US2373456A

US2373456A - Fracture traction device

Info

Publication number: US2373456A
Application number: US499941A
Authority: US
Inventors: Chapman Everett
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1943-08-25
Filing date: 1943-08-25
Publication date: 1945-04-10
Anticipated expiration: 1962-04-10

Description

April 10, 1945. H N 2,373,456

FRACTURE TRACTION DEVICE Filed Aug. 25, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

BY M ATTORNEYS.

A m, 1945. E. CHAPMAN I FRACTURE TRACTION DEVICE Filed Aug. 25, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS April lO, 1945. E CHAPMAN 2,373,456

FRACTURE TRACTION DEVI CE Filed Aug. 25, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Apr. 10, 1945 UNITED STATEs PATENT OFFICE reserves TRACTION DEVICE Everett Chapman, West Chester,- Pa. I Application August 25, 1943. Serial No. 4995941 11 Claims. (01. its- 4) This apparatus, as indicated,v comprises a frac ture traction device. More particularly, the invention includes a knock-down frame preferably of light material which may be readily carried about when packed in small compass and which may be quickly assembled and mounted over a portion of a bed wherein a patient is confined for treatment of fractures. The frame may be made of Douglas fir, or some similar light strong wood members, or may be formed of light hollow metal elements serving as the supporting parts. The invention includes a pulley support engaged on an upper frame member and provided with a single securing device to clamp the pulley arm in a selected angle of adjustment about its pivot and at the same time clamping the pulley support securely to its frame member at the desired longi* tudinal position of adjustment. The invention also includes washers having spiral grooves parallel to each other on opposite sides adapted to ac operate with a clamping yoke fitting over a. Y- shaped or bifurcated clamp, one leg holding the pulley arm in adjusted position on its pivot and the other leg securing the Y-.- clam'p in adjusted position longitudinally of the frame. In place of such washers or areas, plates formed with radial grooves may be used for firm clamping action. The clamping yoke may be a hard wood block to interlockingly engage with the spirally or radially grooved clamping surfaces.

-The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved means for providing traction in the treatment of fractures.

Another object of the invention'is to provide a pulley wheel support above an invalid bed which has a single clamping element to lock the support at a selected longitudinal and angular position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a knock-down frame for fracture treatment, having few parts and adapted to be readily applied to" any invalids bed having side rails.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fracture treating frame for an invalids bed which may be securely clamped to the side rails thereof, and which, by means of a single longitudinal member and a single clamping unit carrying a pulley arm, can position the pulley arm long-L tudinally and about an arcuate path to a selected position of adjustment and lock the arm in'said adjustment by means of a single securing olement, preferably through the use of locking Washers or areas with interengaging ribs with ex tended frictional. contact with adjacent parts whereby relatively light clamping pressure will insure non-slipping interengagement of the parts.

Other and further objects of the invention will appear in the course of the following description.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and means hereinafter fully described. and particularly pointed out in the claims, the annexed drawings and the following description setting forth in detail certain mechanism embodying the invention, such disclosed means constituting, however,'but several of various forms in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a fracture traction device applied to an invalid bed. with portions of thestructure cut away to illustrate the operation;

Fig. 2 is a transverse view partly in section taken along the line 2- -2, shown in Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional view of a clamping unit embodying the principles of the invention, and showing the use of specialiriction washers; I

Fig. 4 is a perspective viewof the frame struc-.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional detail view illustrating the use of a friction washer in firmly clamping a pair of wooden frame members;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a modified form of traction device embodying the principles of the invention;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged perspective view showings pair of mounting plates and an adjustable pulley support unit mounted on one of said'plates;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged transverse sectional .view showing the tensioning and adjusting device for the pulley support; and

Fig. 11- is an end elevation of one of the end support members of the frame. I i

As is shown more particularly inFigure 4, the I frame 1 comprises an elevated longitudinal member 2,. preferably of square cross-section having cylindrical end portions 3 secured in adjusted position by means of bolts 4, said bolts also serv ing as fastening means for the end members of the frame. i

The end framemembers are formed of a pair of uprights 5, 6, at each end, said uprights being united in an inverted V-fo'rmation, and the up rights on each side being connected to each other by longitudinal side members i, preferably'squarein cross-section, withcylindrical end portions 8 united to the lower ends of the uprights by means of bolts 9 engaging transversely through each of said uprights. The side members 1 are connected at points spaced from their ends by means of metal cross-bars or tie-rods I I which rest directly upon the side rails 12 of a bed, and are held in clamped relation thereto by any suitable means, such as hand clamps l3. Slidingly engaged upon the elevated longitudinal member 2 is a pulley supporting device for the traction cable, This structure is shown enlarged in Figure 3 and is intended to permit the device to be clamped in any desired longitudinal position on the member 2 and with any preferred angle in which the pulley supporting arm is set about its pivot. The support is slidingly engaged upon the bar 2 between an upper plate 2| and a lower plate 22, said plates being secured by a bolt 23 at one side and by one leg 24 of the clamping bolt 25. The other leg 26 of the clamping bolt provides a pivotal support for the pulley supporting arm 21 which carries at its lower end the pulley 28 over which the traction cable 29 engages.

