GB2120100A

GB2120100A - A support for the spine

Info

Publication number: GB2120100A
Application number: GB08213978A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kevin Hardinge
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-05-13
Filing date: 1982-05-13
Publication date: 1983-11-30

Abstract

An elongate spinal support has greater flexibility in one direction than the opposite direction, and may comprise a flat strip 1 of synthetic plastics material. The strip may include a number of spaced formations 2 each comprising a neck leading to a cylindrical cutout. The formations, which may be moulded in or machined, permit the strip to flex in one direction much more easily than in the other. A plurality of such strips 1 when correctly orientated in a spinal support belt permits rearward, but inhibits forward, arching of the spine of the belt wearer. Forward arching tends to close the necks of the formations 2 to produce a relatively rigid strip, whereas rearward arching opens the necks of the formations. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A support for the spine The present invention relates to a support for the spine.

The spine may be put into flexion that is to say bent forwardly; or extension, that is to say arched backwardly. Most injuries to the spine occurwhen the spine is in flexion and support belts are already known which prevent or inhibitfiexion. One such support is described in the applicants co-pending United Kingdom Patent Application No.8017331 filed 27th May, 1980 (Published 9th December, 1981 under No.

2076654). This support belt incorporates a number of support members which, when the support belt is worn, prevent or inhibit spine flexion but permit spine extension. Although the members perform satisfac torilytheyare of relatively complex construction and therefore relatively expensive to produce.

According to the present invention, there is provided an elongate supportforthe spine formed on one sidethereofto provide a degree offlexibilityforthe support greater in one direction than in the opposite direction to this one direction.

A preferred embodiment of the invention may comprise any one or more ofthefollowing advan tageousfeatures:- (a) The support is formed with a plurality of formations, (b) Theformations of (a) are spaced, (c) The spacing oftheformations is regular, (d) Each formation defines a cavity extending into the body ofthe support, (e) Each cavity comprises a neck portion leading from the surface ofthe support and opening out into a chamber, (f) Each formation defines a projection extending from the corresponding surface of the support (g)Thespacingoftheformations ranges from 1 to 6 cm depending on the degree of flexibility required, (h) The spacing of the formations is 3cm, (i) The support is moulded from synthetic plastics material such as nylon, polythene or polyethylene, (j) The support is curved, the convex side ofthe curve being thatfrom which the greater degree of flexibility is provided, (k) The curve of (j) is a complex curve to match the desired set of the spine at rest.

A plurality of supports of the above defined type may be incorporated in a spinal support belt or corset.

In one form, the main part of the belt comprises a piece of material which defines a plurality of pockets into which a corresponding plurality of supports are inserted. The orientation of the supports in the belt is such as to enable the wearertoflex or bend his or her spine in the backwards direction butto inhibit such flexing or bending in the forwards direction. The piece of material is provided with fasteners so that it may be secured around the wearers torso as lumbo-sacral support. For convenience, these fasteners are advan- tageously disposed atthe wearers front or side.

In orderthatthe invention may be more clearly understood, one embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:~ Figure 1 shows a side elevational view of a portion of a support according tothe invention, Figure 2 shows a partofthe support of Figure 1 enlarged, Figure 3 shows a partofthesupportof Figure 1 in a flexed position, Figure 4 shows a front view of part of the support of Figure 1, Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view of the human body standing erect, Figure 6 is a viewof a support belt orcorset incorporating supports of the type illustrated in Figure 1,and Figure7 shows a modification ofthesupportof Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1, the support member comprises a flat strip 1 of a suitable synthetic plastics material such as nylon, polythene or polyethylene shown in a neutral unflexed datum position. Suitable dimensions for the strip are length 15cm, width 2.5 cms and thickness 8mm although clearly these dimensions may be varied as desired depending upon the particular application. A number offormations are spaced along the strip 1. Each formation consists of a slot3, which forms a neck, leading from the surface of the strip to a cylindrical cutout orchamber4. In this particularexamplethe interval between adjacent formations is 3cm although clearly other intervals may be chosen as desired, but normally within the range 1 to 6 cms.These strips 1 may be moulded and the formations may then be produced as part of the overall moulding operation. Alternatively, the strips may be cutfrom a large piece of material andthe formation would then normally be machined. A further possibility would be to produce the strips 1 by a combination of moulding and machining perhaps by moulding the basic strip form and producing the formations by machining. In such a combination process the chambers 4 of the formations 2 may be moulded and the slots 3 cutthrough afterwards.

