USRE2218E - Improvement in artificial limbs - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES ANTON MENNEL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN ARTIFICIAL LIMBS.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 45,511, dated December 20, 1864 Reissue No. 2,218, dated April 3, 1866.

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANTON MENNEL, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Artificial Limbs; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings', which represent a side elevation of this invention.

The nature of my invention consists in the construction of the shell of artificial limbs of two or more layers of wood, formed of thin strips laid crosswise to each other, and brought in the proper form or shape in such a manner that a shell is obtained of great lightness, superior durability, and symmetrical in form, resembling as nearly as possible the shape 'of the natural limb to be replaced.

In preparing the shells of my artiicial limbs I use the toughest and most exible wood I can procure, and cut the same into strips al b c, suitable in length, width, and thickness for the limb to be made. Of these strips I form two or more layers, f, e, and d, one above the other, by uniting the single strips by means of suitable cement and pressing them into the requisite form by steam and suitable machinery. The strips of the inner shell, f, and also those of the outer shell, d, if such is used,

are varied in width or gored, so that when they are united a shell of the desired form will be obtained. The strips b of the middle layer, e, are united so as to form one unbroken piece; or a single strip of sufticient length is selected and wrapped in a spiral form around the inner shell, f, conforming to the shape of the limb.

-Grreat care must be taken in determining the manner in which the strips of the shells f and d are gered, and a plaster cast of the natural limb may be used with advantage in determining their form.

By placing the strip or strips b crosswise to the strips a and e, great strength is imparted to the whole structure, and a shell is obtained which is light, durable, and as near as possiv

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