown in fig. 5 to 7 is closer to the top end of the thigh splint 22 than the position of the connection between the thigh strap 24 and the thigh splint 22; the position of connection between the thigh support 21 and the thigh splint 23 is closer to the top end of the thigh splint 23 than the position of connection between the thigh strap 24 and the thigh splint 23.

The thigh frame may further include a second thigh strap 25 which is fitted transversely to the back of the thigh and has both ends connected to the thigh cleats 22 and 23, respectively, the connection position between the second thigh strap 25 and the thigh cleats 22 and 23 being between the connection position between the thigh rest 21 and the thigh cleats 22 and 23 and the connection position between the thigh strap 24 and the thigh cleats 22 and 23. Wherein the back of the thigh refers to the part of the thigh facing the same direction as the back of the human body when the human body is in a standing position, the position of connection between the second thigh strap 25 and the thigh splint 22 as shown in fig. 5 to 7 is between the position of connection between the thigh support 21 and the thigh splint 22 and the position of connection between the thigh strap 24 and the thigh splint 22, and the position of connection between the second thigh strap 25 and the thigh splint 23 is between the position of connection between the thigh support 21 and the thigh splint 23 and the position of connection between the thigh strap 24 and the thigh splint 23. The second thigh strap 25 serves to make the thigh frame of the knee brace of the present invention worn on the lower limb of the user better fit the thigh portion of the lower limb, preventing the thigh splint therein from tilting forward during the user's movement. Preferably, the connection position between the second thigh strap 25 and the thigh cleats 22 and 23 is closer to the connection position between the thigh rest 21 and the thigh cleats 22 and 23.

In addition, in other embodiments of the present invention, the thigh support, the thigh splint, and the first and second thigh straps may have other shapes as long as they satisfy the above-described connection and positional relationship.

The adjustment mechanisms 31 and 32 are respectively distributed on both sides of the knee joint, i.e., the left and right sides of the knee joint. In the present embodiment, the adjusting mechanisms 31 and 32 are both composed of a grooved disk and a slider that can rotate and translate with each other. In the present embodiment, the adjustment mechanisms 31 and 32 have the same configuration, and the adjustment mechanism 31 will be described in detail below as an example. As shown in the exploded view of the adjustment mechanism 31 of fig. 10, the adjustment mechanism 31 includes a slider 310 and two grooved disks, namely a first grooved disk 311 and a second grooved disk 312. The first grooved disk 311 and the second grooved disk 312 are fixed to each other, and the slider 310 is sandwiched between the first grooved disk 311 and the second grooved disk 312. The first grooved disk 311 and the second grooved disk 312 each have two curved grooves on the side facing the slider 310, as shown in fig. 10 and 11 for the first groove 3111 and the second groove 3112 of the first grooved disk 311. The first and second grooves of the second groove disk 312 are the same as the first and second grooves 3111 and 3112 of the first groove disk 311 shown in fig. 10 and 11. The slider 310 has two convex portions on its surfaces facing the first slot disk 311 and the second slot disk 312, and as shown in FIG. 10, the slider 310 has a first convex portion 3101 (not shown) and a second convex portion 3102 on its surface facing the first slot disk 311, a first convex portion 3103 and a second convex portion 3104 on its surface facing the second slot disk 312, and the first and second convex portions 3101 and 3102 of the slider 310 are identical to the first and second convex portions 3103 and 3104. First slot 3111 may allow first boss 3101 to slide therein, second slot 3112 may allow second boss 3102 to slide therein, first slot 3121 may allow first boss 3103 to slide therein, and second slot 3122 may allow second boss 3104 to slide therein. In this embodiment, the slider 310 is a symmetrical structure that is symmetrical about its center cross-section, and the assembled slider 310, first grooved disk 311, and second grooved disk 312 are symmetrical about the center cross-section of the slider 310. In other embodiments of the present invention, the slider 310 may be an asymmetric structure, and the assembled slider 310, first slot disk 311, and second slot disk 312 may also be asymmetric.

As shown in fig. 10, each of the protrusions in this embodiment is made of a bearing, an inner ring of each bearing is fixed on the slider, an outer ring is flexibly rotatable, and a rotation axis is perpendicular to the surface of the slider. The diameter of the outer race of the bearing that constitutes each lobe is matched to the width of the groove in which the lobe slides so that during sliding of the lobe in the groove, the outer race of the bearing of the lobe rolls on one of the side walls of the groove, thereby greatly reducing friction between the lobe and the groove, reducing rotational resistance, and at the same time extending the useful life of the component. For example, during sliding of second protrusion 3102 in second groove 3112, the outer race of the bearing of second protrusion 3102 will roll on one of the sidewalls of second groove 3112.