In the normal rest or datum position of the strip, the slots are virtually closed. When the strip is flexed or bent a direction so that the side of the strip having the formation 2 adopts a convex form, the slots 3 open to adoptthe position shown in Figure 3. In operation as a supportforthe spine, the side of the strip bearing the formationsfacesthefrontthat istosay it lies alongside the back of the person. The front of the strip in its datum position is shown in Figure 4. The above operational mode ofthe strip therefore permits rearward arching (i.e. to the posterior) ofthe spine.

Any attempt to flex the spine in the forwards direction (i.e. to the anterior) is prevented by a closing up of the slots 3. When the slots 3 are closed, the sides thereof abutt one another and substantially the full thickness ofthe strip is available to prevent or inhibitfurther flexing or bending.

Referring to Figure 6, a spinal support or belt incorporating support strips of the above mentioned typeisshown.The beltcomprisesend portions 10,11 fonned from textile webbing. The end portion 10 has three buckles 12 and the end portion 11 has three webbing straps 13the belt can be worn and can be adjusted to suit users of different sizes. The belt includes a central portion 14 connected to the end portions 10,11 by resilientwebbing portions 15,16.

End portions 14a, 14b, of the central portion are formed from inner and outer laye?s 17, 18 oftextile webbing between which is sandwiched a layer 19 of fluff pulp for added comfort. Top and bottom edges of the portions 10,11,14 and the end edges of portions 10,11 are provided with a bound edge 9.

The central region of the belt includes four laterally spaced spinal support strips 1 of the type described above and illustrated in Figures 1 to 4. Each support strip 1 is contained in a closed pocket provided by woven textile material 21 sewn at 22 along its side edges to the layers 17, 18, 19.

The support strips 1 are, as indicated above, disposed in their respective pockets so that their sides incorporating the formations 2 face towards the interior of the belt so that when the belt is worn those sides are adjacent the back of the wearer as shown diagrammatically in Figure 5 (the strip 1 is shown to an exaggerated scale in the Figure). As can be seen in Figure 5,the slight bending forward ofthewearer closes up the slots 3 and inhibits fu rther bending of the strip land therefore further bending ofthespine. In this way the wearer is allowed to flex his spine in a backwards direction but inhibited from flexing his spine in aforwards direction.

It may be preferable for the strip to be provided with projections adjacent, but on the opposite side to, the slots. Such a modification is illustrated in Figure 7 in which the projections are referenced 6. These projec tions provide additional strength to compensate for the weakening effect of the formations 2. The projections 6 could of course have a form otherthan that shown.

A human spine is said to be in a stable position when the person is standing normally upright and in this condition the spine is said to be extended and, in the lumber region, has a slight backward curve or arch.

Injury to the spine usually occurs when the spine is flexed, that isto say bentforwards in relation to the upright, stable position.As described above in the belt ofFigure6,thesupportstrips 1 resist bending forwards, thus providing (resistance or) supporttothe spine when the user bendsforwards butaccommodating themselvesto the arched shape of the spine, when the user is standing upright or bends backwards.

This may be compared with a completely rigid slightly curved support which necessarily attempts to holdthe spine in a rigid condition even when the person bends backwards to a position in which the spine is extended.

Itwill be appreciated that the above embodiments have been described byway of example only and that manyvariationsare possiblewithoutdeparting from the scope of the invention. Forexample,theforma- tions may be in the form of projections ratherthan cavities, and may be of different shapes. In particular the circularcross-section chamber could be rectangu lar or oval in cross section. Also, the number of strips 1 incorporated in the belt may be more or less than the number illustrated.

CLAIMS (Filed on 10/5/83) 1. Anelongatesupportforthespineformed on one side thereof to provideadegreeofflexibilityfor the support greater in one direction than in the opposite direction to this one direction.

2. An elongate support as claimed in claim 1, in which the support isformed with a plurality of formations.

3. An elongate support as claimed in claim 2, in which the formations are spaced.

4. An elongate support as claimed in claim 3, in which the spacing oftheformations is regular.

5. An elongate support as claimed in claim 2,3 or 4, in which each formation defines a cavity extending into the body of the support.

