Abstract:
A support frame for a knee pad has three major components that interlock with each other to form a rigid and strong frame capable of supporting the weight of a person who is working on knees. The three components are molded of a rigid plastic material. The upper component has a knee seat and a strap for wrapping around the leg of the wearer; the lower component has a cuff for wrapping around the wearer&#39;s ankle. Fastener devices for attaching the knee pad and the straps to the support frame are either incorporated into or provided on the support frame.

Description:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The invention relates to a knee pad that is worn by persons who work on their knees, such as, when laying floors. More particularly, the invention relates to a frame for holding the knee pad. 
         [0003]    2. Discussion of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    People who professionally lay floors or carpeting, stair treads, and other jobs that require spending a lot of time on one&#39;s knees often wear knee pads that include a support frame and a pad that protects not just the knee, but the shin and ankle portions of the leg. An example of such a knee pad with support frame is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,772,071, 4,876,745, and a knee pad in U.S. Pat. No. 7,937,769, whereby this last patent is incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety. 
         [0005]    These professional knee pads with support frame are adapted to fit the length dimension of the user&#39;s leg. One desire to modify the prior art is to obtain a support frame that is less expensive to manufacture, yet readily adaptable to the desired leg length and knee width of the individual user, and that also provides strength, rigidity, and durability. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The invention, a support frame for a pad to protect a knee, is a molded plastic unit that includes an upper support, a lower support, and a coupling member. The initial intended use of the support frame is as a frame for a knee pad, and particularly, for the knee pad disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,937,769, but this term is not intended to be limiting, because the support frame and pad can be modified to support a limb and corresponding joint of a user, such as a lower arm and an elbow. Thus, reference is made throughout this disclosure to a support frame for a knee pad, but it is understood that the terms that have specific relevance to a knee pad are for readability and may be exchanged for other terms. 
         [0007]    The upper support is shaped to accommodate the knee and upper shin portion of the leg and the lower support to accommodate the lower shin portion and the ankle. The coupling member extends through an opening in the upper support and slidingly meshes with the lower support, which are then fastened together with fastening elements, to form the support frame. Various attachment means are incorporated into the frame to secure the knee pad to the frame and to strap the frame plus knee pad to the user&#39;s leg. 
         [0008]    The three major components of the frame are molded components that have a plurality of grooves and reinforcing ribs to provide a unit that has the desired structural integrity, i.e., the strength, rigidity, and load-bearing capacity needed to provide support and comfort for a person who spends extended periods of time on his or her knees. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    The present invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. The drawings are not drawn to scale. 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a support frame according to the invention for a knee pad. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a top plan view of the knee support. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a bottom plan view of the upper support. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a first side plan view of the upper support, showing a buckle attachment. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a second side plan view of the upper support, showing holes for the pad and boot attachment means. 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of he upper support, seen from the coupling end, showing the coupling opening. 
           [0016]      FIG. 6A  shows a deflector that extends from the first end of the knee support. 
           [0017]      FIG. 7  is a top plan view of the lower support. 
           [0018]      FIG. 8  is a bottom plan view of the lower support. 
           [0019]      FIG. 9  is a side view of the lower support 
           [0020]      FIG. 10  is a top plan view of the coupling member. 
           [0021]      FIG. 11  is a bottom plan view of the coupling member. 
           [0022]      FIG. 12  is a side plan view of the coupling member. 
           [0023]      FIG. 13A  is a perspective view of the support frame, partially assembled. 
           [0024]      FIG. 13B  is a second perspective view of the support frame, partially assembled. 
           [0025]      FIG. 13C  is a perspective view of the support frame, showing the upper support and the lower support coupled by the coupling member. 
           [0026]      FIG. 14  is a view of the completely assembled product as it is provided to the user. 
           [0027]      FIG. 15  shows the stirrup cuff. 
           [0028]      FIG. 16  shows the completely assembled product with stirrup cuff strapped to leg of a user. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0029]    The present invention will now be described more fully in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention should not, however, be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, they are provided so that this disclosure will be complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. 
         [0030]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a support frame  100  according to the invention. The embodiment shown is a support frame for a knee pad that is worn by people who work on their knees, for instance, installing flooring, carpeting, stair treads, etc. 
         [0031]    The support frame  100  comprises a unit assembled from three basic components, an upper support  10 , a lower support  20 , and a coupling member  30 . These components will hereinafter be referred to as a knee support  10 , a top shin plate  20 , and a bottom shin plate  30 , to facilitate reading. Pad attachment means  40  are provided on the frame  100  for securing a knee pad P to the frame and frame attachment means  50  are provided for securing the support frame  100  with the pad P to a user&#39;s leg. The figures illustrating the support frame  100  show only a few examples of the pad attachment means  40  and the frame attachment means  50 .  FIG. 14  shows a complete knee pad or final product  1000 , as it is provided to the customer. 
