JP7045815B2 - Knee or elbow supporter - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a springy core material having a bending direction and its use. This core material can be used in various fields, but in the following, the knee and elbow supporters will be mainly described as an example.

Various types of supporters are used for the purpose of protecting, reinforcing and keeping warm of the knees and elbows, and reducing joint pain.

Most of the conventional supporters of this type have pads and reinforcing members attached to the supporters. For example, many are known, such as JP-A-2-185447, JP-A-2009-233149, and JP-A-2012-120602.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-185247 JP-A-2009-233149 JP 2012-120602

However, the pads and reinforcing members used in the above-mentioned conventional supporters do not have a specific direction. Therefore, although the knees and elbows can be protected, reinforced, and kept warm, there is almost no function to support the movement of the knees and elbows. Therefore, the effect of reducing joint pain caused by body movement is poor.

In order to support the movement of the knees and elbows, these supporters need to move forward and backward while bending with appropriate elasticity in the direction in which the knees and elbows protrude, but do not move in the opposite direction as much as possible. Better.

According to the present invention, when a certain force is applied, the vehicle moves forward and backward while bending in a specific direction (for example, in front of the reference line), but in the opposite direction (after the same), it is difficult to move even if a force is applied. The purpose is to provide a core material. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a supporter using the core material.

The present invention is supporters 5, 5A, 5B for knees or elbows having an integrally molded planar spring core material 1, wherein the spring core material 1 is a left and right spiral portion 2 located apart from each other. , 4 and a central curved portion 3 located at the center of the left and right spiral portions 2 and 4, and the winding directions of the vortices of the left and right spiral portions 2 and 4 are opposite to each other. It is characterized in that different directions appear depending on the direction in which the force is applied when advancing and retreating .

Preferably, the height a of the left and right spiral portions 2 and 4 and the height b of the central curved portion 3 have a relationship of b ≧ a.

Preferably, the thicknesses of the left and right spiral portions 2 and 4 and the thickness of the central curved portion 3 are the same, and they are located in a plane and do not cross over.

Preferably, the central curved portion 3 has a first upward curved portion 31 formed from the right end of the left spiral portion 2 and a second upward curved portion 32 formed from the left end of the right spiral portion 4. And the lower curved portion 33 formed by connecting the lower end portions of the first upper curved portion 31 and the second upper curved portion 32.

The supporter for knees and elbows of the present invention is characterized by having the core material.

The supporter may be provided with one or more pockets for inserting the core material 1.

When providing two pockets, it is preferable to arrange them at an angle to each other. When wearing a supporter with two pockets, the approximate center line of the pocket is approximately equal to the vertical line of the supporter for the outer pocket 52A1 of the foot, and the inner pocket 52A of the foot is 90 from top to bottom on the front side of the leg. It is preferable that the arrangement is narrower than the degree.

Further, since the core material has directionality, it is preferable to provide a mark for clearly indicating the direction in which the core material is inserted. The mark is, for example, a contour view of the core material drawn on a pocket.

In the present invention, the core material adopts a spiral shape. Therefore, when the supporter is tightly attached to the knee or the like, the spiral portion deforms along the unevenness of the skin on the outer or inner part of the knee in contact with the core material, and the core material adheres to the skin in a surface shape without discomfort. can do. The core material adheres to the skin surface and does not impair the original bending performance.

According to the core material of the present invention, when a certain amount of force is applied, it moves forward and backward while bending in a specific direction (for example, in front of the reference line), but it is difficult to move in the opposite direction (after the same) even if a force is applied. Comes to have properties.

The knee / elbow supporter incorporating such a core material can move flexibly so as to be close to the movement of the knee / elbow.

(A) Front view, (b) Side view, (c) CC sectional view, (d) Plan view, (e) Bottom view, (f) of the springy core material according to the first embodiment of the present invention. ) FF sectional view. It is a front view which shows the shape change of the core material of FIG. 1, (a) is before the force is applied, (b) is after the force is applied. It is the second embodiment of the present invention, and the core material of the first embodiment is attached to the supporter 5, (a) is a front view, and (b) is a rear view. It is a side view of the state where the supporter of FIG. 3 is attached to the knee, (a) is before bending the knee, and (b) is after bending. It is the third embodiment of the present invention, and the core material 1 of the first embodiment is attached to the supporter 5A for the left foot, (a) is a front view, and (b) is a rear view. It is a side view of the state where the supporter 5A of FIG. 5 is attached to the knee, (a) is before bending the knee, and (b) is after bending. It is the fourth embodiment of the present invention, and the core material 1 of the first embodiment is attached to the supporter 5B, (a) is a front view, and (b) is a rear view.

