LOCKABLE HINGE JOINT FOR LIMB SUPPORTS AND OTHER ORTHOPAEDIC APPLIANCES

Abstract: A releasably lockable joint which is particularly intended for use as the knee joint of an orthopaedic leg support com­ prises first and second members (10, 11) pivoted together for relative flexing movement and having faces (13,14) which abut to prevent movement of the joint beyond the unflexed position. A sliding detent (20) in a slot (19) in the member (11) is resiliently biased into engagement with a lock surface (17) of a recess or shoulder (17, 18) in the adjoining end of the member (10) to lock the joint in the unflexed position. The detent (20) is actuated by a release (26) which is preferably in the form of an external ring pivoted to the front edge of the second member (11) and connected at an intermediate posi­ tion to the detent (20) by means of a pivot pin (28). Preferably the detent (20) exerts a wedging action on the lock face (17) so as to minimise play as the joint wears in service. The joint may be provided as a separate sub-assembly for fitting to plain steels. The joint can be used by patients requiring a ring-catch, bar lock or cable release mechanism without alteration to any operating part except the release member.

Description: LOCKABLE HINGE JOINT FOR LIMB SUPPORTS AND OTHER ORTHOPAEDIC APPLIANCES The present invention relates to a lockable joint which is particularly, but not exclusively, useful as a knee joint of an orthopaedic leg support. A leg brace includes thigh supports ("steels) to either side of the thigh and calf steels to either side of the lower part of the leg, the thigh and shank steels on each side of the leg being connected by a pivot joint at knee level. The pivot joint on one or both sides of the knee is arranged to be locked when the patient is standing or walking but has to be releasable to allow the knee joint to flex when the patient is sitting. The release mechanism may be operated by a ring catch or drop lock which is a sliding ring on the thigh steel which may be lowered into engagement with the pivot joint to lock it -and which is lifted to release the joint. Another kind of lock known as a bar lock or French lock involves a hinged release member pivoted to the thigh steel and operated by lifting an extension bar attached to the release member. Where bar locks are used, the pivot joints on both sides of the knee are normally lockable and the release members on opposite sides of the knee are interconnected by means of a bar extending around the back of the knee. A further kind of release mechanism employs a hinged release member having an extension bar to which a lifting cable may be fixed. #The patient's disability may often affect parts of his body other than his legs, and the orthopaedic fitter has to select from the range of available release mechanisms one-which is within the patient' 8 capacity to operate. Known types of release mechanisms and in particular the ring catch and bar lock mechanisms operate on different principles and require differently shaped# hinge members. The fact that different kinds of release mechanism require the differently shaped hinge members and different ancillary parts decreases the length of production runs and increases the number of parts required to be stocked by a limb fitting centre, both of which are factors tending to increase the cost of orthopaedic limb supports. It is an object of the invention to provide a release mechanism in which the same hinge members may be used in association with different release mechanisms and in particular in association with a release operating analogously to a ring catch by upward finger pressure from the rear of the release mechanism and also in association with a bar lock or cable release,the only modification required being to the release member. Manually operated ring catches are not normally spring loaded into the locked position and suffer from the disadvantage that they may accidentally be shaken out of engagement while the patient is walking However, the joint of the invention may be released by upward finger pressure like a manual ring catch but the release member is spring loaded into the locked position. A further disadvantage of currently available ring catches is that although they may have little play when new, significant play is liable to develop as a result of wear, but such a tendency is not significantly exhibited by the hinge joint of the invention. Broadly stated the invention provides a releasably lockable joint for an orthopaedic limb support or for an artificial limb, which joint comprises first and second members pivoted together at their ends for relative flexing movement and having faces which abut when the joint is unflexed to prevent movement beyond the unflexed position, the first member having an arcuate portion which terminates in a recess or shoulder and the second member having a slot which is in register with the base of said recess or shoulder when the joint is unflexed and which extends axially away from the recess or shoulder, a detent slidable in the slot being resiliently biased into a position in which it engages said recess or shoulder and being retractable into the slot by operation of a release, the detent being supported or supportable in a retracted position by said arcuate portion when the joint is flexed and being urged into engagement with said recess or shoulder when the joint is straightened to lock the joint in the unflexed position. The lockable joint may additionally comprise a releasable catch for locking the detent