The second grooved discs of the adjustment mechanisms 31 and 32 are closer to the knee joint than the first grooved discs. Preferably, the first grooved disk, the second grooved disk and the slider of the adjustment mechanisms 31 and 32 are made of a material having a yield strength greater than 50MPa, an elastic modulus greater than 2000MPa, and wear-reducing, wear-resisting properties, such as POM. It should be noted that the slider and grooved disk in the adjustment mechanism of the knee orthosis of the present invention can be interchanged, i.e., the adjustment mechanism can be constructed by a double-sided grooved disk sandwiched between two sliders with raised portions on one side. In addition, the adjusting mechanism can also be formed by only one grooved disc and one sliding block; or more or less than 2 curved grooves are arranged on the groove disc, and more or less than 2 convex parts are arranged on the sliding block; or the structure of grooves and convex parts with other shapes is adopted.

As shown in fig. 12, the slider 310 of the adjustment mechanism 31 is fixedly connected to the thigh splint 22 by a hinge 33, and more specifically, the slider 310 of the adjustment mechanism 31 is fixedly connected at its edge to the second end of the thigh splint 22 (i.e., the distal end of the thigh splint 22 shown in fig. 5 to 7) by the hinge 33. The second slot disk 312 is attached to the calf splint 12, and more particularly, the second slot disk 312 is fixedly attached at its edge to a first end of the calf splint 12 (i.e., the top end of the calf splint 12 as shown in FIGS. 5-7). In this embodiment, the first slotted disk 311, the second slotted disk 312 and the lower leg splint 12 are sequentially connected by 3 screws 35, but other connection methods may be adopted in other embodiments of the present invention, such as integrally forming the slider 310 and the thigh splint 22, and integrally forming the second slotted disk 312 and the lower leg splint 12. The connection relationship between the adjusting mechanism 32 and the thigh splint 23 and the calf splint 13 is the same as the connection relationship between the adjusting mechanism 31 and the thigh splint 22 and the calf splint 12, and the description thereof is omitted. In addition, it should be noted that the connection relationship between the slider and the slot disc of the adjustment mechanism and the thigh splint and the calf splint can be replaced, for example, the slider can be connected to the calf splint and the slot disc can be connected to the thigh splint.

As shown in fig. 12, in the present embodiment, the thigh holder 21 is connected to the thigh splint 23 by a snap nail 26, and similarly to the thigh splint 22 by a snap nail; one end of the thigh bandage 24 is arranged on the thigh splint 23 in a penetrating way, and the other end is connected on the thigh splint 22 through a hasp 27, so that the thigh bandage is convenient to put on and take off; one end of the second thigh strap 25 is arranged on the thigh splint 23 in a penetrating way, and the other end is connected to the thigh splint 22 through a hasp 28, so that the thigh strap can be conveniently put on and taken off; the lower leg support 11 is connected to the lower leg splint 13 by two rivets 16, and is similarly connected to the lower leg splint 12 by two rivets, whereby the lower leg support 11 is fixedly connected to the lower leg splints 12 and 13; one end of the shank bandage 14 is arranged on the shank splint 13 in a penetrating way, and the other end is connected to the shank splint 12 through a hasp (not shown) so as to be convenient for wearing and taking off; one end of the second calf strap 15 is arranged on the calf splint 12 in a penetrating way, and the other end is arranged on the calf splint 13 in a penetrating way. It should be noted that in other embodiments of the present invention, other connection means may be adopted, for example, a screw and nut fit connection, welding, gluing, etc.

The snap connection shown in fig. 12 is specifically such that the ends of the thigh strap 24, the second thigh strap 25, the calf strap 14, and the second calf strap 15 are each fixed with a snap, and when the knee joint orthosis of the present invention is worn, the head of the snap is passed through the through-holes provided in the thigh splint 22 and the calf splint 12 and moved to be fitted into the bayonet communicated with the through-holes, thereby achieving the connection of the thigh strap 24, the second thigh strap 25, the calf strap 14, and the second calf strap 15 to the thigh splint 22 and the calf splint 12. The bayonets are smaller than the through holes and are provided at positions closer to the respective thigh straps 24, second thigh straps 25, calf straps 14 and second calf straps 15 than the through holes, so that it is possible to ensure that the thigh straps 24, second thigh straps 25, calf straps 14 and second calf straps 15 of the knee orthosis of the present invention worn do not come off the thigh splint 22 and the calf splint 12 due to the elasticity of the human muscle. When the knee joint orthosis of the present invention is removed, the thigh strap 24, the second thigh strap 25, the calf strap 14, and the second calf strap 15 are detached from the thigh splint 22 and the calf splint 12 by pushing the buckle to move the head portion of the buckle from the bayonet to the through-hole and out of the through-hole.