As shown in FIG. 1, the springy core material 1 according to the first embodiment is a kind of spring composed of three integrally molded planar elements. The three elements are referred to as a left spiral portion 2, a central curved portion 3, and a right spiral portion 4 from the left in the front view.

The left spiral portion 2 is a spiral formed by rotating counterclockwise about three times, and is connected to the central curved portion 3 at the right end with a gentle inclination. The right spiral portion 4 is a spiral formed by rotating about three times clockwise, and is connected to the central curved portion 3 at the left end with a gentle inclination.

The central curved portion 3 is a portion connecting the right end of the left spiral portion 2 and the left end of the right spiral portion 4. A first upward curved portion 31 formed from the right end of the left spiral portion 2, a second upward curved portion 32 formed from the left end of the right spiral portion 4, and these first upward curved portions 31 and a second. It is composed of a downward curved portion 33 formed by connecting the descending ends of the upward curved portion 32. Since the downward curved portion 33 is a portion where the force is easily concentrated, the reinforcing portion 34 is integrally provided.

The left spiral portion 2 and the right spiral portion 4 are symmetrical in that the spirals are wound in opposite directions. The first upward curved portion 31 and the second upward curved portion 32 of the central curved portion 3 are also symmetrical. Therefore, the core material 1 has a symmetrical shape as a whole when viewed from the center of the downward curved portion 33.

The heights of the left spiral portion 2, the central curved portion 3, and the right spiral portion 4 are such that the height a of the left and right spiral portions 2 and 4 and the height b of the central curved portion 3 are b ≧ a. The thickness of the left spiral portion 2, the central curved portion 3, and the right spiral portion 4 is the same. In one embodiment, the total core material 1 had a width of about 130 mm, a length of about 36 mm, and a wire thickness of about 1 mm.

As the material of the core material 1, it is a condition that it is resistant to bending and impact and is not easily corroded, and synthetic resins such as polyacetal and polycarbonate and non-allergenic metals such as stainless steel and titanium are preferable.

Now, when a force is applied to the core material 1 in the direction of the solid arrow in FIG. 2 (a), the space around the downward curved portion 33 is wide, so that the downward curved portion 33 is as shown in FIG. 2 (b). Lifts up and the core material 1 rises upward. However, when a force is applied in the direction of the dotted arrow in FIG. 2A, resistance is mainly received at two points, the first upward curved portion 31 and the second upward curved portion 32, so that the core material 1 is hardly deformed. Therefore, the shape after deformation is not shown.

That is, when viewed from the state of FIG. 2A, the core material 1 moves forward and backward while bending upward with elasticity, but in the opposite direction (downward), it is difficult to move even if a force is applied. Have.

Utilizing this property, it is possible to create a knee supporter 5 for the left foot as shown in Example 2 (FIG. 3).

The knee supporter 5 has an oblong pocket 52 for accommodating the core material 1 formed on the back surface of the main body 51 fabric, and is attached to the knee by adhering the left and right end surface fasteners 53 and 54 to each other. (See Fig. 4). The core material 1 is inserted through a slit provided in the pocket 52.

Here, the direction in which the core material 1 is inserted is important. The left notch 55 in FIG. 3A is the portion corresponding to the knee kid. Therefore, it is necessary to move forward and backward while bending toward the left side notch 55. As shown in FIG. 4, the first upward bending portion 31 and the second upward bending portion 32 must face in the direction of the left side notch 55.

When the state of FIG. 4A is changed to the state of FIG. 4B, the core material 1 is deformed as seen in FIG. 2 and elastically supports the bending of the knee. According to the experiment, when this supporter was attached and the person sat upright, he was able to bend up to 130 degrees. Stretch your knees to restore them to their original shape.

It may be preferable to change the strength of the core material 1 depending on the physical constitution, weight, and symptom of the wearer. Such a case can be dealt with by increasing the number of pockets 52 or increasing the number of core materials 1 to be inserted into one pocket 52. Since this core material is very thin, there is not much foreign matter even if the number is increased.