in the retracted position. Such a catch may comprise an auxiliary channel in the second member opening into the detent channel, a ball catch in the auxiliary channel resiliently biased to project there- from and a recess in the detent positioned to be engaged by the ball of the ball catch when the detent is retracted The detent is preferably wedge shaped, with its rear face which engages an upwardly directed locking face of the recess or shoulder in the first member inclined at a small acute angle typically of the order of 10 degrees with respect to the other face thereof, the locking face of the recess or shoulder being directed parallel to the inclined face of the detent when the joint is straight so that when the detent is slid into engagement with the shoulder or recess, its inclined face is wedged against the lock face which wedging action minimises play in the pivot. A further factor tending to minimise play is that the interengaging faces of the detent and the shoulder or recess may be directed at approximately a right angle to the stop faces when the joint is in the straight position and the interengaging faces and the stop faces are a quarter circle removed from one another with respect to the pivot axis and so exert a wedging action taking up any play in the pivot. The release may comprise a leven extending transversely of the second member and pivoted at an edge thereof, #the lever being connected by means of a pivot pin to the detent and extending from the opposite edge. The lever is preferably in the form of an external ring fitted to the second member with its front edge pivota#lly received in a recess in the front edge of the second member and the internal surface of its rear edge normally spaced from the rear edge of the second member, an upward movement of the rear edge of the ring retracting the detent into the channel. The rear portion of the ring may be further provided with a socket for receiving an extension lever which forms part of a bar lock or cable lift. Preferably the joint is- manufactured as a subassembly separate from the steels of the limb support into which it is to be incorporated. The outer ends of the first and second members are preferably formed with an -internal axial channel dimensioned to receive the end of the respective steel which is then screwed or riveted in place. The end of the member may have its sides split 1ongitudinally so that fixing screws can be passed through eac#h side of the member and through the steel to fore the sides together and clamp the steel rigidly therebetween Various embodiments of the invention:will n-ow be described by way of example with reference to the -accomp- anying drawings in which similar parts are denoted by similar numerals and: : Figure 1 is a side view of a manually lockable joint for an orthopaedic limb support with the second member shown partly in section, the joint being in the straight position; Figure 2 is a side view of the joint shown in Figure 1 in a flexed position; Figure 3 is a side view of a joint similar to that shown in Figures 1 and 2 but arranged for automatic locking; Figures 4(1), 4(II) and 4(III) show a first member and the end portion of steel and respectively illustrate a partially broken away side view, a rear view and a section along the line A-A of Figure 4(I) looking in the direction of the arrows; ; Figures 5(1), 5(II) and 5(III) are similar to Figures 4(I) to 4(III) but illustrate a different method of attachment of the steel to the first member; Figures 6(I) and 6(III) are side views of two different forms of pivoting ring catch fitted to the second member; Figures 6(II) and 6(IIa) are side views of the first and second members arranged to be operated by a bar lock and in the straight and in a flexed position respectively; Figure 6(IV) is a side view of a second member arranged to be operated by means of a cable lift. In Figure 1, a knee joint for attachment to side steels of an orthopaedic leg brace comprises a first or calf member 10 having a head in the form of an eyebolt pivoted to a second or thigh member 11 by means of a pivot bush (not shown) which passes through the eyes of the bolt heads and is held in place by means of a locking screw 12 (Figure 6) The head of the member 11 is split to form a fork bracket having two transversely spaced part circular leaves which, as is apparent from Figure 6(IIa), are angled rearwardly so that the centre of the locking screw 12 is offset a small distance rearwardly of the longitudinal centre line of the thigh member 11. The forward end of the member 11 extends beyond the base of the two-leaf fork brackets to define a transversely directed limit face 14. The eye-bolt portion of the member 10 is formed with a zone 15 of reduced thickness which fits between the leaves of the fork bracket and has at its front edge a full thickness region outside the periphery of the leaves and bounded at its upper end by a transversely directed stop face 13. The stop faces 13 and 14 abut when the joint is unflexed to prevent further relative angular movement of the members 10 and 11. The stop face 13 is formed on a portion of the member 10 which is of full thickness so that there is an ample area of contact with the stop face 14, and the faces 13 and 14 are well spaced from the pivot axis of the joint so that the unit load on the faces 13 and 14 in the unflexed joint is low and the rate of wear is minimised. It will be noted that in the unflexed joint the axis of the member 11 is generally parallel to and offset forwardly of the axis of the member 