Hinged ankle brace

Abstract

A hinged ankle brace including a foot pad member and an ankle cuff which are hingedly secured together by flexible joint members. The flexible joint members yieldably resist hinged movement between the foot pad member and the ankle cuff.

Claims

1. A hinged ankle brace, comprising: a foot pad member having a medial side with an upper end portion and a lateral side with an upper end portion; an ankle cuff having a medial side with a lower end portion and a lateral side with a lower end portion; said lower end portion of said medial side of said ankle cuff having three spaced-apart connector openings formed therein, each of which are configured to receive a connector therein; said lower end portion of said lateral side of said ankle cuff having three spaced-apart connector openings formed therein, each of which are configured to receive a connector therein; said lower end portion of said medial side of said ankle cuff being positioned adjacent said upper end portion of said medial side of said foot pad member; said lower end portion of said lateral side of said ankle cuff being positioned adjacent said upper end portion of said lateral side of said foot pad member; a flexible one-piece medial joint member positioned between said lower end portion of said medial side of said ankle cuff and said upper end portion of said medial side of said foot pad member; said flexible one-piece medial joint member having six spaced-apart connector openings formed therein, each of which are configured to receive a connector therein; said flexible one-piece medial joint member being connected to said lower end portion of said medial side of said ankle cuff by three connectors extending through said three connector openings formed therein and through three of said six connector openings in said flexible medial joint member for yieldably resisting hinged movement therebetween; a flexible one-piece lateral joint member positioned between said lower end portion of said lateral side of said ankle cuff and said upper end portion of said lateral side of said foot pad member; said flexible one-piece lateral joint member having six spaced-apart connector openings formed therein, each of which are configured to receive a connector therein; and said flexible one-piece lateral joint member being connected to said lower end portion of said lateral side of said ankle cuff by connectors extending through said three connector openings formed therein and through three of said connector openings in said flexible one-piece lateral joint member for yieldably resisting hinged movement therebetween, wherein each of said flexible one-piece medial joint member and said flexible one-piece lateral joint member has three elongated arms having outer ends and wherein a connector opening is formed in each of said elongated arms, wherein the flexible one-piece medial joint member and the flexible one-piece lateral joint member are configured to provide greater resistance to hinged movement of the foot pad member and the ankle cuff as the foot pad member and the ankle huff hingedly move to a greater degree with respect to one another, the three elongated arms of each of the flexible one-piece medial joint member and said flexible one-piece lateral joint member being configured to bend during hinged movement of the ankle cuff relative to the foot pad member and the bend of the three elongated arms creates greater resistance to hinged movement of the foot pad member and the ankle cuff.

2. The hinged ankle brace of claim 1 wherein said connectors are bolts.

3. The hinged ankle brace of claim 2 wherein a threaded nut is embedded in each of said six connector openings in said flexible one-piece medial joint member and said flexible one-piece lateral joint member for connection to said bolts.

4. The hinged ankle brace of claim 1 wherein said connectors are rivets.

5. The hinged ankle brace of claim 1 wherein said connectors are screws.

6. The hinged ankle brace of claim 1 wherein said flexible one-piece medial joint member and said flexible one-piece lateral joint member are flat.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the following figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified.

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the hinged ankle brace of this invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the hinged ankle brace of this invention;

(4) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the flexible joint of the medial and lateral joints of the hinged ankle brace of this invention;

(5) FIG. 4 is a medial side elevational view of the hinged ankle brace of this invention;

(6) FIG. 5 is a medial side view of the foot bed member of the hinged ankle brace of this invention;

(7) FIG. 6A is a medial side view of the foot bed member with the broken lines illustrating the lower medial side of the ankle cuff and which illustrates the manner in which the flexible medial joint yieldably resists the hinged movement of the foot bed member with respect to the ankle cuff;

(8) FIG. 6B is a medial side view of the foot bed member of the invention with the broken lines illustrating the lower medial side of the ankle cuff and which illustrates the manner in which the flexible medial joint yieldably resists the hinged movement of the ankle cuff with respect to the foot bed member; and

(9) FIG. 7 is a partial vertical sectional view which illustrates the wings of the ankle cuff being secured to the wings of the foot bed member by way of the flexible medial joint and the flexible lateral joint.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(10) Embodiments are described more fully below with reference to the accompanying figures, which form a part hereof and show, by way of illustration, specific exemplary embodiments. These embodiments are disclosed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. However, embodiments may be implemented in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense in that the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims.

(11) The hinged ankle brace of this invention is designated by the reference numeral 10. Ankle brace 10 generally includes a foot pad member 12 and an ankle cuff 14 which are hingedly connected as will be described in detail hereinafter. The general shape of the foot pad member and the ankle cuff may vary. Ankle brace 10 will be described as being configured to be used with the left ankle and leg of a wearer. It should be understood that the ankle brace 10 could also be used to protect the right ankle of the wearer. The terms medial and lateral will apply to the left ankle brace with those terms being reversed for a right ankle brace. The brace 10 could also be easily designed to be a universal ankle brace suitable for use on either the right or left ankles.

