Abstract:
A woven brace for use in supporting various portions of a body is disclosed. The woven brace comprises a woven body comprising a plurality of ring members woven together such that the woven brace provides a resilient and comfortable bracing surface.

Description:
FIELD  
       [0001]     The present document relates to a woven brace and method of assembly thereof.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0002]     In an embodiment, the woven brace comprises a woven body, the woven body including a plurality of ring members assembled together, each of the ring members having a ring body with opposing end portions and opposing middle portions, the opposing middle portions of each of the plurality of ring members being adapted to be folded such that a pair of arms with slots are defined with the ring body of one ring member being adapted to be engaged through the slots of another ring member when assembled together, wherein two of the plurality of ring members being configured as an end ring member having a closed ring configuration, wherein the middle ring members are interposed between the end ring members.  
         [0003]     In another embodiment, a method of assembling a woven body comprises:  
         [0004]     a) providing three or more ring members, with two of the three or more ring members being an end ring member having a closed ring configuration and the other of the three or more ring members being middle ring members, the three or more ring members having opposing end portions and opposing side portions;  
         [0005]     b) elongating and folding the end ring member at the opposing middle portions such that first and second arms are formed with a slot defined between the first and second arms;  
         [0006]     c) elongating and folding a first middle ring member at the opposing middle portions such that first and second arms are formed with a slot defined between the first and second arms;  
         [0007]     d) inserting the first and second arms of the end ring member through the slot of the middle ring member such that the opposing end portions contact;  
         [0008]     e) securing the opposing end portions of the end ring member together such that the end ring member is engaged to the first middle ring member;  
         [0009]     f) elongating and folding a second end ring member such that first and second arms are formed with a slot defined between the first and second arms;  
         [0010]     g) inserting the first and second arms of the second end ring member through the slot of the first middle ring member; and  
         [0011]     h) securing the opposing end portions of end ring members to a last of the middle ring members.  
         [0012]     Additional features will be set forth in the description which follows or will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the drawings and detailed description which follows.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a ring member for making a woven brace;  
         [0014]      FIG. 2A  is a perspective view of an outer ring material for making the ring member;  
         [0015]      FIG. 2B  is a perspective view of an inner ring material for making the ring member;  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart illustrating the steps of manufacturing the ring member;  
         [0017]      FIGS. 3A-3F  are perspective views illustrating the method for manufacturing a ring member shown in  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart illustrating the steps of assembling the ring members to produce a woven brace;  
         [0019]      FIGS. 4A, 4B  and  4 C illustrate a sequence of assembling the woven brace shown in  FIG. 4 ;  
         [0020]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the woven brace; and  
         [0021]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the woven brace shown in a closed position. 
     
    
       [0022]     Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding elements among the view of the drawings.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0023]     Referring to the drawings, an embodiment of the woven brace is illustrated and generally indicated as  10  in  FIGS. 1-6 . Referring to  FIG. 5 , the woven brace  10  includes a woven body  11  having a plurality of middle ring members  12  that are woven or assembled together and interposed between end ring members  13 . In one embodiment, the middle ring members  12  and end ring members  13  may be identical in structure with the exception that end ring members  13  may have a closed ring configuration as shall be discussed in greater detail below. The woven body  11  may be manufactured using a method of assembly that weaves together a plurality of middle ring members  12  between two end ring members  13  to produce woven brace  11 .  
         [0024]     In one embodiment, woven brace  10  may be adapted for contacting certain portions of the user&#39;s body, such as the neck, lower back, and thighs. In addition, the woven brace  10  may be woven to provide a resilient bracing surface for supporting certain portions of the user&#39;s body.  
         [0025]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , middle ring members  12  and end ring members  13  may each include a ring body  14  having opposing middle portions  24  and opposing end portions  26  that collectively define a ring opening  20 . Ring body  14  may further include a seam line  18  that runs along the peripheral length of ring body  14  and is produced during the manufacture of the ring member  12  as shall be discussed in greater detail below. As noted above, end ring members  13  may have the same configuration as the middle ring members  12  with the exception that the ring body  14  of the end ring members  13  may have the opposing end portions  26  sewn together to form a sewn portion  66  ( FIG. 4D ) during the method of assembly.  
         [0026]     Referring to  FIGS. 2A and 2B , each ring body  14  may include an outer ring material  16  defined by opposing top and bottom edges  34  and  35 , and opposing side edges  36  and  37 . Ring body  14  may be made for either middle ring members  12  or end ring members  13 . Outer ring material  16  may be made from a fleece material, although any stretchable and soft material is contemplated, for example, T-shirt knits, poly knits, cotton, satin or fur.  