By using this core material, the burden on the knee can be greatly reduced, and joint pain can also be reduced.

5 and 6 are knee supporters 5A for the left foot according to the third embodiment. It differs from the supporter of the second embodiment (FIGS. 3 and 4) in that two core materials 1 are used.

In the knee supporter 5A, two oblong pockets 52A and 52A1 are formed on the back surface of the main body 51A fabric, and one core material 1 is inserted into each of the pockets 52A and 52A1. It is the same as in Example 2 that attention must be paid to the direction in which the core material 1 is inserted so as to have directionality.

In FIG. 5, the distance on the upper side (thigh side when attached to the human body) is wider than that on the lower side (same, ankle side). When wearing the supporter, the approximate center line of the pocket, the outer pocket 52A1 of the foot is almost equal to the vertical line of the supporter, and the inner pocket 52A of the foot is narrowly placed 90 degrees or less on the front side of the leg from top to bottom. It is preferable to be done.

The knee supporter 5A is attached to the knee so that two pockets 52A and 52A1 sandwich the knee kid by adhering the surface fasteners 53A and 54A at the left and right ends to each other.

In the knee skeleton of the human body, there is a part that protrudes outward from the femur. At the time of attachment, it is preferable to attach so that the center of the spiral of the core material of the knee supporter 5A hits this portion. This is because the spiral moves easily when the central portion is pushed, and when the central portion of the spiral is applied to the protruding portion of the human body, the central portion moves outward.

As described in Example 3, when putting the core material 1 in each pocket, attention must be paid to the directionality. It is installed correctly at the time of shipment from the factory, but when the user washes the supporter, he / she may get lost trying to reinsert it after removing the core material. For such a case, it is preferable to clearly indicate the insertion direction of the core material 1 in the pocket. Any marker 56 may be used, but it is easiest to draw the outline of the core material as it is on the pockets 52B and 52B1 as in the fourth embodiment (FIG. 7).

Although the supporters for the knees have been described in Examples 2 to 4, those having almost the same structure can be used as the supporters for the elbows.

1 Spring core material 2 Left swirl part 3 Central curved part 31 Upper curved part 32 Upper curved part 33 Lower curved part 34 Reinforcing part 4 Right swirl part 5, 5A, 5B Knee supporter 51 Main body 52; 52A, 52A1; 52B, 52B1 pocket 53, 54; 53A, 54A; 53B, 54B surface fastener 56 mark

Claims (9)

Supporters (5, 5A, 5B) for knees or elbows having an integrally molded flat spring core material (1).
The springy core material (1) is
Left and right swirls (2, 4) located apart from each other,
It has a central curved portion (3) located at the center of the left and right spiral portions (2, 4), and has a central curved portion (3).
The winding directions of the vortices of the left and right spiral portions (2, 4) are opposite to each other .
Different directions appear depending on the direction in which the force is applied when moving the left and right spiral portions (2, 4) forward and backward.
Supporters for knees or elbows (5, 5A, 5B). The supporter (5, 5A, 5B) according to claim 1, wherein the height (a) of the left and right spiral portions (2, 4) and the height (b) of the central curved portion (3) have a relationship of b ≧ a. .. The supporter (5, 5A) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the thickness of the left and right spiral portions (2, 4) and the thickness of the central curved portion (3) are the same, and the thickness is located in a plane and does not cross over. , 5B). The central curved portion (3) is formed from the first upper curved portion (31) formed from the right end of the left spiral portion (2) and from the left end of the right spiral portion (4). 2. Claims 1 to 3 including an upward curved portion (32) and a downward curved portion (33) formed by connecting the lower curved portions of the first upward curved portion (31) and the second upper curved portion (32). The supporter (5, 5A, 5B) described in any of the above. The supporter (5) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which has one pocket (52) into which the core material (1) is inserted. The supporter (5A, 5B) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which has two pockets (52A, 52A1; 52B, 52B1) into which the core material (1) is inserted. The supporter (5A, 5B) according to claim 6, wherein the two pockets (52A, 52A1; 52B, 52B1) are arranged at an angle to each other. The supporter (5, 5A, 5B) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, which has a mark (56) for clearly indicating the method of inserting the core material (1). The supporter (5, 5A, 5B) according to claim 8, wherein the mark (56) is a contour view of the core material (1) drawn on the pocket.

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