Fig. 13 shows another form of snap connection, exemplified by thigh strap 124, which includes first and second strap portions 241 and 242 and a spring strap 243, the spring strap 243 being connected between the two ends of the first and second strap portions 241 and 242; an adhesive 244, such as a velcro patch, or a snap fastener, is provided on the other end of the second strap portion 242; the other end of the first strap portion is attached to a buckle 128 having a head 281. When the thigh strap 124 is attached between the thigh cleats 23 and 22, the head 281 of the buckle 128 is passed through the through hole provided on the thigh cleat 22 and moved to fit into the bayonet as described above; the second strap portion 242 is then passed through the elongated through hole in the thigh splint 23 and is zig-zag folded over by folding the first 241, second 242 and spring tabs 243 at the connection, with the spring tabs 243 being sandwiched between the first 241 and second 242 strap portions and the second strap portion 242 being adhered to the first 241 strap portion by the adhesive 244, thereby adjusting the thigh strap to the appropriate length and effecting its connection between the thigh splints 23 and 22. During detachment, the buckle 128 can be disengaged from the thigh splint 22 as previously described while leaving the connection of the thigh strap 124 to the thigh splint 23; the thigh strap 124 can also be disengaged from the thigh cleats 22 and 23 by reversing the attachment process as previously described.

Fig. 14 shows yet another form of attachment, in the case of thigh strap 224, which includes a first strap section 2241, a second strap section 2242 and a fold 2245 attached to one end of each, where fold 2245 is similar to a watch buckle, first strap section 2241 is attached at its other end to thigh splint 22 and second strap section 2242 is attached at its other end to thigh splint 23. The connection of the first and second strap portions 2241, 2242 to the first and second thigh splints 22, 23 may be by a movable connection such as the aforementioned snap connection or a fixed connection such as the aforementioned threading. When the user wears the thigh strap 224, the folding button 2245 is opened, the thigh strap 2245 is lengthened, the lower limb of the user can penetrate into the corresponding thigh frame, and then the folding button 2245 is closed, and the thigh strap 224 is adjusted to the proper length.

Fig. 15 shows a third form of attachment, exemplified by thigh strap 324. The thigh strap 324 here includes an elastic portion and a non-elastic portion, the structure of which will be described in detail later; the two ends of the thigh strap 324 are respectively a fixed connecting end 3241 and a movable connecting end 3242. The thigh cleats 322 and 323 are herein of unitary construction and are provided with securing apertures 3221 and 3231 which cooperate with the fixed attachment end 3241 and the movable attachment end 3242, respectively, of the thigh strap 324.

As shown in fig. 15, the fixing holes 3221 and 3231 are each formed by two intersecting circular holes, and in this embodiment, the diameter of the middle-large circular hole is 10mm, and the diameter of the small circular hole is 5.5 mm.

As shown in fig. 16, the fixing connection end 3241 has a hook-shaped protrusion 3243, the hook-shaped protrusion 3243 has a circular shape with a diameter smaller than that of the large circular hole constituting the fixing hole 3221, and the fixing connection end 3241 has a cross-section at the portion of the hook-shaped protrusion 3243 similar to the shape of the fixing hole 3221 but having a size slightly smaller than that of the fixing hole 3221, so that the fixing connection end 3241 can be inserted into the fixing hole 3221 only from one position; when the attachment end 3241 is inserted into the attachment aperture 3221 and rotated 180 ° relative to the attachment aperture 3221 to the normal use position of the strap, the attachment end 3241 cannot be removed from the attachment aperture 3221, thereby forming an attachment connection.

As shown in fig. 17 and 18, the movable connection end 3242 has a similar structure to the fixed connection end 3241, and also has a circular hook-shaped protrusion 3243, different from the fixed connection end 3241: the movable connection end 3242 has a slant surface 3245, and the movable connection end 3242 can be regarded as being formed by cutting off an angle of a structure similar to the fixed connection end 3241 by the slant surface 3245, and the structure of the movable connection end 3242 is such that it can be directly inserted into or removed from a large circular hole constituting the fixed hole 3231, thereby forming the movable connection.

The ramp 3245 can be planar, as shown in fig. 17; or may be curved as shown in fig. 18, which can make handling of the strap more comfortable.

Fig. 19 shows a specific structure of the thigh strap 324, the thigh strap 324 comprises a fixed connecting end 3241, a movable connecting end 3242, an elastic band 3244, a non-elastic band 3243 and a buckle 3246, the elastic band 3244 is arranged between the non-elastic band 3243 and the fixed body limb, one end of the elastic band 3224 near the fixed connecting end 3241 is connected with the non-elastic band 3243 through two mutually meshed fixed buckles 3247, one end of the elastic band 3244 near the movable connecting end 3242 is connected with a buckle lower buckle 612 (see fig. 21) of the buckle 3246 through two mutually meshed fixed buckles 3247, and fig. 20 shows the appearance of one fixed buckle 3247. The elastic band 24 is provided with a belt tab 3245 at the side facing away from the immobilized human limb, and the inelastic band passes through the belt tab 3245 to limit the up-and-down play between the elastic band and the inelastic band.

