US2599297A - Artificial limb - Google Patents

Description

I. TOUSON ARTIFICIAL LIMB June 3; 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 28, 1949 INVENTOR Isaac Tousow.

A TTORNEY June 3, 1952 v l. TOUSON ,5

I ARTIFICIAL LIME Filed Oct. 28, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Isaac Tousoro.

ATTORNEY I. TOUSON ARTIFICIAL LIMB June 3, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed 001:. 28, 1949 2 ms w T 5 ATTORNFY June 3, 1952 l. TOUSON 2,599,297

' ARTIFICIAL LIMB Filed Oct. 28. 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Isaac Touson.

A TORNEY Patented June 3, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFI CE ApplicationOctoher.;28,'1949; Serial Nor-124,201 InVAr-gentina August-31; 1949 6' Claims.

The-present.invention relates. to. artificial legs forrusesbmpersons who have had amputations above the :knee.

It isxaprincipal object of thepresent inven-r tion to. provide a knee-joint which, while it shall enable the amputee to move at will, the mere movementlof the stump or the body, the vtwo parts of the leg from a straight position to different angular. positions, shall always afiord a positive lockingof the parts which shall impede further bending or collapse of the joint in response. to .the weight of the body, thereby preventing falls or -,loss of equilibrium.

A further object is to provide av knee-joint which;shall enableothe leg to bezbent. to a given anglee-atv-willandv to. be then subjectedto the load ofqtthe, wearer persons without danger that it continue to. bend,, and forthe return. to the straight; position, shall requireonly to belifted by a;simple.movementflofthe stumpor .by inclination .Of'thebody together with the transfer to the-other leg oftheweight ofjthe body.

A further object is to provide a knee-joint which shall, enable the wearerreadily and reliamy, to :.perform the movements, ,of walking and evenrgoing upland down stairs, sittingdown and other' similar actions within the range of the natural member.

Anothercfthe' objects of the invention is to provide'an artificial leg comprising a knee joint having structural features including cooperating convex and concavesubstantially parabolic surfaces-which enable the shin portion to perform onsimulate the movements of the human leg in arhighlynatura'lmanner.

Another object is' to provide a leg" including a knee joint-comprising a main connection of the shin-portion-with thethigh portion which will permit" coordinated relative movements at the knee; and "auxiliary connection means for connecting the thigh portion and the shin portion in suchamanner that the shin portion is automatically' and resilientlyurged' to straight leg position :w ith'reference to thethigh' portion.

With the: above and other objects in ,view. which" will more readily appear as the nature of theinventi'on is better underst'oodJthe same con,- sists in "the-features shown in the accompanying" drawings in which:

Figure 11, is a side. elevations.offtheimproized artificial :jleg with, the lower. unit shownmpartly inf secti'on;

F ure; 2 is a rear elevation, i partly in, section, ofth' le iofi Figure 1';

Fi'gureo3lji's anhorizontal, sectional View. taken on'.;the".line-13.3;oi- Figure 2;

F u e 4. is a? horizontal "sectional new: taken on the. line 4-4 of Figure 2;,

Figure 5 isa horizontal sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a detail elevationof the automatic actuating deviceior impelling the twounits composing the leg into the-normal upright position;

Figure 7 is aside elevation on a reduced scale of -the:two. units composing the leg, in both. a vertical and an angular position, respectively;

Figure 8 is a perspective view. of the lining which guides the movement of the transverse pin joining the two unitsin the region of'rotular connection;

Figure 9 isa' fragmentary detail; showinguthe connection between. the transverse pin. and the flexible, lining;v

Figure 10. is a detail sectional view. alonggline. llll0 of Figure 9;.

Figurel'l is a fragmentary side elevation partly inisection of the-structure shown in Figureilo.

Similar-numerals and reference characteristicnote the same or corresponding parts intheiseveral views.

In accordance with'the accompanyingdrawings,- the improved artificial leg comprises-. ian upper or thigh unit a and a lower foreleg sec tion or; peroneotibial unit I), The latterissecured by its lower end to. the complementary unit 0, consistingiof the. foot.

The upper unit a has,- at its lower end, a substantially parabolic wall surface I constituting the area of sliding. contact with the concave parabolic wall surface Ziatthe upperLor-socketend of the lower unit 6. Interposed between these surfaces. are the yielding frictionalf con.- tact members which will hereinafter be described more in detail.