The pulley supporting device is adapted to be released and clamped in adjusted position on the bar 2 as a unit by a tensioning device applied to the shank 3| of the bolt. The extreme end portion is threaded to receive an internally threaded clamping wheel 32, which bears against a washer 33 seated against a central abutment 34 on a yoke locking block 35, which may be of hard wood, if desired, which provides a housing for the legs 24, 26, of the bolt 25 and provides pressure surfaces 36, 31, for clamping pressure against the upper plate 2| and also against the pulley supporting arm 21'. A washer 38 of high friction- 91 capacity is preferably positioned between each pressure surface of the yoke and the adjacent element.

It will be obvious that when the hand wheel 32 is tightened both the slide and the arm will be locked in their adjusted position. Thus, when a fracture case is under treatment adjustment may be made or it may be released or changed with a minimum of attention to the clamping unit, permitting more time for handling the patient and arranging for the most favorable position for treatment of the fracture.

The friction washer 38 is of particular advantage where two structural elements 4|, 42, of wood are to be firmly engaged with each other by a bolt 43 or the like, as is shown in" Figure '7. It also has a high degree of holding capacity as applied between wood and metal structural parts, as in aircraft framing. Its use is also valuable to a. high degree in uniting metal parts as heretofore described in connection with the elements shown in Figure 3.

The washer itself is illustrated in Figures and 6 wherein each face is provided with a spiral groove 44. This groove with the intervening ribs 45 provides an angular frictional gripping surface of very great length and of progressively active looking action distinct from an adjacent space on either side by reason of the spiral path of the friction areas. The spiral groove on one face preferably should run in the same direction as on the opposite face, that is as viewed through a transparent body of the grooves it should be 'in' full parallelism. The grooves may also be formed to run in opposite directions.

Where the spiral thread on the washer is to be used on a certain type of wood the shearing angle should be suited to the particular wood by arranging the spiral with the proper number of strains. The shearing angle is the angle between the perpendicular to the radius of the spiral and the tangent to the spiral at such point. It determines the shear stress and, in itself, is a function of the spiral. It is'to be noted that the entire length of the spiral is effective and that under the pressure of the clamping bolt the spiral thread is forced firmly into the wood fibres;

The construction shown in Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, provides for sliding movement on the frame member combined with the adjustment of the pulley supporting arm, but in some types of injuries an angular or radial adjustment of the pulley arm around a vertical pivot permits provision for a direct tension on the fracture area to be arranged with greater facility than where longitudinal sliding movement is provided without the change about a vertical pivot. In order to provide for this type of adjustment without sacrificing the advantages heretofore described the construction illustrated in Figures 8 to 11, inclusive, may be used.

As shown more particularly in Figure 8 the frame 50 comprises a longitudinal elevated frame member 5| supported on

end members

52, 53, of inverted V-formation, each having a pair of uprights with short vertical sections 54 at their low-- er end portions, respectively, to provide adequate clearance from the mattress and other bed clothing. The uprights may be hinged to each other at their upper ends 55 where they provide a support for the elevated longitudinal member 5| which is the support for the pulley supporting unit 56. The lower ends of the end members are preferably connected by side members 51 which have metal cross-bars or tie-rods 58 which rest directly on the side rails of the bed and are clamped thereto by suitable means, such as hand clamps 59.

The elevated longitudinal member 5| is provided at spaced intervals with looking plates 6! centrally apertured to receive the the vertical leg 62 of a Y-bolt presently to be described. With a suitable number of locking plates along the longitudinal member-5| the pulley supporting unit 56 may be spaced the proper distance from the tensioning harness 64 on the limb under treatment so as to permit the tensioning cable 65 to be suitably guided along its path of movement to the weight 66.

The pulley supporting unit 56 has a body member 61 which may be made of hard wood but which is preferably made of metal and which has a slot 68 to receive the vertical leg 62and the horizontal leg 69 of the Y-bolt 63. The shank 10 of the Y-bolt extends through an angular passageway H and is screw-threaded to receive a tensioning wheel 12 hearing against an inclined face 13 on the body member.

The horizontal and vertical faces l4, 15, on the body member when it is made of metal, are provided with radial serrations, those on the bottom or horizontal face engaging complementary serrations on the selected locking plate 6! to which the unit is to be clamped, and those on the vertical face providing for the locking in adjusted position of the pulley supporting arm 13 which has complementary serrations at the end 11 opposite the pulley 18 and a has a central aperture 19 engaging over the horizontal leg 69 of the Y- bolt 63. Each leg of the Y-bolt is threaded to receive an abutment nut 8|, 82, which bear, re-

spectively, against the longitudinal member and against the pulley supporting arm in clamping relation when the tensioning wheel 12 is turned to simultaneously lock the unit in both radial and angular adjustment.