         [0027]     In addition, ring body  14  may include an inner ring material  17  disposed inside the outer ring material  16  during manufacture. In one embodiment, the inner ring material  17  may be a webbed nylon material having a closed ring configuration defining an opening  32 . However, other materials other than nylon, such as polyester fiber fill or cotton are contemplated. In addition, rice may be used as an inner ring material  17 .  
         [0028]     In one aspect, a method of assembling the woven brace  10  begins with manufacturing one or more ring bodies  14  in order to produce middle ring members  12  and end ring members  13 . As illustrated in the flowchart of  FIG. 3 , each middle ring member  12  and end ring member  13  may be manufactured by laying out flat the outer ring material  16  ( FIG. 2A ) at step  100 .  
         [0029]     At step  102 , the outer ring material  16  may be folded in half such that the opposing side edge  36  meets the opposing side edge  37  and a folded edge  23  is defined as illustrated in  FIG. 3A . In this configuration, the outer ring material  16  is defined by an upper portion  54 , middle portion  56  and lower portion  58 .  
         [0030]     At step  104 , a seam line  50  may then be made by sewing the opposing side edge  36  to the opposing side edge  37  such that an open pocket  40  in communication with an opening  52  is defined as shown in  FIG. 3B . Once the outer ring material  16  is folded in half and the seam line  50  sewn, inner ring material  17  may be wrapped around the upper portion  54  of the folded outer ring material  16  at step  106  such that the opposing top edge  34  may be inserted through opening  32  of the inner ring material  17  as illustrated in  FIG. 3C .  
         [0031]     At step  108 , the upper portion  54  of the folded outer ring material  16  may be turned over upon the middle portion  56  such that a first cuff  44  is defined ( FIG. 3D ) with the inner ring material  17  enveloped within first cuff  44  and in communication with a cuff opening  60 .  
         [0032]     First cuff  44  may then be turned over upon the lower portion  58  at step  110  such that a second cuff  46  is defined as shown in  FIG. 3E  so that an open end  48  and ring opening  20  are defined by the outer ring material  16 . Once the second cuff  46  is defined, a seam line  18  may be sewn at step  112  along the peripheral portion of open end  48  such that ring body  14  is defined as illustrated in  FIG. 3F .  
         [0033]     After the ring body  14  is manufactured in accordance with steps  100 - 112 , a decision point  114  may be reached to determine whether more ring bodies  14  are required for producing either more middle ring members  12  and/or end ring members  13 . If more ring bodies  14  need to be produced, then steps  100 - 112  may be repeated as desired; however, if no further ring bodies  14  need to be produced then the method of manufacturing ring bodies  14  is complete.  
         [0034]     In one embodiment, the method of assembling the woven body  11  may utilize three or more ring bodies  14  with two of the ring bodies  14  being configured as end ring members  13  and the remainder being middle ring members  12  as shall be discussed below. However, it is contemplated that any number of middle ring members  12  may be manufactured and added between the two end ring members  13  during the assembly method for making different lengths of woven brace  10 .  
         [0035]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a flow chart illustrating one embodiment of the method of assembling the woven body  11  is shown. For the purpose of illustrating the method of assembly only two end ring members  13 A and  13 B and two middle ring members, designated  12 A and  12 B, will be discussed as shown in  FIG. 4A . However, as illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the woven brace  10  may have any desired number of middle ring members  12  woven together between the end ring members  13  in order to assemble a woven body  11  of sufficient length.  
         [0036]     At step  116 , woven body  11  made in accordance with the method of assembly by providing a sufficient number of ring bodies  14  to assemble a woven brace  10  of predetermined length. At step  118 , one of the ring bodies  14 , such as ring body  14  of end ring member  13 A, may be elongated and then folded at the opposing middle portions  24  such that arms  62 ,  64  having a slot  22 A defined along each arm  62 ,  64  as illustrated in  FIG. 4B .  
         [0037]     Once end ring member  13 A is folded, a decision point  122  is reached to determine whether another ring body  14  should be elongated and folded. If another ring body  14  needs to be added, the method of assembly returns to step  118  where middle ring member  12 A may then be similarly elongated and folded along the opposing middle portions  24  such that a slot  22 B is defined along arms  62 B,  64 B of ring member  12 A.  
         [0038]     If no further ring bodies  14  are to be elongated and folded at this point in the method of assembly, then the method proceeds to step  122  where the arms  62 ,  64  of ring member  13 A are then inserted through slot  22 B of ring member  12 A in direction A as shown in  FIG. 4C . Once ring member  13 A is so engaged to ring member  12 B, at decision point  124 , a decision must be made on whether to make ring member  13 A into an end ring member  13 . If so, the opposing end portions  24  of ring member  13 A may be sewn together at step  126  to form a sewn portion  66  such that ring member  13 A is now configured as an end ring member  13  having a closed ring configuration as illustrated in  FIG. 4D . In this manner, the middle ring member  12 A may be engaged to the end ring member  13 A to form the first portion of the woven body  11 .  