6. An elongate support as claimed in claim 5, in which each cavity comprises a neck portion leading from the surface ofthe support and opening out into a chamber.

7. An elongate support as claimed in any of claims 2to 6, in which each formation defines a projection extending from the corresponding surface of the support.

8. An elongate support as claimed in any of claims 2 to 7, in which the spacing of the formations ranges from 1 to 6 cm depending on the degree of flexibility required.

9. An elongate support as claimed in claim 8, in which the spacing oftheformation is 3cm.

10. An elongate support as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the support is moulded from synthetic plastics material such as nylon, polythene or polyethylene.

11. An elongate support as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the support is curved, the convex side ofthe curve being that from which the greater degree offlexibility is provided.

12. An elongate support as claimed in claim 11, in which the curve is a complex curve to match the desired set of the spine at rest.

13. An elongate supportforthe spine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 5 or to these figures with the modification of Figure 7 ofthe accompanying drawings.

14. A spinal support belt comprising a piece of material defining a plurality of pockets into which a corresponding plurality of supports as claimed in any of claims 1 to 13 are respectively inserted, the orientation ofthesupports in the material being such as to enable the wearer to flex or bend his or her spine inthebackwardsdirection buttoinhibitsuchflexing or bending intheforwardsdirection.

15. A spinal support belt as claimed in claim 14, comprising fasteners to enable itto be secured around thewearerstorso as lumbo-sacral support.

16. Aspinal support belt substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. incorporating support strips of the above mentioned typeisshown.The beltcomprisesend portions 10,11 fonned from textile webbing. The end portion 10 has three buckles 12 and the end portion 11 has three webbing straps 13the belt can be worn and can be adjusted to suit users of different sizes. The belt includes a central portion 14 connected to the end portions 10,11 by resilientwebbing portions 15,16. End portions 14a, 14b, of the central portion are formed from inner and outer laye?s 17, 18 oftextile webbing between which is sandwiched a layer 19 of fluff pulp for added comfort. Top and bottom edges of the portions 10,11,14 and the end edges of portions 10,11 are provided with a bound edge 9. The central region of the belt includes four laterally spaced spinal support strips 1 of the type described above and illustrated in Figures 1 to 4. Each support strip 1 is contained in a closed pocket provided by woven textile material 21 sewn at 22 along its side edges to the layers 17, 18, 19. The support strips 1 are, as indicated above, disposed in their respective pockets so that their sides incorporating the formations 2 face towards the interior of the belt so that when the belt is worn those sides are adjacent the back of the wearer as shown diagrammatically in Figure 5 (the strip 1 is shown to an exaggerated scale in the Figure). As can be seen in Figure 5,the slight bending forward ofthewearer closes up the slots 3 and inhibits fu rther bending of the strip land therefore further bending ofthespine. In this way the wearer is allowed to flex his spine in a backwards direction but inhibited from flexing his spine in aforwards direction. It may be preferable for the strip to be provided with projections adjacent, but on the opposite side to, the slots. Such a modification is illustrated in Figure 7 in which the projections are referenced 6. These projec tions provide additional strength to compensate for the weakening effect of the formations 2. The projections 6 could of course have a form otherthan that shown. A human spine is said to be in a stable position when the person is standing normally upright and in this condition the spine is said to be extended and, in the lumber region, has a slight backward curve or arch. Injury to the spine usually occurs when the spine is flexed, that isto say bentforwards in relation to the upright, stable position.As described above in the belt ofFigure6,thesupportstrips 1 resist bending forwards, thus providing (resistance or) supporttothe spine when the user bendsforwards butaccommodating themselvesto the arched shape of the spine, when the user is standing upright or bends backwards. This may be compared with a completely rigid slightly curved support which necessarily attempts to holdthe spine in a rigid condition even when the person bends backwards to a position in which the spine is extended. Itwill be appreciated that the above embodiments have been described byway of example only and that manyvariationsare possiblewithoutdeparting from the scope of the invention. Forexample,theforma- tions may be in the form of projections ratherthan cavities, and may be of different shapes. In particular the circularcross-section chamber could be rectangu lar or oval in cross section. Also, the number of strips 1 incorporated in the belt may be more or less than the number illustrated. CLAIMS (Filed on 10/5/83)

1. Anelongatesupportforthespineformed on one side thereof to provideadegreeofflexibilityfor the support greater in one direction than in the opposite direction to this one direction.