The unitsa and b, are articulated byaknee bolt. arrangement hereafter described operating in conjunction with, automatic. stabilizer or con:- trolmeans 642 and 23 and'24, and 'a'guiding' transverse pin and slot arrangement. First; it willibe seen that. the upper unit a is provided with av transverse pin. 3 connected with the lat eral ears 4 of the lower unit b, said pin being movable within slot 5 provided in theilbwerv part or kneeportion of the upper unit a. 7

As. previouslyindicated, the improvements herein consist. in an arrangement for-automati cally-urzing'ithe twoounits a'and bi into .th'ejinior malwupri ht position corres onding to the verv-v tical position. of vthe. user on the ground when standingstill, asshown. in Figure 1., SaidLare rangement comprises anielongatedahollow memi:

her 6 anchored to the lower unit I) by pivot I fastened to a forked bracket 8 (Figs. 1 and 5) with interposition of a ball bearing race 5 (Fig. 6) occupying a cavity provided in the widened end IU of elongated member E. Bracket 8 has its web 39 secured to the inner rear part of unit b by fastenings 33 not far from foot c while its arms 34 support the pivot l.

The elongated member 6 has an axial bore or cavity I l which receives the lower part of a solid control rod 12, a helicoidal spring i3 (Fig. 1) being interposed between that end of the rod which enters cavity H and the bottom of said cavity. The upper end of rod I2 extends into the thigh unit a through a slot Hi (Fig. 2) and terminates in an eye l5. This eye receives a ball bearing race I8 whose inner shell is supported on a stud H (Fig. 3) received within the bushings l9 having integral flanges 19a for firmly abutting against the sides of the eye 5. ends of the bushings are in the nature of bolts 20 which are secured in opposite sides of the thigh unit atatably mounted on the ends of a transverse shaft 2| of rod [2 near the concave parabolic surface 2 of unit b, said rod 52 carries two rollers 23 guided in rails 24 secured to the inner face of surface 2, the said rollers, in cooperation with the rails, constituting means for compelling the movement of rod [2 forward or backward, without lateral displacements.

Transverse pin 3 is guided in a lining 25 of flexible material provided in slot 5 of the upper unit a. The length of the lining corresponds to that of slot 5 and silences the sliding movement of the transverse pin in an eificient manner.

The transverse pin has at its opposite end a stud 2'6 onto which a nut is screwed, the said stud being engaged by a roller bearing assembly 27 mounted in ear d of unit I), as shown in Figure 10. Retention nuts 28 secure the said studs on either side of the upper unit a. The inter-position of roller bearing imparts greater sensitivity to the rotary movement of the pins, thus facilitating the angular motions of both units a and b in accordance with the motions of the users The lower widened end it of the elongated member 6 ends in a radial cam portion 2:? against the free end of which bears the end of a laminar spring 30 (Figs. 1 and '7). Said spring and helicoidal spring l3 cooperating therewith constitute the elastic means for urging the two units a and b into the normal position shown in Figure 1 by means of members 6 and 12, upon which said springs act in the directions indicated by the arrows F for spring 13, and F for spring Bil, respectively.

As an alternative for the cam 25 and spring 30, or in supplement thereto as shown in Figure l, the lower section 6 of the telescopically engaged parts 6 and 12 may be tensioned in the direction of the arrows F by a resilient loop an anchored about the part 6 and connected with a screwy which in turn is engaged by the intern ally threaded portion a of a sleeve 2 of a control nut 2, so that by operating the nut, the screw 3/ will be moved in the direction of its axis to impose more or less tension on the loop r.

To the concave parabolic upper face 2 of the lower unit b there is secured a flexible laminar member 3|. In frictional contact therewith is a lining 32 of shorter length provided in the rear part of the convex parabolic end 2 of the upper unit 11. These two laminar elastic members 3| The reduced and 32 form surfaces of yielding, constant contact in any of the positions into which the units a and b may be urged under the load of the body indicated in Figure 11 by the arrows F".

Bearing all of these hereinabove described structural features in mind, the operation of the artificial leg according to the present invention will be readily understood.

