Patent ID: 6394971
Filing Date: 2002-05-28
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
An ankle support comprising:a soft fabric support sock comprising a closed tubular sleeve having an open top for foot insertion, an open heel for heel protrusion, and an open toe for toe protrusion, said sock substantially surrounding the above ankle lower leg, ankle, and foot of a wearer; a skeletal shell of low-temperature molded semi-rigid foam sewn to the outer surface of said sock with a sewing seam extending substantially around the periphery of said skeletal shell, said shell forming a molded and semi-rigid circumferential collar extending substantially but not completely around said top of said sock above the ankle of a wearer, said collar having upper and lower edges, said upper edge being substantially coterminous with said open top of said sock and said lower edge being spaced above the ankle of a wearer, said upper and lower collar edges terminating in substantially vertical collar end edges adapted to be adjustably secured about the above ankle leg of a wearer; said collar having spaced integral medial and lateral elongated stiffener fingers of said molded semi-rigid foam depending downwardly from said lower edge of said collar; at least one of said elongated stiffener fingers extending downwardly toward and at least partially around the ankle of a wearer, said at least one stiffener finger having at its lower distal end an enlarged extension extending forward beneath the ankle of a wearer; said collar having a vertical width along the above ankle leg of a wearer substantially greater than the horizontal width of said depending stiffener fingers so as to urge said at least one of said stiffener fingers toward the ankle and side of the foot of a wearer.