One end of the inelastic band 3243 is connected to the fixed connection end 3241, the other end of the inelastic band 3243 is connected to the buckle latch 611 of the buckle 3246, and the end of the inelastic band 3243 is connected to the movable connection end 3242 via the buckle 3246. When the buckle 3246 is in the first state, i.e., the buckle is open, the length of the thigh strap 324 can be stretched due to the elasticity of the elastic band 3244; when the buckle 3246 is in the second state, i.e., the buckle closed state, the length of the strap cannot be stretched due to the non-elastic band 3243.

As shown in fig. 21, the buckle 3246 includes a buckle upper buckle 611 and a buckle lower buckle 612, the buckle upper buckle 611 and the buckle lower buckle 612 are connected by a hinge and can rotate around a rotation axis, the buckle upper buckle 611 and the buckle lower buckle 612 do not overlap, and the buckle is in a first state, i.e., a released state; the buckle upper buckle and the buckle lower buckle are overlapped and fixed, and the buckle is in a second state, namely a closed state.

The buckle upper buckle 611 comprises a pair of cantilevers 6111 for connecting the buckle lower buckle 612, the buckle upper buckle 611 and the buckle lower buckle 612 are connected through a hinge, and a short shaft of the cantilever 6111 of the buckle upper buckle 611 is sleeved in a shaft hole of the buckle lower buckle 612 when in connection.

The buckle upper buckle 611 further comprises a pair of cantilevers 6112, which are used for the buckle upper buckle 611 to be pulled out from the buckle lower buckle 612, the pair of cantilevers 6111 and the pair of cantilevers 6112 form an M shape, one side of each cantilever 6112 facing the buckle lower buckle 612 is provided with a buckle protrusion, the buckle lower buckle 612 is provided with a corresponding buckle hole, and the cantilevers 6112 are pressed inwards to make the buckle protrusion be pulled out from the buckle hole.

With the above-described structure, the upward buckle 611 and the downward buckle 612 are not caused to be released by the hinge connection when the cantilever 6112 is pressed inward, whereas the upward buckle 611 and the downward buckle 612 are caused to be released by the hinge connection when the cantilever 6112 is pressed inward if the shaft hole of the downward buckle 612 is inserted from the inside using the stub.

When the protrusion of the cantilever 6112 is engaged into the hole of the buckle lower buckle 612, it will exert a force on the cantilever of the buckle lower buckle 612 to the outside, and if the cantilever of the buckle lower buckle 612 is connected to the movable connection end 3242 from the outside, when the protrusion of the cantilever 6112 is engaged into the hole of the buckle lower buckle 612, it will cause the connection between the buckle lower buckle 612 and the movable connection end 3242 to be released, so the cantilever of the buckle lower buckle 612 is connected to the movable connection end 3242 from the inside.

The upper buckle button 611 and the lower buckle button 612 in the binding band are in an unfolded state, the auxiliary tool is placed at the correct position of the human body limb, the binding band is pulled to surround the leg, the movable connecting end 3242 is buckled into the connecting hole in the fixing frame, the binding of the binding band to the fixed human body limb is looser, the upper buckle button 611 and the lower buckle button 612 are overlapped, the buckle protrusions are embedded into the clamping holes, the length of the binding band is shortened, and the binding of the binding band to the fixed human body limb is tighter.

The binding band can be fastened by rotating the operation buckle 3246, the required operation force is low, and the fastening degree is the same each time, so that the use of patients, especially the elderly patients, is very convenient.

The buckle bottom buckle 612 is hinged to the movable connection end 3242 and can rotate with respect to the same, the buckle bottom buckle 612 extends forward to form two cantilevers, the ends of the cantilevers respectively extend laterally outward to form a shaft pin, and the inner sides of the opposite protruding ends of the movable connection end 3242 are respectively provided with a shaft hole 222. The two arms of the buckle bottom buckle 2612 are laterally squeezed and deformed, the pivot pin distance is shortened, and the arms are inserted into the pivot hole 222.

The two arms of the lower buckle 2612 are each provided with a hole and are fixed by a fixing buckle 3247 to ensure that the lower buckle 612 is firmly connected with the movable connecting end 3242. The two arms cannot laterally deform and the pivot pin at the ends of the arms cannot be removed from the pivot holes 3246 (see fig. 18) of the link ends, thereby securing the buckle hold-down 612 to the link ends 3242.

At least two belt holes are arranged at the joint of the buckle upper buckle 611 and the inelastic belt 3243, the inelastic belt 3243 adopts a self-locking winding method, and the length of the binding belt is changed when the buckle is in the second state (namely, the closed state) so as to adapt to the requirements of wearers with different limb sizes.

The elastic sheet 613 extends from the rotating shaft along the direction opposite to the buckle lower buckle 612, so that the pressure generated at the rotating shaft to the fixed human body limb is uniformly distributed through the elastic sheet 613, and the wearing comfort of the auxiliary tool is improved.