(12) Foot pad member 12 includes a foot plate 16 which is configured to underlie at least a portion of a foot of a wearer. Food pad member 12 also includes a heel portion 18 which is configured to receive a heel of the wearer. Foot pad member 12 will be described as having a medial side 20 and a lateral side 22. A medial wing 24 extends upwardly from the medial side 20 of the foot pad member 12. Medial wing 24 has a generally semi-circular upper end 26 with an inner side 28 and an outer side 30. Upper end 26 of medial wing 24 has three bolt openings 32, 34 and 36 formed therein. It should be noted that the upper end 26 of medial wing 24 could have more or less than three bolt openings formed therein.

(13) A lateral wing 38 extends upwardly from the lateral side 22 of foot pad member 12. Lateral wing 38 has a generally semi-circular upper end 40 with an inner side 42 and an outer side 44. The upper end 40 of lateral wing 38 has three bolt openings 46, 48 and 50 formed therein. It should be noted that the upper end 40 of lateral wing 38 could have more or less than three bolt openings formed therein.

(14) Ankle cuff 14 is designed to partially extend around the lower calf or leg of a person. Ankle cuff 14 includes a medial portion 52, a back portion 54 and a lateral portion 56. A medial wing 58 extends downwardly from the lower end of medial portion 52 and has a generally semi-circular lower end 60. Preferably, lower end 60 is slightly cup-shaped and has an inner side 62 and an outer side 64. Lower end 60 of medial wing 58 has radially spaced-apart bolt openings 66, 68 and 70 formed therein. Lower end 60 of medial wing 58 will have the same number of bolt openings as formed in upper end 26 of wing 24.

(15) A lateral wing 72 extends downwardly from the lower end of lateral portion 56 of ankle cuff 14 and has a generally semi-circular lower end 74. Preferably, lower end 74 is slightly cup-shaped and has an inner side 76 and outer side 78. Lower end 74 of lateral wing 72 has radially spaced-apart bolt openings 80, 82 and 84 formed therein. Lower end 74 will have the same number of bolt openings as formed in the upper end 40 of wing 35.

(16) The reference numeral 86 refers to a flexible medial joint member which hingedly connects medial wing 24 of foot pad portion 12 to medial wing 58 of ankle cuff 14. The numeral 86 refers to a flexible lateral joint member which is identical to joint member 86. The designation will be used to identify identical structure on joint member 86.

(17) Joint members 86 and 86 are comprised of a flexible polyurethane material or other similar material. Joint member 86 is flat and has an inner side and an outer side. Joint member 86 includes a center base portion 88 which has three support arms 90, 92 and 94 which extend outwardly from base portion 88 in a radially spaced-apart manner. Arms 90, 92 and 94 have enlarged head portions 96, 98 and 100 at their outer ends respectively. Nuts 102, 104 and 106 are embedded in head portions 96, 98 and 100 respectively.

(18) Lobes or protrusions 108, 110 and 112 extend from base portion 88 in a radially spaced-apart manner. Nuts 114, 116 and 118 are embedded in lobes 108, 110 and 112 respectively.

(19) Joint member 86 is positioned at the outer side 30 of upper end 26 of medial wing 24 of foot pad member 12 so that nuts 114, 116, and 118 thereof register with openings 34, 36 and 32 in the upper end 26 of wing 24. Bolts 120 are then extended outwardly through openings 32, 34 and 36 and threadably secured to nuts 114, 112 and 116 respectively to flexibly attach the joint member 86 to wing 24. Joint member 86 is positioned at the outer side of wing 38 and is attached to wing 38 by bolts 122 in a similar fashion to the manner in which joint member 86 is attached to wing 24 as explained above.

(20) The ankle cuff 14 is then positioned relative to foot pad member 12 so that the wings 58 and 72 of ankle cuff 14 are positioned at the outer sides of joint members 86 and 86 respectively. Bolts 124 are then extended inwardly through bolt openings 66, 68 and 70 and into the nuts 102, 104 and 106 to flexibly attach the wing 58 to the wing 38. Bolts 126 are then extended inwardly through bolt openings 80, 82 and 84 and into the nuts 102, 104 and 106 of joint member 86 to flexibly attach wing 72 to wing 40. Although bolts 120, 122, 124 and 126 are shown and described, the bolts could be replaced with screws or rivets.

(21) The flexible joint members 86 and 86 yieldably resist relative hinged movement between the ankle cuff 14 and the foot pad member 12 as seen in FIGS. 6A and 6B. The joint members 86 and 86 provide a floating hinge connection between ankle cuff 14 and foot pad member 12. The flexible joint members 86 and 86 increase the resistance of movement between ankle cuff 14 and foot pad member 12 as the hinged movement therebetween increases. As seen in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the arms of the joint member 86 bend during hinged movement of ankle cuff 14 relative to foot pad member 12. As the arms of joint member 86 bend, they create more resistance to the hinged movement.

(22) The hinged ankle brace 10 of this invention includes at least one strap 128 affixed thereto to maintain the wearer's foot in foot pad member 12. In some cases, it may not be necessary to utilize the strap 128. The hinged ankle brace 10 also includes at least one strap 130 affixed thereto to attach the ankle cuff 14 to the wearer's lower leg.

(23) Thus it can be seen that the invention accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.

(24) Although the invention has been described in language that is specific to certain structures and methodological steps, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific structures and/or steps described. Rather, the specific aspects and steps are described as forms of implementing the claimed invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be practiced without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.