10. The eye-bolt portion of the member 10 is formed with an outer peripheral edge 16 of the zone of reduced thickness which terminates in a shoulder defined by a lock face 17 directed inwardly parallel to the longitudinal direction of the member 10 and a transverse face 18 which is continuous with the stop face 13. A rectangular slot or channel 19 in the member 11 is directed at a small acute angle, typically about 10 degrees, to the axis of the member 11 with its lower end positioned so that its rear transverse face registers with the lock face 17 on member 10 when the joint is unflexed. A locking plunger or detent 20 slidable in the channel 19 is urged into locking engagement with the lock face 17 by means of a spring 21. It will be noted that the rear face of the detent is directed at a small acute angle (typically about 10 degrees) with respect to the longitudinal direction of the channel 19 and is parallel to the lock face 17 on the member 10 when the joint is in the straight position. The detent 20 is dimensioned to engage the lock face 17 with its end clear of the bottom face 18 and exerts a wedging action on the lock face 17 when the joint is unflexed so that there is minimal play. In a typical joint the detent and lock face engage over a distance of 3 mm. or more and when the joint is new there is a distance of 1.5 mm. or more between the end face of the detent and the bottom face 18 of the shoulder for wear take-up, The joint has the advantage that wear of the detent and lock face does not give rise to play but instead the wear is automatically taken up by engagement of the wedge with the lock face 17 at a detent position closer to the bottom face 18 of the shoulder than it occupied when the joint was new. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a joint which is arranged to be held unlocked until deliberately set to lock. An auxiliary bore 22 extends into the channel 19 from the front face of member 11 and has a catch formed by a ball 23 and spring 24-which as shown in Figure 2 urges the ball 23 into engagement with a rebate 25 in the front face of the detent 20 to hold the detent in a retracted position. An actuating ring 26 is fitted over the member 11 with its front portion pivotally received in a recess 27 in the front edge of the member 11 and is connected at an intermediate position to the detent 20 by means of a pivot pin 28. In the locked position shown in Figure 1 the actuating ring is urged downwardly by means of the detent spring 21 but its rear face may be lifted as shown in Figure 2 to retract the detent 20 into the channel 19 and compress the spring 21. In use as a knee joint of an orthopaedic leg brace, the joint is locked when the patient is standing or walking. When he or she wishes to sit down, the rear end of the actuating ring is lifted to retract the detent out of engagement with the lock face 17 and into the channel 19 where it is held in a retracted position by engagement of the ball catch 23, 24 with the rebate 25. When the patient stands up and the joint is straightened, the rear end of the actuating ring is depressed to disengage the ball catch and allow the detent to snap do m- wardly into engagement with the lock face 17 to lock the joint against flexing. The arrangement shown in Figure 3 is generally similar to that shown in Figures 1 and 2 except that the ball 23 and ball spring 24 have been omitted. When the actuating ring 26 has been operated to retract the detent the joint may be flexed as shown in Figure 3. On release of the actuating ring the detent is supported in a partially retracted position by the arcuate peripheral edge 16 and the members 10 and 11 may be straight ened. As soon as the members 10 and 11 reach the unflexed position the detent 20 automatically snaps into engagement with the lock face 17 to lock the joint against flexing. As stated above, it is preferred to manufacture the joint as a separate sub-assembly to be fitted into the limb brace or artificial limb. One way of fitting the steels (which may be formed from steel or Dural) into the joint is shown in Figures 4(I) to 4tIII) and involves forming an internal axial channel in split ends of the first and second members and clamping the steel in position by means of countersunk fixing screws passing through the steel and through each of the split portions 29 and 30 of the member. This arrangement has the advantage that separate castings are not required to produce left and right handed versions of the joint. A more conventional way of fitting the steels is shown in Figures 5(I) to 5(iii) in which an end of a steel having side edges milled to a reduced thickness is a push-fit in a C-shaped channel formed in the end of the member and is secured thereto by countersunk fixing screws. Figures 6(I) and 6(III) show two different shapes of hinged ring catch 26 fitted to the member if, lifting the rear face causing the joint to unlock. In Figure 6(I) finger pressure is applied to the back of the actuating ring 26 and in Figure 6(III)finger pressure is applied to a rear side portion thereof. Figures 6(II) and 6(IIa) show the actuating ring 26 fitted with an extension bar and arranged to operate as a bar lock. Figure 6(IV) shows the member 26 having an extension 32 whose distal end is formed with an eye for fixing the cable of a cable lift system. It will be understood that the invention described above is not restricted to the details of the preferred forms described by way of example above which may be modified without departure from the scope of the invention.