The elastic band 3244 is made of lycra composite cloth, can provide good flexibility, has good biocompatibility, and can play a role in pressure uniform distribution and buffering, so that the auxiliary effect and comfort are ensured.

The elastic belt 3244 is provided with an anti-slip layer on the side facing the fixed human body limb to increase the friction force between the elastic belt 3244 and the fixed human body limb.

The anti-slip layer is formed into a grid through silica gel glue dripping, and the air permeability of the elastic belt can be guaranteed.

Fig. 22 shows another embodiment of the present invention, again exemplified by a thigh strap, thigh strap 424 being similar to thigh strap 324 in that it also includes an elastic portion and a non-elastic portion, i.e., an elastic band and a non-elastic band. Specifically, thigh strap 424 includes two inelastic straps 4243, a buckle, and an elastic strap. Wherein, the hasp comprises a hasp upper buckle 4241 and a hasp lower buckle 4242. The hasp is arranged between two inelastic straps 4243, namely two inelastic straps 4243, one section is connected with the hasp upper buckle 4241, and the other section is connected with the hasp lower buckle 4242; the two inelastic straps 4243, which are connected together by a snap, have one end connected to the fixed connection end and the other end connected to the movable connection end, which are not shown and not described in detail, like the fixed connection end 3241 and the movable connection end 3242 described above. The elastic and inelastic straps 4234 are made of the same materials and are constructed as the elastic and inelastic straps 3244, 3233 and will not be described in detail herein; similarly, one end of an elastic band (not shown) is attached to the connection of inelastic band 4243 to the fixed attachment end and the other end of the elastic band is attached to the connection of the other end of inelastic band 4243 to the movable attachment end.

The end of the inelastic strap 4243 connected with the upper buckle 4241 is provided with a section of hook and loop surface of the hook and loop fastener, and one surface of the inelastic strap 4243 connected with the lower buckle 4242 is provided with a hook and loop surface of the hook and loop fastener, and the buckle is fixed through the hook and loop fastener.

Fig. 23 shows another way of connecting two inelastic straps 5243 to the buckle, specifically, the buckle includes a buckle upper buckle 5241 and a buckle lower buckle 5242, the buckle upper buckle 5241 has a buckle protrusion facing the buckle lower buckle 5242, the buckle lower buckle 5242 has a buckle hole corresponding to the buckle protrusion, and the buckle is fixed by the matching of the buckle protrusion and the buckle hole.

As the slide block and the groove disc in the adjusting mechanism can rotate and translate mutually, and the slide block and the groove disc are respectively connected with the thigh splint and the calf splint, the adjusting mechanisms 31 and 32 connected between the thigh skeleton and the calf skeleton can enable the thigh skeleton and the calf skeleton to rotate and translate mutually. As the lower limbs of a user wearing the knee orthosis of the present invention move from a flexed state to an extended state, for example, as the difference between the hip knee ankle angle and the standing hip knee ankle angle is from 140 ° to 0 ° (i.e., as the hip knee ankle angle is from 140 ° to 0 ° for a normal person with a standing hip knee ankle angle of 0 °, the following description is taken of the normal person), the sliders in the adjustment mechanisms 31 and 32 move relative to the grooved plates. Fig. 11 shows the position change of the first and second protrusions 3101 and 3102 of the slider 310 of the adjustment mechanism 31 in the first and second grooves 3111 and 3112 of the first grooved disk 311 during this process. When the hip-knee ankle angle is 140 °, the first and second protrusions 3101 and 3102 are located in the first and second grooves 3111 and 3112 at positions (a 1 and B1), when the hip-knee ankle angle is 0 °, the first and second protrusions 3101 and 3102 are located in the first and second grooves 3111 and 3112 at positions (A4 and B4), and as the hip-knee ankle angle is gradually decreased, the first and second protrusions 3101 and 3102 are located in the first and second grooves 3111 and 3112 from positions (a 1, B7), (a 2 and B2), (A3 and B3) to positions (A4 and B4), for example, when the hip-knee angle is 20 °, the first and second protrusions 3101 and 3102 are located in the first and second grooves 3111 and 3112 at positions (A3 and B31145) and when the hip-knee-ankle angle is 90 °, the first and second protrusions 3101 and 3102 are located in the first and second grooves 3111 and 852 and 2. Wherein the knee brace is in the second state previously described when first boss 3101 is in segment a1-a2 of first channel 3111 (referred to as the second flexure of first channel 3111) and second boss 3102 is in segment B1-B2 of second channel 3112 (referred to as the second flexure of second channel 3112); when the first boss 3101 is in segment A3-a4 of the first channel 3111 (referred to as the first curve of the first channel 3111) and the second boss 3102 is in segment B3-B4 of the second channel 3112 (referred to as the first curve of the second channel 3112), the knee brace is in the first state previously described; while the knee orthosis is in the second state to the first state as previously described when the first boss 3101 is in section A2-A3 of the first channel 3111 and the second boss 3102 is in section B2-B3 of the second channel 3112. It is to be understood that the division of the first and second curves of the first channel 3111 and the first and second curves of the second channel 3112 is determined by the division of the first and second states of the knee brace herein. The first and second bends of the first channel 3111 and the first and second bends of the second channel 3112 will also change if different division criteria are used to distinguish between the first and second states of the knee brace. In addition, as can be seen from fig. 11, the first groove 3111 has a section of upward bent portion near a1, which corresponds to the second bent portion of the first groove 3111 in this embodiment, and the upward bent portion is designed to be upward bent in this embodiment, so that the structure of the groove tray can be more compact, which is beneficial to reducing the size of the adjusting mechanism. The second groove 3112 has a bent-down portion near B4, which is included in the first bent portion of the second groove 3112 in the present embodiment. The downward bent part corresponds to the state that the lower limbs of a user are completely straightened, for example, when the angle of the ankle of the hip and the knee is less than 4-6 degrees, the self-locking effect can be realized. That is, when the user's lower limb is brought into the fully straightened state, the movement between the slider 310 and the first slotted disk 311 is locked, thereby helping the user's lower limb to maintain the fully straightened state until the user bends the lower limb to exert a certain force to move the second protruding portion of the slider 310 away from the bent-down portion. The position changes of the first and second protrusions 3103 and 3104 of the slider 310 of the adjustment mechanism 31 in the first and second grooves of the second grooved plate 312 are the same as described above, and are not described herein again. The movement of the slider in the adjustment mechanism 32 relative to the grooved disk is the same as that of the adjustment mechanism 32, and is not described herein.