This facility of adjustment of the device is of much importance and permits the positioning of the patient to the best advantage for treatment.

The construction just described presents an appearance of lightness in view of the small size of the body member, but the unit is of extremely rigid construction and is firmly held by the frame in adjusted position so that dependable tensioning action on the fractured area is assured.

As has been indicated the frames are readily separable for easy portability but when assembled are very firm and rigid and are equal to heavy duty service.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of those explained, change being made as regards the mechanism herein disclosed provided the means stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. An apparatus for traction treatment of fractures comprising a frame formed of end members supporting a horizontal member in elevated position above a bed, a pulley-supporting unit having a pivoted pulley supporting arm, means for positioning said pulley-supporting unit longitudinally on said horizontal member, and single operative means for locking said arm against pivotal and bodily displacement.

2. An apparatus for traction treatment of fractures comprising a frame formed of end members supporting a horizontal member in elevated position above a bed, a pulley supporting unit having a pivoted pulley supporting arm, means for positioning said pulley-supporting unit longitudinally on said horizontal member, means for positioning said pulley-supporting unit .at a radial angle, and single operative means for locking said am against pivotal and bodily displacement.

3. An apparatus for traction treatment of fractures comprising a frame formed of end members supporting a longitudinal member in elevated position above a bed, at least one radial locking plate positioned along said member, a body mem ber having radial locking areas on two surfaces adjustably engaged on said plate, a pivoted pulley supporting arm having a radial locking area adjustably engaged on said member, and single operative means for simultaneously locking said body member and said arm against movement.

4. An apparatus for traction treatment of fractures comprising a knock-down frame adapted to be assembled and attached to the bed frame, a bar supported in elevated position longitudinally of the bed by other frame members, a pulley supporting arm pivotally supported on said bar in movable relation thereto, and means for locking said arm simultaneously against bodily and pivoted movement.

5. An apparatus for traction treatment of fractures comprising a frame supported on the bed frame and providing a longitudinal member spaced above the bed, a body member movably porting arm pivotally mounted on said tensioning member, and an operative unit for simultaneously applying locking tension upon said body member and pulley supporting arm to hold the same in a selected position on said longitudinal member.

7. An apparatus for traction treatment of fractures comprising a knock-down frame adapted to be assembled and supported on the bed frame side rails and providing a longitudinal member spaced above the bed, a body member movably engaged on said member in tensioning relation to a bifurcated tensioning bolt forming part of said body member, a pulley supporting arm pivotally mounted thereon, and mean for applying tension to said bolt to lock said body member and pulley supporting arm in adjusted position.

8. An apparatus for traction treatment of fractures comprising a frame supported onthe bed frame and providing a longitudinal member spaced above the bed, a body member movably engaged on said member, an inverted Y-shaped clamping bolt having one portion providing a tensioning element for said body member and another portion providing a pivot for a pulley supporting arm, a yoke engaged with the shank of said clampin bolt and mean bearing against said yoke for applying clamping tensioning force on each portion of the opposite end of said bolt unit.

9. An apparatus for traction treatment of fractures comprising a frame supported on the bed frame and providing a longitudinal member spaced above the bed, a body member movably engaged on said member, an inverted Y-shaped clamping bolt having one portion providing a tensioning element for said body member and another portion providing a pivot for a pulley supporting arm, a yoke engaged over said shank and slotted to rovide a bearing surface around each of the divergent parts of said bolt, a friction washer with spiral grooves on each face interposed between the yoke and the adjacent bearing surface, and a tensioning member on said shank to lock said arm against pivotal and bodily movement.

10. An apparatus for traction treatment of fractures comprising a frame supported on the bed frame and providing a longitudinal member spaced above the bed, a body member movably engaged on said member, an inverted Y-shaped clamping bolt having one portion providing a tensioning element for said body member and another portion providing a pivot for a pulley supporting arm, a yoke engaged over said shank and slotted to provide a bearing surface around each of the divergent parts of said bolt, a friction washer with spiral grooves in parallelism with each other on each face interposed between the yoke and the adjacent bearing surface, and a tensioning member on said shank to lock said arm against pivotaland bodily movement.

11. A pulley arm supporting unit for traction treatment apparatus for fracture comprising a bolt having a shank and two legs, a bar clamping structure mounted on one leg, a pulley supporting arm mounted on the other leg, a yoke enaged on said shank and bearing against said bar and arm respectively, and a screw-threaded tensioning member engaged on said shank for simultaneously applying tension to said bar and said arm.

EVERETT CHAPMAN.