US2532732A

US2532732A - Mechanical hand

Info

Publication number: US2532732A
Application number: US6741A
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas B Sansbury
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1948-02-06
Filing date: 1948-02-06
Publication date: 1950-12-05
Anticipated expiration: 1967-12-05

Description

Dec. 5, 1950 T. B. SANSBURY MECHANICAL HAND Filed Feb. 6, 1948 I HNN u VII/lllllllllfllfla INVENTOR. THOMAS B. 5/7/V55URY Patented Dec. 5, 1950 UNI-TED STAT es TEN-T OFFICE Thisinvention relates 1 to prosthetic apparatus and l'1a's1specialv reference-to. an artificial hand.

One important object: of thi's invention is. to provide a novel construction. of artificial hand;

Another important. object of this invention is to; provide an artificial handhaving two claws or: fingers especiallydesigned in a-novel manner to; ensure. a firm grip on any article grasped'by thehand.

A. further object. of this invention is toprovide a. novel hook-like artificial hand wherein the fingers will positively lock an object without the necessity of manipulating a locking mechanism by the other hand;

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel construction ofartificial hand wherenotratchetor other like lock exists and wherein a single control wire is all that; is used for opening the fingers.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide anovel shape of claw or finger so formed as to. facilitate the gripping of'an automobile gear shiit,.the graspingof a steering wheel and steering: with it, the openings ofdoors; and securely holding table utensils, screw drivers, hand saws and many other articles.

With the above and other objects in view, as will bepresently" apparent; the invention con;- sits ingeneral or certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly claimed.

In the drawings, like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views, and

Figure 1 is a plan view of the device with one of the casing covers removed;

Figure 2 is a view from the right side of Figure 1, the view being partly in section;

Figure 3 is a detail section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

' Figure 4 is a detail section on the line 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section and showing the manner of attaching the hand to an arm socket;

Figure 6 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section and showing the manner of immovably securing one of the fingers; and

Figure 7 is a view from the top of Figure l but showing only certain portions of the fingers.

In the construction of the invention as here shown, there is provided a body In of general U-shape and from the base of the U there extends a threaded lug II for attaching the device to a socket adapted to be fitted on the stump of an amputated arm.

On each side of this body I!) is a plate l2 having a centrally disposed H-shaped opening l3, the opening extending transversely of the body and thus having its wider portions adjacent the arms ie-Claims; (01.. 3-12) of the-U. For the pul'noseof describing therelae tive positions. and shapes of certain of' the partsof this device, the axis of the member 5 I=is-to be considered as the' central axis of the hand; To avoid confusion, the parts, to the right. and. le-ft of Figure 1 will be so referred to, while those parts extending back: from Figure 1 wilt be con.- sidered as extending or located rearwardly of this imaginary axis. I

On the right leg of the. body. Ii! a; rabbet I4 is formed. At i5 is a fixed arm, this arm having, a rabbet 56 which overlaps with and. fits in. the rabbet M; A screw ll passes through the over-- lapping, portions of therabbets and firmly con.- nects them. A bolt It also connects; the front plate 12' with, the arm l5 sovthatthe armis-held rigid against movement in any direction.

Extending between the arms of the U-shapedbody It is a shaft l9; On this shaft is rotatably mounted an operating member having a; drum 20 at one end and acylindrical opposite. end 21. Between the

ends

26 and 21. the oper ating member is formed as a deeply grooved.-screw- 22.. Extending between the plates [2 isv a pivot. bolt 23 whereon is pivoted. a movablearm.- 24. This arm 24 has a nose 25. which engages in the: groove of the screw 22 so that rotation of this screw effects biasing movement of the arm 2'42, The. arms I5. and 24' are reversely curved. so:

as to present arcuate bends 26 with their concave I sides confronting and with the outer ends of these bends substantially in contact. The terminal portions of the

arms

15 and 24 are bent rearwardly to form fingers 21, as best seen in Figure 2. The fingers 2! have arcuate bends 28, the concave sides of which are in opposition, thus enabling anything gripped by the fingers to be securely held. Around the drum 20 is wound a cord of cable 29 which passes through a suitable opening in the base of the body and carries on its free end a connector 30 for the operatin wire (not shown). When tension is exerted on this cable, the screw 22 is rotated. Fixed to and wound spirally about the end 2| is a spring 3| which extends along the rear plate I2 and has its end secured thereto by a screw 32. The spring 3| constantly tends to rotate the screw 22 in such direction that the nose 25 moves to the left and the arm 24 thus tends to close on the arm I5. The cable 29, when sufficient tension is brought thereon, will rotate the screw 22 in the opposite direction against the action of said spring and thus cause movement of the movable arm 24 away from the fixed arm l5 as indicated by the broken lines in Figure l. I

In Figure 5 there is shown a sleeve 33 for covering the stump of an amputated arm and provided with a metallic cuff end 34 through which the screw II I projects and is there secured as shown at 35.

Covering caps 36 are secured to the plates [2 to protect the operating mechanism and to render the device attractive in appearance.

What is claimed is:

1. In an artificial hand, a body, an articlegripping arm immovably fixed to said body, a second arm pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said body and movable toward and from the fixed arm, said second arm having an outwardly extending article-gripping portion and a second portion extending inwardly of said body, an operating screw extending transversely of said body, a nose on the second portion of said second arm directly engaging said screw, said screw being elongated and of less diameter in its center than at its ends and presenting a concavely arcuate pitch surface, and means to rotate said screw in each direction.

2. In an artificial hand, a body, an articlegripping arm immovably fixed to said body, a second arm pivtotally mounted intermediate its ends on said body and movable toward and from the fixed arm, said second arm having an outwardly extending article-gripping portion and a second portion extending inwardly of said body, an operating screw extending transversely of said body, a nose on the second portion of said second arm directly engaging said screw, said screw being elongated and of less diameter in its center than at its ends and presenting a concavely arcuate pitch surface, an operating cord arranged to rotate the screw in one direction, and a sprnig urging the screw in the opposite direction.

3. In an artificial hand, a body, an articlegripping arm immovably fixed to said body, a second arm pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said body and movable toward and from the fixed arm, said second arm having an outwardly extending article-gripping portion and a second portion extending inwardly of said body, an operating screw extending transversely of said body, a nose on the second portion of said second arm directly engaging said screw, said screw being elongated an of less diameter in its center than at its ends and presenting a concavely arcuate pitch surface, a drum at one end of said screw, a cord wound around said drum and rotating the drum and screw in one direction upon the cord being drawn ofi the drum, and spring means urging the drum and screw in the opposite direction.

4. In an artificial hand, a body, an articlegripping arm immovably fixed to said body, a second arm pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said body and movable toward and from the fixed arm, said second arm having an outwardly extending article-gripping portion and a second portion extending inwardly of said body, an operating screw extending transversely of said body, a nose on the second portion of said second arm directly engaging said screw, said screw being elongated and of less diameter in its center than at its ends and presenting a concavely arcuate pitch surface, a drum at one end of said screw, a cord wound around said drum and rotating the drum and screw in one direction upon the cord being drawn ofi the drum, a cylinder at the end of the screw remote from the drum, and a spring coiled around said cylinder in a direction opposite the winding of said cable and having one end fixed to said body.

THOMAS B. SANSBURY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,046,966 Carnes Dec. 10, 1912 1,285,617 Caron Nov. 26, 1918 2,409,884 Mollenhour Oct. 22, 1946 OTHER REFERENCES Page 26 of Terminal Research Reports on Artificial Limbs, published by National Research Council and received in Div. November 13, 1947.