The rotational axis of the rotation between the thigh frame and the lower leg frame of the knee joint orthosis of the present invention can be determined by the connection of the thigh splints 22, 23 around the centers of rotation of the lower leg splints 12, 13 via the adjustment mechanisms 31,32, specifically, the line connecting the center of rotation of the thigh splint 22 around the lower leg splint 12 via the adjustment mechanism 31 and the center of rotation of the thigh splint 23 around the lower leg splint 13 via the adjustment mechanism 32, and as can be seen from the above description of the movement of the sliders of the adjustment mechanisms 31,32 relative to the grooved plate, the rotational axis (referred to as the rotational axis between the thigh and lower leg skeletons) is shifted relative to the lower leg skeleton (or thigh skeleton) during the mutual rotation of the thigh skeleton and lower leg skeleton. In the knee joint orthosis of the present invention, the rotation axis between the upper and lower leg frames is parallel to the first rotation axis of the knee joint, i.e., the rotation axis of the knee joint around which the lower leg swings back and forth around the knee joint, and the anterior axis is the direction of the face when the human body is in the standing position.

From the above process analysis, it can be seen that the user wearing the knee joint orthosis of the present invention is driven by the lower limbs of the user during walking, since it is the above-mentioned process from the flexed state to the extended state and then from the extended state to the flexed state that occurs in the lower limbs, and accordingly, from the second state to the first state and then from the first state to the second state, which is an automatic switching process in cooperation with the gait of walking. In addition, when the human body walks, the lower limbs in the straight state need to bear heavy load, and the lower limbs in the bent state do not need to bear heavy load. For the lower limbs in the straightened state, the knee joint orthosis is in the first state, tightly restrains the lower limbs and enables a gap to be kept between the thighbone of the thigh and the bone of the shin bone of the shank, so that the weight load is transmitted to the shank framework from the thigh framework and the adjusting mechanism, and the load is effectively born by the knee joint of the human body. For lower limbs in flexion, the knee orthosis of the present invention is in a second state, which does not carry a load, while loosely constraining the lower limbs, thereby not affecting blood vessel function of the lower limbs of the user.

The foregoing detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention has been presented. It should be understood that numerous modifications and variations could be devised by those skilled in the art in light of the present teachings without departing from the inventive concepts. Therefore, the technical solutions available to those skilled in the art through logic analysis, reasoning and limited experiments based on the prior art according to the concept of the present invention should be within the scope of protection defined by the claims.

