KNEE ORTHOSIS

Abstract

The invention relates to a knee orthosis which comprises a ventral and a dorsal section, an upper leg contact element, a lower leg contact element and a knee element, at least one bracing element and at least one inelastic strap, characterized in that the upper leg contact element and the lower leg contact element are connected to the knee element by the at least one bracing element in the ventral region and by the at least one inelastic strap in the dorsal region, or vice-versa.

Claims

1. A knee orthosis which comprises a ventral section and a dorsal section, an upper leg contact element, a lower leg contact element and a knee element, at least one bracing element and at least one inelastic strap, characterized in that the upper leg contact element and the lower leg contact element are connected to the knee element by the at least one bracing element in the ventral region and by the at least on inelastic strap in the dorsal region, or vice-versa.

2. The knee orthosis according to claim 1, wherein the upper leg contact element and the lower leg contact element are connected by a connecting element, such as a rod, by way of which compressive forces can be transmitted.

3. The knee orthosis according to claim 2, wherein the connecting element is designed to be flexible in a direction perpendicular to the direction of extension running from the lower leg contact element to the upper leg contact element and/or has a corresponding joint.

4. The knee orthosis according to claim 1, wherein the knee orthosis comprises precisely one bracing element that extends from the upper leg contact element via the knee element to the lower leg contact element and/or precisely one inelastic strap that extends from the upper leg contact element via the knee element to the lower leg contact element.

5. The knee orthosis according to claim 1, wherein the at least one bracing element is designed to be adjustable in length.

6. The knee orthosis according to claim 5, wherein the knee orthosis features an adjustment element by way of which the length of the at least one bracing element can be adjusted, wherein the adjustment element is preferably situated on the knee element or is the knee element.

7. The knee orthosis according to claim 1, wherein the knee orthosis has at least two bracing elements, of which at least one extends from the upper leg contact element to the knee element and at least one extends from the knee element to the lower leg contact element and/or at least two inelastic straps, of which at least one extends from the upper leg contact element to the knee element and at least one extends from the knee element to the lower leg contact element.

8. The knee orthosis according to claim 1, wherein the at least one bracing element and/or the at least one inelastic strap comprises at least one strap, at least one wire, at least one cable, at least one toothed rail construction, and/or a cable pull.

9. The knee orthosis according to claim 1, wherein the knee element has at least one swivel joint whose swivel axis in the mounted state of the knee orthosis at least almost coincides with a swivel axis of the knee joint, wherein the knee element is preferably arranged on the swivel joint.

10. The knee orthosis according to claim 9, wherein the knee orthosis features at least one, but preferably two end stops, by way of which a swivelling of the swivel joint is limited in one, but preferably two directions, preferably in the sagittal plane.

11. The knee orthosis according to claim 1, wherein the knee orthosis comprises at least two upper leg contact elements and/or at least two lower leg contact elements.

12. The knee orthosis according to claim 10, characterized in that wherein the two end stops are configured on a single end stop carrier, which is fastened to a component of the swivel joint such that it can be detached.

13. The knee orthosis according to claim 12, wherein the end stop carrier is clamped, clipped or screwed onto the component, or plugged in a recess of the component.

14. A swivel joint, in particular for a knee orthosis according to claim 1, wherein the ability to swivel is limited in one, preferably in two swivel directions, by two end stops configured on a single end stop carrier.

15. A knee orthosis which comprises a ventral section and a dorsal section; an upper leg contact element; a lower leg contact element; a knee element; and at least one bracing element and at least one inelastic strap; wherein the upper leg contact element is connected to the lower leg contact element by a connecting element capable of transmitting a compressive force; and wherein the upper leg contact element and the lower leg contact element are connected to the knee element by the at least one bracing element in the ventral region and by the at least on inelastic strap in the dorsal region, or vice-versa.

16. The knee orthosis according to claim 15, wherein the connecting element is designed to be flexible in a direction perpendicular to the direction of extension running from the lower leg contact element to the upper leg contact element and/or has a corresponding joint.

17. The knee orthosis according to claim 15, wherein the at least one bracing element extends from the upper leg contact element via the knee element to the lower leg contact element.

18. The knee orthosis according to claim 15, wherein the at least one bracing element is designed to be adjustable in length.

19. The knee orthosis according to claim 15, wherein the knee orthosis features an adjustment element by way of which the length of the at least one bracing element can be adjusted, wherein the adjustment element is preferably situated on the knee element or is the knee element.

