US316589A

US316589A - Artificial leg

Info

Publication number: US316589A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1885-04-28
Anticipated expiration: 1902-04-28

Description

(No Model.)

A. A. WINKLEY.

ARTIFICIAL LEG.

No, 316,589. Patented Apr. 28, 1885.

,J RM? 1 yztcrnf ya Nirn marine ALBERT A. WINKLEY, OF FARIBAULT, MINNESOTA.

ARTlFlClAL LEG.

SPEGIFIGATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 316,589, dated April 28,1885.

Application filed February 20, 1885. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT A. WINKLEY, of Faribault, in the county of Rice and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Artificial Legs; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention has for its primary object to provide an artificial limb that will not chafe nor rub the wearers stump; and it consists in a novel construction and arrangement of parts, substantially such as I will first proceed to describe, and then point out particularly in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a limb embodying my invention adapted for use in the case of an amputation below the knee, said limb being shown in one position in full lines and in another position in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a view of a limb adapted for use in the case of an amputation above the knee and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the limb shown in Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures indicate the same parts.

The form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 consists of three principal parts namely, a socket, A, adapted to fit over the end S of the wearers stump, a second socket, B, formed. to receive the socket A, and a third socket, O, in which fits the part of the wearers leg above the knee. All these sockets are preferably made of leather or other suitable material, and each is provided with lacings or equivalent means that will permit of its adaptability or adjustment to the part to which it is to be applied.

The sockets B and G are connected by means of straps or braces D, preferably of steel, hinged together at d, whilethe socket A on the end of the stump is connected to the socket B by flexible and preferably elastic connections ca, as shown in Fig. 1. It results from this construction that the stump is always kept firmly seated within the socket A, in whatever position the wearers leg may be placed, and that while there is a movement of the socket A up and down within the socket G to the extent of about threequarters of an inch, the friction resulting from such motion is between the sockets only, the stump being entirely relieved of it.

In adapting my invention to limbs intended for use in cases Where there has been an amputation above the knee, some changes have necessarily to be made; but the principle of operation still remains the same. In Figs. 3 and 4 I have shown one such adaptation. Here the socket which confines the end of the stump (lettered in this instance F) fits within the main socket G. The said socket G is supported by straps H H, that pass up over the wearers shoulder, as usual, while the stump-socket F is in turn secured by the elastic connections f f to the said shoulderstraps at h h, as shown, from which it results that while there may be slight friction between the two sockets F and G, there will be none between the stump and its socket,for the reason that the latter is always held closely to its place by means of its elastic connections.

The value and importance of my improve ment in artificial limbs that will obviate the' rubbing and chafing of the stump will at once be appreciated by any one who has had occasion to use such an appliance, and it is with satisfaction that I am able to say that after a personal test of my invention for over nine months it effectually accomplishes this result.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is 1.. In an artificial leg, the combination,with a socket for receiving the wearers stump, and a second or outer socket in which the said stump-socket fits, of appliances for supporting the outer socket and flexible or elastic connections for holding the stump-socket to its place on the stump independently of the outer socket, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, with the sockets A, B, and 0, connected together as described, of the stump-socket A and the flexible and elastic straps for supporting the stump-socket independently of the socket in which it fits.

ALBERT A. WINKLEY Witnesses:

A. D. KEYES, S. N. LoUenn.