Claims

A knee joint orthosis is characterized by comprising a thigh framework worn on a thigh and a shank framework worn on a shank;

the working state of the knee joint orthosis comprises a first state;

the thigh skeleton tightly restrains the thigh and the shank skeleton tightly restrains the shank, the thigh skeleton exerts force on the thigh in a direction along a mechanical axis of the femur and away from the shank, and the shank skeleton exerts force on the shank in a direction along a mechanical axis of the tibia and away from the thigh; the thigh skeleton and the shank skeleton are separated by a first distance.
The knee orthosis set forth in claim 1, wherein the operational state of the knee orthosis further comprises a second state;

the thigh skeleton of the knee joint orthosis in the second state does not apply a force to the thigh in a direction along the femoral mechanical axis and away from the calf, and the calf skeleton does not apply a force to the calf in a direction along the tibial mechanical axis and away from the thigh; the distance between the thigh skeleton and the shank skeleton is a second distance;

the second pitch is smaller than the first pitch.
The knee joint orthosis set forth in claim 2, wherein the thigh skeleton of the knee joint orthosis in the second state loosely restrains the thigh, and the lower leg skeleton loosely restrains the lower leg.
The knee joint orthosis set forth in claim 2 or 3, further comprising an adjustment mechanism provided on the thigh skeleton and/or the lower leg skeleton or between the thigh skeleton and the lower leg skeleton that places the knee joint orthosis in the first state or the second state.
The knee orthosis set forth in claim 4, wherein the adjustment mechanism places the knee orthosis in the first state when a difference between a hip knee ankle angle and a standing hip knee ankle angle is less than a first state transition angle; when the difference between the hip knee ankle angle and the orthostatic hip knee ankle angle is greater than a second state transition angle, the adjustment mechanism places the knee joint orthosis in the second state; the second state transition angle is greater than or equal to the first state transition angle.
The knee joint orthosis set forth in claim 5, wherein the lower leg shell includes a lower leg support; the lower leg tray of the lower leg skeleton of the knee joint orthosis in the first state laterally constrains the lower leg at a recess between a patella and a tibial tuberosity.
The knee joint orthosis set forth in claim 6, wherein the adjustment mechanism is disposed between the thigh skeleton and the lower leg skeleton, connected to the thigh skeleton and the lower leg skeleton, respectively.
The knee joint orthosis set forth in claim 7, wherein the thigh shell is rotatable relative to the shank shell via the adjustment mechanism.
The knee joint orthosis set forth in claims 6, 7, or 8, wherein the knee joint orthosis is brought from the first state into the second state and the knee joint orthosis is brought from the second state into the first state by manually actuating the adjustment mechanism.
The knee joint orthosis set forth in claims 6, 7, or 8, wherein the adjustment mechanism is electrically actuated to bring the knee joint orthosis from the first state to the second state and to bring the knee joint orthosis from the second state to the first state.
The knee orthosis set forth in claim 10, wherein the knee orthosis further includes a power source, sensors, motors, and a control unit.
The knee joint orthosis set forth in claim 8, wherein actuation of the adjustment mechanism by the lower limbs causes the knee joint orthosis to enter the second state from the first state and causes the knee joint orthosis to enter the first state from the second state.
The knee joint orthosis set forth in claim 12, comprising two adjustment mechanisms distributed on either side of the knee joint of the lower limb.
The knee joint orthosis set forth in claim 13, wherein the rotational axis of rotation is parallel to the first rotational axis of the knee joint.
The knee brace of claim 14, wherein the lower leg skeleton further comprises two lower leg splints and a lower leg strap;

the two shank splints are respectively attached to two sides of the shank, and the first ends of the two shank splints are respectively connected to the two adjusting mechanisms;

the shank bandage is transversely attached to the middle upper part of the back of the shank, and two ends of the shank bandage are respectively connected to the two shank splints;

the shank support is of a strip-shaped structure and is provided with an inner surface which can be attached to the concave part, and two ends of the shank support are respectively and fixedly connected to the two shank splints;

on the calf splint, the connection position between the calf support and the calf splint is closer to the first end of the calf splint than the connection position between the calf bandage and the calf splint.
The knee brace of claim 15, wherein the thigh frame comprises a thigh brace, two thigh cleats, and a thigh strap;

the two thigh splints are respectively distributed on two sides of the thigh, and the second ends of the two thigh splints are respectively connected to the two adjusting mechanisms;

the thigh support is of a strip-shaped structure and is provided with an inner surface which can be transversely attached to the front surface of the thigh, and two ends of the thigh support are respectively connected to the two thigh splints;

the thigh strap can be transversely attached to the back of the thigh, and two ends of the thigh strap are respectively connected to the two thigh splints;

the thigh strap is connected to the thigh link at a position closer to the first end of the thigh link than the position where the thigh strap is connected to the thigh link.
The knee brace of claim 16, wherein the thigh brace is rotatable about its point of attachment to the thigh splint.
The knee orthosis set forth in claim 16 or 17, wherein the adjustment mechanism includes a slotted disk and a slider that are rotatable and translatable relative to each other, the slotted disk having a curved slot therein, the slider having a projection thereon, the projection being slidable in the slot;