Starting from the straight position of the leg when worn by an amputee, the resilient inserts 32 will be pressed down against the concave surface 2 of 3! and concave closure member 36, and, since said inserts 32 yield a little under compression, will thus cause a load to be imposed substantiallyv axially on connection member 5. thereby pushing rod i2 slightly into tubular member H and compressing spring is and depressing the rollers 23. When it is desired to bend the knee as in mounting a stair, the wearers weight is first transferred from the artificial leg to the other so that the load is removed from the connecting member 15 and spring 13 expands to raise the rod member l2 thereby slightly lif ing the rear part of the thigh portion a so as to prepare same for easier swinging, and also bringing the rollers 23 into engagement with the exposed surfaces 32 of rails 24 to prevent the rearward part of the end of the thigh portion a from being lifted out of the aforesaid troughlike cavity.

As the artificial knee is bent as hereinbefore described, the resilient inserts 32 move forward over concave surface 2 and the pin I? will also move forward and also downward towards said surface 2 thereby causing connecting member 8 to s ving around lower pin l and the rod member 12 to be pushed into the tubular member H thereby compressing spring l3 and causing roll-v ers 23 to be retracted from the rails 24, and at the same time the cam projection 29 will depress the leaf spring 38, and the loop at will be tensioned as hereinabove described.

The compressed and depressed springs and tensioned loop will not however, be effective to prevent bending of the knee or to assist in returning the leg to the straight position so long as there is a load upon the leg as hereinabove made clear. As soon as the load is relieved, as by the commencement of a straightening movement, the leaf spring 38 and the loop a: will apply forces to the connection member 6 to restore same to its normal position and the coil spring l3 will exert an upward thrust on rod l2 tending to lift the rear part of the end of the thigh portion a,

so as to keep the resilient inserts 32 floating over the surface 2 and thus prevent accidental jamming, while the rollers 23 will gradually be brought closer to the rails 24 which they engage towards the end of the return stroke.

I claim:

1. An artificial limb, comprising, a thigh unit including a knee-portion having curved slots in its opposite side walls and a vertical slot in its rear wall, a foreleg unit including a knee-portion receiving socket, mating arcuate wall portions at the knee-portion and socket portions of said units, a transverse pin carried by the foreleg section and guided in said slots, a knee-bolt transversely mounted in the rear of the kneeportion of the thigh unit, and automatic means for. urging the thighand foreleg units into vertical alignment, said means comprising solid and hollow members telescopically connected at their inner ends, means for connecting theouter end of said solid member to the knee-bolt, and pivot and bracket means for connecting the outer end of the hollow member to the inner wall of the foreleg unit, parallel track members on the wall of the socket portion of the forele member, guide rollers on the said solid member for engaging said track members, and means for exerting a yielding lateral force on said telescopically related solid and hollow members.

2. An artificial limb according to claim 1, wherein, the curved slots in the knee-portion of the thigh unit are provided with resilient linings.

3. An artificial limb according to claim 1, wherein, the means for exerting a yielding lateral force on said telescopically related solid and hollow members comprises a cam offset from the end of the hollow member and a leaf spring carried by the bracket and engaging said cam.

4. An artificial limb, comprising, a thigh unit including a knee portion having arcuate slots in its opposite sides and also having an arcuate bearing wall, a foreleg section having an arcuate bearing wall including spaced strips having guides on their lower faces, a transverse pin carried by the foreleg section and guided in said arcuate slots, a control rod pivoted at one end in the thigh unit and extending into the foreleg unit, rollers on the control rod engaging in said guides, and yielding means cooperating with said con trol rod to urge it in a direction to force the thigh and foreleg units in vertical alignment. I

5. An artificial limb, comprising, a thigh unit and a foreleg unit having arcuate mating knee portions, a knee bolt in the thigh unit, and control means tending to keep the units in vertical alignment and including a pair of telescopic members, one of saidmembers being pivotally supported at its upper end by the knee bolt and extending into the foreleg unit and having a resilient connection therewith, guide means on the arcuate knee portion of the foreleg unit. rollers carried by said last mentioned member and bearing in said guide means, and the other of said members being pivotally connected to a bracket in the foreleg unit.

6. An artificial limb, comprising, a thigh unit and a foreleg unit having arcuate mating knee portions, a knee bolt in the thigh unit, control means carried 'by said bolt and extending into the foreleg unit and having a resilient connection therewith comprising a resilient loop anchored to the coltrol means, tensioning means for said resilient connection and comprising a screw connected with the loop, and a rotatable nut held in the foreleg unit against axial movement and engaging the screw.

ISAAC TOUSON.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 766,686 Gault Aug. 2, 1904 2,466,134 Touson Apr. 5, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 326,232 Germany Sept. 25, 1920

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