Patent ID: 11969372
Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. A knee brace for a knee osteoarthritis patient, the knee brace comprising:
a thigh fixing part that is configured to be attached to a thigh of a patient, the thigh fixing part including a thigh cuff and a thigh belt;
a shank fixing part that is configured to be attached to a shank of the patient, the shank fixing part including a shank cuff and a shank belt;
an outer leg joint that couples the thigh fixing part with the shank fixing part, is arranged in an outer leg side of a knee joint of the patient, and can be flexed; and
an inner leg joint that couples the thigh fixing part with the shank fixing part, is arranged in an inner leg side of the knee joint of the patient, and can be flexed, wherein
each of the outer leg joint and the inner leg joint includes a coupling part, an upper arm that is provided along a side part of the thigh and a lower arm that is provided along a side part of the shank,
the upper arm and the lower arm of the outer leg joint are coupled to each other by the coupling part of the outer leg joint that is provided in a side part of the knee joint,
the upper arm and the lower arm of the inner leg joint are coupled to each other by the coupling part of the inner leg joint that is provided in a side part of the knee joint,
the lower arm of the outer leg joint is configured to be moved forward relative to the lower arm of the inner leg joint when the outer leg joint and the inner leg joint are extended, and
the coupling part of each of the outer leg joint and the inner leg joint comprises a cam groove provided in one of the upper arm and the lower arm and a long groove provided in the other of the upper arm and the lower arm, the cam groove including an intermediate cam groove forming an acute angle between a flexing-side cam groove and an extending-side cam groove of the cam groove,
wherein the long groove in the outer leg joint is provided rearward of the cam groove and an upper end of the long groove in the outer leg joint is provided forward of an opposite lower end of the long groove when the upper arm and the lower arm of the outer leg joint are in an extended state,
wherein the long groove in the inner leg joint is provided forward of the cam groove and an upper end of the long groove in the inner leg joint is provided forward of an opposite lower end of the long groove when the upper arm and the lower arm of the outer leg joint are in an extended state.