Claims: Claims: t. A releasably lockable joint for an orthopaedic limb support or for an artificial limb, which joint comprises first and second members (10,11) pivoted together at their ends for relative flexing movement and having faces (13,14) which abut when the joint is unflexed to prevent movement beyond the unflexed position characterised in #that the first member has an arcuate end (16) which terminates in a recess or shoulder (17,18) and the adjoining end of the second member has a slot (19) which is in register with the base of said recess or shoulder when the joint is unflexed and which extends axially away from the recess or shoulder, a detent (20) slidable in the slot being resiliently biased into a position in which it engages said recess or shoulder and being retractable into the slot by operation of a release (26), the detent being supported or supportable in a retracted position by said arcuate portion (¯16) when the joint is flexed and being urged into engagement with said recess or shoulder (17) when the joint is straightened to lock the joint in the unflexed position. A Ajoint according to claim 1, wherein the head of the second member (llJ is split to form a-fork bracket having two transversely spaced part circular leaves between which is pivoted a reduced thickness portion (15) of the first member (10). 3. A joint according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a releasable catch for locking the detent in the retracted position. 4. A joint according to claim 3, wherein the releasable catch comprises an auxiliary channel (22) in the second member opening into the detent channel, a ball catch (23,24) in the auxiliary channel resiliently biased to project therefrom, and a recess (25) in the detent positioned to be engaged by the ball of the ball catch when the detent is retracted. 5. A joint according to any preceding claim, wherein the detent is wedge-shaped with its rear face inclined at a small acute angle with respect to the front face to engage the lock face (17) of the recess or shoulder in the first member which is directed parallel to the inclined face of the detent when the joint is unflexed, the wedging action between the detent (20) and the lock face (17) minimising play in the joint. 6. A joint according to any preceding claim, wherein the interengaging faces of the detent and the shoulder (17) or recess are directed at approximately a right angle to the stop faces (13,14) when the joint is unflexed. 7. A joint according to any preceding claim, wherein the release comprises a lever (26) extending transversely of the second member and pivoted at an edge (27) thereof, the lever being connected by means of a pivot pin (28) to the detent (20) and extending from the opposite edge. 8. A joint according to claim 7, wherein the lever (26) is in the form of an external ring fitted to the second member with its front edge pivotally received in a recess in the front edge of the second member and the internal surface of its rear edge normally spaced from the rear edge of the second member, an upward movement of the rear edge of the ring retracting the detent (20) into the slot (19). 9. A joint according to claim 8, wherein the rear portion of the ring (26) is provided with a socket for receiving an extension lever (31) which forms part of a bar lock or cable lift device.

Inventors: DUTHIE, JAMES ERIC, FYFFE, JAMES
Applicants: ROBERT KELLIE & SON LIMITED
Application year: 1979
Main classification: A61F1
IPC codes: A61F5, A61F2, E05D11