         [0039]     Once step  126  is completed, the method proceeds to decision point  128  to determine whether another ring body  14  should be added to the woven body  11  being assembled. If another ring body  14  is to be assembled, the method of assembly proceeds back to step  118  in order to elongate and fold middle ring member  12 B. Once the ring body  14  of middle ring member  12 B is elongated and folded along the opposing middle portions  24  such that a slot  22 C is formed along arms  62 ,  64  of ring member  12 B. Arms  62 ,  64  of middle ring member  12 B may then be inserted through the slot  22 B of ring member  12 A in direction B in a manner that orients folded ring member  12 B at approximately a 90 degree angle relative to the orientation of ring member  12 A as illustrated in  FIG. 4E . In this manner, each additional middle ring member  12  that may be woven to the existing woven middle ring member  12 A,  12 B will be oriented at alternating 90 degree angles.  
         [0040]     Once middle ring member  12 B is engaged to middle ring member  12 A, as shown in  FIG. 4F , decision point  124  is again reached to determine whether a sufficient number of middle ring members  12  have been assembled if the woven body  11  has reached sufficient length. Therefore, the method of assembly proceeds directly to decision point  128  to determine whether another ring body  14  needs to be added.  
         [0041]     As noted above, this particular embodiment has only two end ring members  13 A,  13 B and two middle ring members  12 A,  12 B for purposes of illustrating the basic sequence of assembling the woven body  11 . As such, a larger number of middle ring members  12  to be added would require repeating the above steps until the other end ring member  13 B is engaged to the last assembled middle ring member  12 .  
         [0042]     If the last middle ring member  12  has been added, then the method of assembly returns to step  118  where the ring body  14  of end ring member  13 B may be elongated and folded along opposing middle portions  24  such that a slot  22 D is defined along arms  62 ,  64  of end ring member  13 B. Once so folded, the method of assembly proceeds through decision point  120  to step  122  where the arms  62 ,  64  of end ring member  13 B may then be inserted through the slot  22 C of middle ring member  12 B in direction B as illustrated in  FIG. 4G . At decision point  124 , the opposing end portions  26  may then be sewn together such that end ring member  13 B has a closed ring configuration identical to end ring member  13 A. Once end ring member  13 A is sewn together, the method of assembly proceeds to decision point  128  where no further ring bodies  14  need be provided. As such, the method of assembling the woven body is complete.  
         [0043]     As noted above, the procedure of adding more middle ring members  12  may be repeated as many times as desired to assemble a woven body  11  of a desired length. In one embodiment, the length of the woven body  11  may be approximately twenty one inches. If the user desires to finish the woven body  11 , the arms  62 ,  64  of end ring member  13 B may be sewn together to form sewn portion  66 . End ring member  13 B now has the same closed ring configuration of end ring member  13 A with middle ring members  12 A and  12 B being woven between end ring members  13 A and  13 B.  
         [0044]     As noted above, the above description of the method of assembling the woven body  11  for only two middle ring members  12  and two end ring members  13  is for illustration purposes only and that more middle ring members  12  may be added to the existing middle ring members  12  to make a longer woven body  11 .  
         [0045]     In one embodiment, once a specific length of the woven body  11  has been assembled together, an attachment member  28  may be engaged to each end ring member  13  as illustrated in  FIG. 5 . This is accomplished by wrapping the body of the attachment member  28  around the end ring member  13  and sewing the free ends of the attachment member  28  together. As further shown, each attachment member  28  may include a flap  68  having a VELCRO portion  30  for engaging the VELCRO portion  30  of the other attachment member  28  in order to place the woven brace  10  in a closed configuration.  
         [0046]     It is contemplated that the woven brace  10  may be used in different ways to brace different portions of the user&#39;s body. For example, the woven brace  10  may be placed behind the neck in order to brace the neck, or behind the lower back, or either around or below the thighs of the user. However, the woven brace  10  may be adapted to brace or cushion any portion of the user&#39;s body. In one embodiment, a woven brace  10  without attachment members  28  is contemplated.  
         [0047]     The method of manufacturing the ring bodies  14  as well as the method of assembling the ring bodies  14  to make a woven body  11  may be accomplished either manually by hand or using an automated system that utilize one or more apparatuses to automatically manufacture and assemble the ring bodies  14  to produce the woven body  11  as described in  FIGS. 3 and 4 .  
         [0048]     It should be understood from the foregoing that, while particular embodiments have been illustrated and described, various modifications can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are within the scope and teaching of this invention as defined in the claims appended hereto.