the groove disc is connected with the first end of the shank splint, and the sliding block is connected with the second end of the thigh splint; or the groove disc is connected with the second end of the thigh splint, and the sliding block is connected with the first end of the shank splint.
The knee orthosis set forth in claim 18, wherein the slider is connected to the second end of the thigh splint at an edge of the slider.
The knee orthosis set forth in claim 19, wherein the slide is connected to the second end of the thigh splint by a hinge, the connection of the slide to the hinge being at an edge of the slide.
The knee orthosis set forth in claim 19, wherein the slide block is integrally formed with the thigh splint.
The knee orthosis set forth in claims 20 or 21, wherein the slotted disc is connected to the first end of the lower leg splint at an edge of the slotted disc.
The knee orthosis set forth in claim 22, wherein the slotted disc is riveted to the first end of the lower leg splint.
The knee orthosis set forth in claim 22, wherein the slotted disc is integrally formed with the lower leg splint.
The knee orthosis of claim 23 or 24, wherein the slot has a first bend and a second bend;

the knee brace enters a second state from the first state when the protrusion enters the second curvature from the first curvature, driven by the gait of the lower limb; the knee brace enters a first state from the second state when the protrusion enters the first bend from the second bend.
The knee joint orthosis set forth in claim 19, wherein the slot includes a first slot and a second slot, and the boss includes a first boss slidable within the first slot and a second boss slidable within the second slot;

the knee orthosis goes from the first state to a second state when the first protrusion goes from the first curvature of the first groove into the second curvature of the first groove and the second protrusion goes from the first curvature of the second groove into the second curvature of the second groove under the gait drive of the lower limb; the knee orthosis enters a first state from the second state when the first protrusion enters the first bend of the first groove from the second bend of the first groove and the second protrusion enters the first bend of the second groove from the second bend of the second groove.
The knee orthosis set forth in claim 19 or 20, wherein the slotted disk includes first and second slotted disks fixed to each other, the slider being sandwiched between the first and second slotted disks; the slider has the projection slidable in the groove of the first grooved disk on a face facing the first grooved disk, and the slider has the projection slidable in the groove of the second grooved disk on a face facing the second grooved disk; the second slot disk is closer to the knee joint than the first slot disk, the second slot disk being connected to the first end of the calf splint.
The knee orthosis set forth in claim 19 or 20, wherein the slide block includes a first slide block and a second slide block fixed to each other, the slotted disk being sandwiched between the first slide block and the second slide block; the grooved disk has, on a face facing the first slider, the groove in which the boss of the first slider can slide; the grooved disk has, on a face facing the second slider, the groove in which the boss of the second slider can slide; the second slider is closer to the knee joint than the first slider, and the second slider is connected to the second end of the thigh splint.
The knee orthosis set forth in claim 27 or 28, wherein the lower leg skeleton further comprises a lower leg splint stabilizing structure in the form of a strip that fits transversely over the front of the lower leg and has two ends connected to the second ends of the two lower leg splints, respectively.
The knee brace of claim 29, wherein the lower leg splint stabilizing structure is a second lower leg strap that fits transversely over the front of the lower leg and has two ends that are connected to the second ends of the two lower leg splints, respectively.
The knee joint orthosis set forth in claim 30, wherein the thigh skeleton further includes a second thigh strap transversely fitted over a back surface of the thigh and connected at both ends thereof to the two thigh splints, respectively, the connection position between the second thigh strap and the thigh splint being between the connection position between the thigh rest and the thigh splint and the connection position between the thigh strap and the thigh splint.
The knee joint orthosis set forth in claim 16, wherein the thigh strap and/or the shank strap further includes an elastic band and a non-elastic band, both ends of the elastic band are connected to both ends of the non-elastic band, respectively, and a length adjusting device is provided on the non-elastic band to adjust a distance between both ends of the non-elastic band.
The knee joint orthosis set forth in claim 31, wherein the thigh strap and/or the shank strap further includes an elastic band and a non-elastic band, both ends of the elastic band are connected to both ends of the non-elastic band, respectively, and a length adjusting device is provided on the non-elastic band to adjust a distance between both ends of the non-elastic band.
A strap according to claim 32 or 33 wherein said length adjustment means is in a first state, the length of said strap being stretchable, said length adjustment means being in a second state, the length of said strap being non-stretchable.
The strap of claim 34 wherein said length adjustment means is a buckle, said buckle comprising an upper buckle part and a lower buckle part, said upper buckle part and said lower buckle part being connected by a hinge and being rotatable about a rotational axis, said upper buckle part and said lower buckle part not being coincident, said buckle being in said first state; the hasp upper buckle and the hasp lower buckle are overlapped and fixed, and the hasp is in the second state.
The strap of claim 35 wherein said buckle is secured by a hook and loop fastener.
The strap of claim 35 wherein said buckle upper buckle is provided with a buckle protrusion toward said buckle lower buckle, said buckle lower buckle being provided with a corresponding buckle hole, said buckle being secured to said buckle hole by said buckle protrusion.
The strap of claim 35 wherein an elastic sheet extends from said pivot axis in a direction opposite said buckle clasp such that pressure generated at said pivot axis against the immobilized body limb is evenly distributed through said elastic sheet.