         [0032]      FIGS. 2-6A  illustrate the knee support  10 , which is a single molded component that has a first end that includes a knee seat  12 , a coupling-member support end  13 , and a through-way  14  therebetween for receiving the bottom shin plate  30 . Reinforcing ribs and recesses  16  are provided on the top and bottom sides of the knee support  10 .  FIG. 6  shows a perspective view of the knee support  10 , taken from the coupling-member support end  13  and illustrating the throughway  14 . A deflector  17  extends from the knee seat  12 .  FIG. 6A  shows one part of a fabric hook and loop fastener  171  that has been adhesively applied to the underside of the deflector. Typically, a liner is wrapped over the pad P, to protect it from dirt and wear. The liner is a relatively thin, flexible fabric and its upper portion is wrapped over the deflector  17  and touch-fastened to the fastener  171 . The forward portion  10 A of the bottom surface of the knee support  10  is formed at a slight angle to allow the wearer to tip forward slightly and walk on his knees. The angle is sufficient to allow the wearer to lift his feet slightly above the floor, to make it easier to maneuver on the floor. In the embodiment shown, the angle of this forward portion  10 A is approximately 10.5 degrees. The same angle is reflected in a forward portion  30 A of the bottom shin plate  30 . 
         [0033]      FIGS. 7-9  illustrate the top shin plate  20 , a molded component shaped to provide support for the knee pad P in the shin area and to protect the ankle area. The top shin plate  20  includes a shin bar  21 , an ankle protector  22 , and a first coupling end  23 . Reinforcing ribs and recesses  26  are provided on the bottom side of the top shin plate. The first coupling end  23  has ribs  231  that extend downward from the top plane of the plate  20 . 
         [0034]      FIGS. 10-12  illustrate details of the bottom shin plate  30 . This component, too, is a molded component that includes a knee plate  32  and a second coupling end  33 . The knee plate  32  is shaped to correspond to the shape of the underside of the first end of the knee support  10 . The second coupling end  33  has ribs  331  that extend upward from the bottom plane of the bottom shin plate and mesh with the ribs  231  of the top shin plate  20 . Fastening bores  101  are provided, which are used to fasten the bottom shin plate  30  with the knee support  10  and the top shin plate  20 , by means of threaded fasteners, for example. 
         [0035]      FIGS. 13A-13C  illustrate assembly of the support frame  100 . First, the bottom shin plate  30  is inserted through the through-way  14  so that the coupling end  33  extends toward the coupling-member support end  13  of the knee support  10 , with the coupling fins  331  extending upward. The coupling end  23  of the top shin plate  20  is coupled with the bottom shin plate by meshing the coupling fins  231  with the fins  331  of the bottom shin plate  30  and sliding the top shin plate in toward the through-way  14 .  FIG. 13C  shows the three components  10 ,  20 ,  30  of the support frame  100  coupled together. The coupling end  33  of the bottom shin plate  30  is now covered by the shin bar portion  21 . The knee plate  32  of the bottom shin plate  30  has yet to be pushed into place against the underside of the knee support  10 . Fastening bosses  101  have been provided on the components  10 ,  20 ,  30  for receiving fasteners (not shown), which are used to fasten all three components together. 
         [0036]    The top and bottom shin plates  20 ,  30  may be pre-fabricated to different lengths, in order to assemble the support frame  100  that is adapted to the length of the leg of the individual user. It is also possible to make the plates  20 ,  30  a standard length, and to cut one or both of them to the desired length when assembling the support frame  100  for a particular customer. The knee support  10  may be manufactured in two or more sizes to accommodate the width of the knee of the individual user. For example, three sizes S/M/L may be kept in stock, so as to provide the appropriate width when assembling a final product  1000  for a customer. 
         [0037]      FIG. 14  illustrates a complete knee pad  1000  that includes the support frame  100 , the knee pad P, and the boot B. A liner that is typically used to protect the pad P is not shown. The user has placed an order for a knee pad and given dimensions for the leg length and knee width. The support frame  100  has been assembled according to the dimensions, a knee pad P fastened to the upper side of the frame, and a boot B fastened to the underside of the frame, U.S. Pat. No. 7,937,769 discloses details of the knee pad P, boot B, and liner L, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
         [0038]    The frame attachment means  50  includes an ankle cuff  52  that has a live hinge  54  at one end for anchoring a buckle and a strap  53  with buckle end attached to the other end. See  FIG. 13C . The cuff  52  is preferably made of a thermoplastic material, such as urethane, with a suitable durometer to provide some flexibility, so that the cuff is adaptable to the contour of the wearer&#39;s leg when it is strapped on, yet stiff enough, so that it pre-forms the pad P that is attached to the frame  100 , to facilitate strapping the frame with pad to the leg. Other suitable materials may also be used, such as leather, woven materials, such as a rugged canvas, rubber, or rubber-like materials. A buckle is slipped over the end of the live hinge, which is then folded to the cuff and fastened to form the buckle anchor. The cuff  52  is an improvement over the prior art, which was simply a strap attached directly to the frame. The cuff acts to protect the ankle extensions or strap ears on the pad P, which can get caught on things and be torn or damaged and to prevent rotation of the pad on the leg. 
         [0039]      FIG. 15  illustrates an alternative cuff  52  which is constructed to accommodate a stirrup strap  55 . The final product  1000  shown in  FIG. 16  is assembled with this alternative cuff. The live hinges  54  for the buckle anchors have not yet been fastened in this illustration. The cuff  52 ′ has sleeve extensions  56  and the straps are slipped over these extensions. 
         [0040]    The concept of the support frame  100  according to the invention provides the user with a knee pad  1000  that is the correct length and width. The components are inexpensive, the assembly process is simple, yet the knee pad  1000  functions as a solid unit, with greater stability and load-bearing capacity than conventional knee pads. 
         [0041]    It is understood that the embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the present invention. Variations in the construction of the support frame may be contemplated by one skilled in the art without limiting the intended scope of the invention herein disclosed and as defined by the following claims.