20. A knee orthosis which comprises a ventral section and a dorsal section; an upper leg contact element; a lower leg contact element; a knee element; at least one bracing element which is adjustable in length and at least one inelastic strap; and an adjustment element for adjusting the at least one bracing element; wherein the upper leg contact element is connected to the lower leg contact element by a connecting element capable of transmitting a compressive force; and wherein the upper leg contact element and the lower leg contact element are connected to the knee element by the at least one bracing element in the ventral region and by the at least on inelastic strap in the dorsal region, or vice-versa.

Description

[0028] In the following, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be explained in more detail by way of the attached figures: They show:

[0029] FIG. 1—the schematic lateral view of a knee orthosis in a medial top view,

[0030] FIG. 2—in a lateral top view, and

[0031] FIGS. 3-5—a swivel joint in a top view, an exploded view and a swivel position.

[0032] FIGS. 1 and 2 depict a knee orthosis according to an example of an embodiment of the present invention. It has a base body 2. The base body 2 can be made of an elastic, but at least flexible material, for example a woven or knitted fabric.

[0033] The base body 2 features a kneecap opening 4, so that the knee cap is not even covered in the mounted state.

[0034] FIG. 1 shows the medial side of the knee orthosis. An upper leg contact element 6 and a lower leg contact element 8 can be seen, each of which is arranged on the base body 2. A connecting element 10 extends between them, wherein said element can transmit compressive forces and is a rod spring, for example. One end of a bracing element 12 is shown on both the upper leg contact element 6 and the lower leg contact element 8. FIG. 2 shows a lateral view of the orthosis. A knee element 14 can be seen, towards which the two bracing elements 12 are guided. Of course, it may also be a single bracing element 12 that connects the upper leg contact element 8 via the knee element 14 to the lower leg contact element 8.

[0035] FIG. 1 also shows that an inelastic strap 16 leads away from both the upper leg contact element 6 and the lower leg contact element 8. In FIG. 2, it can be seen that the inelastic straps 16 are guided towards the knee element 14, where they are fastened. FIGS. 1 and 2 clearly demonstrate that the bracing element 12 extends exclusively in the ventral region of the knee orthosis, while the inelastic strap 16 is arranged in the dorsal region. The reverse embodiment is of course also possible.

[0036] FIG. 3 shows a top view of a swivel joint 18 which can be used specifically in a knee orthosis described here, but also in other orthopedic devices. It comprises two components 20 that are arranged in relation to each other such that they can be swivelled. A bore 22 is situated in the middle, the swivel axis passing through said bore.

[0037] FIG. 4 depicts the swivel joint 18 from FIG. 3 in an exploded view. A joint ring 24, which comprises an annular slit 26, is situated on the component 20 that is directed downwards. At one point, it is closed by an end stop element 28.

[0038] An end stop carrier 30 is located on the component 20 that is directed upwards, wherein said end stop carrier can be inserted into a purposefully provided recess 32 on the component 20. The recess 32 features an opening 34 through which the two end stops, not depicted in FIG. 4, can be guided. In the representation shown, they are on the rear side of the end stop carrier 30. It can be seen that, in the mounted state, the opening 34 comes to overlap with the annular slit 26 on the other component 20 so that the end stops, which are on the end stop carrier 30 and extend into the drawing plane through the opening 34, are arranged in the slit 26.

[0039] If the downward-facing component 20 is now swivelled relative to the upwardfacing component 20, the end stops of the end stop carrier 30 that protrude through the opening 34 are displaced relative to the annular slit 26 and thus also relative to the end stop element 28. In certain angular positions, which depend on the selected end stop carrier 30 with its fixed end stops, the end stop element 28 comes into contact with the respective end stop of the end stop carrier 30. A further swivelling in the respective swivel direction is then no longer possible, so that the swivel range of the swivel joint 18 is limited in this form.

[0040] The swivel joint 18 shown in FIG. 4 also has a fastening element 36 on which further components of the orthopedic device, such as a closing element, can be arranged.

[0041] FIG. 5 depicts the swivel joint 18 in a swivelled position relative to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4. The two components 20 are swivelled relative to each other about the swivel axis, which is situated in the bore 22.

REFERENCE LIST

[0042] 2 base body [0043] 4 kneecap opening [0044] 6 upper leg contact element [0045] 8 lower leg contact element [0046] 10 connecting element [0047] 12 bracing element [0048] 14 knee element [0049] 16 inelastic strap [0050] 18 swivel joint [0051] 20 component [0052] 22 bore [0053] 24 joint ring [0054] 26 slit [0055] 28 end stop element [0056] 30 end stop carrier [0057] 32 recess [0058] 34 opening [0059] 36 fastening element